Pine Creek Trail

 
 
 
 

The last picture here is actually the real reason why we decided to head into the canyon off the trail... we, um, decided to start climbing really early on, and the hillside we decided to climb proved to be a little steeper than we anticipated. At least when it came to getting back down... So.... we forged our own way :-)

Red Rock Canyon - Pine Creek Trail

 
 
 
 
So, other than hunting for burros, we had yet another truly amazing hike in Red Rock Canyon. There are so many trails out there to do... and so many glorious offshoots of all of those trails. This week, we decided to try the Pine Creek Trail, since we figured it would be flowing pretty nicely after last week's big snow. We were right - the creek was really flowing, and it was stunning. No other words for it. The water was crystal clear, which was perfect, since every single rock in that darned creekbed was speckled, striped, swirled, crystaled, or otherwise gem-like. The trail led into the canyon, but we decided that we wanted to hike the creekbed into the canyon, and take the trail back out. Good decision. Here are about a million pictures of our escapades.

Burros!

 
 
 
 
We spent yesterday out at Red Rock (of course) and this time, our main focus while we were in the car was finding burros. And it worked! The first couple we found before we went hiking, and they were so cute! Especially the little one - I've never seen a young burro, and had no idea they were so fuzzy and shaggy! When Steve spotted this mamma/baby duo, the little one was laying on the ground, and he rolled over on his back a couple of times before he stood up. Love the fuzzy ears!

The guy in the last 2 pictures was on the road out to Bonnie Springs. I think he knew how much Steve wanted to see him :-)

Warming Up

 
Once we got back down to the meadow, we both ran again to stay warm - at first it was just to build heat, and then we both got hooked on the pure joy of flying over the rocks and dodging obstacles. By the time it was done, I think we'd probably run about 3/4 of a mile back out to the car. It felt great! We were both famished by then, and the siren song of Bonnie Springs was calling to us.

I know I've blogged about Bonnie Springs in the past; it's a really cheesy, yet somehow totally lovable ghost-town attraction on the far side of Red Rock. The restaurant is pretty quaint, and utterly perfect. At night, it's lit only by lanterns, and a huge, open fire pit. They have the best buffalo burgers (which we belushied in 2 minutes flat) and that fire, with a glass of wine was just what the doctor ordered. I even dug the live music (country, with a little western thrown in)

It's been a really, really great week.

Chilly Beauty

 
 
 
 

Snowy Dusk

 
 
 
 

Snowy Red Rocks

 
 
 
 

SNOW!

 
 
 
 

It was so cold by this point in time that if it was even close to safe enough, I was running on the trail, just trying to stay warm. This trail was pretty cool because it was snuggled up to the mountains... but as we were going into this canyon, you could only barely see them! Beautiful. Purely beautiful.

And, the snow moves in

 
 
 
 

Heck of a climb

 
 
 
 
Steve took this series of pictures becasue neither one of us could believe that we actually made it up this rock face. If you look behind me in the first shot, you can see the main trail... which explains why my legs were a little trembly the next day

Our own little caves

 
 
 
 
Steve and I each found our own little caves, sized just for each of us. And, it's a good thing - check out that snow that's headed our way...