RonnieAdventure #0396 - Ash Canyon Loop Hike - Red Rock Canyon NCA, Clark County, Nevada

Panoramic Picture by Kolohe (Taken From Kraft Trailhead Looking Northwest)

From the Kraft Mountain Loop trailhead there are three mountain peaks visible to the northwest. Kraft Mountain is on the right and the loop trail around the mountain is probably the most popular hike in the area. The trail goes up to a saddle between the two most eastern mountains and then drops down into Gateway Canyon. Following Gateway Canyon to the east in a clockwise direction, the trail eventually winds around the mountain and ends up back at the trailhead. 

There is also an out-and-back trail that goes northwest to Ash Springs, which is located at the base of the westernmost mountain. 

Although not shown on the Red Rock Canyon NCA maps, a loop around the center mountain is delineated on one of the AllTrails maps. Therefore, we decided to follow the Kraft Trail Loop to Gateway Canyon and then go counterclockwise around the middle mountain for a great RonnieAdventure! 

The hike to the saddle between the two mountains is steeper than it appears in the pictures, so we stopped several times for rest breaks and to take pictures of the unusual rock formations along the trail. (As I get older, some of the trails seem steeper than I remember them from the last time I hiked the trail.)

The below picture was taken from the saddle between the two mountains, looking back at the trailhead.

From the saddle, looking toward Gateway Canyon, Turtle Head Peak is visible in the background.

Hiking down to Gateway Canyon there were more unusual rock formations along the way.  

Walking in Gateway Canyon was fairly easy at first and we even encountered some snow in the shady areas.

However, when we came to the junction where we had to continue our counterclockwise loop, we found a lot of brush and rock in the canyon. After climbing over some rocks and winding our way around and through the brush, we eventually arrived at the saddle between the two most western mountains sporting a few unexpected cuts and scratches 

Picture by Kolohe

Mojave Yucca (Yucca schidigera)

Nevada Agave (Agave utahensis)

Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus acanthodes)

The view from the saddle was great, unfortunately, there was no trail leading down the canyon. That is when we realized it was going to require a lot of rock scrambling to get back to the trailhead. 

On our way down the canyon we encountered a number of Class III drops, but noting that required ropes or climbing gear.  

Picture by Kolohe

Picture by Kolohe

Although it took a lot longer than we had anticipated to work our way down the canyon, there were some interesting geological features along the way.

Looking back up the canyon that we had just descended. The rest of the hike back to the trailhead was mostly level terrain

BONUS HISTORICAL PICTURES (Jerry, Grandpa Welty, Ronnie)