This week long trip began here in California where I and the rest of the group go to school. We loaded a rented van and truck with gear and supplies and headed out to our first destination.
Part 1 The Valley of Fire
We arrive at the Valley of Fire late at night and it's a good thing we arrived when we did; I had just been blasting Girl Talk and Katy Perry for all the unfortunate souls that occupied the car with me. As the faithful copilot in the truck we navigated the dirt roads that led to our campsite in the pitch-black darkness. We quickly threw on our head-lamps laid down a tarp and went to sleep under the stars.
When we woke up, we finally saw what we had been missing on the drive in. And we began our hiking.
Our campsite after waking up:
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Breakfast time:
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Natural Arches:
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Hiking:
One thing that immediately sets in is the feeling that the landscape is an infinite expanse. It is a captivating and eerily silent location.
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Ancient Petroglyphs:
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After we had finished hiking for the day we packed everything back into our truck and van and said goodbye to the Valley of Fire:
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The Valley of Fire, in retrospect was a beautifully serene and eerie landscape but I've seen similar and more exhilarating in Utah. It was a leisurely easy hiking day and it was exactly what the doctor ordered post-winter finals.
Coming tomorrow: The Black Canyon River.
Last edited by TheOriginalGrumpySpy; 02-27-2009 at 12:29 AM.
After leaving the Valley of Fire we headed to the base of the Hoover Dam at the Nevada/Arizona border. We loaded 2 rafts with everything we owned and headed down the river looking out for
Hoover dam:
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The second half of this trip was to discover hot springs on the river as we rafted down it. Needless to say we found some astonishing ones.
100 years after put-in we hit a natural hot-spring discovered during drilling for the dam and has remained ever since. By far the weirdest hot-spring I have ever encountered it was a tunnel that led into the mountainside for about 50 years completely pitch dark but about 100 degrees. The outside weather was probably around 45 degrees F so we all quickly stripped down to our suits and ran into the tunnel that was more like a sauna. It's very difficult to describe but on the inside of the cave there was a calcification on the walls that seemingly bleached the inside making it white. There was no smell of sulfur and the water was amazing:
Hot spring #1:
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Outside the cave looking in:
Inside looking out towards the river:
As we continued down the river there was a constant threat of rain. The foreboding clouds were always on the horizon and above us and all we could do was pray it wouldn't rain.
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We hit the second spot about 1 mile down from the first spot. And this was one of the coolest spots.
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This is where we tied our rafts and walked up the flowing canyon to a natural waterfall that felt like a shower.
Kids under the waterfall:
Looking back from the spot:
This next hot-spring was up a narrow slit canyon that led to a waterfall with ladder over it. Upon climbing the ladder you reached 2 crystal-clear pools of extremely hot water.
Ladder:
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After this I can't post pictures of any more the hot springs because, well, we were all nude. If this had been people I don't know and see around campus I would willingly throw up pictures, but I'm going respect their and my privacy and not upload the other hot-spring images.
Moving on!
The rain finally came and it came hard. We paddled hard to the next stop and quickly threw up our tents. It rained for the next 20 hours. Imagine yourself cooped up in a 2 person tent for 17 straight hours. Oh, and our tent began to leak.
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Unfortunately, we did not stay dry.
The next day we headed to take-out to begin the journey back home.
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After we loaded everything into the cars...it snowed... in Nevada. We witnessed the first snow in Vegas in 30 years.
Are you talking about the whole "I'm lanky and awkward...ooo! nearly naked chicks!" syndrome?
No no, there's no nearly about it here. We were completely nude. Also I officially had the title of "That Guy" on the trip when I tried to break spaghetti over my leg and noodles went everywhere.
No no, there's no nearly about it here. We were completely nude. Also I officially had the title of "That Guy" on the trip when I tried to break spaghetti over my leg and noodles went everywhere.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
You should have just used your arms bud.
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Looks like you guys had fun TOGS. You are a better man than I, I will never go on a backpacking trip with a female again. Last time I did, I entered the trailhead with 60lbs. on my back and exited with 110 because she didn't want to carry anything.
We had our fair share of stupidity on the female side of things, particularly, the girl who wore and brought only cotton clothing and nearly shivered to death when it rained. Otherwise it all went really well.
It sucks when people aren't prepared. And rain is the number one day ruiner when hiking. I remember I was in New Mexico hiking on the 4th of July a few years ago and me and my tentmate set up our tent in low ground because he was being lazy. Ended up raining and our tent flooded, I still have a picture somewhere of a blue tent surrounded by water, it looks like we pitched our tent in a pond.
Looks like an interesting trip. My more recent forays include only forest and swamp, no bright colors, and no females. But we do have nudity, at least.
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