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Colorful rock, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

This was a crazy patch of colorful rock – the color just seemed to flow through the rock, it was really cool!

Earlier this week we pulled out of Las Vegas and have headed back to California to take care of some business before we fly back to Alaska.  Actually, right now we are down in Anza-Borrgo where we intend to store our trailer for the next few months.  I gotta say, it is really nice to experience the peace and quite of this remote part of the desert!  Even though we were camped away from the Las Vegas Strip, the non-stop noise does get old after awhile.  Here, the only noise at night is the howl of coyotes – now that is my kind of noise!

Joshua Trees in Red Rock Canyon, near Las Vegas, Nevada.

There are two wonderful, relatively unknown areas near Las Vegas.  Valley of the Fire is one of them, and the other is Red Rock Canyon.  Red Rock Canyon is only a half an hour from the Strip, and has wonderful hiking trails and scenery!  This is a place that is only about a half an hour from the Las Vegas Strip!

Kayaking in the Black Canyon on the Colorado River, Nevada / Arizona.

Down stream from the Hoover Dam in the Black Canyon is one of the few places outside of the Grand Canyon where the Colorado River still sorta flows, albeit much slower then it would normally.  Saturday we went on a kayaking trip on this stretch of river and it was a blast!  We have done a lot of kayaking in the past, but never in sandals and shorts – thanks to the 80 degree weather, that was a real treat!

Next time we are in the area I think we will start from the Hoover Dam and make a two or three day trip out of it so that we can camp along the river at night – that would really be fun!

Janine kayaking in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River.

Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail leads to the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead Recreation Area, Nevada.

This is Janine riding the old railroad bed that now makes up the Historic Railroad Tunnel Trail.  This is a cool trail, great for biking or walking.  It travels through 5 tunnels as is traverses its way above Lake Mead from the Visitor Center Parking lot to the Hoover Dam parking lot – about 7 miles in length if you do the round trip.  This railroad was built to assist with the construction of Hoover Dam.

For this photo, I switched to manual mode and exposed for the sunny areas outside the tunnel.  Otherwise the camera metering system would have a tough time accounting for the large dark areas.

Wildflowers, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

I was surprised to find a few wildflower in Valley of Fire at the end of such a hot dry summer season.  I was thrilled to find a group of wildflowers next to one of the most colorful patches of rock I had seen!

Wave like hill in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada.

We spent more time yesterday hiking in the back-country of Valley of Fire.  As most of you already know, this is my favorite area in Nevada.  This cool hill kind of reminds me of The Wave in Northern Arizona – without the people and permit hassles.

Las Vegas may have fancy shows and great restaurants, and can be a lot of fun, but it still can’t compete with sweet light in a beautiful landscape like Valley of Fire.  Throw in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a cool shooting star at the end of the day and you have something that Las Vegas could never top!