Just a few days of wandering in two beautiful Nevada parks in February made me quite happy...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Introduction
I've learned over the years that I can use quick trips to beautiful places as a way to recharge myself, to build memories that support me when I'm living my normal working life. And I've also learned that escaping to warmer and snow-free conditions during our New England winter is a good thing.
Just a few days of wandering in two beautiful Nevada parks in February made me quite happy...
Just a few days of wandering in two beautiful Nevada parks in February made me quite happy...
Table of Contents
Falling into place
Dreaming, exploring in my mind
Flying high
Exploring, wandering
A feast for the eyesPhotos: first glimpses
Listen...Photos: Calico Tanks
Photos: near Sandstone Quarry
Photos: to the left
Drop dead gorgeousPhotos: first red
Photos: heading to White Dome
Photos: Outward bound
One last circlePhotos: gray, still beautiful
Home again
A hint of things to come
Word play
A busy camera...
Sunday, February 22, 2009
A busy camera...
...makes for a happy Denise!
I'll be adding a sampling of photos to this journal, but most of the photos from my trip live in my photo galleries.
You can view the photos splashed across your whole screen if you'd like - just click the slideshow button in the upper right of the photo gallery window. (If you're in the gallery slideshow, you can get control of your computer back again by moving the mouse and clicking "return to gallery" or by just clicking the Esc key.)
You can enter the galleries at Jumping from white snow to red rocks to choose from the two photo galleries for this trip. Or you can jump right into a specific gallery:Two absolutely beautiful parks...
I'll be adding a sampling of photos to this journal, but most of the photos from my trip live in my photo galleries.
You can view the photos splashed across your whole screen if you'd like - just click the slideshow button in the upper right of the photo gallery window. (If you're in the gallery slideshow, you can get control of your computer back again by moving the mouse and clicking "return to gallery" or by just clicking the Esc key.)
You can enter the galleries at Jumping from white snow to red rocks to choose from the two photo galleries for this trip. Or you can jump right into a specific gallery:Two absolutely beautiful parks...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Word play
Thoughts spill into words, words into a journal, and then into patterns, a jumble...
Image created from the words of this journal by www.wordle.net
Image created from the words of this journal by www.wordle.net
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A hint of things to come...
Home again, time-zone-challenged yet again...
You would think that switching time zones for just 3 days - ok, sort of 4 days - would not bother me, but it did. My flight home left late and arrived early, so it wasn't even a late night last night. But somehow, I didn't set my alarm and my body clock didn't wake me until 9 AM. Yikes!
It's been a quiet, "wander through my photos" kind of day. I'm not quite ready to load my photo galleries, but perhaps a taste of what's to come would be good.
You want to know where this is? This photo was taken on the road leading out of Valley of Fire State Park, after I had returned from rolling to flat land. There was still sun above my head, but the clouds ahead signaled some serious rain.
You would think that switching time zones for just 3 days - ok, sort of 4 days - would not bother me, but it did. My flight home left late and arrived early, so it wasn't even a late night last night. But somehow, I didn't set my alarm and my body clock didn't wake me until 9 AM. Yikes!
It's been a quiet, "wander through my photos" kind of day. I'm not quite ready to load my photo galleries, but perhaps a taste of what's to come would be good.
You want to know where this is? This photo was taken on the road leading out of Valley of Fire State Park, after I had returned from rolling to flat land. There was still sun above my head, but the clouds ahead signaled some serious rain.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
One last quick circle
Pale colors painted the sky this morning. The sun was rising through the clouds, the ground dry from overnight rain. Given the forecast of rain today, a cloudy but dry start to the day was a real gift.
A good chunk of the morning was mine to play.
Knowing that I was time-limited, I chose to do an out-and-back hike starting from the second Calico Junction parking area. The light was so different that I had to make a photo stop before my walking stop. But that's not unexpected, is it? Red rocks, white rocks, against a shaded gray background, no blue today... Looking across the valley, I could see the clouds hidng the top of the peaks, floating, moving up, flowing down.
Walking, looking, absorbing the beauty of the rocks... I headed down the trail from Calico Junction toward the parking area for Sandstone Quarry. It was an all-trail day today, no climbing on the red rocks. Out, back, and then of course I had some more standing and looking time. By the time I returned to the car, water droplets started decorating the ground. The rain was very light to start with, quickly gaining in intensity. My timing today, though pure luck, was excellent!
I had hoped to take another short wander a little further down the road, but the soaking rain stopped my feet. I did pop out of the car several more times to try to capture some wet images, but that was the end of my walking for this trip.
