After hiking around in the snow for a bit then jumping in and making snow angels we felt it time to warm up and made our way back to the car. From there we headed out on the scenic route that loops around the mountains, connecting the various mountain ridges of the parks together. We usually approach from the other entrance by Mount Charleston lodge, so coming in from the other direction this time was a lot of fun! We stopped at several view points along the way before eventually ending up at the Mount Charleston lodge for hot cocoa. Definitely recommended after walking around in the cold for a few hours! There's even a series of adorable cabins you can rent up there along with rooms near the lodge, which I imagine is quite lovely. There's also RV and regular camping for those who prefer to get a little more up close and personal with their wilderness. We didn't have the time for those things on this trip, though we hope to make it back soon and camp overnight! It's really only a short drive from the Vegas Valley so if you're an out of town visitor looking for something different than the usual Las Vegas strip stay I can highly recommend you check out the camping either here at Mount Charleston, out at Valley of Fire, Red Rock Canyon or Bonnie Springs Ranch! There's a lot more to do in the Las Vegas area than get drunk and gamble away your life savings, and believe it or not our desert landscape offers a bounty of different ecosystems and environments rife with various animal and plant species to encounter. Now that we have Vanticore in our armada to make camping and exploring easier, we're definitely planning to get out and about and explore all the beautiful national and state parks surrounding our fair glittering city. I hope that you enjoy these photos from our outing and that they inspire you to go out on an adventure all your own! If you don't have a vehicle of your own at your disposal you can opt to take a Lyft, Uber or get a rental car- in this instance getting a rental car (or even better yet, a camper van) would likely be your best route. You can even bicycle out there if you're so inclined!
More photos below!
There's a lot of mountains bordering Vegas, which is why it's called the Vegas Valley. The Spring Mountains, Charleston, and Red Rock are all out towards the western edge of the city and can be found to interconnect through a winding route of roads and hiking trails. On this trip we took a route into Charleston that we weren't necessarily as familiar with- given as much, we opted to stop at many of the scenic viewpoints along the drive to take in the cool winter beauty of the forested mountains. Tourist traffic was relatively slow for the time while we were there, though there were plenty of families out enjoying the snow closer to the freeway and the Mount Charleston lodge. In between the two there were many labyrinthine curves and cliffs to be navigated and the serene landscape offers a true escape from the artificiality and pompous show of the Strip. If, after driving among the snowy crests and looming foliage, you feel a hankering for something warm and filling, or perhaps a strong drink and some human companionship, you can make your way over to the Charleston Lodge. We opted for the large, fancy, Hot Chocolates with whipped cream and all the trimmings. They were delicious, though rich, and we were unable to finish our's though we definitely gave it a shot. In the end, with our bellies full and our the sun sliding behind the horizon, we were happy...and in the end, isn't that the goal all along?
XOXO,
NAU
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