Lake Mead and Valley of Fire State Park

Just outside of Las Vegas is one of our favourite areas. The Lake Mead National Recreation Area is a beautiful spot to camp over the lake, and Valley of Fire State Park is a spectacular area of bright red/orange sandstone formations with great hiking.

Hanging out at Lake Mead with new friends

We meet a new friend, Jody, while hiking in Valley of Fire State Park, and she comes to join us camping at Lake Mead for a few nights. She and I quickly become best buddies, laughing and carrying on. Poor Brad. She also has the cutest little dog, BooBoo, whom Grady attacks. Poor BooBoo.

A night at the campfire with Jody and Grace, whom we first met last year outside of St. George. Strangley, we run into Grace and her hubby Greg camped here at Stewart's Point; in fact, they are in our favourite spot. Such a strange coincidence.

Grace takes Brad out kayaking on the lake on a very calm day.

Carroll Shelby Museum in Las Vegas

Brad is in heaven, surrounded by so many Shelbies and Mustangs made into Shelbies. From the old Cobras to the new Shelbies, including a Shelby 1000 pictured here (that's 1,000 horsepower and it's barely street legal!), there's a wide assortment of everything ever touched by Carroll Shelby.

Inside the shop. Shelby is not a car manufacturer. They only modify cars. The old style Cobra seen here is a brand new car, and neither of the two vehicles in the foreground have an engine in them - yet. This tour was very interesting and worthwhile, and best of all it's free. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves cars in general and Shelbies in particular, and tires of Las Vegas strip.

Hiking

On the Arches Trail in Valley of Fire State Park, a group of horsemen/women ride past us. Smart - the sand in the wash on this hike is deep and going is tough. Even the horses are sweating and it's only about 55F today.

A hike into the Bowl of Fire in Lake Mead National Recreation Area. It's a stunning outcrop of very red/orange rock against the brown Muddy Mountains.

We hike from the main road in Valley of Fire State Park with Jody through Wash #3. This area makes us all think about Orange Cremesicles because the rocks are striped white and bright orange. Sadly, no ice cream can be found within 20 miles.

Brad and I have hiked this wash before and we know there is an area of rock with beautiful, colourful striping. We're very happy that we actually are able to find it, after a 3 year absence. This is a small section of rock wall about 3-4 feet across.

Another abstract section of rock wall about 1-2 feet wide. Reminds me of an alien spaceship looking for a landing site.

Last one - these are just so cool. This one is probably only about 1 foot wide.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV

Last year we spent an unbelievable month at Lake Mead NRA (home of the Hoover Dam just outside of Las Vegas) and decide this year to return as a stop-over before heading into southern Arizona. While we spent Christmas just a short distance northeast at Whitney Pockets, (30 miles as the crow flies, but about 90 on roads) we spend New Year's at Stewart's Point on Lake Mead, a favourite (free) camp spot of ours.

We are met with this strange scene as we are driving along Northshore Boulevard just inside the park boundary. Your guess is as good as mine, and I don't find anything in local online news sources about this event. Obviously an emergency landing; not your everyday sight. We've had some strange "in the right place at the right time" events on this trip.

New Year's Day. A "storm" sweeps through the southwest bringing strong winds, chilling temperatures (for here around 0C or 32F) and snow above 2,000 feet. Thankfully, the dry air here allows us to bear the cold easily, and we are rewarded the morning after with this spectacular view of the Virgin Mountains to the northeast.

Unlike last year when we were here, this year we don't go out to do any hiking, even in nearby favourite Valley of Fire State Park. We spend the days walking around Stewart's Point with Grady, collecting garbage, and a few evenings by the campfire enjoying the moon rising in the glow of the sunset across the lake.

Not all of our days here are cloudless, and that's a good thing. Here Brad captures one of several brilliant sunsets.

We do engage in some unusual activity for us during our week at Lake Mead. Outlet mall shopping! Brad's never been to one, and neither of us are shoppers, but we need new running shoes and hiking boots, so we head to the mall AFTER the holiday crowds disperse. It's a fun day and, being a one hour drive from our camp spot, we combine it with some grocery shopping, dinner and a movie (Interstellar - not so stellar!). As we leave early in the morning, we see a bighorn sheep beside the road and the next morning two loons are swimming near "our" beach. Their call reminds us of Ontario's northern lakes - the call of home and autumns spent with beloved friends.

Update on second week at Lake Mead

The bald eagle we spot one morning. The photo is blurry because it's such telephoto zoom without a tripod, but he's beautiful just the same.

