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| Valley of Fire State Park |
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| David crosses the gorgeous Terrain |
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| Sunrise on Valley of Fire |
The absolute best time to visit Valley of Fire for photography is when the sky is like it was on this hike!
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| Morning from P1 trailhead Parking |
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| Mouse's Tank / White Domes Road |
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| Starting down the Little Zebra Slot Wash |
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| Just a couple of light Scrambles |
A group of seven club members drove up I-15 to exit 75 and continued out to the Valley of Fire State Park at the dutiful 45 mph. Yes, it's slow but the Moapa police are serious, I understand. Through the park gate, we showed our local ID and paid $10. The new visitor center is scheduled to open in a few days so we continued on to the old VC to use their facilities. After searching for a map on the internet that showed where P1 trailhead is located, we had not found anything. (Fix that, will ya!) I asked the guy at the gate and he showed me his map that showed that P1 is the first trailhead parking after passing Fire Canyon Road. That's simple! So, we parked at P1. The rest of the group gathered there and we started our hike by crossing the paved road.
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| Great group of hikers enjoying the Slot |
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| David leads us down the sandy Wash |
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| Sue scrambles through an Obstacle |
Hiking straight across the desert terrain, we tried hard to stay in little sandy washes so that we stayed out of the cryptobiotic soil.
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| David's photo of Little Zebra Slot |
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| Little Zebra Slot from Above |
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| Hiking above Little Zebra Slot |
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| Orange Wash |
Finally, we dropped down into a sandy wash about fifteen feet wide and turned left. The area had just gotten a dose of rain the day before so the sand was easy to hike. Already, we were getting glimpses of the gorgeous scenery ahead. Since the sun was coming up under the clouds, the lighting was optimal. The wash we were in, continued with just a few scrambles as it narrowed down. Finally, not too far into the hike, we came to Little Zebra Slot. Yes, it's little. However, it is beautiful with its orange stripes and curves. I hear that it is more fun when there is less sand inside and you can hike through. (Oh well. We have to go back!) Here, we made a sharp turn back and up onto the rocks to the right.
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| Our flattish terrain with rock hills in Background |
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| Kay enjoys the Colors |
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| Kay on the yellow Section |
We hiked overland back to a connecting wash and curved up to the left. We passed a few pieces of petrified wood and went up and over a small rock ridge.
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| Yellow Section |
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| Fire Colors |
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| Climbing up to the petrified Wood |
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| Chunks of petrified Wood |
Up on the ridge, the views of fire colors were exceptional. We spent a lot of time wandering around making sure we got the best photos we could get ... without tripods. We passed through a yellow rock section. This just added to the festive surroundings. As we peered to the east, we saw Virgin Peak rising into the clouds. Gold Butte is located in that area but between us and Gold Butte, there is Lake Mead! It's not as easy as it looks to get over to that location. After crossing through the yellow section and filling our eyes with color, we continued to the top of a wide wash that flowed to the left and down to the right. It was beautiful and easy, so our exploratory group dove in.
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| Sunlight coming through the overcast Terrain |
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| The group descends a wide wash with Virgin Peak in the Background |
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| Striations |
The descent through this wash was not difficult. We just had to stay out of the middle, at times, because of a few deep tinajas filling the potholes there.
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| The wide wash ends with a few tinajas. |
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| The wide Wash |
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| The group descending the wide Wash |
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| David shows the depth of the Tinaja |
David decided to use the tinaja theatre as today's break place. We found our own seat and rested for a short few minutes. Afterwards, we continued down a little further and junctioned with another wash that rose up to the right in a little steeper fashion. The scramble was easy and we ended up following a game trail through the brush until we found ourselves climbing up a gentle small sandy wash nearing the top. At the top of this small shallow wash, we got our headings and pointed our noses to the trailhead about 3/4 mile away. Again, we hiked overland trying very hard not to step in the ever-present cryptobiotic soil. For most of this trek, we could see the cars far away and just headed straight for them. It was a great day!
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