An easy three and a half hour drive returned us from the warmth of a boondock near Valley of Fire, Nevada, to our boondock-with-a-view of a freshly snow-capped Pine Mountain.
After a couple of red rock hikes with John and Charmaine in the Lake Mead area, we bid them farewell. We had motored to a lower-elevation boondock in order to escape yet another cold front bearing down on Southwest Utah. Less than a week later we found ourselves returning to Utah as temps inched into the 80's in Southern Nevada.
While boondocked in Nevada, we reprised a favorite nearby bike-path ride...The paved and hilly River Mountain Loop Trail.
It's about 35 miles the way we did it and, depending on lungs, legs, heat, type of bike, and motivation, you should allow between 3 and 5 hours. The loop has a few first gear grunts, but hey...it's paved so traction is never a problem. I enjoyed it so much that I did it twice on back-to-back days...then paid the price. :)
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| The ever-shrinking Lake Mead |
If you are lucky, you might even stumble across big horn sheep. These were right in Boulder City, having come down from the mountains for some easy grass.
Back at our boondock near Virgin, Utah, Bobbie and I decided to take on what I somewhat sardonically refer to as, "The Flying Monkey Loop." "Da Monkey" is a tad shorter than the River Mountain Loop, but what it lacks in distance is more than made up for in the 2500 feet of elevation gain...not to mention, scenery...
Mark and Bobbie
Oh my god that snake.....
ReplyDeleteOn the road to 80 :) (nothing but blue skies and clear sailing)
ReplyDeleteIt's going to go pretty dam fast Now
D & A
Gorgeous! Researched that River Mts loop trail and how it came to be is a great collaborative effort of many. Congress members should take heed!
ReplyDeleteSouthwestern Utah is just so pretty. Thanks for the ride recommendations. :)
ReplyDelete