Railroad Trail

After stake conference we took a short drive to get out of the house. This trail is on the way to Hoover Dam. The map of the trail in the above picture shows the route with 5 tunnels dug into the mountain side way back in 1931. It took the workers 5 months to complete the tunnels and lay the tracks for the train to pass through to bring supplies to build Hoover Dam. The tracks were used for a while after the dam was completed, not being removed until 1964. The little visitor's center at the beginning of the trail was pretty fun to check out. They had things for the kids to touch, and a cool interactive map to show the layout of a portion of the Colorado River, Grand Canyon, and the Las Vegas area. The trail goes all the way to Hoover Dam, 3.7 miles away. The first tunnel was about a mile from the trailhead...so we did okay for the conditions I guess. Next time we go I want to go through all 5 tunnels and maybe even to the Dam. I'm not sure the kids would last that long, but it would be fun to try if the weather was nicer.

It was a very windy day. The kids didn't like being out in the wind much....and I was constantly worried about Gideon and Ayla being too cold. Brady also decided we need a jogging stroller with big wheels or take the kids in backpacks next time because the trail was pretty rough with our plastic wheeled stroller. We only made it through the second tunnel before going back to the van. The above picture is the first tunnel.

At the entrance to the second tunnel, with the first tunnel behind the stroller.

Entrance to the second tunnel.

We had a picnic dinner in the back of the van before heading home. The kids loved having the seats down in the back so everyone could sit down. Gideon was climbing all over everyone and their food....it was mildly annoying.

While sitting in the parking lot we got to see the moon rise over the mountain. It was very pretty in person....this picture is pretty crappy compared to what it actually looked like.