Muffin Ridge Hike

There are many hiking trails around Red Rock, NV. The other day we went on a 5.5 mile moderately trafficked hike up to Muffin Ridge located in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, but the trail is not on the Scenic Loop Road. To get there, drive out West Charleston Blvd, past the entrance to the Scenic Loop Drive (main gate) to the Cowboy Trail Rides Trailhead on the left. Park here; this is the trailhead.

Start of the hike through this sign.

This is a fairly safe hike.

Starting up steep hillside

Trail has several switchback heading up.

Looking back down across side canyon to Red Rock cliffs

Nice view of Las Vegas Valley.

View of Las Vegas Strip.

Muffin

"I've crested the Muffin..."

A quick selfie at the summit.

View of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

After few minutes of rest and snacks we continue southeast over the ridge, turned left on Little Jimmy down to Boneshaker back down to the trailhead. Thanks for reading. Travel safe!

Today's Thought - Love

1 Corinthians 13:7 – “Love bears all things…”

Oswald Golter was a missionary in northern China during the 1940’s. After ten years’ service he was returning home. His ship stopped in India, and while waiting for a boat home he found a group of refugees living in a warehouse on the pier. Unwanted by anyone else the refugees were stranded there. Golter went to visit them. As it was Christmas-time wished them a merry Christmas and asked them what they would like for Christmas.

“We’re not Christians,” they said. “We don’t believe in Christmas.”

“I know,” said the missionary, “but what do you want for Christmas?” They described some German pastries they were particularly fond of, and so Oswald Golter cashed in his ticket, used the money to buy baskets and baskets of the pastries, took them to the refugees, and wished them a merry Christmas.

When he later repeated the incident to a class, a student said, “But sir, why did you do that for them? They weren’t Christians. They don’t even believe in Jesus.”

“I know,” he replied, “but I do!” (Source: Oswald Galter and Unconditional Love. Storiesforpreaching.com).

Love sustains and supports all things. Everything rests on the power of love. Love carries all things. Behind the English word in 1 Cor. 13:7 lay the Greek verb stego, translated as “bear.” 

Stego has several meaning, depending on its associations. It could mean here that love bears up under all things, that love has the power to endure a lot. Apostle Paul uses stego this way in 1 Thess. 3:5. But here, Paul uses it as it bears all things up. Love carries everything. 

If you are having difficulty with your relationship, no matter what the issues are, let your love carry all things. 

Today's Thought

Worry

Philippians 4:4-6, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God"

A fishing boat sank in rough, cold waters off Vancouver Island, leaving two men in a life raft tied to the sinking boat by a nylon rope. Neither had a knife to cut the rope, and had the ship sunk, it would have pulled the boat and the men down with it. For an hour, the two men alternated chewing the rope, Minutes before the ship sank, the men finally chewed through the rope and survived. (Source: The State Journal-Register of Springfield, Ill, quoted in Parade, December 31, 1995, p. 10). 

Paul was under house arrest. There was the possibility that he might be acquitted, or he might be beheaded. He didn't know what his future held. Yet he gave us some of the most inspiring words found in Philippians 4:4-6. 

Worry is the advanced interest we pay on troubles that seldom come. Paul wasn't sitting in some hill top mansion, writing up practical theories. He was not lounging on some beach in the Southern California, eating a taco and having an iced tea. This was a man who was incarcerated, yet he was able to say, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"

Anyone can rejoice when things are going reasonably well. But when we're facing adversity or sickness or hardship or death and then we rejoice, we are praising God. God is on His throne. He loves you and is watching out for you. So rejoice in the Lord.

Dublin Gulch - California

On one of our outing we’ve visited Dublin Gulch just outside of the town of Shoshone, California on Highway 127. We drove up to about a quarter-mile up a rough dirt road and park at a gravel parking area. From there we walked to the homes that was constructed into the solidified volcanic ash. During the 1920s, miners carved dwellings in this caliche clay embankment.

Looking in the window, this room turns to the left, I wonder how far it goes.

The "outhouse"

Here's a view looking across the Dublin Gulch at the row of homes.

The name "Dublin Gulch" may have came from an area of the same name in Butte, MT, where one resident, Joe Vollmer, once lived. Some cave homes have split levels, stovepipes, and garages, pretty amazing. Thanks for reading and enjoy the photos.

If any of my pictures catch your fancy, feel free to download and save, and use them for whatever purpose you like. Credit back to journeywithmilandnan.blogspot.com would be nice, but it's not required. Have a blessed day.