Historical Railraod Trail to Hoover Dam

Although I lived in Las Vegas for a long time I never knew about this trail. But then it is lot easier for me be lazy when in Vegas. As the saying goes a slot machine at hand is better than a hike in the dessert. This time I happened to be staying in Boulder City and was looking for a place to go for a walk and stumbled upon this googling. The description of the trail was very enticing and the fact it passes through a series of tunnels was very intriguing. I attempted this trail on three consecutive days before successfully finishing it on the third day.

On the first day I barely reached the series of tunnels. After the second tunnel it was getting pretty dark so decided to turn back. It was bit spooky going through the tunnels at dark since I could barely see anything and I started imagining rattlesnakes spiders but luckily only tiny bats were flying around and they probably could sense me better than me off them. The second day I made upto the second tunnel and a couple I encountered told me of a family of goats up in the hills past the third tunnel. I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of them before they scooted up the hill behind the bushes. 



The second day I made upto the second tunnel and a couple I encountered told me of a family of goats up in the hills past the third tunnel. I was lucky enough to get a glimpse of them before they scooted up the hill behind the bushes. 

 On the third day i had a early start and was determined to make it all the way to Hoover dam. Although it was a warm day it was drizzling on and off and the dark clouds and thunder gave me plenty of excuses to call it off. Presence of the tunnels in case of heavy downpour was a big factor for me to continue on.


Near the first tunnel the vista opens up to a beautiful view of the boat dock and with the passing of each tunnel one is rewarded with a different perspective of lake mead. The only thing I really missed was the presence of the train tracks. It would have been to cool to see a train engine and some train tracks near one of the tunnels but i guess it could have been hard to maintain. (There is a railroad mueseum in boulder city but they close real early).
At the end of the fifth tunnel there is a warning sign stating the gates would be closed at sunset. And one of the hikers I passed by told me they have seen them closed. There is a picnic bench and a restroom. After that the trail continues behind a some kind of a maintenance station and becomes less scenic or one could say not at all scenic. A short distance from there you have the option to take a short cut to Hoover dam. I gladly took the short cut however kept wondering how much distance or time I actually saved doing that. The trail meanders around massive transformers finally descending down to Hoover dam parking lot. After the long walk I was bit tired and took the gift of human engineering called elevator down to the Hoover dam visitor center and I was in the middle of hundreds of tourists taking selfies as a short contrast to sparse human encounters on the trail. It was breath taking to see such giant concrete structures.  Even though I had driven across Hoover Dam bye pass quite a few times this was the first time I had a great view of  Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge
Looking over the Hoover Dam I remembered the story reported on TV previous day of a young visitor jumping into waters. In the interview he was mentioning I have a great story to tell for the rest of my life at the cost of getting fined 300$. Well, that could be true but he was too close to the turbines to be saved by anyone and he got lucky. I guess it is a trade off between wanting a story to tell or a life to lead. To each his own.




On the way back I was rewarded by a remarkable sunset and I could see the heavy downpour in the distant mountains with thunder and lightning. I thought there was constant lightening without thunder near the Hoover dam but it turned out to be the lights of the helicopter or so I assume. There is a constant flurry of helicopters reminding of the million dollar tourism industry in Las Vegas.
  click on this link for more photos

Ramsey Canyon Nature Preserve

This beautiful nature preserve is within a easy driving distance from Sierra Vista, AZ. I had visited this small town quite a few times however I had made only one previous attempt to visit this canyon and it was closed at that time. They are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This time I made it however barely in time. They close the gates at 5 PM. I had barely two hours to spend.  People who work at the visitor center are extremely friendly and informative. I got to say Jane one of the people who work there answered all my questions and informed me what to watch out for both in terms of safety and scenery.

Since I barely had two hours i hurriedly picked up water and camera and set out on the trail which starts right behind the visitor center right.  The moment i saw the shaded area with plenty of benches right next to the creek I almost decided not to go on the hike but to enjoy the solace offered by that area. But I was prodded on my curiosity to explore that area.  The wooded area was a sharp contrast to terrain I traversed before reaching sierra vista where i could see for miles.
After a brief hike I came across two ladies clicking their camera at a family of deer standing around only few feet away. Initially I was afraid the deer would scurry away at my sight but they seem to be used to human presence and enjoyed posing for those ladies.  After chatting with them a bit I moved on to start the climb to the scenic overlook. The climb is pretty steep however was not too bad. After little bit of huffing and puffing I reached the overlook and was rewarded by beautiful view of the north facing cliff with moss covered colorful rock formations. It is hard to get a clear view because the entire area is wooded and there is little bit of clearing near that area. It took me about 45 minutes of leisurely walk to get to that area.

After a brief rest I started on the trail again. I expected it to climb to the top of the mountain but instead it started going down towards the bubbling creek in distance.

On the way back I saw few deers but they all seemed very shy and scurried away at my sight. Those ladies had the charm I guess. I timed my visit to the visitor center like a NFL quarterback milking the clock to the maximum and when I reached the visitor center it was two minutes to five and Jane and the other elderly lady were waiting for me. I was the last one on the trail. We chatted for a bit and they seem genuinely interested in my experience and how far I made on the trail and we talked about the rest of the trail before they closed the visitor center and I was on my way to Buffalo Wild chicken right next to my hotel for a beer.