Petroglyphs in Grapevine Canyon NV

7 Mar 2013

Who can resist heading out on a fancifully named road? How about Christmas Tree Pass? What if it’s recommended that you drive a 4 x 4 and you own a big brawny (who snickered?) Honda CRV named Smiley?

Of course you would.

It wasn’t 100% agreed but since the steering wheel was on my side we went up the road anyway. Rough, dusty and rutted but Smiley grinned and bore it. Actually Smiley had no choice – he has a permanent grin.

Not so herself when I’m having rally moments on the back roads.

We climbed the canyon in the middle background of this picture as far as we could but it became too steep:

We returned to wonder at the glyphs and recorded a few that didn't include some (modern) idiot's inintials:

Then we set off to the right of Grapevine Canyon and found a delightful wash between some very dissimilar rock formations.



Yes - I am standing up straight

Who walked here?

Try to make it look easy Honey. No problem - it was easy.

More desert blooms appeared:

This was a moderate hike with all sorts of plant life to dress up the place. And a little wildlife as well:

Finally fast enough to catch a shot of one of these guys

Since we were already 2 miles into a 12 mile road I felt we were committed to finish it. Norene said that I should be committed which I took to be agreement. Because of this we finally found the reason for the road’s name. No cgi here:

These decorations appear every year even though the authorities take them down.

If you focus on the centre of this picture you can see the developing wings Norene spotted…

And almost at the crest of the pass we encountered real trees.

Come back here? Absolutely! As a matter of fact – in a couple of days….

Just one more time up Christmas Tree Pass Road please…

10 Mar 2013

It was only a week ago when we took another run out to Christmas Tree Pass Road. Temperature was 70 F and it was windy. Perfect day for another wander in the desert.  As I write this today (March 17) it’s about 92 F and we’re told by the locals that the snakes and scorpions are coming out of hibernation. Norene won’t be going out for random desert hikes from here on out.

We drove in about 4 miles to a point we’d noticed before. This area is under a regeneration program which seems to primarily entail removing junk and closing off entry to motorized vehicles. Lots of old trails and overgrown roads to follow.

Primary features here are the convoluted sandstone hillocks.

This set of caves up close…

looks a bit like some sort of carving from a distance:

Anyone remember the movie Tremors?

Arches are always amusing:

And some rock surfaces practically beg you to climb them…

Who dams up a crevice in the side of a hillock in the desert? Somebody went to a lot of work here –

Every plant seems to be screaming “look at me!”

So we took a few more mug shots:

Please study the photos carefully – there will be a test after Happy Hour.

Moonwalking in the Hoover

5 Mar 2013

Fortunately Dave let us use the elevators. By the time we were at the bottom of our tour we had descended several hundred feet below the dam’s top and we walked one lateral to within 45’ of the waters of Lake Mead

Here’s a little drawing I whipped up:

Each state has a turbine room. This is the Nevada side.

Interesting but not electrifying (sorry).

This is Dave trying to get our attention.

Something about the height of the ventilation shaft we were about to enter:

Ouch!

Here’s where we ended up in the vent tunnel looking from outside:

This is what it looked like from the inside:

Looking down –

Is that an escape rope? Looks a bit short.

And up –

Afterwards, to take our minds off the vent shaft trauma Dave showed us how to simultaneously walk backwards and lecture - on our way to the tunnel that would get us very deep and close to Lake Mead.

No really - it did look like a moonwalk to me. Our reward at the end of this walk was a look up what they call “the stairway to heaven”

This downward part must be to that other place…

Hoover Dam blows us away

5 Mar 2013

Only 80 miles away Hoover Dam is a great day trip from Bullhead City on the mostly dead straight highway I-95. Things change when you get to Boulder City and wind down to Lake Mead on I-93. This…

becomes this…

Have to admit Norene got off a pretty good shot here with her eyes closed. Not an excellent heights and curvy roads traveler.

We opted for the full guided interior tour. Worth the money ($30 each) both in terms of where you get to go (beyond the turbines and down into lower tunnels and a ventilation shaft) plus our guide’s knowledge and wit.

After the tour we walked the dam and took what seemed to be hundreds of pictures.

Wait! Come back! I only put a few not completely awful ones in. For example..

Like the Davis Dam, the Hoover links Arizona and Nevada. Since this was before Daylight Saving Time kicked in (which Arizona does not inflict on its citizens) and the 2 states are in different time zones (Pacific and Mountain) you get different answers to the "what time is it?" question. Both sides display local time to amuse us. The next 2 photos were taken 5 minutes apart. We were amused…

Arizona

Nevada

Can’t think of another occasion where we disagreed and both were right…

"Time for lunch Darling."  "Sorry Sweetie - you missed it." Yeah - we talk like that all the time

She who must be obeyed at all times was nonplussed by the novelty. I do not expect a repeat.

The dam creates a huge body of water known as Lake Mead – storing up to 2 years worth of the Colorado’s flow.

Just to show we weren’t just going gaga at the sights I recorded some serious information about the dam:

Must read them sometime….

I might have forgotten to mention that I divided the Hoover into 2 entries – the “outside” (which you have – mercifully – finished) and the “inside” where you get to see tour guide Dave try to teach us to moonwalk.  It might be OK.