Recently visited the hopping city of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is always a nice time as we have family there. The road trip is always worth a stop or two along the way. There are Joshua trees, cacti, and other fun stuff that makes us pull over. The “dam road” can be a pain but they are working on a bypass bridge that will certainly help the process. A true feat in the making.
This has been a strange year in the area with more snow in a few days than they have received in years. We were not there for the occurrence, but heard a great deal about the event. We explored the area and hiked many a mile to see God’s geology. What a strange world we live in.
One of our hikes was right next to Lake Mead and Hoover Dam. It follows the path of the railroad that delivered supplies and equipment for the construction phase. Cool geology and views of a Lake Mead. The lake is down quite a bit and you can see the bathtub ring affect pretty clearly. Not to mention the marina is much further out these days. This is just outside of Boulder City on the way to Hoover Dam.
http://www.nps.gov/lame/planyourvisit/hikerr.htm
A fantastic area to visit when it is not 100+ degrees outside is Valley of Fire State Park. The geology here is quite impressive and easy to get to from the road and trails. There is even some petroglyphs that you can get right up to thanks to some stairs. Well worth the drive off of Interstate 15 north of Vegas.
http://parks.nv.gov/vf.htm
I have found myself taking more and more pictures of Crested, or Cristate, Saguaro cactus. We saw one on the way to Vegas and were able to find it again on our return trip. Shot a few pictures to go along with others I already have in digital and film format. I have thrown in a few extras as well. These formations occur in other cactus as well and do not seem to stop the growth or flowering. I have seen that these cactus abnormalities seem to cause death in some of the cacti. Cool to look at when you can find these rare formations.
http://www.nps.gov/sagu/naturescience/why_crested.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crested
http://www.nps.gov/sagu/naturescience/why_crested.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crested
Hope you enjoy the images and that 2009 is a great year for us all.
2 comments:
Joellen thanks for sharing this site with me. I have placed this site on my favorites list and will visit it often. These photo's are very professionally done and they seem to tell a story. I wish there was some way that you could or would publish these as they warrant it. Keep it up! As I get older it always impresses me what is out there and not being able to travel as much as I would like, looking at these pictures gives me a feeling of being there. Thanks!!!
Maybe someone will come out here and like them well enough to publish them. I have thousands of images, so there would be no complaints from me on that. Thanks Tom.
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