Wednesday June 25, 2014



Non-Travel Day

 

Today we set out to see some of the sights to the northwest of Las Vegas . After traveling through the city we took US Rt. 95 north to NV 157 and the Mt. Charleston Scenic Byway, which also included NV Rt. 158 and 156, which would eventually bring us back out onto US 95 north. The first part of the ride was through the desert which was nothing new, but as we climbed higher into the mountains the scenery became beautiful with large ponderosa pine trees and lush meadows, aside from beautiful scenery the temperature was also nicer, 20 to 30 degrees cooler than the valley below. Near the top of Mt. Charleston at an elevation of 8,500 feet there is a ski area where they do get cold weather and several feet of natural snow each year. Returning to US Rt. 95 we headed north through boring desert country to NV Rt. 160 where we turned south through the desert. We were planning to go over to Death Valley Nat'l Park, but it was so hot that we passed on this detour. Driving through the town of Pahrump we were surprised at the size of the town, looking at the map I anticipated a one light town, but in reality it is a large thriving bedroom community out in the desert . Approaching Vas Vegas we turned north again on NV Rt. 159, the "Red Rock Canyon Scenic Byway" and later a short 13 mile drive through the BLM Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area for an up close view of the gorgeous red rock formations that give the area its name. Because of the natural processes that have taken place over several million years there is a dramatic contrast in the rocks from a light tan sand color to the dark reds and to the dark grays of the higher mountains. The red coloration, which is seen throughout the southwest was caused by red sands that covered this area over a 100 million years ago in huge sand dunes, this sand was later buried, compressed cemented together to form the red sandstone, the white sandstone was the result of water leaching through the rock removing the red coloration and depositing calcium carbonate. This red and white coloration has formed beautiful designs that only Mother Nature could create. This serene atmosphere here in the wonders of nature was contrasted a few minutes later when we entered the interstate roadway system of Las Vegas for our return to the camper.