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Category: Nevada

On the road to November

trees hoodoos Red Canyon Dixie National Forest SR12 UtahLeft Bryce Canyon on October 25th, before it snowed, and am on the road again in the truck-camper.  The more than 150 mile circle around Bryce was headed into a cold front.  With nights everywhere predicted below freezing, or close, I could only think south.

fall trees SR89 South UtahAnd I only got 1 1/2 hours south to Fredonia, just across the border into Arizona.  A familiar drive along SR89 to Kanab where I didn’t even stop.  I felt tired, exhausted, and drained from the last week at work and closing up the 5th-wheel to move into the camper.

5th-wheel stored in Henrieville UtahShortly after arriving at the Wheel Inn RV Park I received a text that the 5er is winterized and in storage.  That’s a relief.

fall cottonwood trees field storm clouds Wheel Inn RV Park Fredonia ArizonaView from end of RV Park

Turned out a friend from the North Rim was already in this park so I pulled in next door.  Sure was good to catch up and talk to someone who understands an intense COVID summer season in a busy national park.  She usually waits tables in the Lodge but due to take-out dinning only her job ended up being the door counter, limiting ten people into the Lodge building for cabin and mule-ride check-in, and enforcing mask wearing.  Sounds like she was verbally abused way too many times.

window view Wheel Inn RV Park Fredonia Arizona

sunset clouds Wheel Inn RV Park Fredonia ArizonaKind of a noisy RV park, or maybe I’m just spoiled.  Also not used to paying $25/night even though I know that’s pretty cheap these days.  But really, basically a level gravel parking lot with utilities and a picnic table.  I initially paid for two nights and added a third to have electricity for heat as the lows dropped below freezing.

truck camper Lynda's house St George Utah

Red Cliffs Desert Reserve by Lynda's St George UtahI was ready to be on the road by Wednesday and drove another 1 1/2 hours west to St. George, Utah with a shopping stop along the way.  A friend invited me to park in her driveway.  I figured one night there but stayed two nights and we even got in a little walk at the nearby Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.  We plan to meet up in the southern desert somewhere this winter.

RVs on Snowbird Mesa Lake Road Overton NevadaFriday, I was on the road again continuing yet another 1 1/2 hours just south of Overton, Nevada to dispersed camping known as Snowbird Mesa or Poverty Flats.

RVs Snowbird Mesa Overton Nevada

RVs Snowbird Mesa Overton NevadaLots of snowbirds, more than I’m used to seeing the end of October, but by the look of the RVs and ‘toys’ mostly not suffering impoverishment.  Everybody works at keeping some distance.  Though my nearest neighbor living in a small pickup truck with a topper has rather loud conversations seemingly with himself, or maybe his dog.

canyon road mountains reverse sunset Earth Shadow Snowbird Mesa Nevada

camper van mountains moon rise Snowbird Mesa NevadaI planned to photograph the almost full moon that night and didn’t have to walk far from camp for an interesting foreground and composition.  Had I driven further off the popular path I might have eliminated other RVs.

mountains moon rise Snowbird Mesa Nevada

canyon road mountains moon rise Snowbird Mesa NevadaBut when I walked the next day realized I’d have to drive farther than I wanted to on rough gravel to really isolate and for just one more night in that location decided it wasn’t worth it.  Definitely isolated enough for no trick-or-treaters.  Good thing, as I didn’t buy any candy.

canyon mountains sunset clouds Snowbird Mesa Overton NevadaPretty sunset, but for full moon it was too late thus too dark for this too lazy photographer to drag out the tripod.

mountains sunrise clouds Snowbird Mesa NevadaI left Sunday morning relatively early for me with the intent of at least a four hour drive to Wickenburg, Arizona for my mail-in ballot.

