Lake Mead National Recreation Area - again, NV

Cooler temperatures drive us back south and we return to Lake Mead outside of Las Vegas.  We will spend most of the next few weeks until Christmas here exploring the many trails and backcountry byways of this National Recreation Area.

The Bluffs Trail overlooks the Las Vegas Wash which is flowing like crazy right now, perhaps because they've just had three days of rain before we arrive. The views of Lake Mead and the surrounding mountains is magnificent. We also see a large group of ducks, but are too far away to photograph or identify them. They might be Redheads since they seem to have very rusty brown heads.
	Overlooking the river (which drains beautiful Lake Las Vegas, a lake and resort/condo community) from the Bluffs Trail.
Quite by accident, we find a trail from the closed boat ramp in Las Vegas Bay (Lake Mead water levels are too low and most boat ramps in the park are closed) along the estuary to the lake. There are hundreds of water birds - egrets, herons, gulls, coots, cormorants and grebes. Fishermen are also in abundance, stealing the birds prey.
	Egrets (one in flight) and herons in the flowing Las Vegas Wash.
	Birds and fishermen in Las Vegas Bay.
A three-mile hike takes us through White Rock Canyon down 800 feet to the Colorado River about four miles below the Hoover Dam. A short hike down-river and up a side canyon brings us to the Arizona (or Ringbolt) Hot Springs where there are several pools of varying temperatures. After a relaxing soak with a couple from Vegas, we hike back up this side canyon which is much more strenuous and technically challenging with several dryfalls to scale, one about 20 feet high. It is tricky, but we manage - barely!
	A Bighorn Sheep. They are fairly common around here, and this one is unfazed by our presence.
	View of the Colorado River, on our way up into the Arizona Hot Spring Canyon.
	Marilyn climbing the 20-foot ladder to get up to the springs (and yes, I got wet doing so). At the top is the coolest pool, around 90F; 20 feet further up the canyon is a warmer pool at about 104F; and another hotter pool lies above than.
	Brad and Marilyn sitting in the pool at the top of the ladder. The water is too cool for Brad, but is juuuuust right for Baby Bear!

Amargosa Opera House, NV

It's odd and amazing what we can find in the middle of this vast, lonely desert landscape.  Between Beatty and Pahrump, on Highway 160 in Nevada, in Death Valley Junction is the Amargosa Opera House, yes, Opera House.  The "town" was originally the home of a borax mining company, with housing for miners and big-wigs. The mine closed by the 1930s and became yet another southwestern ghost town; well, it still is technically.  Marta Becket is the artist and the dancer behind this story.  In 1967, she and her husband stopped in town to have a flat tire repaired when Marta found the old building originally used for social events for the miners.  She fell in love and arranged to rent it.  They sold their belongings in New York, and moved to the Amargosa Valley.  Marta was a ballerina then in her 40s, and planned to entertain the locals, but no one came, so she danced to empty chairs.  As a performer, you need an audience, so she painted one on the walls.  Then she painted beloved cherubs and vestal virgins on the ceiling.  The result is a labour of love for the woman who did finally draw the crowds until her retirement just a few years ago at the age of 85!  She is still alive, and performing but not dancing, today and one of the two last residents of this strange little ghost town!

	Looking out at the theatre from the stage, with the King and Queen of Spain sitting above the doors at the back center.
	Nuns sitting beside the ladies of the night who came for a night of culture once a month. Marta's sense of humour!
	Part of the ceiling - cherubs, doves and the sixteen vestal virgins.
	One of Marta's cats painted on the back wall, watching her performances for eternity.

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, NV

At the southeastern edge of Death Valley National Park is the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.  Our visit to this strange oasis reminds us of our trip to Florida a couple of years ago.  Seven major warm springs adorn this alkali desert, giving us a sense of the tropical.  Are you sure we're in the Nevada desert?  The springs are around 85F to 90F (31C to 35C) and as clear as a cold, trout creek.  From the springs, the water flows into marshes and reservoirs, playing host to waterfowl and a rare, endangered pupfish found only here and nowhere else on earth!  Boardwalks have been built allowing visitors to walk around the springs and streams to help protect this sensitive landscape.

