April 2, 2008

Exploring Henderson

Sunday we had lunch at Grimaldi's Pizza. They sent me a coupon for a free large pizza for my birthday. I think it's the best NY style pizza I've tried, but Frank thought Metro Pizza was better. In any case, you can't beat lunch for 2 for less than $5 (drinks).

From there we to Lake Mead Rec. Area to see if they allowed off-roading, they don't, you must stay on paved roads within the state park. I thought that might be the case. Plan B was to check out trails at Mission Hills (blue) near Black Mountain in Henderson. We ended up taking a detour near there.




There are many trails in that area. Some are well traveled (especially compared to the trail to Sloan) others are better accessed by quads and bikes. The weather was cool and windy. At the start of our adventure, the sky was cloudy and visibilty was low because of the debris in the air.

Looking across Henderson to Black Mountain with the strip in the distance


A trail in the opposite direction


Mountains that we drove through


Video: Climbing a mountain pass



It started to clear up when we got closer to civilization


Frank asked if I wanted to drive. I was a little hestitant, but I decided to give it try. After cruising along the pipeline for a while we came up houses fairly quick. From there we found another way into more trails near Sloan Canyon Conservation Area. Access is supposed to be restricted, but it doesn't seem like anyone abides since we came across several others playing in the same area.

In order to gain access I had to drive down this hill. It's doesn't look too tricky from this perspective, but at the top, I had no clue what was below... so it got my heart racing a bit.

I drove a little further, but then the trail got more challenging so I let Frank drive. Not only for our safety, but also because I'd enjoy it more from the passenger seat.




We cruised along the trails and I snapped pictures on the way

Another view of Black Mountain


Pretty natural landscape


We came upon an area that looked to be a good place to shoot.


We pulled out the Glock. Frank used an old barrel as a target. We weren't sure if there'd be any ricochets so we used the truck for cover.

I'm too short to shoot from behind the truck so I just shot into the mountain until I had a ricochet, then I found a dirt mound so I could finish off the clip.

Afterwards, we packed up and headed back on the trails.



We back tracked some and went a different direction from the retention basin. We followed a couple trails until they ended. One we'd like to return to when we have another vehicle with us. The other offered nice views of the valley.


After we made our way back we decided to call it a day. We went to Green Valley Ranch to catch a movie and planned to have dinner at Lucille's BBQ afterwards. But our timing didn't coincide with showtimes. Needless to say, we ended up at Lucille's first. We shared the spinach artichoke dip, a pulled pork sandwich and a slice of chocolate cake. Super tasty, except the cake was too rich for my taste.

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