road lake mountains clouds late light Stewarts Point Overton Arm Lake Mead National Recreation Area NevadaInstead, in only 30 minutes, I saw a sign along the windy Lake Road drive for Stewarts Point and decided to check it out.  The two-mile drive to the lake goes past a bunch of older and many dilapidated small houses that make up the unincorporated community of Stewarts Point, inside the Lake Mead National Recreation Area.  These remaining not quite lakeshore properties are from the 1950s when the National Park Service issued long-term leases inside the recreation area yet quit renewing with a change in philosophy and policy during the 1970s.  According to this article, only 48 cabins remained as of 2013.  Most of what I saw didn’t look very used.

lake mountains clouds late light Stewarts Point Overton Arm Lake Mead National Recreation Area NevadaI’d say less RVs than Snowbird Mesa or maybe just spread out more.  There are many options for sites with some more difficult to get to than others.  I’d recommend scouting before driving with a big rig.  My spot was mostly level and good enough for a night or two but I saw many others I’d prefer for next time.

sunset clouds Stewarts Point Overton Arm Lake Mead National Recreation Area Nevada

sunset clouds Stewarts Point Overton Arm Lake Mead National Recreation Area NevadaI spent a delightful day taking short walks and reading in the shade.  Just enough clouds to put on a show for sunset.

desert lake mountains sunrise clouds reflection Stewarts Point Overton Arm Lake Mead National Recreation Area NevadaI had every intention of leaving the next morning and was greeted with a worthy sunrise with clouds.

brush lake mountains clouds Stewarts Point Overton Arm Lake Mead National Recreation Area NevadaAnd the clouds beckoned me to stay yet another day.  I am a nepholographer.

shore lake mountains clouds Stewarts Point Overton Arm Lake Mead National Recreation Area Nevada

lake mountains Stewarts Point Overton Arm Lake Mead National Recreation Area NevadaLight and shadow danced across the land.  I finished reading another book.  Took short walks.  I tried to relax and be lazy.

desert sunset clouds crepuscular rays Stewarts Point Overton Arm Lake Mead National Recreation Area NevadaMy mind just wouldn’t stop trying to figure out what and where to be this winter.  I need to figure out how to keep my phone and laptop charged by solar so I don’t NEED to stay in RV parks.  I don’t really understand all the solar stuff so want to talk to someone who does.  I’m willing to add another battery or panel, or both if that’s what it takes.  Probably go back to Solar Bill’s in Quartzsite, eventually.

desert mountains sunset clouds crepuscular rays Stewarts Point Overton Arm Lake Mead National Recreation Area NevadaI stayed for two nights within sight of the ever shrinking Lake Mead along the Overton Arm.  But I had no choice on Tuesday to get on the road to November 3rd so I could vote in Wickenburg, Maricopa county, where I’m registered.

Arizona, Nevada, Places I've been, road trip, RV living, travel, United States, Utah , , 19 Comments

Outdoor art installation at free Goldwell Museum

November 19, 2017

I unexpectedly came across the free Goldwell Museum in the desert between Death Valley National Park and the Rhyolite ghost town.  There isn’t much change in scenery between California and Nevada when in the middle of nowhere Mojave desert so I was easily distracted by a “Free Museum” sign.

tribute to Shorty Harris by Fred Bervoets Goldwell Open Air Museum Rhyolite NevadaOK I’m a sucker.  Not sure what caught my eye first, the hard to resist rusty prospector with a penguin, tall pink lego lady, or the ghostly Last Supper.  Yet even with the craggy partial walls of buildings in the distance calling me to explore Rhyolite I just had to follow others into the gravel parking lot.  It’s FREE!

The Last Supper Goldwell Open Air Museum Rhyolite NevadaHard to believe someone would want to display larger than life art in this remote and desolate piece of desert.  Yet that’s what happened beginning in 1984 when Belgian artist Albert Szukalski installed The Last Supper.  The life-sized figures were created by wrapping live models in wet plaster-soaked fabric and then once dried coated the figures with fiberglass to protect from weathering.

Ghost rider Goldwell Open Air Museum Rhyolite NevadaSzukalski also constructed the Ghost Rider that first year.

