Mud-on-the-tires Full-time RV Adventure: NV -- Lake Mead, Boulder City, 1-27 Jan 2014

Month number two at Boulder Beach on Lake Mead…

We continued to be very comfortable at Lake Mead RV Village at Boulder Beach. After spending a month in an upper site, we spent the last two weeks in a spacious lake view site. The campground was noticeably busier on weekends, New Years, and the Martin Luther King break, but by some fluke, we never had neighbors. The weather has been nearly perfect making it easy for Vegas folks to escape to “the lake” for a pleasant weekend. It’s been pretty quiet during the week. We stayed very busy and time has flown!

An upper site; long narrow pull-through gravel sites; 6 month limit

A lake view site; huge cement pads with hook-ups on both sides; 14 day limit

Hikes and Geocaching…

This five mile hiking route led us to a group of five geocaches. There was no trail, just cross-country route finding through some rocky terrain…it was tough! We enjoyed the view of Lake Mead from a couple of the high points. This was our first “puzzle cache”. There was a clue in each of the first four that were needed to find the last one. Even with Stef’s help, we couldn’t find the final cache. Later we confirmed that we were in the right place and got an additional hint. A few days later, we went back and found it. It was very well hidden, but we should have found it the first time! That’s alright, we appreciated the challenge and the exercise.

This was a very enjoyable hike with Glenn, Stef, and Brinley. We walked the Railroad Trail to Hoover Dam. The history of the trail is interesting and the views are excellent. We even saw two desert bighorn sheep on the way back…a real treat!

At Hoover Dam / Two desert bighorn sheep

This great hike was also on the Railroad Trail, but this time we went to the amazing “Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Bridge”. The bridge on Highway 93, opened in 2010. It’s 840 feet above the Colorado River, making it the second highest bridge in the U.S. behind the 955 foot high Royal Gorge Bridge over the Arkansas River in Colorado. Looking straight down at the shimmering river was almost dizzying and the view of Hoover Dam was incredible. If in the Boulder City area, put a stroll across the bridge on the “must do” list!

Tony led us on this hike to Anniversary Mines and Anniversary Canyon. Carlos from the Nellis Air Force Base Outdoors Rec Program, also joined us.

We started walking up the sandy wash and Tony pointed out all kinds of interesting things. We scampered partially up a short steep hill and went through a couple of old mining cart tunnels. The first mine shaft had a sad fence that was probably intended to keep people out. We went a few hundred yards into the second one. I was a bit on edge thinking the decades old shaft might collapse anytime! It was still cool. We even spotted a large vein of sparkling gypsum. We also turned our flash lights off and tried to spot our hands just inches from our faces…it was pitch black!

After exiting the mine, we dropped back into the wash and continued up the canyon. For a half mile, the walls closed in, just four feet wide in a few places! The endless textures, shapes, and colors were incredible. Walking through these desert slot canyons is always a fun adventure!

Posing in front of a mine cart tunnel / The first mine shaft

In the second mine

Playing around in the slot canyon

Tony led us through Gold Strike Canyon. The route varied between walking the bottom of the narrow sandy wash, scampering over and around huge rock gardens, and negotiating vertical choke stones with anchored ropes. About two miles down the canyon, we spotted the first trickle of warm water…the beginning of the hot springs. We decided to turn around at the top of another choke stone, just above two very pleasant looking soak pools. This spot is quite popular, but we had it to ourselves. We had less trouble going up and even enjoyed climbing the ropes. About half way back, we spotted four desert bighorn sheep. It might have been a momma with three lambs. We watched them scamper across the nearly vertical slope…they made it look easy!

A bridge on Highway 93…see Arleen and Tony? / Arleen and Tony in a huge rock garden

Negotiating the challenging choke stones

Bike rides…

This was an exercise ride with Stef and Tony on the River Mountains Loop Trail. We started at our home near Lake Mead, rode seven miles out, turned around, and rode back. Much of the trail is like a roller coaster and is a lot of fun. Stef and Tony’s company made it even more fun!

Me, Tony, Stef, and Arleen on the River Mountain Loop Trail by Lake Mead

The “River Mountains Loop Trail” has got to be one of the best medium length cycling loop routes in the country! The tough 34 mile trail has over 2,500 feet of ups and downs. The best time to ride is late fall, winter, and early spring when the weather is pleasant. The rest of the year is too dang hot unless you ride around sunrise or sunset.

