I had such a blast at Red Rock Canyon! Hiking is one of my favorite weekend activities. In order to keep your body healthy, regular aerobic exercise like hiking, improves cardio-respiratory fitness (heart, lungs, blood vessels).
There are even more healthy benefits, such as Improving muscular fitness to lower the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.
Research shows, if you are dealing with depression, it helps to reduce depression and enforces better quality sleep.
In order to lower the risk of early death, you must be active for 7-hours a week. This will ensure your risk of dying early is 40% lower than someone active for less than 30 minutes a week. Furthermore, hiking will manage weight control, so you can burn up to 370 calories an hour (154-lb person).
As the saying goes, "Health is wealth." Hiking not only lowers blood pressure or high cholesterol, but it's helps to reduce your chances of getting colon and breast cancer, and possibly lung and endometrial cancer.
Get out and hike! Who knows, you might run into a Gecko.
You are so gorgeous!