Mt Charleston Local

Fall colors at Mt Charleston

Fall my favorite season has finally arrived. Here's a few shots from the lower South Loop Trail

Bristlecone Sunset

Storm Clouds

A summer storm engulfs Mummy Mountain.

Clearing Storm in the Springs

Mummy Mountain peeks through the clouds in Kyle Canyon...Good Stuff

Fall Color along the Bristlecone Trail

Mt Charleston

South Loop Trail

Lots of snow up on the South Loop a real mixture of sloppy snow and rock hard ice.

South Loop Aspens

Mt Charleston Wilderness

Snow on the trail

It felt good to up high and hiking today. Winter is finally giving way to spring a little bit each day. Some of the trails in the Mt Charleston Wilderness are covered with snow and route finding is a little challenging , but oh so rewarding

Crosscut Saw

Few things in life are as much fun to use as a two person crosscut saw...no really. I went up the South Loop Trail with Ranger Suzanne to remove a fallen tree that was blocking the South Loop Trail. It was really chilly up there , but the sharp teeth of the saw made short work of the tree.

Happy Halloween

Forest Ranger Suzanne gets in the Halloween mood as she goes off to do some trailwork. After seeing that double sided axe; I hope she's kidding.....Boooo!

Fall Colors South Loop Trail Mt. charleston

The colors have turned and wait for the wind to carry them away. Here a few shots from the South Loop Trail from Wednesday

Fall at Mt Charleston

Leaves of Gold are popin' in the Mt Charleston Wilderness. I've been hiking around the Mt Charleston Wilderness the last couple days and I just happened to get some fall color photos. Here a few from Trail Canyon and the North Loop Trail.

Keeping it Wild

Making a difference.

Sometimes we ask ourselves, "what can I do?" Well if you were to ask Bill James, John Hiatt & John Bialecki they would say "a lot." We were all sadden to hear of the graffiti in Fletcher Canyon, one of the prettiest canyons in the Mt Charleston Wilderness. I heard comments from a lot of folks, about the graffiti and how somebody needs do something about it. Well when these three guys heard about it they asked, "when are we going up there to clean it up?" Thanks to the partnership between Friends of Nevada Wilderness and the good folks at the US Forest Service we got our opportunity today. It took about 6 good hours of hard scrubbing but these guys made a real difference...Fletcher is Wild once more. If you want to get involved, if you want to make a difference on your public lands, please join us on a Friends of Nevada Wilderness stewardship project. We would love to team up with you to Keep it Wild.

Rough Angelica (Angelica scabrida )

Here is a shot of one of the endemic plants of the Mt Charleston Wilderness. I think its pretty cool that is plant is found no where else in the world but right here. Here is a link to more on Rough Angelic if you're interested.


http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/htnf/resources/wildflowers/rough_angelica.shtml

Getting Stuff Done

Long time Las Vegas Conservationist, and Friends of Nevada Wilderness Board Member John Hiatt is working to protect the ancient Bristlecones on the summit of 11,070 Griffith Peak in the Mount Charleston Wilderness ...yes it was raining & hailing...Go John!
The photo above John shows one the campfire rings with a little bit of ancient Bristlecone wood next to the ring ready to stoke the flames. The Bristlecone in the background has been plucked clean for firewood...we can do better.

Check this out: Link to front page Las Vegas Review Journal Article By Keith Rogers

http://www.lvrj.com/news/57542707.html


BTW- The was our first official project in Las Vegas during my watch. What a way to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, with lightning, thunder, hail, rain, wind, and get it all captured by a newspaper man and then see it on the front page of the area biggest newspaper. Oh my gosh it just doesn't get any better than that...Really Good Stuff!

Between a Toe and a Tummy

We hiked up to the ridge between the Mummy's Toe and the Mummy's Tummy.
For those of you who haven't had the pleasure to hike in the Mt. Charleston Wilderness, Mummy Mountain looks a mummy laying down with his hands on his chest...well it does...no really. It is just that you have to see it from Lee Canyon. I'll be up there one of these days and get some shots for you. Anyway, back to this post, we hiked to Mummy spring then we followed a trail that led slowly up the ridge then eventully the trail just went straight up ..real steep stuff. The trail ended at the ridge with a great view of Mt Charleston, but the sky was really washed out, so no pics. If you look at the last pic you will see a notch on the ridge that where we were...caught between a toe and a tummy on the Mummy.