When you’re looking for a reasonably priced place to stay in the middle of an expensive area, a trailer could be an option. Discounts can be found when a place is not securely attached to the ground and the bathroom is the size of a marble. That’s how we ended up spending Labor Day weekend in a space not much bigger than a refrigerator.

The purpose of this trip was to explore the area around Las Vegas without venturing onto the Strip, or anywhere else in what is probably our least favorite city in North America. We’ve heard of this fantasy land of mountains and red rocks and wanted to find out if it actually existed as advertised. Hunting through AirBnB, we located and booked a trailer (mainly due to lack of other options) on a property owned by a cranky old man and considered possible fates: chopped to pieces by property owner and buried in the desert; murdering each other due to lack of space during a four-day / three-night time frame; or get eaten by wild desert animals.

Friday 2017 09 01

We decided to risk unpleasant fates, because one of us had been required to spend the week prior in Vegas for a work trip – the three fates listed were not much worse than a week-long business event on the Strip. We met up at the airport late on a Friday evening, both exhausted from long work weeks. In the dark and while Friday turned into Saturday, we found our way down a long, bumpy, dirt road in the middle of the Red Rock Canyon National Reservation area.

Saturday 2017 09 02

At some point Saturday morning, the Nevada sunlight filled the little trailer, slipping its rays in through the well-worn shades which were ineffectively attempting to cover the windows. Despite the very early morning arrival, and only a few hours of sleep, we couldn’t ignore that sun. Breakfast was half-heartedly thrown together along with coffee, and we wandered down the tiny wobbly steps, taking in the outdoors while consuming eggs and other breakfast food that can be constructed in a tiny kitchen.

The claustrophobia inducing trailer had its perks. The view from the front yard was amazing, with plenty of outdoor space along with vaguely comfortable patio chairs sitting on the dirt.

The trailer sat in the middle of someone’s private land, but the owners were quiet and kept to themselves, which means we could roam around the small dirt trails unbothered, admiring the wildlife.

A big advantage was the trailer’s proximity to the Red Rocks – practically zero miles. We packed a small bag with some water, sunscreen and jackets and headed across the road for a *short* hike.

Our planned or not-really-planned-at-all short hike turned into a three hour outing. This was not surprising, as that’s normally how things go for these travelers. We just kept following those rocks. It’s beautiful here: wide open skies that go on forever, sandstone and other rocks that have been blasted by wind and water into exotic walls and valleys and piles, jumbled together across the desert.

After quite a bit of climbing (some safe, some not) we arrived at what appeared to be the top. At least, the top of something. High enough up in the sky to enjoy a nice view.

The sun had made its way higher into the sky, and its rays were quickly cooking our skin. Sunscreen had been applied, but we still felt like chicken parts basting in an oven. We tried to navigate the way down more efficiently than the way up.

The trailer welcomed us back, despite being sweaty and sunburned. The shower presented a challenge. Closely akin to washing off inside a plastic Solo cup, but we managed, after which we determined a nap would be a plus.

Later that afternoon, we opted for exploration on two wheels as opposed to two feet. Our host had parked two questionably maintained mountain bikes that felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each outside the trailer, so we felt we had to take advantage of them. A drive to the southwest through the Canyon area proved to be a good choice. We were surrounded by tall mountains, red rocks, long windy roads and a huge sky.

In the middle of the desert roads, we came across a remote outpost backed up to the hills and mountains stretching south towards Mexico. As often happens when there is no particular destination or plan, we took this as a sign we should explore. Needing a bathroom and ready for a drink, we stopped in. Turns out this was a fading community known as Bonnie Springs Ranch, which at some point had been a “dude ranch”, resort, and various other things. By the time we got there, it was down to a local bar with some interesting patrons, but filled our needs for this afternoon.

The afternoon was a long stretch of driving – after the ranch we headed toward civilization. Not that we were desiring populated areas, but we did need a grocery store, and wanted to check some trails near a suburban neighborhood that one of our party had visited during a prior Vegas excursion. Those trails were… eh … not terrible, but definitely not exciting. Suburban Las Vegas is not an attractive place.

Having exhausted the suburban trail option, and because we weren’t too far from the Hoover Dam, we directed the vehicle that way. Neither of us had visited before, and by all accounts it’s a pretty impressive structure. Hoping for a quick onsite tour, we found a parking space, following the other tourists up toward the dam. Close parking wasn’t available, so that meant the walk was a bit longer than expected. The sun started going down as we approached the gate. Arriving at the entrance, we inquired about admission. “Sorry,” the attendant informed us. “Technically, we’re open but stopped allowing entrants a few minutes ago.” What? But we just walked so … far … now what?

Pictures, then. Just a few, from a distance. And a long walk back.

Having been denied a walk on the dam, we of course had a late evening stop at a bar, a break from the drive to the trailer from the Hoover Dam.

Sunday 2017 09 03

Sunday was expected to be very warm, and since everything we wanted to do was outside, an early wake up was in order. The sun was barely up as we drove over to the Willow Spring hiking trail, a quiet spot in the northwest section of the Red Rock Canyon.

