While in Vegas, we took a scenic drive down to Arizona to visit the Grand Canyon--a journey that…read moreshould be on every traveler's bucket list. The drive itself was breathtaking, with stunning landscapes unfolding at every turn. Once we arrived at the Grand Canyon, I was completely in awe. The natural beauty of the canyon is simply indescribable, and the way human ingenuity has enhanced the visitor experience makes it even more remarkable. Every moment spent there felt like a perfect blend of nature's majesty and thoughtful design. Truly, it's a destination that leaves you speechless.

Update: After calling my displeasure to the company representative Sarah, who was very apologetic…read morefor placing us one the worst tour bus in my life, the answer was, I will let them know of this bus and they will look into it. So I gave them two stars at first, only because of the tour guide and driver, who by the way had to deal with a bus the struggled to get up small hill on the highway, shook with every little bump and had no air circulation for an 11 hour trip. This company is only interested in your money not your overall experience or they would inspect the buses they put their guests on to make sure they make an enjoyable experience. Once again Scarlet was the best! She really cares that everyone's safe and happy. She even took pictures at the best spots of everyone. Avoid this company and this tour!

Great views on this trail and it is not crowded. Take the short gravel road to the trailhead if you…read moredon't mind getting your car dusty. Pretty easy trail though it is up most of the way, then back down again.

Hiked to Keystone Thrust at Red Rock Canyon today. Tried to time it to catch that soft light from…read morethe setting winter sun. It's a cool hike because the path drops you down from limestone to the red sandstone in an ancient fault. You can see the transition, it's wild. The Keystone Thrust is geologically interesting because the limestone above is actually older than the sandstone below by a hundred million years, the result of being pushed upward by geologic forces 50 million years ago.

It was a hot one!! I participated in the Moms Rock 10K/5K, 1 mile walk event by JusRun in Las…read moreVegas! The packet pickup was at Popstroke, located at TownSquare on Thursday between 3:00 - 6:00 P.M. I had a family member pick up my packet for me since I was at a local conference. You could also pick up your packet on race day at 7:00 A.M. This time, the race was held at Kellogg Zaher Sports Complex, located off of Summerlin Parkway/Durango exit. There is plenty of parking available. The race start and finish line was at the same location, which was great! The first thing that stood out about the atmosphere was how much this event focused on being community based and family oriented! Because the overall mission behind this event is to celebrate Moms in our community, the atmosphere was amazing! There was Kona Ice food truck, face painting, PopStroke (mini golf) and more! I thought the actual race was great as far as organization goes. Signs were clearly posted everywhere, and events went off on time. It was hot though! The race started at 80 degrees, and by the time I was done, it was 90 out! Some of the 10k runners ended up just running the 5k and getting their time adjusted. The race path at Kellogg Zaher Sports Complex was not flat. It went uphill for the first two miles, and then downhill. After the race, there was a single flower provided to all Moms and a race medal! There was water and a electrolyte drink as well. Snacks were located in a tent, away from the start/finish line. There was also awards for top finishers in certain brackets! It was a great run though and a wonderful event!

The Mustache Dache 5k is fittingly held during the month of November with proceeds going towards…read moreprostrate cancer. The race was held at Sunset Park on a sunny Saturday morning. The Mustache Dache is one of the better organized races I've participated in - the lines were short, they had t-shirts in my size, and all I had to do was give them my last name before being handed my registration packet. Hooray for efficiency! This 5k race also tries to spice things up a bit: a mechanical bull, a DJ set up, a photo booth complete with props, and a mustache station were on hand for runners to enjoy. The course was an easy flat run on the paved trails at the park. There were tons of volunteers steering runners in the right direction, as well as appropriate signage. The race was timed and all runners got a snazzy finisher's medal. I bought a Livingsocial voucher for the Mustache Dache for $35 (included a shirt, registration, and medal). It was available on Groupon as well. Costumes are encouraged! There's contests for best costume, group costume, and best mustache. I went as a lumberjack. ;) YELP 100 CHALLENGE 2015: #265

A 5K with facial hair?! Celebrate your carefully coiffed Movembeard here. I have no clue how long…read morethis run has been around (3-4 years?), but with Lyft recently opening here (and doing a partnership promo!) and No-Shave November going on, this run is well-timed and popular! Plus, funds raised go to Zero Cancer, a group specifically focused on mens cancers. Run was well-organized, including an on-time start, QR codes for packet pickup, a clearly marked course, and lots of friendly staff. Sunset Park has been the setting for a few lesser-organized 5Ks, and the improvements with this version were much appreciated. Finishers medal doubles as a bottle opener and the participate shirts are actually cute enough to wear in public. Staff were helpful and friendly, atmosphere was fun, race was timed despite the low price. TIP: Check Groupon for discounted participation packages. This was one of the cheaper fun runs, with last-minute pricing topping out at $35, but saving a few bucks is always pretty cool.

