I went hiking with my fellow RV’er, Joanie. We decided to go to Fern Canyon (actually it’s Pine Creek Canyon but it branches into two different canyons, one of which is called Fern Canyon by the locals). It was bastardly warm, even when we left Boulder Highway at 5:30 a.m. and we knew it would get HOT before the hike was over.

I’ve done this hike many times. It’s quite enjoyable and takes a bit of work and one can even see big horn sheep now and then, and climbers on Black Velvet Wall. It’s possible to hike much further up the canyon and even climb different sets, and difficulty levels, of dry falls, but most of us go in about a mile and half and hike back out after stopping at one of two places that afford the sound and serenity of running water, and the coolness of the rock, and shade afforded by the trees.

This is the first stop – there are two large rocks that sit atop the water this time of year (water flows across the edge of the rocks in spring thaw) and it’s perfect to have a snack or even lay down on the rock and cool out for a bit before turning around and heading back. Joanie is my subject in the first picture and the water is behind and below her and Black Velvet Wall goes straight up on the right:

In this picture, I am standing on the rock, taking a shot of the water below my feet, Black Velvet Wall is straight ahead:

We went further up the canyon, the walls start to close in a bit and it’s really wild. One side of the canyon is brush choked and almost impossible to navigate and the left side is boulder strewn and has some classic trees in it. The tree roots are exposed and gnarly and hold so much character, it is like looking at an older person’s face and seeing all the lines and creases that have a tale to tell about their bearer. This is one tree that I always marvel at how it has maintained existence through all the flash floods and boulders that crash against its trunk and threaten to tear it out of existence.

This is a close up of its trunk as its adapted to survive:

There are some huge pines in this area also, the base of their trunks and part of their exposed roots show their torment in holding onto life. They are beautiful. Red Rock is the back side of Mount Charleston and has a lot of water flow coming from the mountains even in late summer. That’s why these pines flourish as well as they do.

We arrived at the next place that I usually come to with my fellow hikers, and I was prepared to take a few moments, take some pictures, relax, cool down, and then head back the way we came. To my dismay, this is what we found:

John and all of his worldly goods had moved to Fern Canyon for the summer. It’s not a pretty sight. One goes expecting nature and the wild beauty of the desert and canyons and instead finds someone that has decided to spend the summer where you’d like to plant your tush and visit with your hiking buddies for a few moments.

We visited with John for a few minutes and found out that he’s an artist, that he does mainly acrylics, and that he’s even sold some of his work for as high as $1,000 to some of his friends. He didn’t have any samples of his work with him but said he was going to work on his art all summer. The last time he’d been to this canyon to spend a few months was back in 1969. It took him three trips to get all of his stuff up to this point and he had friends that dropped him off down on the loop road. He said his friends would come back every few weeks to check on him.

We asked where he lived and he said some old folks trailer park off of Nellis Blvd. That’s a creepy part of town as far as I’m concerned and I honestly believe he’s pretty much homeless and really doesn’t have stable quarters anywhere – but I could be wrong.

John had very few teeth, lit a cigarette and puffed away as we visited, and I asked him if I could take his picture, he said yes. He also brought a kennel with a mama cat that just had six kittens. I said, “Coyote bait.”

He said he would watch over them and not let anything happen to the cat/kittens.

He seemed like a nice enough guy but honestly, I find this to be very distressing. I don’t know where homeless people belong and I have no answers to any of it. It’s distressing and an ugly side of society that leaves a lot of us feeling uncomfortable. But I don’t believe that any person belongs hanging out in a popular hiking area that’s BLM managed property. I for one, do not want to hike into a natural retreat and run into someone like this, especially being female and if I’m hiking alone, it’s unnerving.

I know that if I go through the gates at Red Rock and want to spend the night in the park, I have to have a permit to do that. I can’t help but wonder if BLM management will make him leave (if they haven’t already) because I do believe other hikers share my feelings. I know people die every day and life is harsh, but I just don’t want it in my face when I’m out hiking. I don’t have any answers.