I'm left with the very strong feeling that I will be visiting both Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire again. This trip was clearly a walking adventure. The next trip? I may be inclined to find a place to sit with camera and tripod, waiting to capture the changing light.
A good chunk of the morning was mine to play.
Knowing that I was time-limited, I chose to do an out-and-back hike starting from the second Calico Junction parking area. The light was so different that I had to make a photo stop before my walking stop. But that's not unexpected, is it? Red rocks, white rocks, against a shaded gray background, no blue today... Looking across the valley, I could see the clouds hidng the top of the peaks, floating, moving up, flowing down.
Walking, looking, absorbing the beauty of the rocks... I headed down the trail from Calico Junction toward the parking area for Sandstone Quarry. It was an all-trail day today, no climbing on the red rocks. Out, back, and then of course I had some more standing and looking time. By the time I returned to the car, water droplets started decorating the ground. The rain was very light to start with, quickly gaining in intensity. My timing today, though pure luck, was excellent!
I had hoped to take another short wander a little further down the road, but the soaking rain stopped my feet. I did pop out of the car several more times to try to capture some wet images, but that was the end of my walking for this trip.
I'm left with the very strong feeling that I will be visiting both Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire again. This trip was clearly a walking adventure. The next trip? I may be inclined to find a place to sit with camera and tripod, waiting to capture the changing light.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Drop dead gorgeous
It was a magic day, a day to absorb yet more beauty.
Valle of Fire State Park is 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas, an interstate ride, and then a switch to 2-lane roads. The wind was howling, pushing my car around as I sped down I-15, a road with a speed limit of 75 miles per hour. As I fought to keep the car heading straight, I watched the trucks snake their way down the road. Unlike at home where trucks have only a single cargo trailer, most of the trucks that I was today were triples. Triples, moving at or above the speed limit, waving, snaking in the strong winds.
I only shared the road with these very long trucks for a short while. As soon as I turned off on the two-lane road leading into the park and then on to Lake Mead, I was totally alone. Alone, driving down an arrow-straight two-lane road, a road that then started to twist, to climb, turning, scenery changing. The decorations went from low scrub on shallow hills to red rock outcroppings, turning, climbing, dropping. It wasn't until I was almost to the park boundary that I started to see other cars.
It was probably a good thing that the 5-mile long road leading from the visitor center to White Domes had a limited number of pull-outs and explicit warnings to stay on the road. There were no shoulders, and very soft ground along the edges of the pavement. It was a good thing because if I'd been able to stop at will, I might not have reached the end of the road before dark.
I stopped at every pull-out, sometimes just to stand and absorb the wonder, sometimes to wander closer to a formation, to the colors painted on the rocks, red, yellow, white, orange. And of course I spent time hiking too. My first hiking stop was Mouse's Tank, a natural basin where water collects after rainfalls. Where did the name come from? Mouse was apparently a Paiute who was hid out in this area in the 1890s, using the tank as a fresh water source.
The White Domes loop led me down a set of steps in the rock, down, around a loop wandering through sandstone formations in brilliant colors, along a wash, through a narrow slot canyon.
And then... I spent some time wandering at Rainbow Vista. There was a trail through red sand, with occasional trail markers. It was surprisingly hard walking through the soft sand, sand that held faint tracks. Even though I did an out-and-back jaunt, it seemed as though the footsteps I laid down had started to disappear as I returned, smoothed by the strong wind. This was truly a magic place, with cactus and low scrub decorating the red sand, between rock formations.
The petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock were high on the rock, accessed by climbing a tall metal staircase. As I climbed, I could see older very narrow stone steps, now closed to footsteps. I have to admit that I wonder how the artists placed the glyphs so high on the rock. Were there steps leading up to the picture palette of the rock. Or?
Ah, an end to a first visit to this beautiful place... I headed down the road, 18 miles back to I-15. I was still under a brilliant blue sky decorated with many clouds. Ahead, I saw an edge of deep blue, dark clouds clearly spreading water. Rain, heavy rain.
Valley of Fire is truly a magic place.
Valle of Fire State Park is 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas, an interstate ride, and then a switch to 2-lane roads. The wind was howling, pushing my car around as I sped down I-15, a road with a speed limit of 75 miles per hour. As I fought to keep the car heading straight, I watched the trucks snake their way down the road. Unlike at home where trucks have only a single cargo trailer, most of the trucks that I was today were triples. Triples, moving at or above the speed limit, waving, snaking in the strong winds.
