I decided to pack my sleeping bag and tiny tent in the car on the off chance that there might be an open campsite on...Labor Day Weekend. Ha! Fat chance! Except...there was! At the Old Mill picnic area about a mile down the road from the rendezvous point for the hike. Therefore...
The tent was only slightly wobberjawed due to disuse.
The program was fabulous! Our guide, Elise, led 12 of us all together on about a mile walk from McWilliams campground to the meadow and back. When we arrived at the meadow, there were wild horses grazing.
At the 7pm start of the walk, it was twilight, but by the time we finished, all the gorgeous stars were out, and it was dark. She stopped us at times and had us explore our senses. One thing I love about the educational programs in the Spring Mountains is that the guides always make you do two things: stand still and quiet for at least a minute, and walk up and stick your nose on a Ponderosa pine to smell it!
When I returned to the Old Mill area after using my night vision for an hour, all I had with me to guide me back to Hotel Hendrix was the wind-up flashlight from Yosemite. Despite the little power trip that comes from generating your own light, the Yosemite flashlight has limited usefulness and consequently...I got lost. Twice. Finally I recognized my camping neighbors from the afternoon, and ended up in my camping chair, wrapped in a blanket staring up at the stars until my eyes closed on their own and I moved into the tent.
Because I was convinced that I actually wouldn't find a campsite, I had scant provisions with me. When I descended the mountain to meet with Miss Gokey for our day trip to Utah yesterday, I stopped at Walgreens and made a little "impromptu camping kit" including nail clippers, a comb, disposable flossers and other assorted travel toiletries to keep in my trunk organizer for future use. I have resolved to return to the Spring Mountains in two weeks. It's only an hour or so drive from North Las Vegas, which means I can get to my campsite as quickly as I can get home on a Friday afternoon.
Yesterday's trip was to Cedar Breaks National Monument, where we hiked above 10,000 feet for the second time in our lives, the first time being last Labor Day at Great Basin National Park. Our hike took us to a 1,600-year-old bristlecone pine:
and offered us spectacular views of Utah's unique and amazing rocks:
We agreed that it was pretty much a *perfect* Labor Day weekend all around, and we treated ourselves with dinner at the Cracker Barrel in St. George after our very full and very rewarding day.
Since there are two more days off, today begins "normal weekend" mode, wherein I grade papers, blog, facebook, text, and otherwise lay around in my pajamas.
I absolutely love long weekends.
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