Monday, March 28, 2016

The Valley of Fire Wave

Twitter
The Fire Wave At Valley of Fire State Park, Overton, Nevada
The Valley of Fire State Park is about an hour away from Las Vegas and is Nevada's first State Park. I must admit that the first time I saw Valley of Fire, I was not very impressed. I guess, we were tired then from several days of exploring Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park, all of Utah. When we were in Zion, I saw a picture of a cave which was glowing like a charcoal, I wanted to see it, and I was overjoyed when I learned that it is in Nevada, which is really on our way back to San Diego. However, when we reached Valley of Fire, all those red rocks looked like some alien's dump-land to me. Plus, it was summer, when the temperature at the Valley of Fire was in the hundreds! We could hardly even get out of the car because the heat was so intense. Thus, we ended up viewing the park from our car, which at any rate did not give us a beautiful impression. Then, for several times we went to explore some parks in the Grand Circle, we always skip this park, thinking that it is but an alien's dump-land. But this impression did not last....
Wavelike Patterns @ The Fire Wave
A couple weeks ago, I was still not very sure whether I should spend my spring break outside of San Diego due to many assignments I had to finish. However, I felt like I badly needed a break. Thus I decided to spend some days away from San Diego, at Big Sur, one of my favorite hiking and nature escapes in California. Now, what an extreme it is you may think that from Big Sur, we ended up in Las Vegas. Big Sur is where the mountains are kissed by the clouds and the pounding waves of the sea, the redwood forest is lovely and the waterfalls next to the ocean is really a unique sight. Big Sur is a heaven of peacefulness and serenity and where the night lights would be the sparkling stars from the sky, whereas Las Vegas is totally a different world. Las Vegas at night is far from quiet, the sparkling stars are diluted by the city night lights. There may be mountains around Las Vegas, but no redwood forest and pounding waves from the sea. But then, Highway 1 at Big Sur was closed last week due to several landslides. Instead of sulking because we could not access Big Sur from the South, I then looked in another direction. From the ocean, I looked into the desert, with high hopes of seeing a desert bighorn sheep and desert tortoise since it is at spring that one will most likely see them. Well, we were not lucky to see the endangered desert tortoise and desert bighorn sheep :(, instead, we saw beautiful desert lizards and lots of squirrels and rabbits :)
Desert Lizard
But then, despite not seeing desert tortoise nor desert bighorn sheep in our exploration, we were still awed by the amazing geological features we saw in the desert.
Riding the Wavelines ( I just named this place, this is actually the trail or no trail we took to get to the Valley of Fire Wave)
Before I came to US, I had very little idea what a desert is like, all the images that were in my mind were that of the desert as the last place I wanted to be probably on Earth. A wasteland and a heat reservoir were the two popular descriptions I would always hear. However, coming to US exposed me to the different sceneries in a desert, and I learned that the desert is happily no wasteland, in fact, it is teeming with life, maybe, not just the kind of life most  of us see and experience. 
Beavertail Cactus Blooms, from the trail we took to Fire Wave, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
From afar, the desert may look barren, may look brown, but deep within, when you take a closer look at it, the desert is full of surprises and beauty. 
Evening Primrose as seen from the trail, Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada
What I have learned about the desert is that it is not a place of what is obvious, but a place of what is hidden. One must really get to their feet and keep going to capture a stunning memory. Just like the Valley of Fire Wave, this geological formation in Valley of Fire can not be seen from the park main roads. 
Can You Spot Me? This is one of the most colorful geological formations I have seen.
Valley of Fire Wave, Overton, Nevada
But that's where the joy is, when we move our feet and discover the simple pleasures of life. 
Tourists Celebrating the Joy of Finding This Place After A Hike
♥♥
Facebook Twitter StumbleUpon Digg Delicious Reddit Technorati Mixx Linkedin

25 comments:

  1. Oh, yes, we've been there! Isn't it awesome? Beautiful photos~thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i spotted you!!! and that has to be my favourite photo from this post. what a spectacular place to visit! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love this line, Betchai: "The desert is that it is not so much of a place of what is obvious, but a place of what is hidden." Your description of the desert is so eloquent, and your photos show the beauty of the desert!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow...the fire wave looks awesome. I wonder what caused that pattern?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lovely pictures as always Miss Beth... The patterns are so beautiful... I like best the one with the white flowers in the foreground... :)

    De-funking the idea now that desert is all but sand... :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Amazing rock formations. Love the 'geological hues'.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love the colored bands. Never seen a place like that!

    ReplyDelete
  8. yes i saw you too! indeed there is beauty everywhere for as long as one has the yearning to seek and wondrous eyes such as yours...i remember the settings of the anime movies my kids love viewing here:)

    ReplyDelete
  9. the wave lines are incredible. Was it very high for you to climb on top?

    ReplyDelete
  10. BIg Sur sounds cool and such a nice place to nature-watch and have fun with. The photos of the hills look like ice cream sconces.....hehehe!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh, love those beautiful fire wave! It's just amazing how beautiful our world truly is, and your photos are the testimonial for nature.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I always think of a desert as a wasteland too. In Michigan we are surrounded by water everywhere, so it's hard for me to imagine a desert. Your blog is one of the few things that teaches me about it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I have never even heard of this place! It is so stunning. I am so glad you do all my traveling for me.

    ReplyDelete
  14. just to let u know u can go to fist of guthix nd u get free runes to play u dont have to bring ur own cuz they give u em as u get into the game or u can kill roaches or moss giants maybe those will work

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Bets, I hope we can stop by here either going to or coming back from Sedona.

    Carrizo was not as pretty as last year's. The situation now is comparable to last year's last days of Spring. We did get a few colors like the owl's clover and tidy tips.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow! Beautiful photos especially the fire wave! Amazing to see beautiful plants in the desert!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Beautiful! I wish I could hike that place and see what you have captured in these photos.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Your pictures are amazing,and I think the desert is so intriguing. How animals and plants have adapted to survive in such a dry and harsh environment is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Such interesting formations and swirly colors. With you in the picture, I can see how enormous your surroundings are. With so much exploring, I bet you put a lot of miles on your car.

    ReplyDelete
  20. What beautiful photos. I love the patterns on the sand.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Spectacular views, and the wildflowers and lizard are so sweet. I'm glad you were able to visit this awesome place!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Betchai, that's what I love about you. You have such a wonderfully positive attitude and way of looking at life. It is contagious which is good because I need that. The desert is not my favorite place but I do see its beautiful aspects and I so much enjoy your amazing photography.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I am making a movie of video and photographs of striking wildlife and landscapes and I want to have a bold soundtrack to go along with it. I was thinking something with lots of drums and fast paced to get the viewer on the edge of their seats.Best answer will be awarded shortly,Thanks

    ReplyDelete

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!