For those of you who are excited
the lake is on its way back, here is an update on the water level. It's
moving up quickly, my best guess is around four feet per week. The
following pics are good indicators of where the water level is at from
only a couple weeks ago.
By
the end of February 2020 I would presume, at the current volume of
fill, the lake should be full. While I'm sure some people will one again
introduce invasive species into the waters we can at least enjoy the
view.
If you see
someone dumping something into the water or doing what they shouldn't be
please use your cell phone to take a picture or video and bring it to a
ranger.
On another side note, thankfully, rangers are diligently patrolling the trails, thank you rangers!
Have you ever heard of or visited Grapevine Canyon? This is a must-do hike. The area is deserted most of the time. I have hiked here twice and have never seen a soul.
The following graphic is an inverted trail map from the last visit I made. You can see the trail itself is reasonably straight but I like to take many detours to really see the sites.
Driving to the canyon is not difficult. From Las Vegas, you need to take US 95 South towards Needles, Laughlin, or Bullhead. From the intersection of US95 and US93 head south for approximately 55 miles. Turn left, east, NV163 for 12.8 miles and turn left, north, onto the dirt road. At the entrance of the dirt road, you will see the sign in the following graphic. I placed GPS coordinates onto the pictures so you are able to both navigate to the location and throughout.
The hike is not strenuous but don't do this during the heat in the middle of the summer unless you arrive very early or about two hours before dark. The next graphic shows the elevation gains from my hike.
Here are a few GPS waypoints for your convenience. Don't just trust these because I've posted them, use your own device to also mark your parking spot, just in case. You never know, my device may have been way off, so use them at your own risk.
At the trailhead and parking lot there are very nice restrooms. Use them before you start hiking. Why go on the trail when you have such a convenient item.
Also at the trailhead is a sign letting you know more information about the area.
The beginning of the trailhead is clearly marked.
The really great aspect of this hike is all the petroglyphs, they're all over the rocks.
As you hike further into the canyon you will come across some interesting rock areas. One of these areas is as smooth as glass and was obviously formed by millions of years of water flow. Note in the next picture you can see the smooth rock on the left, but also look to the top of the picture in the center. There's a huge multi-ton boulder caught between two cliff faces.
These next pictures give you a better view of the boulder.
In the picture above, #19, you can see on the lower-left, the green plants growing, these are what gives the canyon its namesake. They're wild grapevines.
At the time I took this hike it was in the middle of summer and about two hours before dark. It was hot but not unbearable. I mention this because there was still water in some of the crevices of the smooth rocks.
Next are a patch of several dead trees. They are the only ones left laying around these parts. They may very well be the last of any trees which grew in this hot desert.
You can go further than this last photo shows, but my meandering took quite some time to get here so this is the point, this time, where I turned around. As long as you stay in the wash you really can't become lost.
The next time you visit Vegas, if you have the opportunity, don't pass this quick trip by.
Happy hiking.
