After Zion

Now that we’ve checked all the biggies off the list, we’re taking our time to get to Vegas.  Our first stop was in Quail Creek SP, a Utah park right on a reservoir. A little seedy and the woman at the entrance was a bit gruff.  We rode around to find a level site and she came roaring up in her golf cart to find out why we hadn’t returned to the office to pay.  We explained that we didn’t have levelers and so we were trying out a few sites before deciding.  She left abruptly without saying a word but when I walked out to the entrance (nearly ½ mile) with the money she was already on her way back to chew us out again.  She u-turned around me and met me at the gate, sweet as anything.  Some people probably shouldn’t work in public interface positions.

The next stop, not too far from there, was in the Virgin River Gorge Recreation Area, in a part of the area known as the Arizona Strip.  This is the small piece of the state that cuts across the northwest-most corner of AZ along the Virgin River and is almost more Nevada than Nevada at that point. It was a nice place, just  outside of Littlefield, and our site overlooked a narrow part of the river.  It was the first time in many days that we were able to sit out in the sun; we played cards and ate dinner at the picnic table and enjoyed the warmth.

State parks have been the big surprises of this trip and our next stop, Valley of Fire just a little north of Las Vegas, was no exception.  Just when you think you’ve seen every color of rock, every bit of petroglyph and every arch, the west throws something new at you.  We spent Veterans’ Day weekend at the Arch Rock CG in the park and visited most of the sights – Elephant Rock, the White Domes, the Fire Wave, the Cabins (built of red sandstone by the CCC for the first tourists in the 1930s), the Beehives, more rock art at Mouse Tank,  Atlatl Rock and its Anasazi petroglyphs that could only be seen by ascending a long metal staircase – all totally accessible and stunning to view. We also got to see the  elusive desert big horn sheep; we’ve been looking for them in every park, every BLM campgrounds, just about every mountain peak we’ve passed.  This time, when we read they were in the park, but rarely seen, we decided not to bother searching.  Then, poof, right by the side of the road to the White Domes, there was a ram and about nine ewes with a young ram, munching sagebrush and grasses.

Some of the beautiful red rock formations in the park.

The cabins, built by the CCC in the 1930s.

The only way I’ll ever do rock climbing.

Ron’s not interested….

We left the park on Monday to visit the Overton wildlife management area along the Muddy River, a place we’d spotted on the way in and when we got there, we saw that there were half dozen camping sites, only one of which was open.  Since they were free and we had no definite plans for the next day, we stayed.  Birding was the best we’d had in a long while.  The area is maintained as a waterfowl wintering spot and is open every other day during the season to licensed hunters.  Since it is a riparian environment, many other birds gather there and we were able to check off bushtits, house finches, phainopepla, western bluebird, Gambel’s quail, gray jay and mockingbirds as well as a peregrine falcon fly-by, only a few hundred feet in front of us as we walked the gravel road. Woke up to a spectacular sunrise and stopped at a schoolhouse museum in Logandale before leaving the area.

We decided to head for Lake Meade Recreation Area for a few days of recreation.  To get there we had to drive back through the Valley of Fire SP and pay another entrance fee.  Figured what the heck and found ourselves returning to Arch Rock CG for another night.  This time there was only one site available and as we pondered whether or not it was too close to the bathroom, a woman approached us and introduced herself as Chris from Arizona, a Roadtrek 190 owner.  She and four other Roadtrekers are here on their way from an informal week-long gathering in Death Valley, something they do every year.  Ron and I were enthralled hearing of their other travels – months in Alaska, months exploring Canada’s Maritime Provinces, road trips to Oregon and Washington, on the road most of the year and enjoying every moment of it.  They almost always boondock, rarely take a motel respite and have found places to camp everywhere.  They gave us some good tips on where to find showers and laundry, as well as unusual places to eat and stay.  We took good notes; tomorrow we head for Lake Mead and Hoover Dam.