One of the many reasons Cari and I chose Pahrump Nevada as a home base was its proximity to various outdoor activities, along with being a convenient stopping point between northern and southern destinations and family visits. And the great views from the property.
One such outdoor destination is Mount Charleston, located just east of the city limits. Though the western slope which boarders the city has several gravel roads accessible off highway 160 which runs north/south at the edge of town, only one road, “Wheeler Pass” actually goes over the mountain to the eastern slope and it is marked 4WD only. So in order for us to get to the nicer forested eastern slope we make the easy 90 minute drive to the eastern slope via highways 160 and 95, then up Lee Canyon Road (Hwy 156) to any of the various dispersed camping areas.
As I type we’ve been enjoying the area for a bit over a week and will make this a seasonal visit. When we left Pahrump it was in the high 90’s and the temps up at camp are in the low 70’s with nights in the high 40’s, perfect for our preferred Goldilocks’sZone temperature range.
One reason we chose to stay around the general area is we are waiting on the custom paint shop to refinish and paint the fiberglass top on the Chevy van. Ten years of being exposed to the elements has the Fiberine top’s finish in dire need of refurbishing! We will head back into town this coming Monday morning to pick up the Chevy, do some resupply shopping, andhead back up to a new camp on the mountain with both vans as we are not quite ready to head south for the next season.
I’ll close with a shot of both van’s back up the hill, a nice reunion after being apart for the summer season. Oh how we missed having the Chevy van with us in camp during the solo trip this summer to the PNW!