Mummy Mountain is the second highest peak in the Charleston area. It gets its name from its…read moreresemblance to a mummy, from different view points, especially from US 95, it looks like a mummy lying down. There are several ways to get to mummy, and there are several different points of interest. Mummy's knee, toe, chin, belly. The route I took for Mummy Mountain, aka Mummy's Tummy or Belly is starting at Trail Canyon. Starting out at the Trail Canyon Trailhead, you hike up two miles, and 1500 feet of elevation gain. Once you get to the saddle, you will follow the North Loop Trail, you will pass Cave Springs, which is a horse trough that has water piped into it, usually year round, and then you will start hitting the switchbacks, this is probably one of my favorite areas because of the quacking aspen trees. You will then come across a large tree that has the letter "B" carved into it, for Burntree. This is your way point to turn off, you will see the scree slope that you will be climbing up. From here, you will have 600 feet of scree to scramble up, hiking poles were really helpful here. You will definitely be feeling the burn going up this. Once you reach the top, look for the cairns that will lead you to a semi trail. You will hit yet another scree shoot, this one required some scrambling as well. I enjoyed this section the most. Once you hit the summit, you will feel like you had an awesome cardio and circuit workout. The views were great. This is a strenuous hike. Between the elevation gain and the scree shoots, you most certainly need to come prepared. Quick stats: Trailhead: Trail Canyon Distance: 8.5 miles - up and back Elevation gain: 3,732 feet Elevation of peak: 11,542 feet Bring lots of water, hiking poles and rain gear if coming during monsoon season.

WELL this one was hard my legs and lungs did not want to do what I wanted them to do, this not for…read morebeginners unless you are very fit. Man, I thought I came close to god during times of skeptical breathing, but powered through and got thru. This is a pretty tough hike it is steep and rocky and you will loose your footing in the beginning of the trail, it then leads to a heavily forested the incline felt incredibly steep switchback trail into a rocky switchback trail. It is a strenuous to difficult trail be prepared and trained and have water. There are especially steep slopes near and past the main summit. When you see everyone leaving for back home you should go on. If you do decide to it gets better then it gets worse or better depends on the point of view. For me with my fear of heights both... The views past the point of main travelers is amazing peaceful views of gullys, ravines, valleys, cliffs, so worth it You will gain about 1900' and 7 mile if you go to raintree 8.5 round trip to raintree, this is the second highest peak in the NV area but you are not going to the top. There are a couple of spots that are extremely narrow and very difficult but not enough to just skip it. There were a few points I was done, but I kept on the views were amazing. The switchbacks are killer but when you get to the summit, WOW. The views become amazing as if they were not already. It becomes somewhat flat and soon you will run into raintree if you planed for it you can the go down the other side (my last review) or go back down. So here is my gripe for this one. On our end decent close to the bottom you cant help but notice a rescue chopper circling us. We were wondering "well we haven't been gone the long" kept going down and the chopper kept circling us?! Finally we see why, a group of amazing rescue workers are headed up the trail. These men were trudging up the hill to rescue a man and his horse who got off trail and fell down. These men had a VERY LONG WAY TO GO. To save some guy who, well I wont get into my personal thoughts. All I am saying is your safe Hike it, have fun train, be prepared and enjoy the amazing views!

Even if you're a local, Hike This! is worth your time. We booked our hike in March, and had to…read morepush it back a couple of times due to a scheduling conflict on our end and crazy spring weather. Neil was very accommodating in getting our dates changed and we ended up with our hike on a beautiful day. Neil has been hiking Red Rock for quite some time now and knows a lot about the area. If you need backpacks and supplies he is fully prepared. The scramble offers enough difficulty to leave you feeling like you were challenged and enough easier spots to slow down and enjoy the views. Speaking of which, the views from the peak are amazing. I would definitely recommend Hike This! for couples, families, or even company outings.

