Red Rock Canyon

The Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area is a few miles west of Las Vegas, so it was an obvious side trip when we were in the city on the weekend of Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day (see the Vegas post). It is easy to get to Red Rock Canyon on a long loop formed by Route 160 coming from the south end of the city and Route 159 coming from the central section of the city.

The maps above and below are courtesy of and copyright by Delorme. To learn more about Delorme and its mapping products, see http://www.delorme.com/.

The entrance to the Conservation Area is located near the “t” in Charleston Bl. on the above map. Pay the entrance fee at the booth. The daily fee is $5.00 as of this writing. The full one-way loop is 13 miles long. There are plentiful parking areas, some with rudimentary bathrooms.

Only vaguely remembering the last visit to the canyon, I woke around 4:30 am, then drove to Route 160 via I-15 from the hotel on the Strip. After stopping for gasoline, I arrived at the gate to the conservation area around 6:10. I drove the loop twice in three hours, stopping at places I missed on the first pass. The daylong pass allows for multiple trips around the loop, if you are so inclined.

As usual for early morning, the light quality shifted rapidly, but was generally good.

Early sunlight illuminates Mount Wilson's striped face.

 

Rainbow Mountain, shown above, resembles a giant molar tooth.

Sloping alluvial fans at the base of the mountains break the visual horizon. I framed the photos as close to true level as I could.

A view toward the south end of the canyon.

To the right of the frame of the photo above was a couple huddled under a coat over a large format camera on a tripod. Large format photography is generally considered to produce the best quality for landscape photography. I also shot around the couple for the photo below. In both cases, the subject was close, but framed the way I wanted it without including the other photographers.

The two above photos and the two following were all made in the Calico Hills, near the entrance. Using the hiking trails, it is relatively easy to get up close to the rock formations from the road, and multiple parking areas are close to the colored rock.

Red Rock Canyon is known world-wide for its rock climbing routes. Over 2,000 known rock climbing routes are contained within the conservation area.

The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) produced a “Keystone Visitor Guide” for Red Rock Canyon, and a copy is given to visitors when the fee is paid at the gate. The guide is full color on white book paper (appears to be recycled stock), and eight 11”X17” pages long. It is an excellent guide to the area, and includes a good descriptive list of 19 hiking trails, backed by a large hiking map.

For more information on the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area, see http://www.nv.gov/redrockcanyon.

Vegas

In daylight, Las Vegas is much like other southwestern desert cities with casinos. Except that it’s Vegas, of course, and therefore a mythical place in the human psyche, and on the map.
It was a map we lacked when we drove up from California on the weekend of both Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day. Dead reckoning would have worked out well, but the Strip was snarled. Sometimes I got the car up to 4 or 5 miles an hour for a couple seconds. It took us 55 minutes to drive from I-15 to Harrah's parking structure. But it was still better than flying into the airport.

The photo below is a view of Harrah's from the 3rd floor of the parking structure.

 
The photo below is a view from our 20th floor room. The window opened slightly toward the interior (see the windows in the photo above). I turned on the Vibration Reduction and Auto Focus, wrapped the strap around my neck, then handheld the camera out the window.
 
With both hands.
 
It was a matter of guessing if the camera was level and pointed in the desired direction. Once that was settled, I pressed the shutter button slightly, allowing the lens to autofocus, then pressed the button down further, firing the shutter.  

We were in the city because my wife Lisa, daughter, and son-in-law had tickets to see Garth Brooks on Sunday night. Lisa also was going to the Jersey Boys show on the previous night. I wasn't going to the show or concert, but was happy to be along for the weekend. Early Sunday was when my event was scheduled. I made a pre-dawn run out to Red Rock Canyon to the west of the city. See the Red Rock Canyon post for the photographs. 

Lisa waits yet again for the guy with the camera.

A gondolier conveys a couple around the canal at the Venetian. Top speed seemed to be about 1/16th of a knot. No chance of an on-the-job workout for the gondolier.

Chinese New Year decorations at the Palazzo.

Looking up.

A red dragon. Red being a good luck color, decorations don't get much more appropriate than this for Chinese New Year.

Although the Strip is interesting enough in daylight, it really comes visually alive after sundown. The following photos were made within a mile of our hotel. The venues for the show and concert were walking-distance close to our hotel, so we didn't have to drive the rental car or take a taxi anywhere, which was a relief.

 

Gondola and canal at the Venetian.

Columns and arches of the Venetian.

A footbridge at the Venetian rising toward Madame Toussant's. The photo shows the outside portion of the bridge, the traditional stairs. The center of the bridge is occupied by dual escalators.

Exterior of the Palazzo.

Night view from our room at Harrah's. Handholding the camera out the window never got less nerve-wracking.