Valley of Fire, Vegas, Death Valley and into Cali!

Valley of Fire is a state park in Nevada. The park’s name is very fitting as the rock formations are the colour of burning coal. These mounds of red rocks formed the backdrop to our campsite (and also provided a spot to climb and to nap).

After supper in the park, we took a stroll around the campground and stumbled upon a metal staircase that led to a cliff face. Curious, we climbed to the top and to our amazement found 4000 year old petroglyphs. The ancient etchings depicted images of big horn sheep and hunting tools (atlatls). In the evening we met our neighbour at the campsite next to us. His name was Andy – a great chap from South Africa, currently living in Australia. We shared popcorn, cocktails, conversations and star gazing.



Hiking in Valley of Fire

 On to Vegas. It was a short drive from the Valley of Fire to Vegas; as we approached, the density of billboards increased dramatically. We drove down Las Vegas blvd (“The Strip”) and were in shock.  We parked in a garage and decided to walk a piece. We felt too bad about leaving Aurora in the furnace of a truck so she came too. We walked for a couple of blocks past some of the famous casinos, hotels and replicating major world buildings. The strip had hordes of people and was a sensory overload. Given our lack of disposal income, our business in Vegas was limited. After about 45 minutes, we had enough.

After staying in a mountainous national forest outside of Vegas, we headed west towards Death Valley and California. We expected Death Valley to be endless dunes of sand. But contrary to our preconceptions, the park was mountainous and even had some hotels. The scenery was diverse and dramatic. We went from 4000ft elevation to -190ft. The temperature was 37°C but it felt cooler with 80 km/h winds. We were going to stay in the park but the winds were overwhelming and sun was scorching.

Instead, we moved through the park and on to California. We came across the quaint town of Lone Pine, and had to stay. The town is literally out of a western film (the area has been used dozens of time to shoot famous movies such as: How the West was Won, Gunga Din, Lone Ranger, Gladiator, Iron Man etc.) We stopped at the visitor’s centre and asked our new favourite question: ‘where can we camp for free?’ The attendant told us about Alabama Hills for camping and Bonanza Mexican restaurant for great enchiladas. Both recommendations were superb. We had our first meal out and it was Courtney’s favourite Mexican food ever.  The camp site was BLM land (free public land that practices ‘dispersed camping’). This is our new favourite campsite; we are in the set of a western, sitting in the same places as Clint Eastwood and John Wayne.  We have spent a great deal of time exploring the cavernous rocky landscape. It has been great. We are going to stay for at least another half day.

So far today we have worked on our belts (we bought great buckles yesterday), hiking in the cliffs, eating, drinking Wingwalker amber ale (yum) and starting to talk about our plans for Dawson Creek. It’s been a great day. The temperature is the most moderate we have experience in days. I’d guess it’s about 27-28°C. Over the next few days we plan on doing Yosemite NP and making it to Monterey and San Fran.

Peas