The Fault Hike of the Keystone Thrust Trail at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

Rainbow Mountains

Date: December 31, 2020

Place: Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Las Vegas, Nevada

Coordinates: 36.173473, -115.477441

Length: 3.7 miles 

Level: moderate

When we put Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area on our winter of 2020 family trip itinerary we didn't plan to to be there more than one day. We went there on the second day of our trip and hiked along the bottom of the Calico Hills and then hiked up to the top of the hills on the Calico Tanks Trail. We left the park with its entire northwestern part unexplored, and three days later when the question came up of where to go next, we chose to return to Red Rock Canyon NCA and hike in that part of the park which we haven't yet seen from up close. It was December 31 already, the last full day we'd have on this trip having planned to return home on New Year's Day. Considering the timed entry policy of the park during the pandemic time and the fact that the park's road was a one-way road, we needed to plan ahead the trails we wanted to hike. We agreed on hiking two to three short hikes, and the first of them was the Keystone Thrust Trail, which was the first to come up on the road past the Calico Hills. 

The Keystone Thrust Trail extends northward from the trailhead along one of the low ridges that extend below La Madre Mountains north of the park.

I couldn't find any sign post describing what the Keystone Thrust was, or what were the features we would expect to see on this hike. I did hope we'd see some birds because I knew that'll make my family birders very happy. As for me, I was happy to simply be outdoors, hiking in the desert. While Pappa Quail and the elder chika assembled their photography gear I noted the Turtlehead Mountain on the east, above where the Calico Hills were, obscured from our sight.

Turtlehead Mountain

A thick blanket of clouds hanged low from the sky, as if today came directly after three days ago, when we visited this park last. A thin line of sunlight shone from below the clouds on the southeastern horizon.

On the north however, there were patches of blue sky and the clouds were white and thin. 

The first part of the trail was inside a dry, wide wash. We walked on the wash bed gravel, our footfall sounding loud with the pebbles' displacement. Here too it wasn't apparent that a long time drought going on - the plants that grew inside the wash looked pretty happy and healthy.

Soon the trail exited the wash bed and rose up on a low ridge. Due north, we were facing directly the southern slopes of La Madre Mountains and the beautiful rock layers they had.

Keystone Thrust Trail

I looked behind me toward the Rainbow Mountains. The partially clouded sky played a beautiful illumination effect on the steep slopes. I used my favorite photo of the range from this view point as the header of this post.

Rainbow Mountains

We continued north towards the La Madre Mountains. Still no sign of what the Keystone Thrust might be. The weather was lovely now. The sun was shining on us but the air was nice and cool. We walked uphill, but the slope was pretty mild, and we made good progress. 

We came to the junction with a trail spur that was marked on the map as the Keystone Thrust. It would have been nice to have had the information about the place before hand, but we enjoyed the view nonetheless, even without knowing its significance at the time. I read about it later. 

We took the trail spur down to the layer of red Aztec sandstone. A sole pinyon pine tree stood over the trail and I lingered behind a bit to take a closer look at this tree. 

Pappa Quail also got interested in the tree, or more like it, in the bird that was sitting in the tree. It was the first bird we saw on this hike and I hope we'd get to see some more. 

Woodhouse's Scrub Jay

The photo below shows nicely the seem between the red Aztec sandstone, and the grayish limestone layer that's on top. In a normal geological rock layering, the older rock is lies below the younger rock. In this case, the lower sandstone is about 180 million years old while the higher limestone layer is older than 500 million years. The line between the layers is a geological fault through which the older limestone was thrusted up, higher than the younger sandstone. That, is the Keystone Thrust. 

I look at my photos now and understand the geological story behind them, at least to the basic level. At the time we were there, like I've mentioned above, I had no idea what I was looking at and no geological knowledge to interpret it myself. All I did was enjoy the views and the beautiful day in the desert. 

I was already familiar with the local plant community within Red Rock Canyon NCA. I enjoyed seeing them in the bright sunlight now, too. 

Mohave Agave, Agave utahensis

We also saw there our next bird of the hike - the very common dark-eyed junco. It is interesting because we usually see this bird in forested areas, and not in open desert landscapes. 

Dark-eyed Junco

The trail spur ended where the little wash it followed dropped into a deep canyon. Below us the red Aztec sandstone changed to the white sandstone. Over everything was the older limestone, and beyond the canyon the entire valley of Red Rock Canyon NCA opened up in a wide, magnificent view. It was nice to see all of that in the bright sunlight illumination.

 The view to the Rainbow Mountains was very lovely too. The desert expanse is very impressive, and looks much larger than a similar expanse that has vegetation cover.