	Marilyn at the Crystal Spring creek.
	Crystal Spring is 15 feet deep and 87F (23C). 2300 gallons of water bubble out of this underwater fissure every minute!
	Brad at Crystal Reservoir. They're VERY hard to see on such a small photo, but the black dots on the water are American Coots, and there are thousands of them!
	This is King's Pond at Point of Rocks. That's me making a funny shadow across the pond.

Side note: the day after we visit the Refuge, it rains - all day! Very unusual for the desert, especially the Death Valley area which sees only about 2 inches of rainfall annually. The clerk in the office of the RV park where we stay tells us this is the first significant rain they've had here all YEAR - and it's almost the end of November! More rain and clouds are expected for the next several days. Of the four years we have been RVing, this is the wettest and cloudiest we have experienced.

Amargosa Dunes, NV

While our exit from Beatty is hampered by trailer troubles, our arrival at the sand dunes is reminiscent of our experience on Lone Rock Beach when Brandon visited.  We get stuck in soft sand!  There are a few other large trailers and vehicles out here, but the sand varies from hard-packed dirt/stone/sand to soft sand, and our trailer gets in a hole in some really soft stuff.  Out comes the shovel (we carry a fold-up shovel for just this purpose!) and flat pieces of wood to put under the tires.  The spinning of the truck's back tires buries the boards and after each two-foot progression, we have to dig the boards out and place them in front of the back tires again.  It takes about 10 repeats of doing this, but Brad finally manages to pull the trailer out and get up onto a level, hard surface.  By now it's dark and Grady's pretty freaked out!  One more day in the life of...

The Amargosa Dunes, Big Dune in particular, is an ATV mecca!  It's late Sunday afternoon when we arrive, and there are three groups of ATVers, two of whom leave later in the evening and the last leaves the next morning.  Good thing because I'm not keen on listening to the ATVs' whining hum of acceleration while they climb the dunes all day!  Hence the reason we avoid weekends at these places.  But the cat loves the sand, and so does my other child, Brad.

	Put down the damn camera Brad, and help me dig us out! It doesn't look that bad, but ain't nothin' going' nowhere!
	Man! Is this whole litter box just for me?.
	Marilyn hiking in the dunes.

A Day in Death Valley, NV & CA

One day is certainly not long enough to see - really see and experience - Death Valley National Park, which spans the Nevada/California border.  Our initial plan is not to go into this huge national park, but as we pass through Beatty, Nevada, we stop at the Chamber of Commerce and ask "What ELSE is there to see in Death Valley, where we've been twice before?"  Lots!

Death Valley is basically in a low-elevation bowl that is surrounded by mountains.  The lowest elevation in North America is here, at Badwater measuring 282 feet or 86 meters BELOW sea level.  Hot air gets trapped in Death Valley and makes it the hottest place on the continent.  And today, when we visit, it is about 20F warmer than the town of Beatty on the east side of the Amargosa Range.

	The ghost town of Leadfield on Titus Canyon Road - two buildings and some tailings. A national park sign reads "This was a mining boom town founded on wild and distorted advertising. 300 hopeful people swarmed here and a post office was established in August, 1926. In February 1927, the post office closed and the town died." The WILD west!
	Strange, twisted rock layers in Titus Canyon. This was an incredible drive on a 4x4 road that took us across the desert, down a steep switchback, up another steep switchback, past the ghost town, and through a narrow canyon - a "vehicle slot". Very picturesque, but also busy with traffic being a Saturday.
	A stop in Titus Canyon where fast flowing water undercuts the rock and there is a white rock, possibly quartz or dolomite, mixed with the darker rock.
	Brad at Ubehebe (pron. OO-bee-hee-bee)Crater. Half a mile across and over 500 feet deep, this was a volcano cone. The heat of the rising magma turned water inside the volcano into steam and the top exploded, sending rock flying in a six-mile radius.
	Marilyn at Scotty's Castle, standing in front of the empty swimming pool. Death Valley Scotty was a scammer, previously an entertainer. He convinced a few investors from the east to fund his gold mining scheme. One investor, Albert Johnson from Chicago, insisted on seeing the mine; but when he discovered the scam, he wasn't angry at Scotty, he befriended him! Al built the castle in Death Valley as a retreat from Chicago. He and his wife visited often. Scotty lived at the castle and he and Al remained friends throughout their lives. You can read the whole, strange story about Scotty and Al on the National Park Service's website.

