Today we drove up to Valley of Fire State Park, 55 miles north of Las Vegas in the Mojave Desert. This was the setting for the the 1966 movie “The Professionals”, and the park road is the setting for many a car commercial. This ancient place has many Indian petroglyphs, and the red rock rivals Sedona’s, though it isn’t as high. The park is 6 miles from the north end of Lake Mead.
Approaching the park
The red rocks appear
These are called the Beehives
Erosion leaves its mark
walking the path at the Visitor’s Center
this hike was a workout as it is almost entirely in soft sand
nooks and crannies to hide in everywhere
Petroglyphs are 3,000 years old
Sylva and Gail in the desert
Mouse’s Tank-a natural basin that fills with water
driving to White Domes, our next hike
picture Chevy ads here
“White Domes” are actually ancient solidified sand dunes
you can see the wind direction in the layers
Sylva has to dump the sand out of his boots
Movie set still exists
Entering the slot canyon
water gets several feet deep during storms
I can’t quite reach
but Sylva can easily
this is narrow
multi colored sandstone
back to the parking area
we are out of water at this point, so no more hiking
One of the Seven Sisters
Two more Sisters
the air is dusty heading back to Vegas-
-And so are we! Sylva’s boots are pink from the sand
Flying home I saw Lake Mead, Hoover Dam,
the Grand Canyon,
with the Colorado River snaking inside.
That river created some of the places I visited this past week
I hope to make it back here one day.
