First Hike: The Spring Range, Southern Nevada, USA
The chosen place for a hike was Big Falls, which was dry last I saw it
(click here to go there with
me a year ago in early summer). I picked this particular time to go there
again because mountain snows had fallen earlier in the week followed by a sudden warm-up. So, I expected there
to be a copious amount of water falling.
I suspect that was so. But I never got close enough to see.
A warm-up to 80 F at the elevation of my home at about 2,600 feet elevation did not translate well to 8,000 feet,
it turned out. On my sunny slope it was about 55 F, with miserably high winds making it feel much colder. Of course
I did bring a coat, and wore it off and on.
Here are some views from the road our of the valley and toward Mount Charleston, easy to spot under its snowy hood:
the was taken through a hole in a rock --
The next shot is through a Yucca plant loaded with flowers. Note that there has been an elevation change, hence a vegetation change, between the holi in the rock and Yucca flower photos-- the ones above were near 4,000 feet in elevation, the ones below were approaching 6,000 feet, hence the pines in the background:
Here are the flowers, some out, some in a giant bud:
At the site of the hike, things were quite wintery still. Slopes facing north, and the lower portions of trails on south-facing slopes that also see little or no direct sun this time of year, and trails on such slopes, were impassable to a person not prepared to deal with snow. That would be me.
So, where I could I stayed on the sunny side and on the rock, soil and scree, as just right of center in the photo below:
Or when that didn't work I was on all fours creeping up as best I could, as in the photo below:
The slope was very steep, uncomfortably steep. At the top I lost my footing on ice and scree several times and
wrenched my right shoulder stopping one such descent when I had butt, feet, and hands seeking a hold without avail
until I slid past a bush. I grabbed the bush with my right hand. Turns out that was a mistake. An overweight and
out of condition person tends to keep sliding even though one appendage abruptly stops.
When I felt shoulder ligaments give way as my body continued slipping with my right arm temporarily stationary,
I let go of the bush out of sheer necessity. I had slowed enough to come to a halt anyway. But the shoulder still
hurts two days later. This will be a lesson to me. Right. It still hurts, some, 10 days later! It was too steep
for an old man with too much weight and no equipment. But the views were great!
Here is looking east to the backside of Mummy Mountain (backside because from Las Vegas only the other side is visible):
Here is looking west to the high ridge that trends south from Mount Charleston:
Here is looking south into the main canyon, Kyle Canyon:
Here is a southwest view of the south wall of the side canyon I have been climbing into:
I scrambled down at an angle after my little mishap, and did not do too well on this snow or the scree below it either, but I did descend rapidly, and it wasn't too bad after I got past this part:
Sometimes nature provides shapes and colors that are quite playful:
The side canyon has a feature that is an attraction all its own, Big Falls. It was my intent to got here and see water falling, but the snow kept me from doing so.
Big Falls in the picture just above is where the upper canyon narrows just above the trees of the V-shaped canyon's north and south sides. In other words, it is between the trees in the next picture, and too far too see clearly:
Lowr down I tried once more at 3X to see the falls, and I believe I can see water rushing through the narrow gorge at the bottom of the next photo:
Though the wind gusts on this hike were quite fierce, making me glad to have dressed warm, the snow blowing on the top of the mountain reminded me that the wind could have been worse:
Go To Second Hike: Der Wienerwald