Do You Mean "White" Owl Canyon? (Lake Mead)

What happens when the spontaneity bug bites you on a Thursday afternoon and you know you're going to have do something about it?  You find yourself loading sleeping children in the van at 1AM and striking out on a 6-hr road-trip to southern Nevada, of course!  It happened to us two weeks ago, and we're going to spend this week telling you all about it-starting with an adventure at Lake Mead...

Lake Mead is very well known for boating and that little tiny thing called the Hoover Dam, but we don't own a boat and weren't feeling particularly tourist-y.  Instead we were looking for some really fun hiking.  On our drive down we scoured the internet and finally found a hike promising tunnels and slot canyons.  The description of the hike was great, but the directions to get there were a little hazy.  So, we stopped into the Lake Mead visitor center and had the following conversation...

Me: "We really want to take the kids hiking in a slot canyon."
Old Ranger: "There aren't any of those here.  You need to go to Lake Powell.  They have great ones."
Me: "Oh."
In my head: "You work for Lake Mead, Old Ranger.  How about trying to keep me here."
Me: "I read something about Owl Canyon.  Can you show me how to get there?
Old Ranger: "Never heard of it.  Stand here and wait a really long time and then I'll ask Young Ranger about it."**
Young Ranger: "Where do you want to go?"
Me:  "Owl Canyon, I think."
Young Ranger:  (looooooong pause) "Do you mean White Owl Canyon?"
In My Head: "How many owl canyons do you have?"
Me: "Yes, I suppose so."

And she finally gave me the directions.  But it wasn't over yet...

Old Ranger: "You make sure you're careful out there.  The terrain here can be very difficult."
Me:  "Oh, okay.  We hike in southern Utah all the time, so I think we'll be okay."
Old Ranger: "Your kids.  Make sure they're careful.  The terrain here can be very difficult."
Me: "Oh, okay, they hike in southern Utah all the time, so I think we'll be okay."
Old Ranger: "You make sure..." (repeat 5 times...you get the drift)

This was the first sign that we'd picked the right hike...

Not another soul on the trail.  The next parking area over was jam packed full and of course the simpler well-traveled trail near the visitor center was over-run with people.  But we had Owl Canyon 100% to ourselves the entire day!  The only challenge we faced was figuring out how to drop down into the valley...

B & P scrambled down here...

My husband and I kind of just went over here...

And on the way back up we realized there was an obvious path going down here...

Getting down to the trail was by far the most challenging part. After that, we were on our way...

For more stories from our hike

 and beautiful pictures of White Owl Canyon,

please jump to  "Hiking White Owl Canyon Part 2"...

More Information:
More information on Lake Mead

The White Owl Canyon Trailhead starts at

the 33 Hole Road Parking Area

off the Lake Mead Highway.

Stay to the left as you come to the 

3 parking areas. 

The trail drops down 

at the 2nd shelter house from the left.

The entire trail does make a big loop if you 

don't want to turn around like we did. 

A detailed description can be found here.

**I believe Old Ranger had never heard of White Owl Canyon,
as for some reason it's not listed on the area's official hiking list.

Hiking White Owl Canyon

Miss the 1st part of our spontaneous road-trip to Lake Mead?

Catch up here...

By now you know that:
    1) I'm a slave to spontaneity,
    2)the rangers at the Lake Mead visitor center are moderately helpful, extremely entertaining, &
    3)the hike we chose looked promising...

So, let's get on it!

First, we found the tunnel...

Then, we found the slot canyon...

...and took some time to learn some things...

Learning all about owl poo

We saw a coyote.  We almost lost the kids (more on that coming, I promise).  We fought a little bit. We laughed a lot. And at the end of the day when we asked B & P what their favorite part of the day had been, they shouted at the top of their lungs, "THE HIKING!"  Me, too, boys.  Me, too.

More Information:
More information about Lake Mead

The White Owl Canyon Trailhead starts at

the 33 Hole Road Parking Area

off the Lake Mead Highway.

Stay to the left as you come to the 

3 parking areas. 

The trail drops down 

at the 2nd shelter house from the left.

The entire trail does make a big loop if you 

don't want to turn around like we did. 

A detailed description can be found here.

One caution: There is a LOT of trash and broken glass
along the trail 
before you reach the canyon.  
It is obviously a party hangout.
Especially with kids, be careful-
or turn it into a great service project for them!

Why We Love Junior Ranger Programs (And Think You Will Too)

I discovered last fall that I'm a little bit skeptical of our federal government.  I honestly had no idea until B & P were finishing their first National Parks Junior Ranger program and the park ranger handed them a very nice, high quality patch to commemorate their day of learning.  With all the talk of debt ceilings and excessive borrowing and financial cut-backs we hear about in the news, I was caught a little bit off-guard at the quality of a program we'd participated in for free.  We couldn't wait to visit our next park and get started on another one!

