Camping and Biking and Trail Running at Sacramento Pass Rec Area

 Last weekend we had Saturday night free, so I came up with the grand idea of camping at Sacramento Pass Rec Area. It was camping night #7 for the kids (12 is our goal for the Desert Survivor's Get-Out-and-Camp Challenge, so we're doing really well!). We decided we would catch our dinner at the Sac Pass Pond, where rainbow trout are stocked by the Spring Creek Rearing Station.

It didn't take Desert Boy long to catch three trout and then Desert Girl two more. They were on the smallish side, but we decided we'd eat them all.

Meanwhile the almost-full moon came up.

And Desert Girl had fun being silly. We moved to the upper campsites to get further away from the road. They were recently redone with money from a SNPLMA grant, and the whole area is so nice. Even though it was a Saturday night, we had it all to ourselves, which was quite surprising because it's so easy to access and free.

We had our little camping trailer, which creaked all night. We might get a better night sleep in our tent, but it still is kind of fun to be in the trailer.

I woke up before everyone and decided to go scamper on the nearby rocks to take advantage of the great early morning light.

The road up and over Sac Pass looked especially pretty, with the Schell Creek mountains in the background.

A bit later I left to go mountain biking. I really wanted to check out the Mineshaft trail, a 4-mile long loop trail that departs from the Lucky Boy spur off the Sacramento Pass trail. Desert Boy and I had biked much of the Sac Pass trail last fall, and so I knew it would be technically difficult. But I found I can only take so much technically difficult. Once I got to the loop part of the Mineshaft trail (1.5 miles from the trailhead), I decided I would be much happier if I just did the loop as a trail run and didn't have to worry about going over my handlebars as I navigated the rocky course.

The views were terrific on the Mineshaft trail, and I enjoyed it so much (even though I didn't have a camera!). It was obvious that the trail doesn't get much use, so I built up some rock cairns marking the trail that had toppled over. If you want technical singletrack all to yourself, this is the spot! If you want a trail run all to yourself, this is also your spot! And the trails are designed for equestrian use, but I don't think a horse has been on them yet.

If four miles is too long, there is a shortcut--a wash connects the trail at the narrowest spot, so you could  make it a much shorter loop. There's also a two-track road that crosses the southwest part of the loop, so you could bail out there if you're bike riding and the singletrack is getting too much for you. 

You can find the Sac Pass Trail map here. 

Time to head outside!

Kershaw-Ryan State Park - Spring Break 2015

 We were headed home from Las Vegas, a five-hour prospect, and the sun was setting quickly. We had to make a decision: drive all the way home or spend one more night out? The plan had been to camp one more night (night five), but being so close to home, we could also feel the pull. When I thought about driving so far in the dark, though, with lots of animals along the road, I decided we would stay one more night. That way we would have time to explore a little more. And I'm all about exploration.

I started with the beautiful Joshua tree forest along Highway 93 west of Caliente. This isn't a forest like you see in the Eastern United States or in the Pacific Northwest or the Rocky Mountains. A Joshua tree forest is spectacular in its own way.

The setting sun really lit up these trees. Then I noticed two hawks talking to each other from the tops of two trees. I went a little closer to get a better look and found they were Swainson's hawks. These hawks winter in Argentina and are now back! Hello!

The flowers on the Joshua tree come in big terminal clumps.

The individual flowers themselves might not be so showy, but altogether they make for an impressive display.

We had to decide where to camp. We had several options: trailheads for the Silver State OHV trail, Kershaw-Ryan State Park, or Cathedral Gorge State Park. We ended up choosing Kershaw-Ryan, as I had never been there and it was only two miles from Caliente. We pulled into the 15-site campground and selected a site. The kids put up the tent all by themselves while I made their meal of choice: top ramen. Yep, we were living it up!

The very nice ranger stopped by and gave us a brochure and told us about the pay showers (8 minutes for 50 cents) and the firewood. We availed ourselves of both, then went to bed.

The next morning was chilly, so I started a fire and roused the kids to eat some hashbrowns. Yum!

I got just a little bit of attitude.

We wanted to get home by lunch so we could see my husband and have the afternoon to unpack, so we packed up and headed further into the park. We were amazed at what we found. A small wading pool was near the end of the road. Since it was March, it didn't have water in it, but we could imagine how much fun it would be in summer.

We also found a playground, which the kids loved.

We decided to take the Canyon overlook trail, about 1.4 miles long. But since we didn't have much time, I told the kids we were going on a trail run. They were good sports and started running.

The trail was great, with nice views.

And benches for resting and goofing around.

