Showing posts with label hiking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hiking. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Valley of Fire, SP

When planning our trip to Death Valley, we decided to visit Valley of Fire State Park out side of Las Vegas.  This is a Nevada state park and it looked interesting.  Camping is on a first come basis, so we could not make reservations before we headed down.  We avoided downtown Las Vegas by taking the SR215 North Los Vegas bypass and made our trip so much easier.  About 35 miles east we took the turn off and headed out into nondescript desert.  We climbed a hill and at the top, looked out over the most amazing landscape; red rock jumbled in rock chaos.    

The park is really nice and the campgrounds have been some of the best we have visited.  We opted for full hook-up due to the problem with our 40 year old refrigerator, it wasn't staying cold on gas and needed shore power. We had nice hot showers every day after getting hot and sweaty hiking all day.  The camp sites had a nice shade structure and great fire pits.  Our first stop was the Visitor Center for a hiking map.  We found one and spent an hour learning about the geology, flora and fauna of the Valley of Fire and the history of the many ancient people who lived there.  From the Visitors Center we went up the spur road to where most of the trails are located.  The first hike was to the "Fire Wave" and I never found the exact place where you can photograph the wave.


There are several relatively easy hikes in this area.  Nothing was over 2+ miles and most were a combination of sand and some scrambling over rocks.  We could bring the dogs on a leash and always had water.  It was warm in mid- February and would be downright hot in the summer. I don't think you can take a "bad" shot in VoF, every scene is breathtaking.
Petroglyph Canyon

Desert Big Horned Sheep


















"White Dome" hike had the "narrows," a slot canyon you can touch with your arms extended and the ruins of an old movie set.  "Mouse's Tank" is also called petroglyph canyon and the number and complexity of the petroglyphs is fantastic.
George and Lani in the Narrows


Phil hiking down "White Dome" trail
This park has some of the most photogenic places I have ever been.  These photos have NOT been photoshopped!  The colors through the day were amazing.  The reds, oranges, yellows were crazy.  I took hundreds of pictures and  have only cropped them.  The contrast between light and shadow was difficult but also created some fantastic shots.  Some of my favorite shots I took this trip.  I hope you enjoy them!
Fire Canyon

Atlatl Loop




Wednesday, February 4, 2015

For our first adventure, we decided to hike to Darwin Falls, west of Panamint Springs.  This is a year round water fall, in Death Valley, who knew !  It is a moderate hike with a little bit of scrambling over some large rocks.  When you get close to the falls, there is water, and amazing lush growth along the creek.  What a beautiful and special place.  After we hiked back to the truck, we decided to drive out to the Panamint Dunes, the most remote dunes in the park.  The road was poor but the sights were spectacular.  Again, every time we get off the main road, it is a wonderful adventure.

Darwin Falls




 Panamint Dunes

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Local Lakes

One of the main reasons I started this blog is to promote Lassen County. In 2015, I am planning on visiting every lake with water (an important distinction in a drought), kayak and photograph them all.  I took a map and drew a circle 50 miles out…. That is a lot of area. Here is my list of lakes and reservoirs:  If anybody has knowledge of them and they are dry, please let me know so I don’t make the trip.  This is 55 lakes and reservoirs!  I figure I need visit 6 per month!  Counties are close I didn’t specifically look at counties.



Plumas County
Lake Almanor
Mt. Meadow Res (Walker Lake)
Round Valley Res
Butt Valley Res
Snake Lake
Wilson Lake
Smith Lake
Lake Davis
Frenchman Res
Taylor Lake
Antelope Lake
*Juniper Lake
Snag Lake
Butte Lake
Window Lake
*Horseshoe Lake
Triangle Lake
*Silver Lake
Caribou Lake
Twin Lakes
Cluster Lake
Manzanita Lake
Lake Helen
Crumbaugh Lake
Jakey Lake

Shasta County
Baker Lake
Swains Hole

Lassen County
Echo Lake
Homer Lake
Dearhart Lake
Eagle Lake
Moon Lake
*Hog Flat Res
*McCoy Res
*Feather Lake
Ebey Lake
*Crater Lake
Straylor Lake
Jack Lake
Bullard Lake
Gordon Lakes
Summit Lake
Swanbereger Res
Heath Dam
Moll Res Lane Res
Hollbrook Res
Dodge Res
Carlo Res

I had to add a couple of lakes I missed:
Smoke Creek Res 
Ward Lake