Another journey to nearby Valley of Fire State Park, one of our favourite southwest destinations. These are "The Cabins" built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s and used as shelters by campers in the park in the 1930s and 1940s. The CCC was formed by the government to create employment during the Great Depression and they are responsible for many structures including park buildings and dams during this period.

During a hike behind The Cabins, we scare up a herd of bighorn sheep. These two get separated from their buddies, but reunite after we pass.

Valley of Fire State Park, NV

Valley of Fire State Park is only a couple of miles from the north entrance of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.  We took Brandon to this park when he was here at the end of October, but we return because it's such an amazingly beautiful place to explore and has since become one of our top favourite all-time southwest destinations.

	A candy cane dryfall. A little off the White Dome trail, we climbed some rocks and found this rainbow of rock! What the heck?
	Near the end of the White Dome trail, down in a canyon that ends in a very steep, long crevice. This photo should freak out my sisters!
	An area I'll call Painted Rock (or perhaps Rainbow Rock), but which has no specific trail or designation. Accessed from Parking Lot 3, hiking about 1/4 mile down towards Wash 5. This photo taken by climbing up the ridge adjacent to Painted Rock. Looks like someone spilled some paint!
	A different side view of Painted Rock.
	Brad on Painted Rock. It's not a huge area, but big enough to be breathtaking.
	More candy stripe rocks in Wash #3.
	A Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) who joined us for lunch.
	Erosion at work.
	Brad taking a photo along a strangely eroded "dragon's backbone".
	How does sand layer in such colours and become stone? Valley of Fire is filled with such scenes.

Las Vegas, NV

Brandon's trip begins and ends at the Las Vegas airport.  We have only a couple of days left and he's interested in seeing either the Grand Canyon or Las Vegas.  Well, it's snowing at the Grand Canyon - or at least it's supposed to, so that leaves the crazy city of Lost Wages!

We camp at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, but with the Colorado River reservoirs over 100 feet below "full", we can't see the lake from the campground, which is beautiful anyway with palm trees and oleander bushes!  We take Brandon to the Hoover Dam and the new Memorial Bridge, and then head into Las Vegas.  We have a fabulous buffet lunch/dinner, walk The Strip and do a bit of gambling, err, losing!  By 6pm, it's dark and the city lights up - it's garishly beautiful.  So much neon!  It's not for Brad and me, but Brandon enjoys it, scouting out which hotel he wants to stay at when he returns WITHOUT mom and dad. (no photos in Vegas as we didn't carry our camera around, so Brandon has the few photos we took on his phone)

We also take him to Valley of Fire State Park, less than one hour north of Las Vegas.  We hike the Fire Wave trail (which was a big secret three years ago when Brad and I were first here, but is now the most popular hike in the park!) and drive around the red rock formations.  We're all very tired, having been going full out for the past ten days.  We return to Vegas for dinner and to take Brandon back to the airport.  We're sad to see him leave, but we've had fabulous family time together.  Merry Christmas Brandon!

	A treat for Brandon - exotic cars people have rented and they tour around Lake Mead in a convoy with a pilot car. I wish we had known about this, but it's not cheap! The next day, we also spot a Bughatti (most expensive production car?) "in the wild" on our way to Valley of Fire State Park.
	Brandon and Marilyn at the Fire Wave in Valley of Fire State Park.
	The brilliant colours on the rocks at Valley of Fire State Park - orange, red, yellow, purple. It's like a rainbow!

Nevada - it's not just for gamblers!

If you hear "Nevada", most people think of Las Vegas and gambling; but there's more to "The Silver State" than that once you leave "the strip".  We merely hit Vegas just to restock our supplies since the fridge and cupboards are empty, and then we head about one hour north to the Valley of Fire State Park.  It's hard to believe this beautiful landscape exists here; the drive up the interstate is brown - brown desert vegetation, brown mountains, brown rock, brown, brown, brown.  Then suddenly, as we enter the park, the rocks and hilly outcrops are red with iron oxide.  The effect is stunning.

Most of the interesting aspects of the park can be viewed either from the road or from very short walks from the road, for example, Elephant Rock which really does look like an elephant's head and trunk, the Beehives which are sandstone rock hills about 15 to 20 feet high that do look like beehives (or huge cow patties if you've spent any time on a farm), Balanced Rock near the Visitors Center, and Arch Rock which is just a small arch and not really comparable to Arches National Park in Utah.  All are carved from the same red sandstone, eroded by wind and water over the past many centuries.  What makes the rock features look even more red perhaps is that all of the rain that fell even here about 2 weeks ago has greened up the valleys and many plants on the desert floor providing a green burst of colour contrasting the red rock.  The park is, for us, reminiscent of both Arches National Park and Bryce Canyon in Utah, although on a much smaller scale, but the intensity of that "WOW" feeling is almost the same.

