Gold Strike Canyon Hot Springs (Clark County, Nevada)

My next trail for the trip is a much more challenging adventure. Gold Strike Canyon departs Great Basin Highway near Hoover Dam and follows a slot canyon down towards the Colorado River. I've read the trail is difficult and requires a lot of scrambling and even some ropes to descend to the hot springs far below.

The parking area at the trail head is packed with cars, but luckily, I find a spot. I, perhaps unwisely, decide to leave my pack and water behind. My concern is the amount of scrambling that may be necessary along this path. I want to be as nimble as possible.

The early part of the trail is easy and simply follows the wash. High above a bridge carries the highway across the Colorado River. I encounter a few other hikers along the way. Another interesting and unexpected site is remains of a car far above on the canyon wall. It was likely pushed off the tall cliff above long ago. Here in the wash, the rear-end, transmission, and one of the doors have found a long-term home.

Just a bit further on, I find another item above on the cliffs that I unable to identify. It appears to be a washing machine or dish washer, but its difficult to be sure. About this time, the trail begins to get more difficult and I'm forced to find a reasonable path to navigate a boulder field. I end up leaving the wash and scrambling up the left side of the canyon. It requires a bit of work, but I finally do find a path to get past this dam of car-sized boulders.

A short time after clearing this section, I come to the first rope descent. It requires a tight squeeze through a narrow pass in the gigantic boulders and a drop of about fifteen feet. Sometime previously, someone has anchored a long climbing rope with knots tied in it to assist those on the trail. It's very helpful, but I still find the descent somewhat challenging. Perhaps, I'm just an old man.

Scrambles become more the norm from here on out and I'm forced to slide, climb, and jump over several areas until I finally reach the first of the hot springs.It would seem that in years and decades past, visitors have damned up the springs to create small soaking pools. I'm sure they're quite pleasant to soak in, but again, I'm on a schedule and have little time to enjoy them. 

I follow the run off of the hot springs, which is the water source for a myriad of vegetation to the next rope descent. This one is a bit easier, but still requires a fair amount of balance and body coordination. From here, there are supposedly a number of additional rope descents, but as I'm short on time and as there appears to be a bottleneck of people at the next rope, I decide to turn back.

I find the way back to be much easier than the way down. Perhaps it is my experience with the trail, or perhaps it is the ability to see the path more fully at each impasse, but either way, I'm able to scramble back to the trail head with ease. Returning to the jeep, I find I've hiked about 5.7 miles through this desert slot canyon. Had I known it would be this far, I probably would have brought water. Not the wisest choice on my part, but it worked out okay. This really was quite an adventure, but I'm sure I have some bumps and bruises to remember it by.