Trailer troubles - when we pack up to leave Beatty on Sunday afternoon, the landing gear motor just stops mid-way through Brad extending them to allow us to hitch up to the truck.  The landing gear is at the front of the trailer, used not only to level us front-to-back, but to bring the trailer level with the hitch in the back of the truck.  There is a hardware store across the street from us, and I go buy a new fuse (it's a really tiny one and Brad doesn't have a spare), but this doesn't fix the problem.  So it's hand-cranking time, but we get it done!  However, it's now too much work to un-hitch using the hand-crank, so wherever we go next we'll have to stay hitched and not use our truck.  Next stop is the Amargosa Sand Dunes, then Red Rock Canyon outside of Vegas; but we'll have to skip Red Rock Canyon and head into Vegas after a day or two at the dunes (where we don't HAVE to un-hitch) to get the trailer fixed.

However, while at the dunes, Brad traces the problem to a second fuse at the battery.  Fortunately, he carries a supply of these ones and voila!  Fixed.  "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy!"

Mining Towns of Mina, Tonopah and Gold Point, NV

Obviously, we make it to town to buy fuel.  We are not stuck somewhere in the desert!

Between Reno and Las Vegas on lonely Highway 95 are numerous small mining towns, some still prospering, others are ghost towns.  We visit three towns - Mina, Tonopah (pron. TO-no-pah) and Gold Point.  In the early 1900s, Nevada was a boom state with gold and silver being the most mined ores.  The mountains are full of abandoned mines and ghost towns.  And along Highway 95 we pass the Playmate Ranch (renamed Wild Kat Ranch) outside of Mina and the Shady Lady Ranch north of Beatty.  They are advertised along the road and offer massages, showers, beer and women.  Not something we see every day.

Mina should be a ghost town, but isn't. There are 200 residents with only about 12 of working age. There is a store which sells fuel, beer and ice cream - all of the essentials. There is also a world-class burger stand run by two hilarious women, the owner aged 67 and her friend who is 83! These two argue like a married couple. It is call Socorro's - the owner's name - and the burgers and shakes are fantastic! And they'd better be - two burgers, two shakes and one order of onion rings cost over $30! We always see truckers at the stand, a clear indication of where to eat.
	A small herd of wild burros we scare as we drive around a corner in Douglas Canyon behind Mina. I know they look like horses, but they have squarer faces and long ears.
	A old mining building in Douglas Canyon. Probably this building was where the rock was sorted and/or crushed to extract the ore.
	In the center of Mina, only one of the many abandoned buildings. The resident dies and the building just sits to rot.
Tonopah is a fairly big town with a full grocery store, about half a dozen gas stations and other stores, but the town jewel is the Mizpah Hotel which is home to at least one ghost, the Lady in Red (a "female companion of miners") who was murdered on the fifth floor by her lover. A large cemetery is filled with pioneers and miners from the early 1900s - many from a 1902 lung "plague" and 17 from the Belmont Mine fire of 1911. There are also two excellent museums: The Central Nevada Mining Museum which showcases a lot of pioneer history of the area as well as a large collection of original mine equipment, and the Tonopah Mining Park where the three original mines which started the town have been preserved.
	The headframe and hoist building of the Mizpah Mine at the Tonopah Mining Park. Originally Belle Butler's mine, and the richest of the three original mines she and her husband Jim founded, it was taken over by a large corporation by 1908 when this metal headframe was built.
	The old Tonopah Cemetery. So many sad stories besides the deaths from the "Tonopah Plague" of 1902 and the mine fire of 1911; like the 33-year old woman from B.C. who died of a morphine overdose, the 11-year old boy who died of a gun shot wound, a young man who died in a mine explosion, and a Sheriff who was "shot to death".
	Marilyn outside the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah. Built in 1908, it has been renovated a couple of times, most recently by the Clines of California who spent $2 million in the renovation in 2011. The restoration is a labour of love, and it shows.
	After lunch at the Mizpah Hotel, Marilyn sitting in the lobby. These sofas are the originals, painstakingly cleaned and reupholstered. Mizpah is from Genesis, Chapter 31, verse 49 and has two interpretations.  1 - may God watch over me and thee; 2 - if you cross the line to harm me or my family, may God deal with you.
	The beautiful windows of the Mizpah Hotel. The glass is purple, which in the early 1900s was a mistake when the mineral manganese was added to the glass-making process and it turned purple in the sunlight because of ultraviolet rays. There are at least half a dozen of these windows around the front and side of the hotel.
Gold Point is considered a ghost town although there are still 27 residents. Many of the original mining buildings are being restored by new owners, whom we unfortunately did not see.
	Brad climbing to the gallows, first one we've ever seen and kind of creepy.
	One of the buildings on Gold Street - "Hornsilver Townsite & Telephone Company". Hornsilver was the previous name of Gold Point.
	Mitchell's Mercantile.
	Believe it or not, this home is still inhabited by one of the 27 residents.

