RonnieAdventure #0403 - The Canyons Hike, Lake Mead NRA, Clark County, Nevada

Panoramic Picture by Kolohe

When hiking in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, I typically first stop at the Visitor Center to pick up their latest hiking maps and other interesting information that they may have available for the public. 

The Canyons are located in an undeveloped area; so these hikes are not yet on their list of trails and no trail maps are available. Fortunately, before leaving home I had obtained some GPS coordinates from a hiking web site and we were able to combine two different hikes to make one loop trail.

Seven Falls Canyon and Many Falls Canyon are two parallel canyons leading into Lake Mead, not too distant from the Visitor Center. We decided to hike up Many Falls Canyon to the top of the ridge line, follow the ridge line over to Seven Falls Canyon, and then descend Seven Falls Canyon for out return trip. All I can say it that whoever named these canyons must have been there during a cloud burst because we did not find any water in either canyon, and this has been a wet winter in Las Vegas.

We started from an unmarked trailhead and within a short distance we found an area where the Park Service was currently removing what appeared to be an old water storage/treatment facility. I do not think this facility was connected to mining activity because the surrounding area is mostly volcanic rock. The water was probably used for domestic purposes at the nearby residential areas

The first part of the hike was in a sandy dry wash, but the trail soon turned into a narrow canyon with lots of large rocks to climb over.

Along the route there were various colored rocks, some covered with lichen and others contained shallow caves. Good examples of conglomerate rock were also found along the trail. 

Eventually, the canyon widened out and at one point we looked up and noticed some pretty cloud formations. 

From the ridge line there were nice views looking back down the canyon to the east at Lake Mead and to the west toward Las Vegas.

Following the ridge line, the trail passed more colorful rock formations and more shallow caves. Evidence in the caves indicated that bighorn sheep living in the ares apparently use the caves for shelters. There were also lots of small lizards along the trail.  

Panoramic Picture by Kolohe

Picture by Kolohe

As we descended down Seven Falls Canyon we encountered a variety of different colored rock formations along the trail. 

However, at the lower elevations the rocks were mostly composed of volcanic materials - some in unusual shapes. 

BONUS HISTORICAL PICTURES 

When I was a baby Aunt Effie and Uncle Erve Bates said they were going to kidnap me and take me to their house to live, but Wileta said I was needed to help around the farm. (Actually I wanted to go with them because they really spoiled me.) Aunt Effie used to help me feed the chickens.

Effie and Erve were really my dad's aunt and uncle. Erve was my dad's mother's brother. Erve's real name was George Everett Bates and he was born in Rio, Wisconsin. Effie's maiden name was Ridgeway. My dad's grandfather, on his mother's side, was Charles Thomas Bates and he was also born in Rio, Wisconsin. He married Rebecca Rorabaugh from Delphi, Indiana.