First, a little bit of business-Laura has signed a contract for the next three months to work in Riverside, CA. Unfortunately, this isn't up north where we wanted; it's in the orbit of Los Angeles. But it's work, and as long as the fires and mudslides don't get us, it should be fun. Maybe we'll see some celebrities. Anyway, we'll be leaving here in a week and a half, so if you need to mail us anything, wait until we move in in California. We don't have an address yet, but my task tomorrow is finding an apartment for us, so hopefully we'll be able to post that address soon. Keep watching this space.
Yesterday, Laura and I hiked the Goldstrike trail, a canyon that runs down to the Colorado river. The canyon starts out broad and flat, but narrows down to a rugged landscape of steep cliffs and jumbled rocks. About three miles down the canyon there's a hot spring that previous hikers have shaped into a series of pools suitable for bathing. The trail used to be fairly straightforward, but an earthquake a few years ago knocked a lot of boulders down, creating blockages that require intense scrambling and climbing to get past. Some of the blockages are intense enough to require ropes. Conveniently, ropes have been permanently installed by previous hikers.
We saw more wildlife than we have in the last three months combined, by which I mean we saw some wildlife. Seriously, the Vegas area is pretty barren. A few pockets of vegetation, but other than pigeons, no fauna to speak of. In the canyon we saw dozens of little blue-and-brown lizards, birds, butterflies, and other insects.
After hiking down to the springs, we decided not to traverse the last, most difficult rocks. The weather here has been heating up, and by lunchtime, we were dripping and beat, so we passed on taking a dip in the hot springs, too. By the time we made it back to the car, we were beat, and every muscle in our bodies seemed to have been used. Climbing over all the rocks was certainly a full-body workout!