We kept climbing higher, getting a view of more of the park.

I wondered what was up the side canyons. Although the principal vegetation was sagebrush and everything seemed quite dry, these canyons are subject to flash floods. In fact, nearly all the park facilities were wiped out by two back-to-back flash floods in 1984, and it took a long time for the state to appropriate money to rebuild.

The canyon was originally developed in 1873 by Samuel and Hannah Kershaw, who called their ranch Meadow Valley Wash Ranch. In 1904 they sold it to rancher James Ryan, who then donated it to the state in 1926 as a park. The Civilian Conservation Corps developed facilities in 1934, and it became a state park in 1935. Although in some ways you feel like you're going back in time in the park, the frequent trains (we heard about ten during the night) remind you that progress is chugging along.

Leaves were just appearing on some of the trees.

When we finished the trail run (which the kids rocked!), they checked out the fish pond.

The ranger let them feed the fish, which they loved.

I'm looking forward to visiting again in the summer to check out all the rose bushes and for the kids to take a dip in the wading pool. This is truly an oasis, and the bird life is terrific. Kershaw-Ryan isn't far off the beaten path and definitely worth a stop. It was a wonderful way to end our fun spring break.

Valley of Fire State Park

For spring break I had a bad travel itch, so we headed south and after dentist visits went to Valley of Fire State Park.

  Our friends had saved us a campsite that was super awesome (thank you so much!), and after visiting and catching up a bit, we decided to go tackle a hike at Mouse's Tank. 

It's a popular trail, but late in the afternoon there weren't so many people on it and it was cooler.

It didn't take long to get to Mouse's Tank, and we went and got a close look at a pool.

Then we began a really fun game of hide'n seek. We found all sorts of little alcoves.

I had to scramble into some little caves to check them out too.

We found a cool ramp that ascended between two cliffs.

We started to get hungry and headed back to the campsite in the evening glow.

The night was gorgeous, and we went for a little hike around the campground. Then we settled in for an evening under the stars, the rainfly off.

We had a leisurely morning (meaning the kids slept in until 6:30!), then got ready to go hiking. Arch Rock was backlit nicely with the morning light.

Then it was time to run up to the petroglyphs. The kids charged off.

And I got distracted by this bird.

When I turned around, they had already made it to the platform. It's a good leg burner if you run up all the steps!

Across the road we took the trail to the petrified wood.

The mineralization is so beautiful. And it's kind of neat to think about how a forest used to be in this area. Nowadays you have to look far to find a tree!

The color of the rocks was breathtaking, and I took way too many photos. (As you can tell by this rather longish post!)

Next we went to the nice visitor center and then up the road to Rainbow Point, where the scenery again was breathtaking.

I wanted to go see The Wave, which is featured on the cover of the Valley of Fire brochure and has been widely photographed. Along the way the beautiful cacti caught our attention, and the kids literally stopped to smell the flowers.

The way to the Wave was gorgeous. The rock layers undulate and the colors change.

Before long we were approaching The Wave. Or what I guessed was the Wave, since there were a lot of people taking photos.

It looks something like this. It's cool, but I saw many rocks that I thought were more beautiful! I guess it just goes to show that what one person likes isn't necessarily going to be everyone else's favorite.

The kids thought the Wave was kind of boring and they were hot, so they found a cool place to rest.

Eventually I convinced them we should return, and we found some other pretty things along the way.

When we got back to the vehicle, the kids declared they were done with hiking. So we went back to the campsite and had a picnic lunch. The pavilions over the picnic tables were wonderful for providing shade. Before long, the kids wanted to go scamper around the rocks by the campsite. We found a cool cave at the very top and took some entertainment to enjoy there.

The views were great. Then the kids spotted other kids and the next couple hours were spent playing and exploring.


After a trip to Overton to see the Lost City Museum and get some firewood and marshmallows, we returned for a spaghetti dinner. But I had to stop on the way back in the park and enjoy the golden hour. These globemallow were gorgeous.

This little rodent really wanted a handout.

A photographer pointed out a helicopter that had landed on top of the rocks. He said a bride and groom had hopped out.

The light was fading when we got back to the campsite, but it was still beautiful.

After dinner we took a walk across the road and watched the stars come out and the campfires light up the rocks.

The next morning we packed up and I took a few more photos.

Then it was time for one more hike, the White Rocks loop.


Guess what? The rocks were white. Ha, ha.

The kids were a bit grumpy, so I challenged them to not touch the ground. They liked that.

 And before long we were leaving Nevada's oldest and largest state park and heading on to our next adventure of spring break.

To be continued...