Lunar Crater National Monument, NV

The drive from Caliente to Lunar Crater National Monument takes us across the Extraterrestrial Highway [http://www.rachel-nevada.com/ethighway.html].  Signs like "No Gas for 124 miles" are a bit scary, especially if we encounter a UFO.  Seriously, we calculate our fuel and ralize that by the time we drive about 60 miles out of our way to go to Lunar Crater, we will probably be coasting into Tonopah, the nearest town with fuel, on fumes.  Well, we'll think about that tomorrow for tomorrow is another day...

	On the Extraterrestrial Highway in the town of Rachel, very near Area 51. There is actually a small town here and the restaurant which also sells t-shirts and other alien memorabilia.
	The crater which looks more like a meteor impact crater than a collapsed volcano. There are over 20 volcanoes in this immediate vicinity.
	Another volcano taken from a dry lake bed on the valley floor - you can almost see the lava flowing. The blurry, black objects in the foreground are tiny lava rocks.
	Typical of a desert, the heat sits on the valley floor and creates heat waves in front of these cattle. Cool effect.

Delamar, NV

Barely 20 miles west of Caliente, we camp in a BLM OHV (off-Highway Vehicle) trailhead camping area.  No one else is around except for linesmen working on new hydro towers set up along the dirt access road.  We are at the foot of Chief Mountain on the eastern edge of Delamar Valley, and what a valley it is.

Right after we set up camp, we head out for a tour of the ghost town of Delamar, some 15 miles away.  As we are about to drive away, we are treated to not one, but two Golden Eagles flying over our heads.  Brad has just frightened a jack rabbit away from the truck and we think the eagles spotted it, but they don't catch it and actually end up being chased off by a Raven!  This sighting is, for us, a first and a rare treat.  We have seen more wildlife on this trip than all of our others combined.  Unfortunately, many of them are fleeting and we don't get photos.  Here's the tally so far:

• one Midget-Faded Rattlesnake near Cottonwood Canyon in Utah (the one Brad would have stepped on if it didn't warn us of its presence!)
• three Gopher Snakes (non-venomous): one at Navajo Lake State Park in New Mexico, one near the Paria Contact Station in Utah, one on Cottonwood Canyon road (literally - it was crossing the road as we were leaving) in Utah
• two Tarantulas: one at Navajo Lake State Park in New Mexico, and a really big one at Lake Mead National Recreation Area outside of Las Vegas, Nevada with Brandon
• two Bighorn Sheep at Lake Mead NRA (they crossed the road in front of our truck)
• one coyote at Lake Mead NRA while driving at night with Brandon
• numerous Mule Deer between Kanab, Utah and Page, Arizona during the largest deer and antelope migration in North America (it's also hunting season - ugh!)
• a herd of Elk in Caliente, Nevada (again - it's Elk hunting season now)
• two Golden Eagles at our campsite in the Delamar Valley
• one Kit Fox (this is a type of small fox, not a "kit" or baby fox) driving back to our campsite in the Delamar Valley after dark

