Are you on the road back home Stu?
Not yet.
I will start the leg from Vegas to Florida on Monday.
I'm enjoying the family and seeing old friends here this week.
Yesterday I met up with friends from church from the late 1990s for breakfast, then went to harbor freight to replace 2 different rechargeable flashlights that quit working on the trip, the 1st store not far from the restaurant had the big rechargeable 1200LM worklight that lights up the campsite (and can be propped up on the back of the camper if dark out to use as a backup light if needed and can recharge my cell phone if needed), then I had to go to another store in the northwest part of Vegas for the 1800 LM rechargeable tactical light.
I figured that I'd go for a ride up to Mt Charleston while I was that close to Kyle Canyon Rd and it was a super blue sky day out and my grandkids were in school so why not!
So ride # 38 happened, 159 miles for the day.
It was 75°F as I got onto Kyle Canyon Road at 10:30 and cooled to 60°F as I got up to the village at 7650'. The top of the mountain has a little bit of snow on it still from a week ago. Traffic up there was lite as it was Tuesday so I enjoyed the weather and the slow ride in the trees. It is such a contrast from the desert floor in Vegas and the air is clean and crisp in the desert mountain oasis! I even took a few videos with my phone on the Windbender Farkle Shelf and my fashioned adapted Ram Mount so the phone camera can stick up over the lowest setting of the windshield, but I'm still not techie enough to post videos (though I did take some screen shots while reviewing the videos).
After getting my fill of crisp air up there and the great twistie roads, I headed back down to the traffic in the valley, got on the 215 beltway around the west side of the upper valley hillside(there are spots you can see across the 40 mile wide valley to Henderson) and I got off at West Charleston Blvd to go to the Red Rock Canyon loop. I can't believe how far the housing developments have continued to get built up the sides of this big valley since I first lived here in 1981, it has spread out 20 miles to the west and has eaten up all the then empty desert floors where I used to crew on and flew hot air balloons around.....I guess they call it progress. It is a nightmare to ride in especially at rush hour when the idiots get behind their cage wheels. Sorry for the diegress(yes I purposely misspelled it).
Anyhow the Red Rock loop didn't disappoint with the bright blue skies. $2 for me to get in with my America the Beautiful Senior Pass(as it is a US BLM land park they are fully staffed and paid during the dem shutdown, unlike last weeks drive through the Grand Canyon w/free entrance).
Red Rock loop goes back in close to the deep canyon walls that are maybe 5-10 miles from Kyle Canyon (if you flew up over the mountain top towards the south) and is a different view all together from this side of the mountain, beautiful red sandstone interspersed in white sandstone and granite magma rock faces. The road surface is great and lots of twisties with hairpin corners diving in both directions as the one way loop winds through the hills and washes formed by the rain runoff on the southern edge of the mountain over the years. It is a definite must to ride if you find yourself in the area! It won't disappoint (unless it is 120°F in the summer heat!)and a perfect temperature this time of year at 65°F yesterday.
At the end of the loop I turned right past Spring Mountain Ranch State Park(another oasis in the desert to visit) and the enclave of Blue Diamond then I took a right onto Rt 160( that goes over the hump to Pahrump) and rode up to Mountain Springs to check out my nephew's lot to see if he had started building his new house yet. By the time I got up there, it was 2:00 and I was getting hungry so I returned back to the city to refill the bike and me. I thought about washing the bike but decided I best not wash it in my son's driveway so he wouldn't get reported to the water authorities....I'll have to find a self service car wash to do that....
By the time I got home and reheated leftovers and ate it my daughter in law brought my grandkids home so I had some fun playing with my granddaughter and some time holding my new grandson until he fell asleep in my arms. It was a very blessed day for me!
This tells of the Red Rock Loop
https://www.recreation.gov/timed-entry/10075177