We examined the map, realizing if we wanted a short hike (we had planned on 3-4 miles) we’d have to traverse out and back on the same trail. While that would be fine, we prefer not to see the same area twice. The full loop was over six miles, so we thought: what’s two more miles? Not that big of a deal.

We prepared backpacks with water and snacks, applied sunscreen and and followed Willow Spring Trail. The first mile was mostly gravel, not at all the dirt trail we had expected.

Green plants lit up as the sun made its way up from the east over the mountains.

At some point, the gravel transitioned to hard dirt.

We made our way around the mountain, finding an unforgiving sun on the other side. Two more miles left and zero shade. We got this.

Six point seven two miles after we started, the loop was complete. Overall, this was an incredible hike. Trails were quiet, for the most part. Early morning arrival probably contributed to lack of crowds (must do that more often). The scenery was amazing. Hard to believe you’re less than an hour away from Las Vegas here.

After the extended morning hike, we considered the rest of the day. Reviewing options, we decided on – what else – another hike. This one would require a longer drive. There was an area we had read about, a little further north, away from the city. It was surrounded with trails, and allegedly, a waterfall at the end of one of them. Before heading that way, there was a quick stop at the trailer for lunch and Starbucks for coffee (this was before the days of committing to support local shops only).

Near Mount Charleston, we found our trail. Along with everyone else in the US southwest apparently.

This place was packed with locals and tourists, all heading the same direction on this one trail. It must be good, we thought. Our dislike of crowds however caused some minor consternation. Was there another place we could go? According to Google, there were other trails. Probably good ones.

On the other hand, we were already here and ready to go. Bracing ourselves for noise and crowds, we prepared backpacks and followed the crowd.

Like a herd of mountain goats we followed a pack of hikers up one way, then reverse, straight incline, reverse, straight incline, and so on. The trail was narrow, and the crowds were thick. We focused on one step in front of the other, stepping around the beginner hikers and moving out of the way for the advanced.

We got to the top and we found… a people party. A huge people party. Big people, little people, tall people, small people, angry people. There were people in front of the waterfall, people behind the waterfall, people in the water, people over the water. There were people eating food, people not eating food. Silent people, loud people. There was even a drone buzzing around, capturing video of all the people.

This wasn’t exactly the peaceful hike we had in mind, but when we pretended we weren’t surrounded by humans, it wasn’t bad. It’s a beautiful place, and understandable why these people wanted to squeeze in together to enjoy the view.

After a lot of hiking, dodging humans, and photographing trees, creeks, and cliffs, it was time to work our way home. At some point, we decided it would be a great idea to unstrap bikes hauled along from the trailer to attempt a steep hill leading towards a telescope facility. Getting up the hill with less than amazing equipment was a challenge, but at least the view was nice from the top.

Having burned as much energy as we had on that and seeing that there was not much but flat, post-atomic-testing desert to the north, we navigated back to the trailer for dinner and unwinding. Expecting quiet, we were in for a bit of a surprise, as we watched and heard a small army of rock climbers going up and down the steep cliff face across from our yard … in the dark.

Headlights blinking and sweeping back and forth didn’t make that exercise look any safer, but it was certainly interesting to watch from the safety of our lawn chairs.

Monday 2017 09 04

On Monday, we had a very specific plan for the morning activities, which we had to complete in time to get to an 12PM flight home. It involved bikes, humans and a twelve mile ride. Easy enough.

The plan:

• Pack bikes
• Drive to the paved loop through the Red Rocks Canyon
• Follow said paved loop on our questionably capable bicycles for 12 miles around the park
• Exit the park and find beverages

We drove over to the same spot we had started yesterday morning – near the Red Rock Canyon Reservation area. We stopped to double check the map and unload bikes. Once unloaded, we started pedaling, quickly realizing that 12 miles on this gear was going to be an absolute beating …

Approximately 2 miles up a very long hill (even longer on 50 lb junker mountain bikes), we determined that was enough. Conveniently, there was a park station with bathrooms, a landing space for the bikes, and some beautifully scenic trails into the sandstone canyons in the park. Sweat and strain on 21st century torture devices, or get some pleasant exercise in the desert creek and hillsides? Not a tough choice.

We managed a nice hike down the creek beds behind the bike parking, clambering over more eroded sandstone, and watching the morning climbers scaling the cliff walls over our heads. This looked safer than the night climbers but still raised questions about the sanity of dangling from skinny ropes at heights sufficient to kill you if something went wrong.

Looking at watches, it was time to pack up and head for the airport. Scrambling as usual, we stuffed a weeks worth of clothes and groceries and the like into the rental car and raced to the airport. On arrival at the rental center, we realized the bag of groceries from Whole Foods couldn’t go on the plane – not wanting to simply toss bags of cereal and other items in the trash, we dropped the bags at the bus stop near the airport in the hopes of making someone’s day.

That accomplished, it was time for a drink and a nap on the short flight back to DFW, and trying to get brains in gear for returning to work. All-in-all, an excellent use of a weekend and proof that not everything in southern Nevada is as bad as Las Vegas. We’d be back for another dose in less than a year …