Hiking Red Rock Canyon and baseball

We had done a bit of a Red Rock recon on Monday.  Our recon allowed us to have a look at the area and its trails.

When we returned on Tuesday, we had a trail in mind and we made our way directly to the White Rock Trailhead.   We got our gear and set out.

The White Rock Trail takes hikers on a moderate to strenuous route through hills and canyons.  The terrain is fairly hilly and rocky.  The trail begins with a pretty long uphill section and offers beautiful views.

We had picked a couple of points that would allow for a turn around if we did not want to take the seven mile loop.

About 2.5 miles into the hike, we came across another trail called La Madre Springs.  We decided to take this short detour thinking it might be a good place to have our lunch.  The name also hinted that water might be available for Penny Lane to have a romp.  The detour was only .5 miles but it was uphill all the way.  We got to the spring in good time and the first order of business was for Penny to get wet.  The pool created by the spring was small but it was clear and cool.  Penny had a good play, Annie did some intense sniffing and we had our lunch.

We finished our lunch and hiked back down to the main trail.  This junction was our turn around or keep going point.  Turning around would make for a six mile hike but we would repeat what we had just done.  If we kept going, our hike would be seven miles but it would be new territory.  We kept going.

The trail continued to be fairly strenuous but we had good temperatures and a mixture of sun and clouds.  We also had mountains all around us and the cactus blooms dotted the landscape with color.

NOT CACTUS BUT PRETTY LITTLE THINGS

As our hike reached mile five, we came to another junction that took us up and over a fairly steep ridge line.  The terrain opened up but was still quite hilly.

HEADING UP TOWARDS THE RIDGE LINE

The final mile took us around the front side of White Rock and back to the car.  We know we have been on a long, hard hike when Penny Lane jumps right in the car.  She was tired.  I had carried Annie the entire hike so she was feeling just fine.  Rob and I were fairly tired but felt accomplished.

I MUST REALLY LOVE THIS LITTLE FURBALL

We made our way back to Lewis and Penny Lane got a good bath.  She had several layers of hikes on her and she was so dirty.  Her cold bath seemed to invigorate her and she seemed ready for another seven miles.  

If you like to hike, Red Rock Canyon offers quite a variety of trails.  We will go back one more time before we move.

RED ROCK TRAIL MAP

I will back up to Monday night for just a minute.  Rob and I took in a minor league baseball game.  The Las Vegas 51s are a Triple A affiliate of the New York Mets.  We have always loved minor league games.  The parks typically offer good seats for everyone and the tickets are affordable.  

AREA 51....LAS VEGAS 51s....COOL

We enjoyed the game and one of the highlights of the game was watching a foul ball land right in the middle of a lady's nachos.  No kidding.  A batter hit a foul ball into the section next to ours.  Folks were scrambling to get the ball.  She was just sitting there eating her nachos and then....PLOP.....a baseball landed right smack in the middle of her snack.  I do not know how she felt about that but we'd had:

Another great day in this thing we call life.