There were a few hikes we wanted to take at Valley of Fire State Park that we were not able to take on our previous visit due to the heat, so Tuesday we got an earlier start and headed right to the trailhead to hike them.
A new hike in the park is called "Fire Wave". It is only a half mile, but wow.....what a hike! Because it was so early, we were able to do the hike with no other hikers around, and we had a few minutes by ourselves at the Fire Wave. It was so peaceful and quiet! Amazing! Magical!
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| a chilly start |
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| heading down to the Fire Wave |
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| well maintained trail |
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| huge boulders! |
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| heading down on the wave |
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| cacti here |
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| well marked trail |
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| a bit breezy (well, okay, pretty windy!) |
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| how cool is this? |
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| the views were awesome |
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| more trail markers |
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| very cool hike |
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| look at that view! |
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| a magical place! |
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| still heading down the trail |
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| awesome |
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| getting a bit steeper |
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| so much fun! |
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| taking it all in.... |
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| it was totally quiet for about 10 minutes before the next set of hikers showed up |
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| moved my "perch" so as not to block the view of the Fire Wave for the next hikers |
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| isn't that cool? (see the hiker on top of the Fire Wave?) |
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| heading back |
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| Its sooooo windy! |
Next hike we wanted to take was the White Dome, a hike around the two white domes! After hiking through sand, we stepped steeply down sandy (slippery) rocks....and really took our time. We didn't want any accidents! The rocks are really slippery with the layer of sand over them. Yikes!
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| heading out on the white sand |
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| are we at the beach? |
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| uh oh....this part is pretty dicey! (Looking down at what I still have to get through) |
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| Looking up at what I just came down - see the sand on the rock....VERY SLIPPERY |
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| I got this |
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| everyone went nice and slow down this part |
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| whew..... |
Once past that dicey part, the trail headed to the right and wouldn't you know....a small slot canyon! What a nice surprise! There were some short boulders in front, but no problem. Not only were the boulders short, but there was a way to go around them too. It was nice and cool in the slot too. I know we are in Vegas, but that is our kind of slot!!
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| getting hot now! |
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| what's down here? |
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| ready Susie? |
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| getting past the boulders |
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| cutting through |
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| a slot! |
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| its nice and cool here |
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| really nice |
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| fun little slot...very scenic |
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| that's it |
The views were awesome and the rocks were gorgeous. The colors! Wow! We had to scramble in a few places, which added to the excitement of the hike. It had a little bit of everything, except ledges, thankfully!
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| looks like some scrambling ahead |
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| Here comes Grace! |
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| almost there |
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| just beautiful, isn't it? |
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| looking back on where we just came from |
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| so cool! |
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| this was a fun hike...a little bit of everything |
Again, the colors and the rock formations were amazing, and we really enjoyed this hike. We are so happy we came back on a cooler day. The temperature was about 60, and there was a nice breeze all day that cooled us off. (Actually, it was quite windy...with gusts up to 20 mph).
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| gorgeous landscape |
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| the colors were so pretty |
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| a little arch...see it? |
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| we had fun looking at the rock formations....that one looked like an elephant to us from a distance |
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| so cool |
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| the colors were striking |
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| close up of the arch |
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| looks like another planet |
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| gorgeous |
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| the red "sand" was actually little rocks |
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| end of another great hike |
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| another arch across the street |
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| such cool color swirls |
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| isn't it pretty? |
After a peanut butter and cracker lunch in a beautiful location, we had one more hike we wanted to do and that was Rainbow Vista. The wind kicked up and it was on the cool side, which felt great. The beginning of the hike goes through the flat desert, before winding around to head down to a lookout. The trail is not well marked, so for a bit it seemed we were walking in circles. We got quite the workout walking in the deep sand...hahaha.
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| pretty cool in the shade....and the wind....wow! |
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| heading out in the sand |
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| cool |
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| this part of the trail is very flat and sandy |
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| surrounded by cool rocks...they are all different colors! |
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| check out that view-the colors were breathtaking |
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| we are heading down there (behind me) |
The views were very nice, and we eventually hit a dry waterfall type of thing. I waited with the big guy in blue while Tom went ahead to check it out. Not a fan of hiking down slippery sand-covered rock, but would do it for the view! Apparently, there is no trail down past this feature, but you can walk a bit farther until the big drop-off. I was satisfied with the view I had, so I didn't go any further.
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| an obstacle! Tom is forging ahead....I'm waiting it out with the big guy |
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| awesome view |
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| the rocks are so colorful |
After another great day of hiking, we headed back to Las Vegas. Check out that view on the way out of the park. Our campground was about an hour away, and we had a little time to enjoy the rest of the afternoon relaxing in our own "backyard". The breeze was marvelous!
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| heading back to Vegas |
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| relaxing in the sun (it is pretty cool in the shade...even for me!) |
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| we had a good campsite here in Las Vegas....a corner lot! |
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