Marilyn in wash #5 - note the brilliant colours

Marilyn sitting on top of "The Wave"

The true piece de resistance here we see on a hike down one of the washes.  We are looking for a secret spot, the photo of which is featured on the Nevada State Parks brochure.  A volunteer at the Visitors Center tells us she thinks the photo was taken down wash #5 on the road to the White Domes, and the photo is gorgeous - it is called "The Wave".  The photographer, a professional by trade, refused to tell the exact location to protect his photo rights.  Well this is a challenge that can't be refused.  We have to park some distance up the road and walk back to wash #5, and the colours in the rock along the road are breathtaking - purple, pink, yellow, and orange, like ribbons of colour in the stone.  Brad can't stop taking photos and we haven't even gotten to the wash yet!  When we finally do, the colours in the wash are intensified!  Not far along, we come to a sandy area that is underwater and we can't pass; here the walls are only about 2 feet apart.  So we have to backtrack a bit and climb up about 30 feet and go around.  We do so and come out on the other side of the water onto a beautiful, sandy beach.  The sand has the same beautiful pink and orange hues as the sandstone - of course!  And here the wash widens out, so we stop and sit on the sand to have lunch.  It's a very hot day, our first in a very long time, so we enjoy the sun and the heat.  But only a short walk further down the wash, the rock colours change suddenly and dramatically from the purple, pink and yellow swirls, to red and white horizontal stripes.  This has to be the area where The Wave photo was taken.  We turn left out of the wash and climb up the gently sloping rock.  Two other people are standing on top of a large red and white striped rock that is about 30 feet high.  They are taking numerous photos, so we head over to where they are and there it is - The Wave.  They had been looking for it too, so I don't think this place is as big a secret as we were led to believe.  But in any case, I mark the spot on our hiking GPS, and Brad starts clicking away.  The Wave effect is created by the coloured stripes folding into a bowl in the rock before following the curve around a cliff that stands some 50 feet above the desert floor.  We are here mid-afternoon, but apparently the lighting at sunrise and sunset is spectacular.  Well, challenge successfully met.  As we drive back down the road, we note which of the other washes (numbers 1 to 4) might be worthy of a hike in subsequent years.  This is a place to which we will definitely return.

We also drive the length of Lake Mead.  Valley of Fire State Park is at the northern end of Lake Mead, and we are heading to the Hoover Dam which we haven't been to since 1987.  Most of the drive is not actually along the lake, but is scenic just the same.  The whole area surrounding the lake is a National Recreation Area.  It is odd to see so many vehicles towing boats in the desert.  If you didn't know Lake Mead was there, you'd think these folks were all nuts!  There are a few vista points closer to the south end.  It is interesting to see a "bathtub ring" all around the lake on the rock - this is a high water line where the rock is white from the current water level leaching its minerals into the rock and is about 70 feet high, or should I say the water is about 70 feet lower than its highest.  This is of concern to folks in Arizona, California and Mexico who draw water from the Colorado River for irrigation.

The Hoover Dam, built between 1931 and 1936 (I think), is at the southern end of the lake technically spanning the Colorado River.  There are two intake towers on the Arizona side, and two intake towers on the Nevada side, which is odd because the two states are in different time zones - Arizona is on mountain time and Nevada is on Pacific time.  So if you work there, what time do you go for lunch?  What I don't remember seeing on the dam wall when we were there in 1987 was the stone markers I now see in the concrete.  I can't get a good look at them, but I suspect they are to memorialize the men who died while making the dam.  I count five markers in all shaped like shields.

Memorial Bridge over the Colorado River

And now they have the new Memorial Bridge which is just down river and much higher than the dam itself.  It was just completed and opened a few months ago to alleviate the traffic on the dam highway.  It too has a walkway which provides a great view of the dam.  There are numerous plaques along the walkway leading up to the bridge explaining how it was built and providing specs (I remember none of them except it's over 1,000 feet high!) - all very nicely done for the tourist.  Looking down from the bridge into the Colorado River is dizzying, but man, what a view!

That's it for Nevada.  We are back to Arizona next for the Rock & Mineral Show and the RV Show.  These shows, held concurrently in Quartzsite draw tens of thousands of RVers.  Not sure if I'll blog about that - we'll see.  We'll just be buying a solar panel and maybe a satellite dish; making some power upgrades to the mobile home, ya know!  Someone call Red Green, or Tim the-Toolman-Taylor!