I’ve really been needing to escape the city whenever possible lately. City-living is starting to wear me out. Sometimes I’ve just gotta leave & get back to nature.

In the past I’ve always been a little car-hating, wanting to keep my carbon footprint down, but I’ve really appreciated having one the last few months. It’s great having the chance to get out of town & do some more remote exploration than I’ve tried by public transport or bicycle in the past.

Earlier this week we drove up to Red Rock Canyon to see the rock formations & take photos.

We didn’t know anything about the area apart from cool red rocks in the desert, but were surprised to find that the rock formations were not only cool to photograph but just asking to be climbed on. There were people all over them.

Nik found himself a little cave in the side of a cliff.

These things are huge. It’s hard to understand the scale of the canyon in a photograph. There are 5 rockclimbers in this picture below. They’re so small on the rocks, you can’t see them. Even when the photo is enlarged it’s like a Where’s Wally trying to find them.

We got quite distracted climbing around on the rocks & I’ve been thinking about going back for a proper climbing day ever since.

Red Rock Canyon is only a 30 minute drive from Vegas, but we wouldn’t be able to get there in a day without a car. Driving, it’s my new guilty pleasure.

Yesterday we drove out of town again to revisit Mt Charleston. Our first visit was in the summer & we were surprised by the scenery-change you can get in a short drive.

In less than an hour we’re out of the dusty desert, away from the garish city & we’re up in the cool mountains breathing crisp air that smells of pine. It was at least 20 degrees cooler up there (approx 8000ft).

This time of year snow is just starting to fall on the mountain too, & since we had a taste of snow on our roadtrip north we were keen to see what the local snow-scene is like up at Mt Charleston.

So we parked the car as high up the mountain as we could & set off on foot. We had a great time stumbling around in the snow. The snow wasn’t fluffy like we saw in Colorado, it was icy & slippery. Once again, my Converse do not fair well on slippery surfaces. I was all over the place & our walk was full of giggles.

I really need to buy some hiking boots soon.

Coming through the forest we end up at the ski fields. It was still too early in the season for skiing, the snow just wasn’t there on the slopes & the place was a ghost town.

After our walk we drove further on in the car towards the the campgrounds & found a secluded place by a stream to light a bbq & have lunch.

Yes, burnt is how we like our bbq food.

Tofu sausages & veges, with that awesome smokey flavour.

So after our meal we drown the fire & drive home as the sun sets.

These little escapes from city-life just wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t have a car.. & until I can afford an electric car (or better, if such a thing is available for purchase) I guess I’m just going to live with the guilt. There are some places you just can’t cycle to for a daytrip to escape town.

Las Vegas has an awesome variety of landscape nearby. In less than an hour you can drive to mountains, desert, fields, canyons, snow, forest.. It really has some cool extremes to see.

… it’s such a shame the city itself is driving me nuts.