41.01, 41.02, 41.03 & 41.04 Nevada & Utah: Turtlehead, Mount Griffith, Yellow Knolls and other sunny desert delights - an introduction.
"Pardon me. Who is Queen of the Rocks?" The editor on the spectacular white checkerboard slab on Yellow Knolls Trail. Turtlehead in Red Rock Canyon Park, Nevada, our destination, one fine morning at 6:05am. A short while later, we have a daunting perspective of the peak. We’ve always tried to keep out of the deserts in summer for obvious reasons. However, in autumn and winter and early spring, the desert is a place of beauty, tranquility, wonder and challenges. Last year, we were able to enjoy two autumns, our favorite hiking period because of good weather and coloring. The initial autumn occurred in Argentina during March and April while the latter was in Eastern Europe during October and parts of November. We haven’t been in a desert at temperatures above 80 degrees in a long while. Good planning. All good things do end. Because of a desire to be away in autumn later this year and that we undertook too short a trip in Nepal recently, a local trip to Id...