Lady Desert The Venus of Nevada by Dr Hug Heyrman Goldwell Open Air Museum Rhyolite NevadaThe 1992 installation Lady Desert: The Venus of Nevada by Dr. Hugh Heyrman looked like legos to me but turns out to be concrete blocks that are supposed to have a pixilated look to contrast the 21st century’s technology with classical Greek sculpture.  I don’t see that.

Los_Angeles-Bullfrog_Realty_&_Investment_Co._1905_advertisementThe roadside rusty prospector and penguin, Tribute to Shorty Harris by Fred Bervoets, was installed in 1994.  Seems Shorty was a legendary prospector in the area.  The penguin presumably reflects the optimism of the miners’ endeavor.  Yet even though the local mining endeavors where short lived they proved to be profitable to many.

Recognition to the growing collection occurred in 1996 with help by the Nevada Arts Council, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property.  Albert Szukalksi died in 2000 and through an agreement with his business partner a non-profit was established to maintain and expand the collection and programs.

Sit Here sofa by Sofie Siegmann Goldwell Open Air Museum Rhyolite NevadaFeel free to get comfortable, Sit Here! and look around.  Sofie Siegmann originally created this larger-than-life mosaic couch in 2000 for a museum project and it was relocated to the Goldwell Museum in 2007.

Sit Here sofa by Sofie Siegmann Goldwell Open Air Museum Rhyolite NevadaI would have needed a boost to get on that seat.

gift shop Goldwell Open Air Museum Rhyolite NevadaThe gift shop/visitor center was closed because it was Sunday but I did pick up the brochure which helped some.  There are a few installations with no information even on the website.

metal orgami bird Red Barn Goldwell Open Air Museum Rhyolite NevadaGuess I should have headed over to their Red Barn Art Center, a studio and exhibition space, and visited the nearby ruins of Bullfrog, seemingly a mining suburb of Rhyolite.

abandoned buildings Goldwell Open Air Museum Rhyolite NevadaBut I figured it might have been much like the relics by the museum so headed down the road to see the real deal.

“The Goldwell Open Air Museum is private property and its artworks on display are protected by copyright.  Non-commercial photography for personal use is permitted at any time.  Commercial photography, film and video recording requires permission from the property owners.”  So none of these photos are for sale.

Nevada, Places I've been, United States , , 20 Comments

Wind blown to Death Valley

March 4-7 , 2017

White Domes trail Valley of Fire State Park NevadaValley of Fire State Park, Nevada

If I’d left on Saturday I would have been blown to Death Valley by the strong southeast wind gusting up to 35mph.  But instead I waited a few days and took a detour to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and included an overnight in Area 51, where I thankfully wasn’t abducted.

I actually did leave Valley of Fire on Saturday in desperate need of propane so drove 25 minutes to Overton.  I usually fill as soon as convenient once one of the two tanks empties but had forgotten when returning from the last road trip.  Didn’t see any signs along the main drag so stopped at Fun ‘N Sun RV Park and asked if they had propane.  Nope.  One place in town had closed an hour earlier and the other place was out, “as usual”.  So it was a drive further north to I15 then south one exit to Glendale’s AM/PM.  Then I drove back south past Overton to boondock at Snowbird Mesa.

Sunset Snowbird Mesa Overton NevadaBy then the wind had picked up considerably so I parked with the tail/door to the SE wind to keep the fridge pilot from blowing out and not present such a wide profile.  It kept getting stronger.  Hung on very tight to the camper door barely getting it shut.  I was in for the night, rockin’ and rollin’, all night long.  Not sure I could have opened the door if I’d wanted to.  I watched through windows as the wind driven sunset clouds streaked across the sky.

unset dust Fun N Sun RV Park Overton NevadaWindow view at RV park

By morning I’d had enough.  Then Berta called to see how I was and tell me the winds would be increasing.  That’ it, I headed into town early and even though the office isn’t open on Sunday a phone call netted me the last camp site at Fun ‘N Sun for only $24.31/night.  Nice level gravel site with a cement slab and hookups plus I was somewhat sheltered.  My biggest concern was the new solar control panel quit working along with the solar charging the battery which meant low to no lights.  But worse of all the fridge could not light.  Can’t melt the ice cream.  So being plugged in charged the house battery.  I put in a call to Solar Johnny and he helped me trouble shoot the problem suggesting a blown fuse.  Turned out a wire disconnected from the control panel to the battery.  Once I wired that back together it began to work.  Thank goodness, saved me a 4.5 hour drive to Quartzsite.  Other than that, didn’t poke my nose out all day as the wind increased.

