Winter in the Desert

There is something amazing and fun about the winter in the desert (or at least this winter) it is the perfect time & temperature to get out and go hiking.  On our last Saturday of Christmas vacation (I know that was a month ago now) Paul suggested we drag the girls away from their Legos & John away from making messes and get out and enjoy some fresh air.  We decided on a hike that would allow us to take the stroller for Jacob and that would be fairly easy for the rest of the kiddos. . . .

 

The Railroad Tunnel Trail

 

 

The trail began at Lake Mead and then followed the path (old railroad bed) of the trains that delivered supplies for the construction of the Hoover Dam.

 

The highlight of this trail is getting to hike through the 5 tunnels that were built through the mountainside for those trains to travel through.

These tunnels are huge!  Some short, some long, some right after another, some straight and some curved.  But no matter the size you felt like you were walking through a cave.  They say that there are bats in them . . . but we didn't see any.  We did see lots of walkers, runners, bikers, dogs, people & dust.  The dust was courtesy of John shuffling his feel along through the dirt.

I had mistakenly thankfully told Paul on our drive to Lake Mead that the trail we were going on went all the way to the Hoover Dam.  So once we reached the end of the 5th tunnel the kids were ready to turn around and go back, but Paul was ready to keep going forward.  He wanted to go to the Hoover Dam!

Our four oldest kiddos (Jacob was in the stroller) were less than thrilled to keep walking any further.  They were tired, hungry and  a few wanted to go home to their precious Legos & toys.  We had to put on our "fun parent" hats and attempt to distract their minds from the task of walking by pointing out wildlife & "treasures" that were sprinkled along the sides of the trail and not letting them know just how much farther it would be.  "We are almost there" was the standard answer when asked how much farther.  In reality we didn't know; I only knew the total distance this new leg of the hike would bring, and I knew our kids were going to get grumpy.

Watching a tarantula. 
Not sure why John is covering his ears. 
Did he think the tarantula was going to yell & scream?

A few treasures collected while walking through the old "bone yard".

Needless to say the last part of the hike was a bit miserable thanks to the whining and complaining, but . . .We made it!

The top level of the parking structure was as far as we got.  Paul suggested we walk down to actually walk on the Dam.  That was met with very loud No's!!!!!  So with our "fun parent" hats still on we headed back to the trail head.  We had to get a little more creative on the return trip; carrying contests with the treasures, singing silly songs by changing the words, stopping every so often for a break to rest  tired feet, throw rocks & of course promise a bribe reward of candy when we got back to the car.

John found a metal scrap that looked like a hat

How far can you walk with the "hat" on your head?

The kids were tired after our 7 mile adventure through the desert. 

But by the time we reached the car they were all smiles again and now they can proudly say that they walked to the Hoover Dam!