 

We stayed there for a little bit, snacking, and looking around. I spotted a couple of recently bloomed agave that still had their high inflorescence stalk intact.

After some time we turned around and headed back up the spur trail to the main Keystone Thrust Trail. I noted again the nice contrast between the red layer of the Aztec Sandstone and the gray limestone, without knowing then what was the geological phenomenon I was looking at.

Pinyon Pine

Back on the main trail we continued northward towards the La Madre Mountains. Ahead of us loomed a round hill and the trail took us toward it. 

This hike was apparently a hike of large views and quiet desert scenes. The younger chika fell behind, lost in her own thoughts, and not looking around much. Every now and then I would wait for her and try to engage her in conversation. It would work for a little bit, but then I'd get distracted by one natural feature or another, and my chika would dive into her own internal world once more. 

One of the things that caught my attention was a glimpse of white and red sandstone hills, just like the Calico Hills, west of where we were below tyhe Rainbow Mountains. 

I took a magnified photo of those hills - they did look like they were made of the Aztec Sandstone formation, but they were not a continuation of the Calico Hills. 

Other interesting geology was right below our feet' like these mosaic rocks strewn right at the trail. These mosaic rocks are conglomerate - smaller stones of various sources that were pressed together with fine grained filler soil and formed the mosaic looking rock.

Trees were much more scarce in on the ridge, out in the open. Here and there however, were a few junipers, most of them looking fine and healthy. I had no way of telling why in this particular spot the conditions were good for the juniper to thrive, but a few yards away they were not sufficient.

Juniper

The trail ended unceremoniously not far below the steep cliffs of the La Madre Mountains. There was no sign there saying 'Tail's End', the trail simply vanished.

North End of the Keystone Thrust Trail

There seemed to be some makeshift trails leading into the vegetation and I wondered if people simply wandered off trail to explore the area some more. Another time I might have done so myself but there were other trails we wanted to hike that day so we turned around and started back on the same way we came up on.

Desert Scrub

Looking south, we had a nice view of the round hill we were going by just minutes ago. Above it the clouds on the southeast were breaking up into fragments. More and more sunlight was pouring into the valley below.

The way back was quick. We didn't stop for any break again, and took only brief hydration pauses when needed. The Rainbow Mountain Ridge was growing larger as we moved towards it.

Keystone Thrust Trail

My general impression was that most of the vegetation in Red Rock Canyon NCA didn't suffer much or at all from the prolonged drought that the southwest states were experiencing. Still, there were plants that were clearly unhappy  with their water allocation, like the cottontop cactus in the photo below. Although it might have been miserable fore different reasons, I don't know.

From the higher part of the trail, before we descended, we had a nice view of the northwest tip of the Calico Hills, where we hiked three days before. Most of the red sandstone was hidden from our view behind the white sandstone mass.

While the clouds were breaking up on the southeast, they were now gathering over our heads instead. All most as soon as we noticed the darkening sky the wind picked up and the air chilled. Within seconds, it started raining. Not a hard or very intense rain, but enough so that we had to tuck away our cameras. With the wind whipping the rain into our faces, this part of the hike became unpleasant. We huddled in our jackets and pulled our hats tight, and galloped down the trail. Needless to say, we didn't go again onto the trail spur of the Keystone Thrust.

A Very Local Rain, view north

By the time we reached the south end of the trail and the gravel wash bed, the rain had stopped. The wind calmed a bit, but remained breezy for a while after we concluded this hike.

The last geological feature I noted before going to the parking lot was the white sandstone rocks at the side of the wash that were dotted with iron-rich nuggets, just like we saw on a much larger scale up on the Calico Hills. 

Spotted Rock

In the car we discussed our next move. We were all ready for lunch but we weren't sure about the weather. Eventually we decided to go to our next planned trailhead where there was a picnic area, and eat there. After that, we would see if the weather improved enough to hike the Lost Creek Trail and the Petroglyph Wall Trail that started there.

 

 

Desert Colors Above and Below: Hiking the Calico Tanks Trail at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

 

Date: December 27, 2020

Place: Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Las Vegas, Nevada

Coordinates: 36.162277, -115.450337

Length: 2.8 miles

Level: moderate

 

On the second day of our family trip of winter 2020 to the Las Vegas area we went to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The dripping rain we experienced at the end of our Calico Hills hike there was the last precipitation we saw on that day. We had our lunch picnic near the trailhead of the next trail we wanted to hike - that of the Calico Tanks, which goes up over the Calico Hills. A small resident of the area came over to check us out - it was a cute little rock wren. 

Rock Wren

 

 It was a bit breezy and quite chilly still, so we ate quickly and prepared for the hike. We would get warm on the walk, I told the chikas, convincing myself as well. 

