Day 9 – 10/31 – Valley of Fire

Up at the crack of dawn, breakfast, and get ready to get on the bus.

Our bus driver – Jerry Glabe – getting ready for us.

We have a brand new bus. Actually DSU has a brand new bus financed by Road Scholar trips.

Our intrepid leaders celebrating Halloween

Today’s trip was to Valley of Fire State Park

Our first stop (after a quick stop at Subway to get our lunches) was AtlAtl Rock,

where climbed the stairs to look at:

Petroglyphs at Atlatl Rock – so named because of the image of the atlatl at the top

Then it was back on the bus for a trip to our lunch site. Along the way we were delayed because a film production company was using the road to film a commercial – likely about the Jeep Grand Cherokee

After lunch Darrell and Paula talked about plate tectonics:

Darrell and Paula demonstrating subduction and the raising of the Colorado Plateau

Demonstrating the folding that built the Rocky Mountains

We were particularly impressed by his model of the Pacific plate.

Then it was back on the bus to the next site – Mouse’s Tank. Along the way we checked out cool formations:

The boundary where the iron has leached out of the Navajo layer sandstone

and Local fauna

At Mouse’s Tank we took a walk (thru the sand) to check out:

Paula explained that this is a petroglyph about basketball. Note the spiral above the basket with the referee below signaling a 3 point shot

In the center is a lunar calendar with the mark on the right indicating the ~11 days required to keep the lunar calendar in sync with the seasons

Darrell (with the tail) pointing out a petroglyph

Very rare petroglyph of elk – they were gone from the area by the time these people were around

At the end of the trail Paula serenaded us with her indian flute

Then it was off to the visitor center where we learned nothing that Darrell hadn’t already told us, but it was cool inside and they had flush toilets so we didn’t complain.

After the visitor center we returned to Las Vegas to rest, shower, update blogs, and head into town for a buffet at the Bellagio.

The buffet was as you’d expect. We had a little time afterwards to get outside and walk about before the bus left to head back to the hotel. It was disappointing that there were very few costumes in evidence. It was so bad that I almost stopped to have my picture taken with he two “showgirls” wandering the strip for that purpose. Fortunately, for the good of my continued marriage, I thought better of it. I mean, really! They weren’t wearing enough of a costume to really qualify. So we bypassed them and boarded the bus for the return to the hotel where we rolled (almost literally) onto the elevator and into our room.

Tomorrow we spend some time on the Colorado River and visit Hoover dam.

Till then, TTFN,

2 Comments

C – The elk and deer would have been totally wiped out of the continental US by the native Americans if not for the white people with rifles moving into the area. Mountain Goats were about the only big game animal left for the bow hunters but with rifles the mountain goat was no longer safe. However with the advent of the white man, the native Americans were no longer safe.

C – As we were hiking through the rocks we could hear someone playing a mournful tune on a wood flute – Kokopelli must be here! (turned out to be Paula – but it sounded neat). Also Darrell explained that a “tank” is what they call a natural rock basin that catches any rain water – life giving to desert dwellers.

C – I only remember the back of the visitors center because I spend the entire 20 minutes there dumping fine red sand out of my shoes AND socks – the shoes make a nice pyramid shaped sand pile while the sock have to be turned inside out and banged against the table to explode into a small dust storm.

All due respect, I take major issue with the statement that Native Americans would have hunted elk and deer to extinction.

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