Columnist Susan Snyder: Charleston visit is the bomb

Monday, June 23, 2003 | 8:12 a.m.

There are so many reasons to love the desert, but summer isn't one of them unless you're a lizard or tourist from Ohio.

(Yes, there is a difference. Be nice.)

When the thermometer rises above 100, many of us go above 6,000 feet to Mount Charleston.

A few of us actually intend to scale the 11,918-foot Charleston Peak that is the Spring Mountain Range's highest. But most of us simply enjoy the forested lands below that offer hiking trails, picnic areas, campgrounds and scenic drives up Kyle and Lee canyons and along State Route 158.

Also called the Deer Creek Road, SR158 has scenic pullouts, trail heads and the Hilltop campground, which sits just above 8,000 feet.

It can be crowded on weekends. But on a recent weekday Las Vegas residents Robert Baker Jr. and Jessica Burrow had no trouble finding camping spots for themselves and for friends, to whom they were giving directions on a cell phone when I spotted them.

"We came up here to get out of the heat. It's a good escape," Baker said.

"I wouldn't have moved here if this wasn't here," said Burrows, who moved to Las Vegas from Oregon a couple of years ago. "It's beautiful."

It's like being someplace else. Someplace not anything like Las Vegas.

And then, one Deer Creek Road scenic pullout sign later, it's exactly like Las Vegas.

Weird.

"Atomic Blasting Vantage Point."

And I thought people went up there to see the birdies.

But in the 1950s, the Desert View scenic overlook was a prime spectator spot for watching the above-ground atomic bomb tests at the Nevada Test Site 65 miles to the northwest.

Above-ground test detonations started in 1951. Six years later the Atomic Energy Commission first advertised the tests for public viewing and released dates for eight explosions.

Good grief, we'll sell anything for tourism. But we can't be held totally responsible for the attention. The New York Times (presumably printing the truth at the time) published an article in June 1957 about bomb-watching.

An excerpt from Gladwin Hill's report is printed on the overlook sign:

"The best view of the detonations can be obtained from Mount Charleston, which lies just east of U.S. 95, only an hour ride from Las Vegas over good roads."

There was no mention of the 14 plant species, seven butterfly species, two snail species and the Palmer chipmunk, all of which are found only in the Spring Mountains.

Breezes murmured in the pines as I tried to visualize a mushroom cloud rising above the distant pastel ridge line. The roar of two jets from Nellis Air Force Base pierced the quiet, followed by voices and the patter of sneakers coming up the walkway.

"Let's see if we can see more jets," a mother said to two little boys as she led them to another sign at the end of the overlook that told of geology.

"Look, this all used to be an inland sea," she said.

Dad wandered over to the atomic-bomb sign. He stared at it a minute. Looked at me. Looked at the sign. Looked puzzled. Said nothing.

"Let's go guys," Mom said, and everyone trotted back to the car.

No more jets or bombs today.

Ah well.

At least it was cooler.