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Bill Bikes My bicycling expeditions and jaunts |
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Red Rock Canyon, part 1, February 2020
National Conservation Area: A Photographic Log
8 February 2020
Yesterday I rode the River Mountains Loop. For the second ride from my temporary base in Las Vegas, I chose Red Rock Canyon. According to what I read online, that National Conservation Area featured a paved road for cars through a stunningly scenic area. But it was a wide, low-speed, one-way loop with plenty of room for bikes. All that turned out to be true. Spectacular scenery. Lots of traffic, but low speed. Nice wide road with plenty of room for bikes.The loop road being only about fourteen miles, I figured it wouldn't take very long to pedal. Thus, I was in no hurry to get started. I spent a lot of time devouring the free breakfast at the motel while the day warmed up. Then I drove to the entrance to Red Rock Canyon, expecting to be able to start riding around 10:30. Wrong. I had no idea the place was so popular. Traffic was backed up on the shoulder of the highway for almost a mile from the entrance. It took me more than half an hour to inch my way to the entrance station and wave my Senior park pass at the harried attendant.
Despite a slight delay caused by being stuck in the massive influx of traffic, the ride worked out very well. The loop and all the parking lots along the route stayed very busy all day, but the one-way road was quite commodious. With no oncoming traffic, there was plenty of room for everyone. With such low speed limits, I didn't need to worry much about traffic racing up behind me.
However, I was in for another shock when I finished the loop (actually a horseshoe) and exited the park. From the loop's exit, I already knew it would be about three easy miles on a modest highway with a wide shoulder in order to get back to the entrance and the visitor center where my car was parked. When I reached the entrance—through which it had taken me forever to get in during the morning—there was a big knot of cars, bikes, and people jammed up outside the gate. What? The gate was closed and the entrance completely blocked off. Big signs insisted "Full! Closed to cars, bikes, and pedestrians. Do not enter!"
I talked to some of the cyclists, and they said they had been waiting for over an hour to get in. According to them, rangers returned intermittently to shoo everyone away from the gate. No one seemed to know when or if the park would reopen.
Well, my car was already parked at the visitor center, and I just wanted to retrieve it, throw the Ogre inside, and take off. That seemed like a perfectly reasonable excuse for ignoring the "Closed" and "Do not enter" signs. The entrance was seriously blocked off and impossible to go around, but I managed to carefully lift the Ogre over the gate and drop it on the far side. As I climbed on the gate and prepared to leap into the sealed off park, someone called out, "Watch out! The rangers are going to get you!"
Sure enough, as soon as I mounted the Ogre and started to pedal up the park road toward the visitor center and my waiting Forester, the ranger's truck came flying down the road at me with lights flashing and siren wailing. I stopped and he screeched to a halt beside me, turned off the siren, rolled down the window, and bellowed, "The park is closed. Turn around and leave RIGHT NOW!"
I promptly tried to explain that I just wanted to exit the park with my car, which would actually free up some space for everyone else. "Sure," he said disbelievingly, "You and a thousand other people looking for an excuse to get in." But I persisted, and eventually he gave in. "All right. Go get your car and get out of here and don't let me see you again."
With that I pedaled to the Forester, loaded up, and headed back to base.
PS: In addition to the crowded loop road, hiking trails lead farther up into the canyon and surrounding mountains. The day after I was there, a hiker went missing, Two days later his body was discovered in the backcountry.
Starting up the loop road from the visitor center.
There's not much to say about most of these photos. They're just shots of the canyon and mountains taken from the edge of the road as I pedaled around the loop.
Amazing colors, layers, and textures in every direction.
There's a hiking trail somewhere down there.
Along the loop can be found about ten or twelve parking lots, most with trailheads.
Off in the distance.
No parking allowed on the loop road except in designated lots, but easy for bikes to pull over where cars can't.
The loop road has one relatively long, fairly steep uphill stretch.
No problem for this woman on her electric rental bike.
Another electric rental bike.
I saw about a dozen non-electric bikes on the loop, not counting the guys piled up at the closed gate in the afternoon.
And another electric rental bike.
Right after him, I saw a peloton of at least a dozen riders on matching electric bikes being herded along by a guide.
I have to confess, on the uphill the entire peloton zoomed right past me.
Comments? Questions? Suggestions? I'd like to hear from you.
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