Bristlecone Trail

I had the opportunity to escape the desert valley heat for by taking a 25 minute drive to Mt Charleston and hike the Bristlecone Trail. The weather was wonderful-- cool and breezy. So many times as I stepped over pine cones I had to remind myself that I was in the desert. The trail itself is a 6 mile loop with a 700 foot elevation that happens slow enough that it doesn't seem so strenuous, yet is satisfying jaunt.


View of the ski lifts from trail


Trail


Trail
A fellow hiker kept stopping people to ask them to listen to the trees. That was a little granola for me.

The views are so expansive, and not a cactus in site!



I think I've been in the city too long, because I looked at the tall trees and realized how weird they looked as just trees and not cellphone towers.




Don't get me wrong, I love the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas, but this hike is a wonderful respite! I ran into US Forest service volunteers who provide hikes with trained volunteers. You can also ask for a volunteer to join you on a hike of your own. The guides I ran into disected a flower on the spot to show how it was built for insects to pollinate. They have interpretive hikes schedule throughout the summer. For more info, check them out at Get Outdoors Nevada. I'm thinking about joining them on their Aug 9 Cathedral Rock hike. Dogs are invited on this one, but the regular reader of this blog will know that I would need to borrow a dog if I wanted to bring one because Youknowwho doesn't do outside unless it's to sunbathe.

Stray update: Dani at Knit Las Vegas I think was referring to him the other day when I was in the store. I wasn't thinking at the time, so I didn't really answer her, but here it is: I finally found the crazy cat people I've been looking for: a spay organization, SOS. I am to pick up a trap later in August. Bob Marley (yeah I named him) will hopefully be snatched up, snipped off, and returned with as little stress as possible to us all. I asked, so how often do I check the trap to make sure I didn't catch a neighbor's cat? The SOS person says, bring 'em in anyway. They are a nuisance running around not fixed. Hearing those words made miss CA. Things like that totally happen there. I could just imagine trapping the neighborhood cats, fixing them, and returning them with notes saying YOU'RE WELCOME.