1/10 Hiking at Lovell Canyon

After a long and frustrating bout with a wicked case of Pertussis (Whooping Cough) over the holiday season, we decided enough was enough; we had to get out of the house! We were tossing around the idea of attempting Gass Peak a 2nd time but good friends Alex, Erin and puppers Koa offered for us to join them with another couple Will and Allison on Lovell Canyon Sunday morn. This is a trail we haven't heard of previously located west of Red Rock Canyon in the Rainbow Mountain Wilderness. The plan was to meet up at Cottonwood Station in Blue Diamond for coffee before driving over to the trailhead. Unfortunately, Winston didn't get any coffee so he had to trot away empty-pawed. 

As we drove over to the trailhead, we were pleasantly surprised to see some spots of snow! Winston, the nine month old pup who has only known the desert, has never seen snow so we were excited to introduce him. However, the sight of snow also told us it would be a bit chilly at this higher elevation. Don't worry, Winston brought his fur coat. 

The first half mile of the trail was a bit steep ascend that had all of us couch potatoes gasping for air pretty quickly. The upside to this, of course, was that we didn't get too cold. Once we ascended through that, we were rewarded with some great views! 

As we continued through the trail, the best part was reconnecting with friends that we hadn't seen in awhile. Even though it had been a few short months, with 2020 and 2021 being two crazy years, a lot had changed. Additionally, this was everyone's first time meeting Winston and he was instantly the star of the show with his recent grooming and fluffy blowout. The only debby downer moment of the day was when Nina left the much needed snacks in the car causing Scott to quickly get a little hungry but he was a good sport about it and didn't complain that much. 

After halfway through the well marked, loop of a trail, we found ourselves on the backside of the mountain in a valley where the sun didn't shine as much as it did on the other side of the peak. This presented us with an opportunity to let Winston walk in the snow and catch a few snowballs. On the bucket list is taking Winston to deeper snow at some point but this was a good introduction. He had a great time making crunching noises with each step. He even left very cute little paw prints wherever he went. 

After we finished our hike, we all compared the slightly differing distances that we covered that day. Online it was described as 5.60 miles but I logged it as 5.38 miles. We knocked it out in 2 hours and 32 minutes with a 757 foot ascent. Not bad for being stuck in the house for the last few weeks! We all agreed we needed to do this more often as we departed after a great day. 

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Lovell Canyon