Joshua Trees NV160 West NevadaMorning dawned calm so my plan D went on, Death Valley with a detour first to Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.  And, unfortunately through Las Vegas on the freeway instead of taking the more northern route US95 that would have required a reroute due to road work.  Hadn’t been that route before, but instead took NV160/Blue Diamond Road out of the south side of Vegas.  Made it past that concrete jungle without a backward glance.  Over the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area where I saw some interesting side roads for possible exploration, just not that day.  Instead, I was headed to Pahrump, Nevada through a whole lot of flat and past some Joshua trees.

Relief map Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge NevadaTrapezoid of roads top center Ash Meadows

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1984 to protect unique spring-fed wetlands in the dry Mojave Desert.  The greatest concentration of endemic species in the US are found here with some listed as threatened and endangered.  Native Americans used this landscape for thousands of years with limited impacts.  Even the turn of the century settlers were few with some mining and farming.  Then in the early 1960s, Carson Slough, once the largest wetland in Southern Nevada, was drained and mined for peat.  Development continued into the early 1980s as streams were diverted, wetlands drained, and roads established.  Ash Meadows was named after the leatherleaf ash tree that once flourished in the area and is slowly coming back.

Spring Meadows Road Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Nevada

Devils Hole Hills Point of Rocks Road Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge NevadaIt was well after noon when I turned into the refuge’s southern entrance.  Unfortunately the roads were in terrible condition from rain a couple weeks before.  Dry rutted and washboard clay required extremely slow driving which is OK time-wise plus the scenery sure was pretty.

Interpretation sign boardwalk Point of Rocks Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge NevadaBridge boardwalk Point of Rocks Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Nevada

Kings Spring Point of Rocks Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Nevada

Unidentified purple flowers Point of Rocks Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge NevadaI stopped at Point of Rocks with a boardwalk over a spring-fed stream and at Kings Spring saw the two inch pupfish, brilliant blue males and green stripped females.  Referred to as “living fossils”, they have survived thousands of years by adapting to increasingly harsh conditions such as heat, salt, and poorly oxygenated water.  Unfortunately the photos into the crystal clear water are completely fuzzy.  The spring looks inviting but is off limits to humans in an effort to protect the endangered fish and other wildlife.  I didn’t hang around nearly long enough as I was kind of in a rush to get to the visitor center four bouncy miles away before it closed to get my Junior Ranger book.  And because the refuge is only open from sunrise to set with no camping I figured to return in the morning.  The gal at the visitor center told me about a dark, quiet, boondock place off Bell Vista Road on the way back to Pahrump.  A long drive.

Truck camper & signs Area 51 Lathrop NevadaThis is not where I camped

Instead, I left the refuge via the west entrance and headed north on NV373 to Lathrop Wells.  Located in Area 51, famous for the Alien Cathouse, this free camp in a “rest area” was just a wide gravel parking area at the junction with US95.  Rather noisy with trucks in and out all night.

T-shirts Alien Center Area 51 Lathrop Nevada

Daddy D's Rocket Diner Lathrop NevadaIn the morning I planned to return to the refuge but after visiting the Alien Center, breakfast at Daddy D’s Rocket Diner, and bypassing the Alien Cathouse tour, I decided to pass on the rough refuge roads.  I’d like to devote several days to Ash Meadows in the future.  So after fueling up at $1 less/gal than California I just drove to Death Valley wanting to get a campsite for the night.

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Nevada , , , 11 Comments

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