Chasing the Sunrise

It has been a particularly busy fall semester. I’m teaching a new class in an area I only have a minimal background. I haven’t felt this far out of my depth since I taught an introduction to natural resources class my first semester at Kansas State University in 1974. I was younger, more full of myself, and at the same time unsure. I have few of those feelings now. At age 66 I find teaching a new course invigorating, challenging, and just a little daunting. But it has been far more rewarding than I anticipated and just as challenging. I’ve put other projects on the back burner to try to stay what I call “15 minutes ahead of my class!” And I think I’ve been successful.

That all leads up to Veteran’s Day Weekend when I got to Friday I sensed I had a full Saturday where I didn’t have anything to do. Saturday morning came and I was still thinking teaching and writing. In fact, as I have found so often this semester, I was up early and today was no exception. At 4 AM my mind was whirling and so I was up and anticipating several hours of quiet with just me and the cat writing. Whisper, the cat, really enjoys laying across the top of my desk in front of the computer either relaxing or watching the cursor on the computer with great interest. I’m anticipating some day she will attack that poor cursor.

By 6:30 am I was busy writing and I knew we were having some cool (cold for Las Vegas) weather so I turned to my iPad and checked the weather. Of course the kids think my favorite TV channel is the weather channel - but not so much since we moved to Las Vegas. Anyway, I noted on my weather app that it had snowed out at Red Rock Conservation Area overnight. There is nothing more beautiful than watching the sunrise at Red Rock as the sun marches down the western Spring Mountains. And to have the potential for snow in the peaks was a bonus! I was a smidgen late getting out of the house and could see the sun rising over the east side of the Las Vegas valley and knew I had probably missed the march, but not the intensity of the new sun on the western mountains. Off I drove out towards Red Rock and was greatly rewarded for my efforts.

Watching the new sunrise, or in this case, the full effect of the early morning sun on the mountains is like watching a rebirth of beauty and brings great joy to my soul. If I watched it every day I might tire of it, but I only go out a few times a year - which always makes it spectacular. I’ve shared a few of my photos below. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

This is a beautiful home out in Calico Basin and I love its colors and especially the Red Rocks directly behind it.

The Red Rocks along with the desert brush and more traditionally colored hills in the background are a favorite

I really thought the sun reflections and the break up with the texture of the rocks made this an interesting shot.
And then I played with it and added a little grunge.

Las Vegas, Rain, Grandchildren, Hiking

Dean, Lexi, & Ellen on the steps to
Calico Basin in Red Rock. The steps
are an exception and not the rule.

When we lived in the Midwest we loved a good rain and thunderstorm. Unless it was accompanied by tornadoes. The same is true in Las Vegas. The only exception is that our thunderstorms only occur 2 or 3 times a year. That makes them BIG events. Last week we had almost 3 full days of thunderstorms and heavy rain (heavy for Las Vegas). Because Las Vegas sits in the bottom of a bowl all the rain runs downhill to the lowest parts of town and gains some impressive speeds. It doesn't take much rain to create a flood. They say a 6 inch flow of water will move a car - a long ways. Most of us take our storms seriously knowing that there will be flooding, high water and the like.

Mix all that rain with a house full of grandchildren who want to go to the parks and play and it even gets more interesting. Fortunately that all worked out pretty well and there was enough dry time for them to have a great time at the parks.

Thursday was a moderately heavy rain day. We live almost right up against the mountain on the west side of town. Behind the mountain in Red Rock National Conservation Area, a beautiful area of mountains, plains, and enjoyment. Those mountains around Red Rock channel the storms and they tend to get heavier rain then we do.

Friday morning began with a beautiful sunshine and nice cool weather. I figured it was time to take the two big girls, Ellen and Alexis, and their Dad to Calico Basin. It is in Red Rock and about a 2.5 mile hike that takes 2 hours. It's all up and down and requires some bouldering. Both girls are big enough to engage in the bouldering, so we started out. At the gate I used my new $10 over-65 lifetime pass to national parks, recreation areas, and the like - You've got to take advantage of those over 65 deals!

I took the hike to Calico Basin for the first time last February with Tim. So I was familiar with the trail and knew what to expect. The first thing we noticed was that the rain had widened the channel (see photo). Some of the new cuts were 5 feet deep and looked like a knife had slide the soil away. There were also quite a few uprooted trees. Last time we walked up the wash and used that as our primary trail for about 30%f the hike. This time there was water in the wash so that meant we were climbing from the very beginning.

It was beautiful. The rain had cleared the sky. It was bright, the colors were magnificent, and the hike was refreshing! It was refreshing in February too, but a tad bit cooler that day. The girls kept up with a minimum of complaint and sometimes we had to ask them to wait for us! Well, me, not Dean, their Dad. There were spots where we crossed the wash and got our shoes a little muddy and our socks a little wet, but we lived through those experiences. They are part of the fun.

Ellen, Alexis, and Grandpa enjoying the beauty!

You can see the rugged beauty of Red Rock area, and the clouds that were
beginning to move in.

