Yesterday morning, accompanied by some macho friends, I went back up Turtlehead Peak at Red Rock NCA. Although some girls expressed interest in coming, since they did not, I went to this trail, which is among the more strenuous of hikes in the park. It's also among the least heavily traveled and most poorly marked, for reasons I will discuss later.
I was surprised by many things. Very few people were there when we got there, and we saw our first hikers on the trail when we were at the summit. The macho guys who came along were all worn out and fell asleep on the way home, primarily because they're not used to this type of hiking or hikes of this particular challenge. Turtlehead isn't a long trek per se, but the trail is deceptive at first as it follows a slight incline in the dry riverbed for the first mile or so before ascending up the saddle of the mountain over 2100 feet in the last 1.5 miles of the trail. At least we were in the shade for all but the last half mile. There is a geocache at the top where you can sign the book, and the views are spectacular (see my photos below) as long as smog is low since you can see almost all the way across the valley in which Las Vegas sits.
On the way down, we encountered other hikers. Many of them were on difficult sections of the trail. The limestone rock is ragged and unforgiving. To keep to the shade, many people were blazing their own trails or following lesser utilized ones. Like last time, many people simply gave up. Of course, they didn't start on the trail until about 9AM, which is pretty late for summer in the desert...
Some military and fire units use Turtlehead as part of their training. They carry gear up to the summit on a timed course as a way to measure their mettle and fitness. It makes a fine litmus test for hikers and a good refresher before you go anywhere else since it's shorter and relatively void of wildlife.
I was surprised by many things. Very few people were there when we got there, and we saw our first hikers on the trail when we were at the summit. The macho guys who came along were all worn out and fell asleep on the way home, primarily because they're not used to this type of hiking or hikes of this particular challenge. Turtlehead isn't a long trek per se, but the trail is deceptive at first as it follows a slight incline in the dry riverbed for the first mile or so before ascending up the saddle of the mountain over 2100 feet in the last 1.5 miles of the trail. At least we were in the shade for all but the last half mile. There is a geocache at the top where you can sign the book, and the views are spectacular (see my photos below) as long as smog is low since you can see almost all the way across the valley in which Las Vegas sits.
On the way down, we encountered other hikers. Many of them were on difficult sections of the trail. The limestone rock is ragged and unforgiving. To keep to the shade, many people were blazing their own trails or following lesser utilized ones. Like last time, many people simply gave up. Of course, they didn't start on the trail until about 9AM, which is pretty late for summer in the desert...
Some military and fire units use Turtlehead as part of their training. They carry gear up to the summit on a timed course as a way to measure their mettle and fitness. It makes a fine litmus test for hikers and a good refresher before you go anywhere else since it's shorter and relatively void of wildlife.
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