Our hike as captured by my GPS

 The thick blanket of clouds still hung low when we started up the Calico Tanks Trail. We weren't going up just yet, just into and around the northwest tip of the Calico Hills. 

Calico Tanks Trail

Flanking the lower part of the trail was thick and tall vegetation, which included some really nice pinyon pine trees. The pines had a couple of good cone years - last years cones were hanging open on the tips of some branches while this year's developing cones were budding at the tips of others. There will be a good pine nut yield next year too. 

Pinyon Pine

Other bushes filled the space between the pinyon pines and the yuccas. I didn't recognize most of the local bushes but they were nice to see. 

The trail snaked between the cream-colored edge of the Calico Hills and all of a sudden we were walking on a gravel wash bed between rock walls. 

We passed below two large pinyon pine trees where the wash started curving to the right. On one of the wash banks was a collection of cairns made by visitors. I've seen this trend of cairn making in other places, including Yosemite, and I don't like it. The human-made cairns spoils for me the sense of wilderness. More importantly, moving the stones to build them disturb the little animals that take shelter under these stones. 

Soon we started ascending. Most of the time we were still walking inside the wash bed but on occasions the trail would take a small detour on the rocky banks of the wash. In some places it was prudent to use the hands but for the most part it was easy enough to climb without support. 

Every now and then I would turn around and look behind. The view was always spectacular, but in one place I was particularly inspired by how the curve of a nearby rock aligned perfectly with the curve of a far away peak. 

At times, the trail was sandy. A very soft, fine sand that felt very nice to my touch. I thought it would have been nice to go barefoot there, but I didn't. 

Just as soon as the sand appeared it was left behind, and a jumble of broken rocks took its place as the trail's substrate. We needed to take better care with our steps now. 

The ascend wasn't very steep but it didn't take very long to gain some good altitude. In one of the places I stopped to look back I found that we were about level with the lowest of the clouds that hung by the peaks on the northwest. 

The wash kept moving between layers of red and white Aztec Sandstone. In places, the rock walls extended high above the wash bed and the trail, forming a canyon. Each step up meant climbing small ledges and dry cascades. I could imagine how this place would look likeduring a flash flood. 

Here to, there were plenty of interesting and beautiful weathering patterns of the rock. This included the lined circle holes, although they were much smaller up on the hills.

The rock layer changed again from red to white and the trail elevated from the wash bed onto the side slope. The chikas asked for a break so we found a place off trail where we could sit for a little bit to drink and to catch our breath. 

Right next to us were a few clusters of agave, each with one or two dry post-bloom individuals surrounded by their green and very healthy looking offshoots. 

Mohave Agave, Agave utahensis

It didn't take long after resuming our hike before we were once again walking through the red Aztec sandstone formation. The pillars of the sandstone reminded me very much the pillars I saw at the Red Rock Canyon State Park in California. It occurred to me that they might actually belong to the same time period but I need to confirm that. 

We moved on forward and after some more uphill walk we reached again the white layer of Aztec sandstone. It looked like there wasn't much more elevation to gain - we were nearing the highest part of the Calico Hills. 

Calico Tanks Trail

Even up high on the hills I saw a number of good size trees, many of them looking old and gnarled like the juniper in the photo below. Extreme conditions grow hardy trees.

Juniper

The last bit of trail involved climbing down into a large depression which, as was evident from the markings on the rock and from the type of vegetation that grew there, was also a seasonal pond. Now it was dry of course, and there was no issue of getting our feet wet.

Climbing down there was a bit of a challenge because the rock was sleek and the footholds were shallow. We carefully scrambled down the natural rock dam to the bottom of the dry pond.

Getting up the dry waterfall on the other side was a similar task, having to use all of our limbs to get up safely. What's not seen in these photos are the other people that were there beside us. We were not the only hikers on this trail and I did have to maneuver the camera so to not capture other humans on this hiking trail. It wasn't too crowded though.

The trail's end was on the rocks up that dry waterfall. The view that opened before our eyes when we got up there was gorgeous. My first attention however, was given to the beautiful shrubs that grew in the rock cracks before the cliff's edge.

Mohave Agave, Agave utahensis

We settled on the rocks near the edge of the cliff at the end of the trail. Below us was a big drop and the view was open to the south and to the east. T the south was a nice, almost wild desert view with only a few human settlements on the plateau below. 

On the east however, was the city of Las Vegas., spread out on a huge area of a desert plateau that was the basin of the Las Vegas Wash. 

