Valley of Fire State Park and Lake Mead National Recreation Area - Nevada

Tuesday, December 29 - Today we drove from St. George, Utah to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada.  

Lots of nice scenery along I-15 in Northwest Arizona,
between St. George and the Nevada border.

Our GPS took us the long way to Lake Mead, so we ended up having to drive
through Valley of Fire State Park to get to Lake Mead.  That would have been
fine, except that the GPS took us to the west entrance (which is the closest for the
day trippers coming from Las Vegas) and we ended up in a VERY LONG
line.  It took nearly 45 minutes to reach the entrance station to pay our fee. 

We finally reached Lake Mead and set up camp on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Land with a nice view of the lake.  There are no services, but the price is right - it's free!  Entry to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area requires a fee, but it's covered by our annual National Parks Pass, so we have totally free camping for the next few nights.  This is known in the camping world as Boondocking.

Two of our neighbors at our campsite.  I'm enjoying the burro poop buffet.

Once we were settled, we took the Jeep back to Valley of Fire.  We  
were happy that there was no line at the east entrance (the one closest 
to our campsite).  I enjoyed the view from the Jeep, while Mom
and Dad hiked the Rainbow Vista Trail.

Mom and Dad at Rainbow Vista

Another view of the trail.  That masked man is Dad.

Cool rock formations

After the Rainbow Vista Trail, we drove a little farther in the Jeep and
then Mom and Dad hiked the White Dome Loop.  This is the start of the
trail.  It's kind of hard to see the depth of this canyon, but there are two
people and several shrubs down in the bottom.  One of the people is on a
rock, just to the left of center.  Yeah, that little dark spot is a person. 
It's a long way down there!

Mom said that she liked White Dome Loop better.  She liked all the
different colors of rock.  Rainbow Vista was mostly red
rock - not really a Rainbow.

When we came "home", the moon was rising over our camp site.  

Wednesday, December 30 - Today Mom and Dad decided to do some more hiking at Valley of Fire.  I had a pretty big day yesterday, so I stayed home for a nap.

I think this one looks like a big turtle.  Do you see it?

Some petroglyphs

This formation is called "The Fire Wave"

Watch your head in this slot canyon!

Some of the slot canyons get pretty narrow

This "trail marker" was a big help!

Thursday, December 31 - Today Mom and Dad explored in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.  

First they did a 1/2 mile hike at Redstone, which is an area of petrified dunes.

Then, they drove a couple of miles through a wash, until there was a
drop off that they thought the Jeep couldn't handle. 
At that point, they parked and got out to walk.

After another mile, they came to the Anniversary slot canyon. 
That's Mom in the middle.  As you can see, it's really deep.

The further they went, the narrower it got. 
Dad's in the middle, with a grey shirt and red hat.

They came to places where the canyon was blocked by piles of rocks. 
They climbed over a few piles, but they they came to this one that is up to
Mom's shoulders.  It's mostly just one big boulder, so there really wasn't
anything to climb up on (the rock next to her feet is actually under the big
one behind her, so it can't be used as a step).

They decided that the risk of falling trying to climb up or falling
trying to get back down on the way out, was way too high, so they
turned around and enjoyed the view on the way out.

Mom and Dad celebrated New Year's Eve with prime rib for dinner (cooked a couple weeks ago, frozen, and brought with us).  I had a nice bowl of kibble.

Friday, January 1 - Today we left Lake Mead National Recreation Area, drove by Hoover Dam and entered Arizona.

The road along the north side of Lake Mead is very nice.

Soon, we entered Arizona.  We are headed for Lost Dutchman State Park east
of Phoenix.  However, our reservation isn't until tomorrow night, so we
decided to stop for the night in Wickenburg, Arizona (a little northwest of Phoenix).

Saturday, January 2 - Before we left town, Mom and Dad went for a walk around downtown Wickenburg.  It looks like a pretty nice town.  

Cool mural on one of the buildings downtown.

A lot of the street lights sport Cowboy Hats

This guy sang a nice song for Mom

Dad stopped and had a chat with this guy at the Jail Tree.

They decided that they will come back to Wickenburg again, when they can spend more time.  This afternoon, we settled into our camp site at Lost Dutchman State Park.  We will be here for the next two weeks.  Next time, I'll tell you about our stay.

Love,

Doolin