We even found hail left over from the storm. It wasn't a lot, but it was fun to find
in Southern Nevada.

We got to the top and looked at Calico Basin and saw about 3 feet of water in the bowl. I stuck with the girls while Dean went around to the other side to see the valley. Normally we go through the bowl to get the view of the valley. While all of this was going on we also recognized that the clouds were moving in and they were very dark. We decided it was time to scoot out of there as fast as we could, which isn't very fast when you are trying to be safe. Nonetheless we beat the storm. It just started to rain as we left, we got a little light hail, and later as we were driving on the main highway looking back we could see the rain coming down pretty good. We felt for all those folks who were out on the trail. We had a great time!

The Bake gang about half way through the hike!

Grandpa, Lexi, & Ellen celebrating!

Hiking in Red Rock

A couple of weeks ago Tim was in town for the weekend. We went to Death Valley on Friday and on Monday before he left we got up early and went for a walk in Red Rock. It was Martin Luther King Weekend and we stopped by on Saturday afternoon and that was a bad idea. It felt like half of Las Vegas was present. Tim went on a short hike, but wanted to do more, so on Monday morning we took off. It was a cool and windy morning and we decided to take a moderate trail. I hate to think what a difficult hike would be like. I don't climb quite like I used to, but we took off on the short hike. It was a beautiful hike. For January the weather had been unusually warm.

We started off up the trail, which is a stream when it rains, and the trees were green and there was sand to walk on. As we went up the trail we began to get to the rocks. In some instances there were stairs that were obviously created by moving rocks around. They fit nicely into the environment.

Tim and I, however, sometimes had to find the trail when it wasn't so obvious. We got sidetracked by rock formations, beautiful scenery, and just plain curiosity. We took lots of photos so we didn't make good time, but it wasn't about making good time it was about enjoying the place and each other.

When we finally go to where the trail took us it was a deep bowl that obviously filled with water when there was rain. It wasn't real impressive from a beauty perspective, but from a geological perspective it was pretty. However, Tim and I thought there must be something better to see so we hiked a little bit further and all of a sudden we had a 270 degree ranging from Las Vegas around to all of Red Rock Conservation Area. It was the real frosting on the cake for a great morning.

We found our way back, although we got side tracked a couple of times and then got Tim to an airplane. It was a great morning.

Looking South East towards Calico Basin and Las Vegas
in the distance

I'm just overwhelmed by the beauty of this area. It is just awesome.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Hawk Sighting...

It's not often I write 2 blogs in one day and these 2 are almost 8 hours apart, so it could be two days - dawn and dusk?

This morning Tim, Joshua, and I went out to Calico Basin in the Red Rock Conservation Area for a little walk. Calico Basin is about a mile before the main entrance to Red Rock and a smidgen off the beaten path. You walk up a ramp that cuts back on itself several time until you get to the plateau. The ramp links to a boardwalk that extends around the perimeter of Calico Basin and keeps people out of the spring and field that is downstream. It is up against the mountain and there are many rocks of large size. As I've said before, it is one of JoAnn and my favorite spots for an afternoon or morning walk.

We got to the top and were just starting to walk around. Joshua was absolutely excited, climbed down from his dad's shoulders and started to troop off. Just as that was happening we saw a disturbance on the far side of the meadow. It was a large bird extending its wings to get into the air. It flew a short distance landed, surveyed its area, and took off again landing on a larger rock close by.

I looked at it, could see it clearly, and quickly determined it was an eagle. Upon review of my photos I determined it was too small for an eagle, but certainly fit the hawk size. From afar it flew, but as we got closer it ignored us while it ate its breakfast. I cursed myself for leaving my telephoto lens in the car, but I wasn't going back for it. I didn't want to take a chance and have the hawk leave. I shouldn't have worried. When we left the hawk was still there and probably taunting us. As I said, were not sure what kind of hawk it was, but suspect it was either a Red Tail hawk or a Swainson's hawk. Bottom line - it was fun for Tim and I to see it. Joshua was a little busy running ahead to spend much time worrying about a hawk.

We were out early enough to catch the morning dew and frost, which we almost never have in southern Nevada. But, after 5 days of rain it was humid this morning. As you can see from the following photo, it made for a beautiful photo of Tim and Joshua as they worked their way down the west side of the boardwalk. Click on the photo to see the larger size.

The morning just confirmed how much fun it is to go for a walk on a beautiful Christmas Eve morning in Las Vegas and bond.

He's Walking, He's Walking …

It has been 7 weeks since my surgery and I'm walking better and better, even with an occasional setback from over doing it! Today I'm down with lower back pain because I didn't listen to my body on Thursday. However, overall, I'm doing so much better then before the surgery. This past week JoAnn and I even went out walking a few times. For example a week ago we walked a mall for the first time in over a year and then on Monday I suggested we go out to one of our favorite spots - Calico Basin, located in Red Rock Conservation Area, just a few miles from our home.

