Exploring Mount Charleston – Lee Canyon

 Exploring Mount Charleston – Lee Canyon

The Paiutes called it Nuvagantu, “where snow sits”. In the winter, it’s the place to go skiing in Las Vegas. In summer, we call it a welcome respite from the Mojave Desert’s relentless heat… Mount Charleston. At 11,916 feet (3,632m), it is the highest mountain in southern Nevada’s Spring Mountains and the fourth highest mountain in the state. Snow-covered for six months of the year or more, it looms over the Las Vegas Valley as a prominent feature of the western horizon, visible from the Strip and, on clear days, our front yard.

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Sister Time in Newport

 Sister Time in Newport

Way back in April, I met up with Lin for a sister weekend. The destination? Newport, Rhode Island… a historic coastal resort town on Aquidneck Island in beautiful Narragansett Bay. The city is rich in sailing history and noted for its iconic, resplendent Gilded Age mansions. We had three precious days, a unique opportunity for just us and we wanted to make the most of our time.

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Midhills Campground at Mojave National Preserve

 Midhills Campground at Mojave National Preserve

Our campsite #21 was just perfect… spacious, lots of juniper and pinyon pine to provide shady little nooks for our camp chairs. Trash and recycle bins were just across the road and the site was reasonably close to the clean, well-stocked vault toilet. A constant, gentle breeze and the increase in altitude kept it much cooler than Hole-in-the-Wall. We were the proverbial ‘happy campers’.

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