So, after our lucky eagle encounter, we find Delamar and spend the afternoon wandering around the old mine and town sites.  Delamar was mined for gold in the late 1800s, but also as recently as the 1990s.  Most of the early miners died of silicosis from the silicon dust that results from crushing the quartz to get the gold, or maybe the cyanide used in the processing.  No safetly standards in those days.  Some 3,000 people lived in Delamar during its heyday, and we can see evidence of many stone structures which would have been homes, shops, the bank, etc.  Brad finds the mines themselves more fascinating, but I prefer to wander through the town ruins.

	Our campsite in Delamar Valley, Nevada at a BLM Silver State OHV trailhead. Just us and the Joshua Tree forest.
	One of the Golden Eagles perched on a Joshua Tree.
	Ruins of the main mining operation in Delamar, probably the crushing and processing plant.
	Delamar mines above the town ruins.
	Delamar's "Main Street" ruins.
	Joshua Trees in various stages of development. They were named by Mormons who believed they looked like the prophet, Joshua, with his arms raised up to the heavens. They look like bottle brushes to me.
	A cholla (CHOY-ah) near our campsite. You don't want to mess with this cactus - each spike is barbed.
	Grady with a boo-boo. See the dark line beside his left eye? This is the result from running into a door! He is sitting on the steps that go up to our bedroom, and Brad has closed the door at the top of the stairs to retain the heat in the living room where we are watching TV. I move suddenly and spook Grady (he's a VERY nervous nelly!) and he turns to run away only to crash his face into the door. I see the whole thing and can't help laughing, which seems to upset the cat even more as he hides under the dining table and won't sit with me for over half an hour. He seems to be fine now, but left with physical and perhaps emotional scars.

Caliente, NV

About 2 hours north of Las Vegas is the small town of Caliente, Nevada.  It's nestled at about 4,800 feet in the mountains and surrounded by about five state parks.  We stay in the Kershaw-Ryan State Park which is only two miles outside of town in Rainbow Canyon - there are no hookups in the park and it's FREEZING out.  In fact, the morning after we arrive, it SNOWS!  There's a freaking blizzard blowing as we drive back into town to visit the BLM office to locate the best hikes and free camping.  But forget the free camping today - solar panels need sun to generate power and, while we have heat in the form of propane, it makes more sense to pay $23 for full hookups in an RV park in town and use electric heaters.  It snows for about one hour and later in the afternoon the skies clear and the sun comes out, but the outside temperature never makes it above 45F (6-7C)!

We drive through Rainbow Canyon which is only about 500 feet wide and 30 miles long, with colourful cliffs on either side of us.  Mining was the main industry in the late 1800s and the small river in the canyon was used to power the mines with steam generators, even many miles away across a small mountain range to the gold mining town of Delamar, now a ghost town.  There is nothing in Rainbow Canyon worthy of photos (in our opinion), so I have nothing to show you.

We also visit Cathedral Gorge State Park about 15 miles north of Caliente just outside of the town of Panaca.  We are entirely alone in this park (except for a couple of rangers), and spend several hours hiking around the bentonite clay spires.  The park amazes us with its beauty, reminding us of Bryce Canyon National Park on a very small scale.  We can hike through the spires where mini slot canyons have been created by the fast flowing water of flash floods.

	Brad in Cathedral Gorge State Park.
	Marilyn inside one of the mini slot canyons at Cathedral Gorge State Park. The walls are just a very hardened clay textured by water.
	At Cathedral Gorge State Park - can you find me? I'm behind one of the spires in the middle of the photo.
	Looking down the rabbit hole - waterfalls create these holes that are 50 to 70 feet deep. No rabbits would escape.