Whilst Sterling attends Wearables DevCon in San Francisco I spend a few days at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
The campground here is atypical in that tents out-number RVs and are of the small one-person variety, primarily in yellows, oranges and reds lending a very particular appearance to the place. They belong to the rock climbers who flock here for the red sandstone cliffs of the Calico Hills for which the area is named.
While most of my time is spent working I manage to fit in a few hours to go into the Canyon proper before rendezvousing with Sterling back in Las Vegas.
It is a surprisingly beautiful place and is another that deserves a return visit to explore the trails in some depth. As it is, I have time for a couple of short walks, one around the Calico Hills themselves where the dark red sandstone contrasts against the deep blue sky while the lines of the striated paler rock layers form intricate patterns. My other short walk is at Lost Creek where a trickle of water cascades down the desert varnish-covered rock face at the head of a shady steep sided canyon.
Being so close to Las Vegas and made accessible by the scenic loop drive, there are parts, particularly around the parking areas, that are over-run by people, some of whom seem to feel the need to mark their presence with the creation of an unwarranted amount of noise. As so often, a few hundred feet from the car parks, the numbers drop off and the natural quiet of the landscape reasserts itself.
Since Sterling’s return, we have been caught in a continuing intense period of work. A new app is in the pipeline and Sterling’s promotion of the nascent Beta version while at the conference has necessitated some serious follow-up. Periods like this are the other side of our life on the road. Mostly, work and travel co-exist in a state of equilibrium but at times like this the priority becomes internet connectivity and easy access to dump stations allowing us to park up and focus on the business of making a living. It’s the less glamorous aspect of this way of life and fortunately one that doesn’t ordinarily dominate.
Of course it’s all made a lot more acceptable by the fact that we’re meandering about the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, in the warm and sunny spring weather. In Red Rock Canyon I saw signposts officially restricting the season to the month of March and with temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s (between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius) it’s clear that we’re already heading towards the heat of summer.