This afternoon I escaped the dreary overcast and drizzle of the Las Vegas suburbs for the cloud-shrouded and weatherful landscape of Red Rock NCA. The scenic loop road, along with much of the park, was closed to entry due to the very weather I was interested in. The way I drive that road they were doing me a favor - I'll slide off the road some other time.

Last weekend some friends joined me hiking up Arrow Canyon, about 40 miles north of Las Vegas. After on-again-off-again weather we happened to pick the hottest day of the year so far to do it. Not so bad considering it's one of those hikes where you get a nice respite as the canyon narrows to a point where the ground and walls stay nice and cool from rarely, if ever, encountering the sun's rays.