After three days on the Vegas strip we were ready to explore more of what Vegas and Nevada were all about.  We have no problem donating to Vegas at the roulette table but know it’s important to have the balance as well.  After all, Mel’s new favorite saying is “Let it ride.”

 

We picked up our friend, Greg, who flew into town the night prior and hit the road to Boulder City to explore some hot springs.  We have had some gnarly hikes but this one was even more challenging.  We scaled down the side of massive boulders with our 35lb packs on clinging to a rope.
Two hours later, the beauty of steam coming off of the crystal clear waterfalls into pools greeted us.  The walls of the canyon are covered in bright green moss. 

The springs eventually empty out into the mouth of the Colorado River and the Hoover Dam

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We hopped around in the 110-degree pools and enjoyed making our own spa with mud masks. 

Then Greg suggested hopping into the freezing cold river for a rush.  We saw a huge brown trout.  It was breathtaking, to say the least.

We eventually set up camp right there on the side of the river and made dinner while Greg built a fire.  We ate dinner and read short stories by the fire.

The next morning, we took a bath in the hot springs and headed back up for the challenging hike.  We sadly noticed on the way down how much garbage people left behind and didn’t want the pollution to go into the beautiful waters.  We saved two bags and the three of us picked up as much as we could until we filled them.  It added even more weight to our packs but it was totally worth the exhaustion. 

It was a nice surprise at the end when a lady who had just started her hike down thanked us for what we were doing. Happy trails always make us happy!  Thanks Greg for adding to our adventure and being our honorary gypsy of the week!