Valley of Fire

---

About a 50-minute drive northeast of Las Vegas, lies the magnificent Valley of Fire, one of Nevada's most popular state parks. With over 40,000 acres and around 20 miles of paved roads set within the stark and savage beauty of the Mojave Desert, the Valley of Fire was our blissful respite from a long weekend of 'Vegas-ing'. Seeking escape from the neon glitz of the Strip, we (me & my girls) opted to get away to what was dubbed the "Best Scenic Drive" in Southern Nevada. We were not disappointed.

We took the I-15 north out of Vegas about 20 miles or so and turned off the freeway at the Valley of Fire highway, a snaky 2-lane blacktop, for another 19 miles to the west Park entrance. From the entrance, we caught a glimpse of what lay ahead-a gorgeous landscape of red sandstone rock formations. Against the blazing blue Nevada sky, it seemed indeed as if the valley were on fire. The visitor center was another 4 miles from the west gate. En route, we stopped at a place called Beehives, where the rocks-more like little hills-had shaped into giant hives with honeycomb-like textured surfaces.This was a great place for clambering up the small hills and taking pictures. The few miles to the visitor center were a visual treat-desert vistas flanked by red hills on one side and a mountain range on the other.It was a wilderness grand in its desolation, beautiful in its solitude. Made a mental note to try camping out here a few days sometime; it felt like our daytrip was just a surface sampler of the fiery Valley.

At the visitor center, there was a ton of information about the park and some very cool exhibits on the history, ecology, prehistory and geology of the area.Besides the striking red sandstone monoliths, there are limestone and shale formations as well, all formed around 150 million years ago when the dinosaurs were around. We found out there were some free-to-the-public tours of a couple of spots nearby with ranger guides. The Petroglyph Canyon tour was starting soon and so we hopped in the SUV and made the short but precipitous drive up the red-faced mountain to the canyon. The hike was in the Mouse's Tank area, named after a renegade Pauite who made his hideout here back in the day. The narrow canyon was a thrill to hike through; felt like I was in a Western movie, being chased into a dead-end canyon, which exactly what this was except that the Mouse tank was a mini-gorge which collected water into a pool at the bottom when it rained. The petroglyphs, made by the ancient dwellers here-Basket Maker tribe and Anasazi Pueblo-were amazing. There were pictographs for 'Shaman', 'Mystical Bat Woman', 'Rain', 'Coming Down', etc. There was an upright swastika which signified 'Friendship'(see photos).

Moving on past Mouse's Tank, we took the Rainbow Vista Scenic Drive. Passing along exquisite panoramas of desert hues, we came to a place simply called the Wave, or more precisely, we came to a marker that said 'Wave'. Our curiosity piqued, with outside temperature about 68˚F, we stepped out of the car, took a huge gulp of pristine high desert air, and proceeded to look for the trail.It was marked clearly enough in the beginning, but after a half-mile or so, the trail became ambiguous. There were some stone markers at intervals but other than that you had to discern it yourself. In the near distance, the contours and swirls of the 'Wave' were apparent and so, while there was no clearly marked trail in the last stretch, we managed to reach it with no problem. The Fire Wave is one gigantic vanilla/strawberry swirl in the rocks. It is awesome and breathtaking. I imagine dusk or dawn to be the prime time, because of the colors, to check out this natural creation. I could have sat there for hours gazing and contemplating, ruminating and meditating on the effortless grandeur of nature. There were more spots in the park to check out-White Dome, the petrified trees, Seven Sisters, Arch Rock, Atlatl, etc....but we were on a schedule and had to head back to the city, which was just fine as we now had a perfect excuse to return to this magnificent valley.

---