Boulder City, Nevada

We crossed into our 12th state recently. So we’ve stayed in one-quarter of the lower 48 states. Amazing…

We went for a short hike in the River Mountains area near Boulder City.

There’s a great mountain bike park that’s perfect for a hike. It’s called Bootleg Canyon.

As you can see from the legend above and map below, it’s an amazingly complex set of trails with lots of challenges.

The area of the park leading to the trails was exquisitely designed with stunning rock formations and a wide variety of mostly native plants.

No motorized vehicles are allowed in the park. 🙂

Sophie found a treasure: a small desert tortoise.

She only sniffed it once and then thankfully let it be. It was teeny tiny- -about 3″ long. They are endangered and protected. I took my picture from at least six feet away as it slowly crawled away.

One of the things that surprised me in the bike park was the use of wood to create props for people to ride over.

There were ramps and bridges. I’m sure the riders appreciate and use them.

The area reminded me of a place near where I used to live in Reno before turning ten.

Carol and I used to spend hours at “Lizard Country”–a pond about half a mile down the street. We caught lizards using sticks and dental floss with a special knot our dad taught us to make.

We caught tadpoles and kept them in special buckets with rocks and water, watching their metamorphosis into frogs.

And we had a blast!