May, 2014 - I recently had the opportunity to hang out in Las Vegas for a week and thought I should be able to find some great running opportunities in the area. I really didn't realize what was available within relatively close distance until I started looking. I knew Death Valley and the Grand Canyon were not too far away, but I had already run in both of those locations and I was hoping to keep it a little closer. I had four days to run and I finally decided on going to Red Rock Canyon, Zion National Park, Mount Charleston, and Bootleg Canyon.
Day 1
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Turtlehead Peak in the background. |
I started out on the Calico Hills trails and picked up the Calico Tanks spur out and back. The land is desert, with a lot of desert scrub bushes and cacti. This stretch includes trails up against the red rocks that give the canyon its name. After getting back from the Calico Tanks spur, I started up the assault on Turtlehead Peak, which I believe tops out at about 6000 feet (my Garmin malfunctioned so I'm not sure what the elevations were). The trails became very sketchy on the ascent and I got off-trail. I was basically climbing up a wash, using my hands to help me get up. I soon realized that getting down was going to be a problem because the "trail" was just scree. It is always easier climbing that kind of stuff than descending. I could see myself sliding for hundreds of feet with no way to stop.
After returning to the grand loop trail, I soon came to the White Rock - La Madre Spring loop. This was my favorite trail of the day. It started as a typical desert trail but then gradually the flora changed and the trees got a little bigger and actually produced some shade. There was clearly the presence of more water in this area. Eventually I got to the La Madre Spring and filtered some more water into my hydration pack. I finished off this loop and headed to Ice Box Canyon, which I planned to be my last spur of the day before heading back to the visitor center.
Day 2
Wildcat Canyon Trail. |
View from Wildcat Canyon Trail. |
I got up early, left by 3am, stopped at McDonalds for some pancakes, scarfed them down and hit the road. I got to Springdale by 6:45am MDT, got my stuff together and got in the van for the trip to the trailhead. My plan was to run the 20 or so miles from the Wildcat Canyon Trailhead, descend the west rim into the main Zion Canyon, run up the other side of the canyon and do an out-and-back on the east rim. I was hoping to get in at least 30 miles.
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West Rim Trail. |
The Wildcat Canyon Trail is a 5 mile or so stretch of trail that runs mostly through Pine forest until it connects with the West Rim Trail. Along the way there are nice views of some of the side canyons in the park. There were still some patches of snow from a snowstorm earlier in the week but the trail was mostly dry. This was an enjoyable stretch of single-track with a gradual climb to it.
Best pit stop view I ever had. |
After I hit the West Rim Trail, the forest opened up a bit and I was mostly running over an open plateau with smatterings of trees around but expansive views of the surrounding mountains and canyons. The trail was muddy in spots from the recently melted snow. I was running on rolling terrain up above 7000 feet here so the ascents taxed my lowlander lungs. Along the way I did have to take a little pit stop as my supper from the previous night (a hamburger in one of the hotel's restaurants) was not a great decision. I spied a tree off the trail on top of a knob that looked like it had a great view and headed for it. It was indeed a fantastic location for a pit stop tree, offering a fantastic view of one of the canyons. Some appropriately named Toilet Paper Plants were nearby (they didn't look poisonous and they were a better option than the cacti) so all was good. I think it was about 20 miles until the descent started in earnest into the Zion Canyon. I hadn't seen many people (a few hikers and a few other runners) up until this point but now there were more people out on the trails.
Toilet Paper Plant (may not be the actual name) |
It was about a 5 mile descent into the Grotto. Along the way there is a side trail to Angel's Landing (a lookout over the canyon) and I thought I might take this in but when I saw the trail there was a large line of slow moving people so I decided to skip it. After I arrived at the Grotto, I ate another sandwich, refilled my water bottles, and headed up the road for a mile until I reached Weeping Rock and the start of the East Rim Trail. I felt pretty good so I started an out-and-back, or perhaps I should say up-and-back. Many switchbacks later I reached a fork in the trail. Right would take me eventually to the East Rim Trailhead and left would take me to Observation Point. I went left and continued the relentless switchbacking until I was ready to stop. I never did reach Observation Point but I was at the same elevation as I could see it across the way. My gas tank was a little low so I decided to turn around and head back.
Zion Canyon. |
Zion Canyon from near Observation Point. |
Day 3
For the third day of running, I set my sights on Mount Charleston. There is a 10 mile trail to the summit, the North Loop Trail, that starts at about 8400 feet and finishes at 11,880 feet. I thought this might be reasonable to do an out-and-back on. Mount Charleston is less than an hour from Las Vegas so it was an easy drive. As I approached and got sight of the summit I knew I probably wasn't going to make it all the way up that day. There was quite a bit of snow still on the peak, it was extremely windy this day, and I didn't have any Yaktrax or other spikes with me.
Mount Charleston in center in background. |
Typical scree trail. |
Turnaround point. |
I finally decided to turn around after 6.5 miles as I was getting tired from the relentless switchbacks, the attitude was getting to me, and I knew I would have a significant trek back. I was also getting to the point where I was halfway through my water (I had brought 40 ounces which I realized later was not enough for a trip all the way to the summit) and there were no springs around to fill up at. I made it to 6.5 miles (10,600 feet), sat down on the rocks, "enjoyed" another peanut butter, jelly and waffle sandwich and Pringles, and then headed back towards the car.
Of course it took much less time to get back to the car as it was mostly downhill. I drove around a little more in the mountains and headed back to Vegas.
Red Mountain and Black Mountain. |
This was going to just be a half day so I want to stay close to Vegas. I found a bird preserve online in Henderson and I wanted to do some birding first so I left at daybreak and drove to Henderson (20 minutes) and spent an hour there. Then I drove to Boulder City (another 20 minutes) as my objective this day was to run in Bootleg Canyon, just outside of Boulder City. There are twin peaks there, Red Mountain and Black Mountain, and there are many trails in the area that go around and up the mountains. Bootleg Canyon is a very popular mountain bike destination so many of the trails were multi-use but there are a few that are for foot traffic only.
View of Lake Mead from Black Mountain. |
Hummingbird hovering over Boulder City. |
Summary
This was a great running week for me. Days of 24, 33, 13 and 12 miles (plus a 5 mile loop near the Vegas strip on Friday morning) when added to the Hyner Challenge from the previous Saturday gave me a 104 mile week. I felt pretty good through it all and got in a ton of ascent. It was great to be on new trails and in unfamiliar terrain. The weather was good, even a little cold, and I believe this is probably a great time to run in this area, before it gets too hot. I was by myself nearly the entire time, which was fine, although with some company I would have felt more confident tackling a little more than I did. My gear worked great and I felt as ready as I could be to tackle the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 two weeks later.
Black Mountain (left), Red Mountain (right) and Boulder City in the middle, taken from the saddle. |