That first Junior Ranger program we did was at the Capulin Volcano National Monument in northeastern New Mexico.  I'll share more about that visit in the near future, but today want to tell you the two reasons we've fallen in love with the Junior Ranger programs.

1.  I already mentioned it, they're GOOD QUALITY learning programs.  I'm sure that would be important to anyone, but as a homeschool parent I tend to be a little critical of children's educational resources.  Too many times they're full of cartoon characters or pop culture references and not a lot of learning takes place in what's left of the blank space on a page.  

To become a Junior Ranger, kids have to complete worksheets and tasks.  Both the programs we've done so far have had an option for younger and older kids.  Usually the younger kids are required to complete 3-4 pages/tasks, while the older kids maybe have to complete 5-7.  At Capulin Volcano pages included learning about how a volcano works, the geology of northern New Mexico, the flora and fauna of the area, and more.  A lot of them involve reading signs throughout the park and finding the information.  At that park they could receive an extra reward for completing the entire hike around the rim of the volcano.

Seriously, what can be better than seeing kids out in nature actively and excitedly learning about their surroundings?

Working on their Junior Ranger at Lake Mead

2.  The Junior Ranger programs make kids feel special.  During our trip to Lake Mead last month, we stopped into the visitor's center to pick up our Junior Ranger books.  The retired volunteer park ranger almost jumped out of his skin with enthusiasm.  Both times we've done the program the rangers have given full attention to our boys while they explained the program and the requirements and got them excited for a day of learning.  

Why does it seem like adults don't do that anymore...make time for kids?  Such a spirit-lifting experience for me to have someone else telling my kids how cool science and the outdoors can be! That volunteer ranger answered every single one of their questions and quizzed them and made sure they had not taken it lightly.  B & P just ate it up!  

So what happens when kids have completed their activities and worksheets?  The ranger administers the Junior Park Ranger pledge.  Each kid repeats something like this, 

"As a Junior Ranger, I promise to teach others about what I learned today, 

explore other parks and historic sites, 

and help preserve and protect these places so future generations can enjoy them."

Then they receive their badge and their patches and go on their merry little way...

 

Do you have Junior Rangers at home?

Which park programs have been your favorite?

More information:

Junior Ranger programs are available at

200+ national parks.

The program is free to participate-just ask a ranger at the park visitor center for information.

Many of the booklets and other information are available online

and are great resources for homeschool unit studies.

Your local state parks may have junior ranger programs as well.  

Ask the next time you're there!

Hunting Through the Strip in Las Vegas

This is part of a sponsored post via US Family Guide.

As spontaneous as our last road-trip seemed, there was a little bit of method to my madness.  The last minute decision to get out of town was easy, but how did we decide where to go?  First, it's always safe to head south until you get somewhere warm.  But, also, I still needed to do a review for Urban Adventure Quest.  Since I'd already done the scavenger hunt in Salt Lake City, I chose the next location within driving distance...Las Vegas...

Source: urbanadventurequest.com

If you aren't familiar with the city scavenger hunts offered through Urban Adventure Quest,

 check out last month's review.  

Let me start out by saying I LOVE the idea behind Urban Adventure Quests.  The puzzles and challenges are well-thought out, informative, and entertaining.  I think any of the 35 locations would be worth the time and money.  But, I want to give a big caution that the Las Vegas race is not as "family-friendly" as the website touts it to be.  I may come off simply as a prude, but I think it's fair to point out up-front that a number of the Las Vegas race challenges include entering the casinos, speaking with pitbosses, or having a more than skin-deep knowledge of gambling terms and amounts.  Also, a puzzle towards the end of the race involves studying a fresco painting and identifying how many pairs of bare women's chests you can see.  Some will say, "Hey, it's Vegas" and "It's art", and they would be right.  This race would be a blast for 20-somethings in town on spring break.  Just maybe not for families like ours with curious little kids in tow.

Having said all that, it is still a really fun race!  We did decide half-way through that the kids weren't into it anymore and went on to Lake Mead, but before we left Sin City, we figured out clues that took us past cool interactive sculptures and to a great snack-stop under the Arc de Triomphe...

I am 100% in my own skin carrying a baby on my back in the wilderness, but
will be honest that we looked a little out of place packing them down the strip in Las Vegas.

The one big question I had after completing the Salt Lake Urban Adventure Quest was whether it would be more fun or less fun and more or less beneficial to do the race in a place you were familiar with.  Is it something people would want to do at home as an outing or on vacation as an excursion? I'm going to say the verdict is still out.  We loved the Salt Lake City Adventure Quest because it was full of history and we could use our knowledge of the area to guess pretty accurately where the next clue would lead.  The locations in the Las Vegas scavenger hunt were pretty iconic and so also relatively easy to locate.  I guess we'll have to try a third hunt in a place we know nothing about and then get back to you!

Want to find an Urban Adventure Quest near you?

Click here...

I'd love to know which one you want to try!