Tony met us and we rode off from the campground going clockwise around the loop. First we tackled the 1,500 foot climb into Boulder City. It wasn’t too bad with fresh legs! Then the trail varied considerably until we hit the “3 Witches” along the northwest side of the loop. The “3 Witches” are three short, but steep hills that were brutal after we’d already ridden some tough miles. We were doing good when we rounded the northern tip of the loop, but around the 30 mile point, I was struggling. I stopped to snack while Arleen and Tony rode by in good shape. We finished the tough route worn out, but feeling like we had really accomplished something. Then Arleen treated us to her tasty slow-cooked French Bistro Short Rib stew…yum yum! It was a great day!

Posing with the Las Vegas skyline in the background / Arleen and Tony at the top of “Witch #2”

Arleen and Tony climbing “Witch #3” / Enjoying a post-ride bowl of stew

Kayaking and Fishing…

This was a pleasant nine mile paddle down the Colorado River from Willow Beach. We didn’t catch any of the striped bass we were after, but we saw lots of cool birds!

Stef and Tony joined us for this five mile paddle upstream of Willow Beach on the Colorado River. Our first stop was at the old River Gauger’s home. In the 1920’s, a river gauge was placed downstream of the proposed Hoover Dam site. The person responsible to take river readings lived in a small cabin a 1/4 mile from the gauge. We imagined living at the scenic spot and posed for a few cheesy pictures. Next we hopped back in our kayaks and continued upstream to the river gauge. Tony and I checked out a portion of the 75 year old catwalk. It was amazing to think of the river gauger negotiating that route each day to take the required readings. Arleen took some pictures looking up from the river and I took pictures looking down from catwalk…it was fun! We also popped into the Emerald Cave. While looking out from the back of the shallow cave, the water at the entrance lives up to its name…it seems to glow! The float back downstream took little effort in flat calm conditions under bright blue skies. There are few better ways to spend a day!

Headed upstream of Willow Beach on the Colorado River / Being silly near the gauger’s home

Note the gauger’s catwalk in upper left of first pic / Hand cart to cross river / The old river gauge

Stef, Arleen, and Tony at the back of the Emerald Cave / Arleen, Stef, and Tony at the entrance of Emerald Cave

Misc…

-- “5-5-25” Challenge

We set a goal to walk 5 miles, kayak 5 miles, and cycle 25 miles in one day. That’s roughly two hours of each activity.

Our location at Lake Mead is the perfect place to tackle this challenge. Our schedule had been busy, but 23 January looked like a good fit. We hoped for ideal weather, but were concerned about gusty winds.

We woke up that day and took our four-legged friend on his usual 2 mile morning walk. The winds were 5-10mph and the lake looked a little rough, but it was still doable. We ate a quick breakfast, and took the kayaks down to the lake. Now the winds were 15-20mph and a few waves were white-capping…yuck! With just a sliver of optimism, we delayed the kayaking until later and went back to our bikes. We hopped on our bikes and headed uphill into the 15-20mph headwind…ugh! We just kept telling ourselves how sweet it would be when we turned around with a tailwind and flew downhill…and it was sweet! Unfortunately, we still had to tackle a 4 mile, 1,000 foot climb. And sure enough, the uphill trail looped back into the wind…CRAP! I was whipped and barely made it to the turnaround. Thank God it was downhill to the finish! Arleen rode strong. She passed me and I never caught her…that’s my girl!

We let our rubbery legs recover somewhat during a quick lunch, grabbed our boots, and took off on a 5 mile hike to a geocache. Initially I felt like poop, but got better as I walked. We got to the cache in good time and left a “geocoin”. (The coin’s mission is to travel to the Czech Republic where we got married.) On the walk back, the winds were still 15-20mph. I was still game to tackle the kayaking, but knew it would take a meteorological miracle for the winds to die.

At 4:00pm, we declared the kayaking a “no-go”. We completed two-thirds of our tough challenge and were sufficiently whipped. That’s alright…someday we will conquer the “5-5-25” challenge!

Lake Mead being whipped up by 15-20mph winds / 25 mile bike route / 5 mile hike route

-- Meeting Lore, aka “gatortrader”

We met Lore online via the Northwood RV Owner’s Association (NROA). He was visiting Las Vegas from Florida and met us at our home at Lake Mead. We had a great chat about RVs, campgrounds, routes, travels, fishing, and a bunch of other stuff. Then we had a tasty dinner in Boulder City and parted ways with hopes of camping together in Florida.

Lore and I

-- Tons of walking this month

After April 2013 in which Shawn walked 334 miles and Arleen walked 295 miles, January 2014 has been our second best month. Through 26 January, I averaged 10.7 miles per day to total 278 miles and Arleen averaged 9.3 miles per day to total 242 miles! Additionally, we’ve done a bit of cycling and kayaking and feel great!

Next…

We will leave Lake Mead and spend one week at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park. Based on our research and the reams of stuff Tony lent us, there is plenty to see and do. It should be a good adventure…stay tuned.

Parting shots…