Sunday, May 5, 2013

VALLEY of FIRE


Saturday was Valley of Fire Day!

The Valley of Fire was Nevada’s first state park, instituted in 1934. Today it is a splendid display of history and pre-history that we have wanted to visit for several years. Yesterday was the day. We drove the rather boring several miles up and then away from Interstate 15 out of Las Vegas, then dropped into a display of red rock like we’ve never seen before. This is Aztec Sandstone uncovered by millennia of wind and water, earthquakes and tectonic cataclysms, creating beautiful, remarkable, humorous, spectacular shapes. And on the walls here and there, petroglyphs from earlier civilizations, etched into the desert glaze for us to try to read 4000 years later.

Soon after the Valley of Fire became a State Park, the Civilian Conservation Corps built these three cabins out of native sandstone; they were used for many years to shelter campers and visitors to the park. Simple cabins, but what a view!



Throughout the park we came across these sights, and we plan to come back soon to visit others we missed this time. For more pictures of the Valley of Fire, please see our Valley of Fire web album.

This reminded us of a duck!

Do they light this up on Halloween?


This was not as comfortable as it looked!


Creatures from Alien?

Three more creatures, perhaps from the Black Lagoon
At a site called Atlatl Rock, I climbed an 83 step staircase to view the ancient petroglyphs. Suzy didn't try this climb.



At the same site, but unmarked, we found these petroglyphs by the picnic area, so Suzy had a pretty good view!


Leaving the Valley of Fire, we followed Merikay’s example (see Merikay's Dream) and drove through the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. We may talk about that in a later blog. Or we may not.

Last evening for dinner, we had turkey hot dogs and chicken chili with appropriate sides, a fine but fowl night for sure in … Our Life on Wheels!

9 comments:

  1. Great pics! I love the faces you found in the rock formations. And you both look so happy and healthy. You always seem to find the interesting places that we missed, even tho we've been nearby. And that just inspires us to add them to our ever-growing bucket list.

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  2. As I commented on your web album, these pictures are great. Valley of Fire State Park is now on my list of places to visit!

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  3. Your photos are wonderful. We loved that area. So much beauty!

    Congratulations on the step climb. That is one big staircase.

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  4. You guys did soooooo much more than we did with our car...Thanx to you,we hope to do this again..and explore the hieroglyphs...

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  5. What a wonderful state park. A lot of history and the creature from the black lagoon, too. Thanks for the tour. I will have to add that to my bucket list of places I want to see.

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  6. Glad you enjoyed it, quite a wonderful place isn't it?

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  7. Great pictures! That is one of our top parks:)

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  8. Looks like you had a great time! Check out our site: http://www.valley-of-fire.com

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