Rob's Roost

On Monday, I had a single day off and got out of bed at my normal 10:30am time. I wasn't really planning on doing anything much except for the normal laundry-grocery shopping-lounge around routine. But around noon I got the crazy idea in my head to drive back up to Mount Charleston and partake in my new favorite hobby. So I got some grub at BK, stopped by Wal*Mart to pick up a "trekking pole", and got up to the Charleston area around 3pm. Since I was alone, I just decided to check out 2 of the shortest and easiest hikes in the area. The first was a tiny hike of just a few hundred yards in total called Robber's Roost. However, there still was a significant elevation change that I wasn't expecting (as you can see in the pics below). The main spotlight of this hike is the presence of a natural cave cut into the rocks.

The second hike might be the absolute easiest hike in Southern Nevada called the Sawmill Loop. This was a 1.3 mile loop hike with very little elevation change at all. It was nice getting out of the Vegas area for a late afternoon jaunt, but I doubt if I'll ever go hiking alone again. Despite the relatively safe hikes I took, there were some definite dangers at Robber's Roost and I actually turned my ankle a little on the Sawmill trail, which would have been pretty bad if it was anything worse. Due to it being a weekday and the time of day I was out there, I didn't run into ANY other human beings on either trail at all and my cell phone service is extremely spotty in the whole area.

Oh, I also stopped at the Dessert Overlook on state route 158. Here are some random pics of the day.

Caves at Robber's Roost.

Looking up a popular rock climbing area at Robber's Roost.

Looking down on state route 158. The trailhead is somewhere down there behind the trees.

The view at the Dessert Ovelook. It was kind of overcast and hazy when I took this, but it was MUCH more impressive in person. The pic is just a little crappy.

Random view from the Sawmill Loop trail.