I only shared the road with these very long trucks for a short while. As soon as I turned off on the two-lane road leading into the park and then on to Lake Mead, I was totally alone. Alone, driving down an arrow-straight two-lane road, a road that then started to twist, to climb, turning, scenery changing. The decorations went from low scrub on shallow hills to red rock outcroppings, turning, climbing, dropping. It wasn't until I was almost to the park boundary that I started to see other cars.
It was probably a good thing that the 5-mile long road leading from the visitor center to White Domes had a limited number of pull-outs and explicit warnings to stay on the road. There were no shoulders, and very soft ground along the edges of the pavement. It was a good thing because if I'd been able to stop at will, I might not have reached the end of the road before dark.
I stopped at every pull-out, sometimes just to stand and absorb the wonder, sometimes to wander closer to a formation, to the colors painted on the rocks, red, yellow, white, orange. And of course I spent time hiking too. My first hiking stop was Mouse's Tank, a natural basin where water collects after rainfalls. Where did the name come from? Mouse was apparently a Paiute who was hid out in this area in the 1890s, using the tank as a fresh water source.
The White Domes loop led me down a set of steps in the rock, down, around a loop wandering through sandstone formations in brilliant colors, along a wash, through a narrow slot canyon.
And then... I spent some time wandering at Rainbow Vista. There was a trail through red sand, with occasional trail markers. It was surprisingly hard walking through the soft sand, sand that held faint tracks. Even though I did an out-and-back jaunt, it seemed as though the footsteps I laid down had started to disappear as I returned, smoothed by the strong wind. This was truly a magic place, with cactus and low scrub decorating the red sand, between rock formations.
The petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock were high on the rock, accessed by climbing a tall metal staircase. As I climbed, I could see older very narrow stone steps, now closed to footsteps. I have to admit that I wonder how the artists placed the glyphs so high on the rock. Were there steps leading up to the picture palette of the rock. Or?
Ah, an end to a first visit to this beautiful place... I headed down the road, 18 miles back to I-15. I was still under a brilliant blue sky decorated with many clouds. Ahead, I saw an edge of deep blue, dark clouds clearly spreading water. Rain, heavy rain.
Valley of Fire is truly a magic place.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Photos: to the left
Silly, isn't it... These photos are from places on the left side of the map of Red Rock Canyon, from the western part of the loop road and on to First Creek Canyon.
Photos: Calico Tanks
And of course Rover was hiking with me! He was kind enough to pose for a photo on the hike back down the Calico Tanks trail.
Listen...
What an amazing sunrise! I was greeted with a sky painted in shades of pink, orange, and yellow this morning, a wonderful start to my day.
When I closed my eyes last night I still hadn't chosen which varation of red rocks would be the target of today's wandering. This morning's decision? Another day in Red Rock Canyon, a day where the rocks would show different shades of color than yesterday.
The air was cooler today than yesterday. I started with more (thin) layers, but by the end of the day I was down to a single sleeveless layer (again). The sky this morning wore gray, patterned with clouds. And then... as I turned to the north, I saw a band of bright blue emerging from the gray. That blue expanded and chased the clouds away; my last hike of the day was under that beautiful blue sky.
Calico Tanks beckoned this morning. The begnning of the hike followed a wash, curving through hills of colored rock. Easy walking, and then... walking in the wash changed to walking up red rocks, finding a path up the gentlest grade, with the most sure footing. I walked, and I stopped to play with my camera. I walked some more, heading up the trail, climbing up rocks, not looking down...
I followed, walked with, and chatted with two women on (what I consiidered to be a) dfficult section of trail. One of them shared my need to know that my feet wouldn't slip out from under me, and the other did a great job of scouting out gentler descents for all of us. Both women were from Las Vegas. Our conversation opened my eyes to life in Las Vegas. I was wondering why I saw so many people hiking and biking during what I thought were normal work hours. Well, those Monday to Friday daytime hours are regular working hours for many of us, but that's really not true for those employed in the casino industry. I wonder why that never occurred to me before.
And then... I started following a trail heading to the south and east, pulled by the two-colored rocks, a strong red over or under a lighter color. As I walked, I kept wandering to look at low-lying cactus, to try to capture the wisps on the edges of the yucca. It was quiet, and then... I heard a sound, a very distinct sound. I looked up, looked out, and saw a stellar's jay, flying. The sound I heard? It was the jay's wings moving through the air. Next I heard chirping, and saw a low bush teeming with birds, small birs, gray in color with rosy highlights.
The sounds weren't finished. I heard the distinctive sound of a hummingbird's wings. I looked, and looked, and saw a hummingbird hovering, soon joined by a second hummingbird, flying, dancing.
