While
browsing the Internet, I discovered a new hiking site called Hiking Around
Las Vegas. One of the hikes that caught my attention was Arrowhead Canyon
on the Muddy River, a spectacular slot canyon with sheer sides rising hundreds
of feet. A 4WD road passes through the lower canyon and it's every bit as
scenic as Titus Canyon in Death Valley.
I believe that there are only two rivers that flow OUT of Nevada (the rest flow IN and die in the Great Basin). One of those is the Muddy River. It flows into the Virgin River at the head of the Overton Arm of Lake Mead. We've never seen water in the Muddy River so who would ever believe that it could cut such a deep and narrow canyon?
At
the mouth of the canyon we found some excellent petroglyphs. One of them includes
the signature image for this area, a carved
footprint. The rolling hills of the surrounding Warm Springs valley manage
to hide the canyon entrance until you're almost
on top of it. As you continue in (on the road), the walls just keep getting
higher. Howard climbed up to an alcove and found
a slime pond to play in. Bob found a ramp
leading to a "window" and climbed up to
investigate. We also came to a "climbing
cave", an undercut portion of the canyon wall where climbers have
attached pitons and harnesses so they could practice climbing upside down.
About
half way through, the road exits through a side canyon and the floor of the
main canyon becomes overgrown with lush green grass. The grass was so high
that we almost lost our shorter hikers. The hike
ends at a 30' high dam with a catch basin that we
climbed up to investigate. Some of our 4WD friends will be coming through
next month to meet us for a canyoneering adventure in Zion. We'll be sure
to divert them along this road and through the slot.
