For our last weekend of our season in Death Valley we decided to go try out our new snowshoes on Mt. Charleston, the 12,000 ft. mountain right outside of Las Vegas. We were also trying out our new expedition backpacks that we bought for our mountaineering course this summer in Alaska. They were pretty full. Andrew described them as "the backpacks that gave birth to another backpack." It was a great weekend, and work-out, even though we experienced 50 mph wind gusts with a steady 20-30 mph wind all day and night.
We started at about 8,000 ft. and camped at 10,000 ft. that night.
After we found a campsite, we snowshoed around for a bit.
Someone decided they needed to build a shelter, then build a fire inside. Not the smartest idea with dead wood surrounding you. One wall had definitely caught fire.
Our campsite. 
Boss and his love for snow.
If you looked hard enough you could see the Vegas Strip.
Nice sunset
Very nice sunrise
Love the life and death contrast here.
The next day we snowshoes around the mountain some more. Never made it to the summit, but made it to a great overlook.
These snowshoes rock for having this heel kickstand that you can put up while going uphill. It makes it so much easier on your calves and ankles.
The final viewpoint.Very nice and very windy.