My day continued with a wander on the beginning of the Ice Box Canyon trail, and then with a walk on the First Creek Canyon trail. By the time I started First Creek Canyon the sun was shining. The beginning of the trail was in the sun, and then I entered the shadow of the mountains. The air cooled, but walking kept me warm. And that shadow? It covered much more ground as I headed back out, as the sun dropped lower in the sky, hiding behind those mountains.
Earlier, the sounds that decorated the day were the sound of birds. Coming back out of First Creek Canyon, I heard the sound of the wind, howling.
Just after I turned back on my last out-and-back hike of the day, I saw a beautiful 4-legged creature standing on the trail, looking at me. After I asked him if he was alone (yes, of course I talk to animals), he looked at me a little longer, then he turned and started walking in the same direction that I was traveling. Then he cut off of the trail, off on his own. Oh, you want to know who I saw? He was a beautiful coyote.
Tomorrow? It's time to see the Valley of Fire.
When I closed my eyes last night I still hadn't chosen which varation of red rocks would be the target of today's wandering. This morning's decision? Another day in Red Rock Canyon, a day where the rocks would show different shades of color than yesterday.
The air was cooler today than yesterday. I started with more (thin) layers, but by the end of the day I was down to a single sleeveless layer (again). The sky this morning wore gray, patterned with clouds. And then... as I turned to the north, I saw a band of bright blue emerging from the gray. That blue expanded and chased the clouds away; my last hike of the day was under that beautiful blue sky.
Calico Tanks beckoned this morning. The begnning of the hike followed a wash, curving through hills of colored rock. Easy walking, and then... walking in the wash changed to walking up red rocks, finding a path up the gentlest grade, with the most sure footing. I walked, and I stopped to play with my camera. I walked some more, heading up the trail, climbing up rocks, not looking down...
Rover's right of course. I've never liked going down steep terrain. It was a bit of a scramble getting up, which meant that coming back down again made me a bit nervous. Actually, I sat and slid down a couple of the steep slick-lookng sections. It would have been quite safe to walk like a normal person, but sometimes...Hey, Rover here... I tried to tell Denise that I would bouce up a bit further to take pictures and that she might want to stop climbing up. She really doesn't like coming back down steep places. you know that about Denise, don't you? She didn't listen to me though. I'll let her tell you the rest of the story...
I followed, walked with, and chatted with two women on (what I consiidered to be a) dfficult section of trail. One of them shared my need to know that my feet wouldn't slip out from under me, and the other did a great job of scouting out gentler descents for all of us. Both women were from Las Vegas. Our conversation opened my eyes to life in Las Vegas. I was wondering why I saw so many people hiking and biking during what I thought were normal work hours. Well, those Monday to Friday daytime hours are regular working hours for many of us, but that's really not true for those employed in the casino industry. I wonder why that never occurred to me before.
And then... I started following a trail heading to the south and east, pulled by the two-colored rocks, a strong red over or under a lighter color. As I walked, I kept wandering to look at low-lying cactus, to try to capture the wisps on the edges of the yucca. It was quiet, and then... I heard a sound, a very distinct sound. I looked up, looked out, and saw a stellar's jay, flying. The sound I heard? It was the jay's wings moving through the air. Next I heard chirping, and saw a low bush teeming with birds, small birs, gray in color with rosy highlights.
The sounds weren't finished. I heard the distinctive sound of a hummingbird's wings. I looked, and looked, and saw a hummingbird hovering, soon joined by a second hummingbird, flying, dancing.
My day continued with a wander on the beginning of the Ice Box Canyon trail, and then with a walk on the First Creek Canyon trail. By the time I started First Creek Canyon the sun was shining. The beginning of the trail was in the sun, and then I entered the shadow of the mountains. The air cooled, but walking kept me warm. And that shadow? It covered much more ground as I headed back out, as the sun dropped lower in the sky, hiding behind those mountains.
Earlier, the sounds that decorated the day were the sound of birds. Coming back out of First Creek Canyon, I heard the sound of the wind, howling.
Just after I turned back on my last out-and-back hike of the day, I saw a beautiful 4-legged creature standing on the trail, looking at me. After I asked him if he was alone (yes, of course I talk to animals), he looked at me a little longer, then he turned and started walking in the same direction that I was traveling. Then he cut off of the trail, off on his own. Oh, you want to know who I saw? He was a beautiful coyote.
Tomorrow? It's time to see the Valley of Fire.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Photos: first glimpses
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