SW US - Ken Herman

04/2020 - SW Hiking Trip

First thing I have to say about this trip is that it didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to.

I was supposed to head out to Las Vegas, climb, continue up to Oregon and see some awesome geysers along the way; then do some white water rafting training; and then head back.

Covid-19 ruined most of it.

On the way out, everything started shutting down. But, since I camp, no big deal.

One place that was still open was Petrified Forest National park. So, I had to stop.

Photos were just OK. But, beggars can’t be choosers.

I made it out to Las Vegas, but then Nevada shut down the climbing area (Red Rock) and all the facilities around it.Luckily, there was still a free camping site open 20 miles outside of Vegas - Lovell Canyon.

I was able to get in to some hikes along the road. And, I convinced my (now hiking) partner to fly in, even with the shutdowns.

We did get some really good hiking in. We did two major hikes - Wilson peak and Turtle head peak.

On the way up Wilson peak.

At the top of Wilson peak. The tallest area inside Red Rock…

A cool view on the way back down from Wilson beak.

And another.

Since Red Rocks was shut down, we had to sneak in through one of the passes from a public area that was still open to hike up to Turtle head peak.

One thing non-hikers may not know is that there are sometimes boxes at the top of peaks in which you can sign your name and date of completion. You can see it in the photo above. The one below, my partner is just getting to it.