Trod Bogs Sadly – Oddstray's Blog

Falling off the mountains down into the Mojave desert floor, it seemed to get hotter and hotter, even though we couldn’t tell, we had the a/c on.

We arrived at our destination in Las Vegas, the Riviera RV Park, on the east side of town. A bit run down, but ‘workmanlike’, it was plenty adequate for what we wanted – somewhere to take a break from driving, and to see some local geology.

But it was hot, 110 degrees hot. The trailer’s 13.5 kbtu couldn’t keep up with it, but it was tolerable at 85 or so. Outside it was an inferno.

Next day – 15th August, we set off for Red Rock Canyon, on the west side of town. Oh my, the traffic lights in Las Vegas take an …..a…….g…….e to change (and why is it always red for us and green for the other guys?).

Let’s just say this, compared to Las Vegas, Red Rock Canyon is just charming and wonderful. Not the hugest, biggest vistas in the world, but a little bit of a break from the heat and very eye-friendly.

The eponymous red rocks. In the background is the older grey rock.

The ‘side-thrust’ fault can be seen in this image, where the newer red rock is under the older grey rock. Geology is fun!

Up at the very top of the canyon was this dirt road heading up and over the hills to the other side. Yep, we’re wimps.

There was this climber who seemed to get a panic attack climbing down this face. He took ages to regain confidence, and was last seen hanging in free air just below where he is in the photo, slowly letting himself down. Phew!

B’s money shot, right by her open car window.

Mt.Charleston was so high that all our pictures of the valley below were so hazy that Photoshop could do nothing with them. This one is kind of pretty, but gives no idea of the scale of the place. And it was cool – 70 degrees or so. There’s a neat campground up here too. No 40 footers, though.