Our primary purpose for stopping in Las Vegas was to see some friends we made while on the caravan to Alaska. We stayed at the Desert Eagle RV Park – the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) campground at Nellis AFB. This is a nice park that has won awards for its facilities and customer service.

We drove to Henderson to meet George and Ann. Between emails and phone calls we had our plans in place. We had done a lot of hiking together on the caravan and George had a local hike that he had been wanting to do. We had dinner together at their house and spent the night in their “casita,” a separate “little house” that is a great place for visitors to stay.  Their home is an ideal place for viewing the sunset.

After breakfast we drove to the Hot Springs Canyon Trail, near Boulder City. it was a hot day, but as we hiked into the canyon we entered the shade from the canyon walls. It was certainly different from our hikes together in Alaska, and the ones Pat and I made in Washington and Oregon. The terrain reminded me of my tour of duty in Saudi Arabia and Iraq during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. We thought the trail would take us past a hot spring that we could climb to on a permanently installed ladder. However, what we found is that the trail went directly into the hot spring and there were pools created by a series of sand bag coffer dams. We took off our shoes and waded through the pools and climbed down the ladder to finish hiking to the Colorado River. We had lunch on a bluff overlooking the river, the water was crystal clear and it was a perfect spot to eat. We hiked back along the White Rock Canyon Trail to complete the loop. It was an gentle grade, but hiking in the loose gravel of a dry river bed was a bit of a slog. However, the terrain was impressive as we saw multiple examples of rocks and other features created by the erosive force of the water that floods the canyon in times of high water.

After the hike we returned to George and Ann’s place, eased our muscles in the hot tub, and had a wonderful dinner together at a nearby restaurant. A great way to end a fun visit.

On Saturday, November 1st we drove to Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood, AZ.