Most of Las Vegas is a wide sprawl of one or two story residential neighborhoods without any special mark or uniqueness to them. Most of the residents of these neighborhoods are people who work at The Strip - the small area of downtown Las Vegas where the huge casino hotels are, the destination of nearly all of Las Vegas' visitors. The Strip was very visible with its high rise hotels. I regarded with aloofness the city from my high seat at Calico Tanks trail end. On this trip there we stayed at an AirBNB in a residential neighborhood in the south of Las Vegas, and did not visit The Strip even once. Two years later I would go through Las Vegas again with my chikas and my sister's family, with all intention of experiencing The Strip and some of its urban attractions. That's a very different kind of vacation experience, and although it has its merits, I personally prefer sitting on a rock at the edge of a cliff high in the desert wilderness, a good distance from the city. 

Las Vegas

Pappa Quail and the younger chika took the time to rest a bit and the elder chika explored the rock crevices and tested her bouldering skills. I edged my way along the cliff, trying to get some more view to the northeast. Above the cliff was a large overhanging rock that looked like a sphinx' head. 

The view wasn't open all the way to the north but I did get to see the backside of the Calico Hills and the ridge of La Madre Mountains behind them. The northeastern slopes looked considerable more rugged and steeper than the southwestern slopes of those hills. 

Eventually I too settled down to rest a bit and eat my snack. Nearby grew a beavertail cactus that looked a bit thin for water, but still green and healthy. 

Beavertail Cactus, Opuntia sp. 

Eventually it was time to head back. Once again we had to scramble through the rocks, this time coming down the dry, yet sleek waterfall into the dry wash basin, then up the natural rock dam and out to the wash itself. 

From the high point of the trail we had a nice view of the mountains n the northwest. The clouds were still ganging low on these mountains but higher up in the sky the blanket of clouds was already breaking up with patches ob blue sky showing through. 

We descended quickly through the canyon, most of the time on the wash bed itself. We didn't stop much on the way down, but I paused every now and then to take some photos. 

The way down gave me a different look int the depth of the canyon and the nicely protected pinyon pines, junipers and other trees that thrived within the narrow walled shelter. 

I don't know how I missed it on the way up: a sun shaped glyph etched in a rock at the bottom of the wash. I stepped off trail and into the wash bed to take a closer look. It was a single figure there and I'm not sure it was of native origin or something that a modern visitor did. Anyway, I found it interesting.

We were nearing the mouth of the canyon. The clouds played a moving patchwork with the sky and for some time the cloud cover was complete again and the sky dark as if before raining. 

It didn't rain anymore that day though, and eventually sunlight did come through the clouds here and there, illuminating the rocks with a soft afternoon light. 

At one time the patch of sunlight was so close to us that we almost got the feel of direct sunlight. That would have been the first time that day, but it was not to be. It was already too late in the afternoon for the sunlight to shine directly into the canyon, where we were. 

By the time we were low enough and in a flat enough do get direct sunlight, the sun once again was hidden behind the clouds. I consoled myself with another alignment photo of the near rock and the far mountain as I did on the way up, and this time I moved sideways to break the alignment of their skylines. 

We reached the bottom of the wash and passed again under the two sentinel pinyon pine trees. We were nearing the end of the hike. 

Double Tree

Pappa Quail and the chika rushed ahead and I lingered a bit behind to catch the shallow part of the canyon in a people-free photo. 

Ahead of us were the north part of the Rainbow Mountains that lined the west side of the park. Our car route out of the park would go right below them but we would not have the time to do anymore hike that day. The short winter day was nearing its end.  

The sun was struggling again through the clouds and the illumination improved for a while. Pappa Quail captured a sole Woodhouse's Jay that was perched on a yucca plant near the trail. 

Woodhouse's Scrub Jay

We were rounding again the northwest tip of the Calico Hills and this time I paid attention to the clear seem between the white and the red Aztec sandstone layers. Geology isn't a specialty of mine but I sure enjoy seeing  the exposed beauty of geological features in the desert. 

The wash opened up and the last part of our hike we walked on a wide gravel wash bed. I turned around to look again at Turtlehead Peak that was before us in the beginning. Our map showed that there was a trail leading to its summit but that hike would not happen on this trip. 

Just before reaching the parking lot I paused before the two large rocks that seemed to lean on each other, like stone human heads guarding the trail. They probably started as a single boulder that rolled there and then cracked in two. It was still fun to let my imagination go into wild places with the rock formations. 

At the end of this hike we drove back to our lodge in Las Vegas to spend the rest of the day with dinner and family time. We had a very good day in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, but once again, we saw only one part of it. It was no surprise then, that three days later when we considered our options, we decided to go again to this park and hike some trails on its northwest side, near the Rainbow Mountains.