Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

 Rocks, Rocks, and more Rocks

As we left the Grand Canyon behind, we headed north toward Las Vegas and the Valley of Fire. We were still in (very) rural desert areas and saw some funny signs on buildings and along the road:

  • One mom-and-pop grocery store accepts "Cash, Credit, and Pelts." 
  • There was a perpetual yard sale, gauging from the (very) faded advertisement on a telephone pole. 
  • I can't forget "Tropical Parkway" - a road in the midst of the desert scrub and rocks. 


 

The road followed a wide, low valley, as shown in the image above. Dave's comment, "And I thought Florida was flat." However, in spite of the desolate, rocky, no-trees scrub, it was diversely beautiful. On one side of the valley were endless creosote bushes populating the close hills, with green-brown mountains rising up behind, miles away. Yucca, sage grass and sand covered the valley floor. Gray rocky mountains climbed up the other side of the valley, while distant snow capped mountains straight ahead completed our panoramic view. All these (very) different geologic features gave the environment a surreal other-worldly feel.

Speaking of other-worldly

You never know what you will stumble upon in rural America.

I wonder if the Area 51 Alien Center carries Diet Mt. Dew.

Are you sure this is where you want to get fuel?

Comforting picture of the staff at our gas station.
Notice the green-brown hills and gray mountains.

As we approached Valley of Fire State Park, the landscape was still green-brown hills on one side of the road and gray rocky mountains on the other. Mile after mile. Then we rounded a corner and suddenly the view was high orange vertical rock fortress walls on either side of us. In an instant we were beamed up to the Red Planet. (very) Stunning!

Valley of Fire State Park, NV
The layer-y look to the rocks is called cross-bedding.


Valley of Fire State Park, NV
We hiked past this tall wall to get to Balancing Rock.

Balancing Rock
This was our first hike.

Our second hike took us up several flights of stairs to see petroglyphs. While we were 4 stories high, we enjoyed viewing some other rock formations in the area.

We were four stories up, having climbed iron stairs to get here.
How did the ancients get up here to draw these pictures?
Beamed up, maybe?

I'm sure there is a geologic term for these cool holes.
But I just call them Swiss cheese rocks.

Can you see the trail?


Our third hike was on the Rainbow Vista trail. No rainbow. No vista. But there were some redeeming points along the way. 

We started hiking before the sun was too hot.

Our path along Rainbow Vista.

Prickly Pear cactus in bloom

Surprises around every corner. The blooms on the Prickly Pear cacti back at Meadview were still buds.
Elevation matters.

My two favorite guys.

The fourth hike was a doozy. The information said it was 1.5 miles to Fire Wave. We needed more information...  

Trooper was always checking back to see how I was doing.
He LOVED this hike. Me, not so much.

We finally arrived at Fire Wave. Definitely worth the 1.5 mile hike! Oh, wait! We have 1.5 miles more to get back to the parking lot. I'm (very) TIRED!

Fire Wave feature

At the same location as the Fire Wave we saw a stunning round-top rock. People were climbing to the top, taking their dogs with them. I asked Dave if he was game. Florida Man said, "When people are climbing up there, the rest of us can't get a decent picture." A nearby hiker commented, "Yeah, just another picture of rocks. Here are our vacay pics: These rocks, those rocks, and more rocks."

At Fire Wave: I named this one Round Top.


Only 0.3 miles more to see 7 Wonders. Let's do it!

Finally, up to the parking lot.

Up, up, up, then down, down, down.

   
We are cherishing all this for you, kids.
That doesn't mean you get to come along.


Slot canyon #1. It was hotter in these narrow spaces.
The sand was deep and loose, like above the high tide line at the beach.

Slot canyon #2. Are these canyons the 7 Wonders?

The 7 wonders are the 7 rocks I scrambled up.

By the time we were almost to the parking lot (I could see a truck up there! And I mean UP there!) I succumbed to dehydration. I felt dizzy, thirsty, lightheaded, and (very, very) TIRED! My mouth and lips were dry. We took a number of breaks going on from there, and I finished all my water. One foot in front of the other. Dave was encouraging me, and Trooper kept coming back to see me when I fell too far behind. Finally we made it to the top! I finished off another bottle of water at the truck and felt better. 

When we got back to the camper I drank more water and crashed on the bed. I've never experienced dehydration before, and it was a bit scary (and embarrassing) to think Dave might have to call for the rescue guys. (At that point I didn't even care if they were cute rescue guys.) All in all, the hike was worth it. But I never did figure out what the 7 Wonders really were.

By the way, our campsite was nestled up against one of those fortress walls of rock. No electricity. No sewer hook-up. No recharging phones, computer, or fitness devices. No cell signal. I couldn't even do Wordle! But the stars were (very) amazing!

The only water was from a spigot near the camper, but it had no threads to screw in our hose. So we filled half-gallon jugs of water for cooking, drinking water, bath-rooming, washing dishes, and filling Troop's water bowl. We used headlamps for reading. It was cold at night in the desert, but for the first time this trip we couldn't have our little electric heaters going. 

Thank goodness for propane! I cooked chicken on the gas stove, and the camper heater is also propane-powered. But I think Valley of Fire is my favorite stop so far, with Palo Duro a close second.

Loved this camping spot!

I didn't really want to leave Valley of Fire State Park. It was so incredibly beautiful. The evening of 4/9, and again morning of 4/10 as we packed up, two Bighorn Sheep strolled by our campsite, occasionally stopping to graze. They were comfortable enough around people to saunter by, but there was no way I was going to be a Touron (portmanteau of tourist and moron) and attempt to pet one or get a selfie. Want more Touron stuff? Go to Tourons of Yellowstone (https://www.instagram.com/touronsofyellowstone/?hl=en). 

 

Bighorn Sheep out for a stroll

And to think we could have stayed at the Hicksville Trailer Palace (https://www.hicksvillepalace.com/)


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