To Red Rock Canyon, NV.

Saturday, February 24th, 2007

Not too far from Kingman, about 4 miles east off 93 lays a little town called Chloride. I was told that as Oatman has made a comeback, Chloride is also trying as most old mining towns have tendency to get off the map eventually. It is a catch 22 for me. I did not care for Oatman… why?… the crowd, the tourists, all that “same” generic looking jewelry laying around, just did not seem real as I felt the town was trying too hard. But, that is how it’s revenues are going to go up!

 Chloride on the other end is my kind of town… quiet, still adorned by its old buildings, the ones still standing up. A little store doubled as a Welcome Center, were the oldest local man was still driving to getting his milk, which the clerk walked to his car! Another long haired and long bearded man asked me if I had lost a dog… he saw Spirit and had found one just like him a couple days past, a female… thought maybe I had two… Strolled through town calmly, a few cars here and there, a few benches to relax and take it all in… Chloride is the other side of the coin, with a more welcoming mood, but… I am sure they are not having the revenue that Oatman has…

What to do, right?

Back on 93 north we caught a glimpse of the Colorado River running freely passed Hoover Dam which was only a few miles away now.

Sure enough, the signs came up, expect some delays it said. I had no clue this was going to turn out to be a tourist and traffic nightmare! Probably already is in normal circumstances, but today with much construction going on… I would avoid it, unless it is your kind of “thing”! They do have Tours, and I am sure that it is interesting… My focus was on finding our next patch of land to camp on…

Maybe under a different objective I will take the Tour someday. The whole area looked like a maze to me, roads going up and down and criss crossing each other. I like the statue commemorating all the ones that build the Dam, a colossal enterprise for sure.

Lake Mead on the other side of the Hoover Dam…

It had been 25 years I think since I had been in Las Vegas… and this is the only picture I have taken!… Yes, I will go back sometime soon to ride the Strip… someone even has offered to have Spirit for the day so I could go in the Casinos and take pictures of the Art Works and I am sure interesting buildings. Las Vegas mesmerizes me… bigger and brighter than any other town! Maybe Atlantic City is alike, I don’t know, I have never been there. But the town has grown, has grown without any character, thousands of look alike homes are planted everywhere only a few feet from each other… who is moving here? Much construction, detours, bad bumpy and broken up roads… But we made it through, passed it all and it took many miles for the homes to stop lining the road.

We were now on 95 north, looking for 157 west, as I was told there was some BLM land right before the Park making up Spring Mountains. Not quite! Maybe I missed it, maybe I also realized that it was too far from Red Rock which is were I really wanted to go to…

 Charleston Peak is at 11918 feet and we started climbing as I did stay on 157. It was early and I was getting curious about the road, specially seeing some snow up the Mountains. Steep… we kept going up and up and the temps dropped more and more as also the wind picked up.

Beautiful sceneries… we did turn around however, I needed to find us a new home, with the thought that I will come back and make it to the top next time… in a couple of days as the weather is going to be warmer as the weekend arrives… so they say!

Back on 95 again, southbound this time, looking for 215 which is the loop, trying to avoid any traffic situation. And again, houses after houses, incredible, here I thought Naples was a growing town, that is Naples, Florida, it is nothing compared to this town.

159 west, I did not miss it, it is the road taking us to Red Rock. Miles and miles of construction, and today I noticed that they will built right up to the Red Rock entrance sign! Within an inch… Those homes will have the view of the Red Rocks! This is all BLM land, however camping is only allowed in the campground. $10 a night for the convenience of restrooms and water… I could not care less honestly, but what choice do I have?

It is beautiful here, it was a good choice, awesome really! The rocks are red… but I don’t know yet why they are red! I will know by the time I post the next pictures and write about it as the 13 mile loop through the Park is on the program… AND… I am pretty excited that I am in the only Park so far that ALLOWS dogs on the trails… That was the best news that I read today… There are 19 Hiking trails… Spirit and I will get our workout soon… we need it.

Till then…

Be well…

Ara & Spirit

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2 Responses to “To Red Rock Canyon, NV.”

  1. Macrobe Says:

    Ara, I was in Cold Creek Canyon in the Spring Mountains a few years ago searching for my favorite four-legged friends: wild mustangs. It was so beautiful there, and the horses were……. like creatures from heaven. They seemed to accept me and I wandered freely in amongst the herds. I wanted to stay with them.
    You can see pictures of the mountains and the horses here:
    http://moleculegirl.com/Elzis_Heaven.htm
    Note the dogs helping us search for the elusive bands of mustangs 🙂

    I suspect iron and sandstone impart the red color to the rock formations there in Red Canyons. Beautiful, isn’t it?

    Enjoy your stay there and your hikes with Spirit.

  2. Steve Williams Says:

    Ara,

    You and Spirit are really traveling along. the old mining towns and Chloride look like great places to visit. I never enjoy the crowded places like Oatman. My wife and I vacation on the coast of Maine but we alway go in early winter or early spring when there are no crowds. It’s harder to get away though in the East.

    Steve Williams
    Scooter in the Sticks

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