Calico Basin is a natural spring with a boardwalk around the meadow and a spectacular view of some gorgeous mountains. We enjoyed the view and especially being able to walk together. It is so good to be able just to walk without pain and to walk longer than 100 or 200 yards. I took a couple of photos while we were walking around and thought I would share them.

We had Winter Last Week

Last week we had winter and monsoon season all in three days. It wasn't much of a winter for those of us accustom to midwest winters, but then, this being our 3rd winter in Las Vegas, we found it quite refreshing. The last 2 winters we have had a little snow at our house, but so far this year it has restricted itself to the mountains, which we can see from our home. I do love the snow and I love it even more from a viewing distance.

Just to give you a sense of how wintery it was here, and I use the term winter loosely, we had our 3 days of rain and 1.79 inches of official rain. We had another day of rain this week. The amazing thing is that we exceeded in 3 days all of the 2009 rainfall total (1.59 inches). It is an adjustment when you realize that 1.59 inches in a day in Indiana was not uncommon.

On Saturday morning, the first day after our rain I drove out to the Spring Mountains past the Red Rock Conservation area. I love going out at sunrise, especially when there are low clouds coming over the mountain. It almost looks like a waterfall or ocean wave cresting over the top of the mountain. As the sun crests to the east and I'm looking west at the mountains it touches the top lighting the top against the darkness of the rest of the mountain. There is a beauty I find difficult to describe as I watch the sun march down the mountain and bring life and beauty to it.

As the sun raises in the east it marches down the mountain in the west. Mixed with the clouds cresting over the mountains the mix of white, sunrise orange, , and gold of the rocks mixes to give a warm glow for the morning.

We've Seen Snow...Again

We have had such a beautiful winter (sorry kids), it seemed almost bitter-sweet when the temperature dropped into the 30's for lows over the last 10 days. Even more so we have experienced quite a few rain days (which of course we need). We even had a real midwestern rain day, as noted in a previous blog.


A week ago today, however, we knew rain had just passed and weather was still southern Nevada cold. We had no snow, but as I drove off to the dentist for a 7 am appointment I noticed a little snow on the front mountains, but it wasn't until 90 minutes later when I drove out of the parking lot looking west and I saw the full impact. No, it is not a Wasatch snow and it's not much good for snow caves or cross-country skiing, but it is a Red Rock snow and it is beautiful.

Go to my flickr account to see this panorama as well as other photos, or click on the photo and it will give you a full-screen (width) representation.

We feel fortunate to live so close to the Red Rock Conservation Area and to be able to go out and visit it on a regular basis. We have photos from multiple seasons, but I didn't really have any good snow photos. I was tugged to go work, but also tugged to take some photos. I rationalized, since I did have writing to do, and drove home, picked up my camera and was out the door. The photos in this blog are of Red Rock shortly after the storm and before the sun got too much hold on them. I think they are gorgeous. By the way, I did get some writing done, so no guilt.

Sunrise at Red Rock Canyon

This morning I slept in, which means I was not up at 4:30 am, however, I was still up by a little after 6 am and once I got going I though, why not go out to Red Rock Canyon and shoot some sunrise photos. I've been wanting to do that for some time and since we just finished 2 days of rain, now seemed perfect.

I peeked out the back window and sure enough there were clouds, although I didn't look towards Red Rock. That waited until I got into the car. The clouds on the mountains behind our house presaged my anticipation for mountains bathed in clouds. I knew that Red Rock wouldn't disappoint me. However, it was getting late and I was afraid I might engage in a race with the sun. You cannot win a race with the sun. It can climb higher faster than you can drive horizontally.

It's only 5 miles to Red Rock Canyon from our house, but another 6 miles to where I planned to shoot. As I went by the BLM entrance to Red Rock Conservation Area I was really glad I hadn't planned to go into the area. The gate doesn't open until 7 am. All the climbers and hikers were anxiously waiting outside for the gate to open.

Of course, the pickup in front of me was a 50 mph model, or at least the driver was, and as soon as I could see the canyon I knew I had missed those first precious moments of sunrise. I still knew I would enjoy the sunrise, even if at 50 mph. I thought about passing, but that would distract from the beauty I was enjoying.

Finally we both got to where I planned to shoot and while the pickup drank coffee and watched the sun march down those beautiful mountains, I started shooting, resolving the whole time to leave just 10 minutes earlier next time.

The pickup left, somewhat slower than 50 mph, and I continued to enjoy the gorgeous view. Having such beautiful scenery just 10 minutes from home is one of the great benefits of living in Las Vegas. We could have just about picked a home anywhere in the valley and not have the opportunity to enjoy Red Rock so close.

I got home, loaded the photos on to my computer and shared them with JoAnn. I was blown away by how well they came out. It was worth the drive. I put 23 of them on my flickr site. Actually they are being uploaded as I write this post.

At 3 pm I finally had time to load the photos into Aperture and do some adjusting. One more time I relived the glory of the sunrise. It was a beautiful 50 degree morning with low hanging clouds some dark, some misty, some billowing. The bright sunshine cascading down the slopes fo the canyon or dancing off the clouds just stirred me.

What a great start to a great day.