Neil from Hike This! offers customized private hiking and rock scrambling tours of Red Rock Canyon…read morethat are not to be missed. Red Rock Canyon is a 20 minute drive from the Strip, and is an amazing destination for the outdoors enthusiast or for those looking to see the natural beauty that lies beyond the glitz and glam of the casinos. My boyfriend was planning on playing poker tournaments during the day, and I wanted to take the opportunity to explore Red Rock Canyon. Since I was going to be doing this solo, I wanted to find a guided tour, and I'm so glad that I stumbled upon Hike This! to take me on a private one-on-one Rock Scramble. Neil, owner and guide of Hike This! is an absolute delight: super warm and friendly and very professional. He picked me up directly in front of the hotel I was staying at and provided a pack, snacks, water and sunscreen for our excursion. Neil asked me about my fitness level and my hiking experience before we began heading off trail to rock scramble. Throughout the scramble, Neil carefully assessed how I was doing to make sure that I was comfortable with what we were doing. I'm pretty outdoorsy and fit, so we went scrambling all over the sandstone and did some technical hand over foot climbing to ascend to this gorgeous overlook of the canyon. The sandstone offers some of the best footing around: it's super grippy, and I became very confident climbing up and down it. At the top, we had a snack (apples, cheese and granola bars) before climbing back down. Along the way, Neil was taking photos of me which he emailed to me later that day. The photos are professional quality, and it was fantastic to be able to share action shoots with my boyfriend. We spent about 3 hours hiking and scrambling before hopping back in the car and taking the rest of the scenic loop of the park before heading back to the hotel. If you're looking for a unique and exciting way to explore Red Rock Canyon, look no further than Neil at Hike This! He's a wonderful and experienced guide and is a delight to hike with. His excursions are incredibly popular and book quickly, so make your reservation soon!

Such a cool event! We live right in front of Sam Boyd…read moreStadium and for many years have always just disregarded what goes on there! I guess this year my little one is old enough to ask and say "Mommy I wanna see those big monster trucks!" I couldn't say 'no', it's really hard to miss all the traffic flow, fireworks, and loud music that goes along these events. The stadium set up was small, I thought we got higher seats but we were actually pretty up close! Clear sight and great view of the designs on all the trucks and the dirt obstacle course that had hills, turns, little pond, and fire. It's a 3-day event, we decided to go Friday - kind of a mistake on our part because we didn't really know how the event really is. Friday is just the racing part. Saturday and Sunday is when they freestyle and destroy the trucks, which is obviously more exciting! The racing competition wasn't bad though. Tons of these big, cool/funny themed trucks race for the championship. One truck flipped over and it got the crowd (including us) off of our seats! Then during the finale a bigger truck flipped over another truck, fireworks and great music included! Next time we know to go either Saturday and Sunday to really see the trucks get destroyed, after all that's were all the excitement is! I think only thing that made me choose Friday over the weekend is because there was a $70 difference on the tickets, which is a lot for one ticket. Not sure how much parking is for the event but I would say get there early, there's parking available at the actual stadium parking lot, there are tons of dirt lots around and then there's also a big soccer park that ton's of people also park at. Grave Digger, I believe is the all time favorite, he's won ton's of championship. Son of a Digger (clever), and you guest it.. Grave Digger's son.. beat his dad this year and was named the champion for 2017.

A new concept for a restaurant? No, it's a hiking route in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation…read moreArea. It's July 5th, and many places are closed, including my gym. Off to Red Rock this morning hiking. I parked in the lot where the horse trailers park at the exit from the Scenic Drive. The hike starts from just inside the exit gate by the parking lot. The trail was made by horse riders. It heads toward the Potato Knoll, also known as Wilson's Pimple, the high mound at the base of Mount Wilson. The trail goes across two dry creek beds, past some petrified wood, and around the back of the Knoll. When you get to the back of the Knoll, you can take a side trail to the top of the Knoll and get a great view. Follow the trail around the base of the Knoll and you can't get lost. It's always good to have a GPS unit with you, and always bring plenty of water when you hike. It's a desert out there, you know! An alternative way of doing this hike would be to park at the Oak Creek parking area along SR 159 and hike back to the Knoll along the Oak Creek trail. Circle the base of the Knoll and then head back. The hike is about 5 miles and it took me 2 hours. There is an elevation gain of only about 150 feet. It's very gentle. The photos I have posted are the ones I took today. If you have any questions about the hike, send me a message. Happy trails!

There are several things I appreciate about this hike…read more 1) It's your standard out-and-back hike, but instead of just reaching an endpoint and turning back, you circle the knoll. This makes for a more interesting route. 2) You can park at several trailheads and none of them are within the actual Red Rock Canyon NCA fee use area. I'm not against supporting our national parks--in fact I'm a complete supporter--but that's a plus for non pass holders. Also, you don't have to drive the entire 13-mile loop just to get to/from your trailhead. 3) You cross Oak Creek a couple of times. Especially in the desert, it's always nice to come across water. 4) It is dog friendly and also a great hike for beginners, despite its 4.5-mile length. I must thank our resident Yelp LV hiker, Norm. He introduced a group of us to this trail last weekend. I'm not sure why I had never heard of it before, but I will definitely return.