Early Morning Hike
Despite going to bed early last night, it’s still difficult waking-up this morning, but I know my uncle is an early riser, so I drag myself out of bed. He’s been paying attention to the weather and tells me there’s a storm coming in from the west. If I want to go for a hike, we’ll have to go immediately. Again, not my preference, but I would like to get a hike is, so off we go.
Being on the west side of Las Vegas, my uncle lives relatively close to Red Rock Canyon. It only takes us about fifteen minutes to get there. It’s a beautiful approach, with the rising sun in the east illuminating the red rocks of the mountains. The scene was made ever more beautiful because the mountains were holding back the storm to the west.
Red Rock Canyon: Freeway Trail
We do about 4 miles on an out-and-back hike on the Freeway Trail. It’s my first desert trail and I love it. Once we make our way up from the parking area, it’s a flat hike with mountains all around us in the distance. The hike there was rough because the wind was brutally blowing into our faces. At the turn-around point, it started to rain a little bit, but ended quickly. After the hike, my uncle drove me to the visitor center so I could buy a pin and then drove me around some more of the park before returning home.
The Strip
One of my best friends just happened to be in Las Vegas this weekend to attend an EDM festival with his wife. We made plans to meet downtown and my uncle offered to drive me into town so we could all get dinner somewhere afterwards. I met my friend at The Mirage, but we didn’t have a lot of time to hang-out. I’d never been in a casino before, so I made a bet on black at the nearest roulette wheel, won the bet and walked away. Now, I can say I won a bet at a casino in Vegas.
A Relaxed Night With A Storm
After my friend took off, I met back up with my uncle and his wife, but we opted-out of dinner and returned back to their place for dinner. While we were waiting for dinner to cook, the storm in the west finally broke free and dropped buckets of rain on us for about a half hour, then it was gone. It was a beautiful sight.
Image Gallery
- Driving to Red Rock Canyon You can see the storm the mountains are holding-off to the west of Las Vegas.
- Red Rock Canyon: Freeway Trail Beginning the Freeway Trail with my uncle.
- Yucca Plant
- Flowering Cacti It was cool to see cacti flowering out in the desert.
- Red Rock Canyon: Freeway Trail The lines of erosion on the rocks were amazing. Unfortunately, you can't really see them so well here.
- Red Rock Canyon: Freeway Trail A little detail of the lines of erosion.
- Red Rock Canyon: Rain Coming I believe we got blasted for a minute shortly after this picture was taken.
- Red Rock Canyon: Freeway Trail You can see the ridge of the trail on the right wrapping around and behind the rocks.
- Always Bet On Black! I'd never been to a casino before. I went to the roulette table, bet on black, won, took my money and walked away.
Video Gallery
- Red Rock Canyon: Freeway Trail View Location Luckily the weather turned and my uncle took me out for a hike in Red Rock Canyon. It was my first decent hike in a desert. There was a storm attempting to roll in from the west but the mountains in the park was holding the rain back during the hike. The scale of everything out there was amazing.
- Red Rock Canyon: Windy Time on Freeway Trail View Location When I woke-up, my uncle told me it wasn't looking like we'd be taking a hike due to the weather, but then the rain held-off a bit. You can see the mountains to the west literally holding back storm clouds. When we crested this hill, the wind hit us hard.
- Red Rock Canyon: Beautiful Rocks View Location The Freeway Trail wound around this formation of rocks which was especially beautiful in person. As usual, video doesn't do it justice.
Places Visited
- Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area
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