Camping at Mt. Charleston

We had been planning this outing since March, when the Sierra Club made a group reservation at Mahogany Grove campsite near Mt. Charleston. The idea was to combine an annual membership picnic with a hike and overnight camping.

Kathy and I drove up on Saturday morning and were among the first to arrive, just before noon. We picked out a nice secluded spot for our tent, downhill from the picnic area with a beautiful view of the the Spring Mountain Range, at an elevation of 7,500 feet. The rest of the group started pouring in soon after, and there was barely enough parking space. I estimated more than 40 participants in all.

Everyone brought potluck items. Kathy prepared one of our favorites, an Asian cabbage salad made with uncooked ramen noodles, peas, almonds and a tangy sweet-and-sour dressing. It was quite well received. There were also bean and macaroni salads, spinach dip, fruit, chicken wings, deli sandwiches, loads of cookies, brownies, cup cakes...and one fellow even brought ice cream. It was certainly more food than we all could eat.

After lunch, we heard a park ranger talk about the Spring Mountain Range. She used an "island" analogy to explain how certain species got here and evolved uniquely. It was quite educational. Then, while most the group headed off for a hike alng the North Loop trail, we stayed behind, had a few beers, and chatted with other club members who were staying the night.

Most of the hikers returned around 6pm, packed up and headed back to Las Vegas. The hike master, Jack, and his wife stayed on to camp with us, and we had a little village of seven tents scattered around the grove. For dinner, we had planned to have hamburgers but "somebody" forgot to bring the patties, so I fired up the barbie and grilled some Boca Burgers brought by one of the other campers.

It stayed light out till almosy 8pm, then the temperatures dropped quickly from 70-80F to 40-50F. We lit up a campfire and sat around talking till nearly 10pm. The stars were out brightly, as was the moon, which showed right through the tent walls like highbeams on a 4x4.

I'm not sure whether it was the thin air, the sloping campsite, the hard ground, or a bit of intestinal discomfort, but I had the worst night's sleep I've experienced in years. I tossed and turned till just after dawn, when we finally emerged to a beautiful view of the mountains and made some coffee on the Coleman propane stove we brought along.

We broke camp about 9am and decided to do a little hiking up the Deer Creek Trail a quarter of a mile to the north. It was mostly uphill, following a crystal clear mountain stream. We rested a lot, owing to the thin air, but we did manage to make it to the top, drank a little of the bubbling water, and enjoyed the downhill return.

Next we drove up the Lee Canyon side of the range and stopped to take in the view at the Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort, before backtracking to the Kyle Canyon side and up to Mt. Charleston Lodge for brunch about 11am. It was already crowded with bikers and day-trippers, and there were native American craft stands set up under canopies in the parking lot.

We got a table on the veranda with a nice view, just in time to order steak & eggs for Kathy and a spinach-mushroom-cheese omelet for moi. It sure tasted good. And it was nice to be able to use the restaurant's flush toilets after two days making do with latrines.

We arrived back home just before 1pm, covering about 110 miles round trip. It was a nice weekend away, and one we are likely to repeat at some point...perhaps with some new cots to sleep on.