Today we drove to Las Vegas! It was an extremely long 8 hour ride. A lot of people slept, but I was driving part of the time. It was tough because most people were able to work on their journal and catch up on some work while we were driving, but I was not able to do that. I enjoyed driving though, it was fun. Once we arrived, we took a hike on Spring Mountain with botanist Jennifer. There was more vegetation on the mountain than in the valley. There are 24-36 endemic species, mostly in higher elevations. There are avalanches here that cause natural disturbance and rejuvenate the aspens, allowing things to grow. There are very little mature aspen here; most are associated with avalanche chutes so they are young and small. This area is not considered suitable for logging and was officially noted to never be used for logging purposes. However, they do thin out the forest around the houses in the valley because it reduces the fuel for fires.
I really enjoyed this hike a lot. I was nice to have Jenn guide our hike to the top. She pointed out all of the endemic species along the way and explained their importance. I thought it was very interesting that people became confused about the native thistle being a noxious weed and tried to remove it. I thought it was really great that they're being proactive about educating people now. I also thought it was interesting that the Charleston Flower didn't need protection because they have natural protection from their location on the edge of the mountain. Jenn was very knowledgeable and I also enjoyed the pace of our hike.
After our hike, we drove into Las Vegas. We could see it from afar, it was like an oasis in the middle of the desert. We stayed at Circus Circus, which wasn't that great but it didn't matter- We're in LAS VEGAS! We cruised around and checked out the strip and then Jess and I grabbed a sandwich before bed. "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."
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