Original post on Las Vegas Review-Journal. By Henry Brean
It still won't be easy, but the hike to the top of the third tallest peak in the Spring Mountains is about to get a little easier.
A crew of 20 volunteers and six interns from the Student Conservation Association are wrapping up work on a new trail to Griffith Peak, which rises to 11,060 feet in the Mount Charleston Wilderness.
The official U.S. Forest Service trail replaces an old, user-created path to the peak that was steep, prone to erosion and posed a threat to the Mount Charleston blue butterfly and other rare bugs.
"Hikers were climbing up the ridge and trampling a lot of the host plants that the butterflies use as habitat," said Judy Suing, spokeswoman for Spring Mountains National Recreation Area.
The work, done mostly with shovels and hand tools, was planned and funded by the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership, a group of federal agencies that manage wilderness areas in the region. The volunteers are from Friends of Nevada Wilderness and other local conservation groups and hiking clubs. ...continue reading [1]