Sixty one?

Thursday and Friday we put the Jeep through its paces.   Pam and John (ohtheplacestheygo.wordpress.com) had been in this area two years ago and suggested a couple of lesser known Jeep roads with nice hikes at their terminus.

We picked NP61 (aka Crane's Nest Road) as our first drive as it was known to be an easier road and hike.    We packed a lunch, loaded Lewis in the backseat, picked up a paper map from the Lake Mead Visitor Center and set off.     At mile marker 8 off rt. 93 we were to see a NP yellow marker indicating the dirt track  we were looking for.    Nope, no marker.   Only one bullet riddled sign telling us that this was an area where hunting was allowed, therefore no target shooting. Alrighty then, we stowed our target guns,  drove over the cattle guard and started down the wash towards the unseen river.

Lewis had no idea where we were going but whistled softly in excitement most of the bumpy way.

We enjoyed the drive, the landscape and the jeep's easy handling of the rocks and deep sand.   Never did we see a marker of any kind telling us we were going right, but Dave doggedly followed the tracks and all went well.

We love it when the GPS says we're not on a road, we're nowhere, there is nothing ahead,  but Sirius radio still serenades us with lovely classical music!    Definitely our kind of day.


The "road" became impassable after 4 or 5 miles so we took Lew and our lunch and continued on foot.

The walls of the hike were lined with interesting rock formations.    Yes, more rock pictures!

study in pink

Lew practices his Mountain Goat moves on the rock ledges

The canyon and wash ended at the Colorado River, our lunch destination.

a fuzzy head photo bombs the River

Lew enjoyed himself running around the shore, sniffing the breeze coming up the river and a tidbit or two of our ham sandwich....life's small pleasures.

pointing into the wind, enjoying the smells moving past

We walked along the shore for a bit, enjoyed our lunch in the shade and then hiked back to the Jeep for our ride back home.

After all, it's the journey not the destination.