Not too far from the fascinating neon lights, celebrity titled marquees, and rhythmic tones of coin filled slot machines, you will find the Spring Mountains and Mt. Charleston wilderness. The 45 minute driving distance can seem a world away as you take in the majestic scenery along the trails and designated wilderness areas found in Kyle and Lee Canyons. There is no mystery to why so many visitors come to enjoy this wooded oasis nestled above the Southern Nevada desert. Of course, with the heavy number of visitors, this special place requires lots of attention. This week, Aria Hotel + Casino joined us in Mt. Charleston to help maintain the trails!
Jose, second from right, gives safety and procedure instructions to Team Aria.
Cathedral Rock, one of the most popular trails on Mt. Charleston, was the focus for our project with Aria. Seven Aria employees spent the day maintaining the first mile of this trail. The morning was spent trimming overgrown brush from the trail path, maintaining trail integrity, and moving large rocks and downed tree branches out of the way. Many trails like Cathedral Rock may only be serviced every 2-5 years...if at all. With dozens of daily visitors, one can easily imagine the type of damage done, sometimes inadvertently, due to high use. Friends of Nevada Wilderness’s stewardship projects keep trails safe and viable for hikers by completing this much needed maintenance that may never be completed without volunteer power!
At Friends, we appreciate the opportunity to build partnerships with local organizations and companies like Aria. Instilling love and respect for our public lands through volunteerism helps create stewards who will ensure Nevada remains wild for future generations. Whether it’s rolling up your sleeves to work or rolling out an e-mail to your local representative, we all have a responsibility to lend help to the helpless and be a voice to the voiceless. A special thanks goes to the Aria staff who joined us last Saturday, Ron LaPointe, super volunteer and blue helmet owner, who assisted in leading stewardship work, and our agency partner, the U.S. Forest Service. You rock!
All smiles at the end of another successful stewardship project!
