We were told about a campground here called Boulder Beach. Our friends from Vermont, Fran and Karen, had been here last year and really liked it. They told us there were actually two parks by the same name, and that one was clearly nicer than the other, though it did not have electricity. I researched the area for places to camp and found that within the Lake Mead National Park there were three campground on a road that runs along the western perimeter of the lake. It’s a huge lake, backed up by the famous Hoover Dam. Of the three Forest Service campgrounds, Boulder Beach is by far the best. Sure enough, right next to each other lay the two Boulder Beach campgrounds. Just as Karen told us, the Forest Service camp is a winner. It is an oasis nestled about a mile from the water’s edge perched on a hill so that overlooks the lake. There are a variety of mature trees here that bely the nature of the desert that surrounds the place. Surely, it can get to 120 degrees here in the summer, but the oasis stays intact. No electric, but there are water spigots with potable drinking water. The camp sites themselves are nestled into small alcoves of brittle bush and trees. At this time of year, everything is blooming. The area had a wetter than usual winter and thus flowers that normally bloom every few years are showing off for us. Intricate, small, violet colored flowers appear in scattered beds across the desert floor. Orange clusters of petals appear now and then. The Brittle Bush, as mentioned earlier, are everywhere blooming casting a pure yellow explosion at knee height. Even the ubiquitous Creosote bushes are blooming, their evergreen mantels punctuated by small yellow thumbtacks of yellow flowers. The weather has been mild to bearably hot. The surroundings and environment, the best of the year, I’m sure: An oasis of color, temperature, sky, and water.
Our friends from Canada, whom we met in Yuma, came to visit us here for a few days on their way back to Saskatchewan. We had a great time with them touring the area. We took a side trip to the Valley of Fire on the other side of Las Vegas. Again, Karen from Vermont told us about this state park. It lives up to its namesake. Brilliantly dipped orange/red sandy boulders jut up from the valley floor like skyscrapers in the desert. It would be a wonderful place to set up a camp. Sites are planted in and among the outcroppings so as to provide privacy as well as a sense of intimacy with the almost unnatural natural world. I think we will return here to camp sometime. Being so close to Vegas, it was crowded with weekend naturalists when we visited. I imagine that during the week it is much less visited. I’ve probably said this before, but one of the truly great things about the traveling we are doing is getting to meet and spend time with new friends you meet along the road. Fred And Della are truly wonderful new friends and we hope that we get to spend much more time together, either in Canada or the US...whichever time and place dictate to us.
When you arrive to Lake Mead you typically will come at it from Boulder City, perched high on a long, sloping hill above the lake itself. You coast down this long hill, perhaps a few miles long, and are consumed by the view of the sky-blue lake. Boats appear as small bugs on the water due to the immense scale of the place. A white “bathtub ring” circles the entire lake, at this time a good 30-50 feet above the water level. This indicates the high water mark of the lake. Rocky islands dot the water. There is always a breeze since there are no trees and there are miles of unbroken landscape funneling the heating or cooling air this way and that. It is an amazing scene unlike any you may see on the continent. Of course, Hoover Dam itself is amazing; this man-made creation that gives life, at least temporarily, to the desert phenomenon that is Vegas.
Towards the end of our stay here in Lake Mead country we encountered our first dust storm. The wind was howling all day and as the day wore on the air began to thicken with dust. By evening it weas so bad that as I drove down the long hill from Boulder City ZI actually could not see the lake itself for the particulates in the air. It wasn’t the kind of dust storm you see on Television with an approaching menacing black cloud. This storm was more like a settling in of the dust. It just kept getting heavier and heavier as the wind continued to howl all day and into the night. It’s a strange and unsettling thing to be in. Eyes water profusely and nostrils clog mercilessly. A cough appears. Of course, we had just washed and waxed the Nell, the motor home. Pahrump and Death Valley...April 11-24, 2019...
Here, in extreme Mojave, mankind tries to assert itself with engineering marvels and creations of illusion. Water from the rocks in the desert. Electricity to dull the stars at night with every color imaginable. Temperature and humidity is modulated within the concrete anthills of Vegas so as to make the illusion complete. Humanity expresses itself to the extreme ends of its imagination. If you are not somehow aware that nature is really in charge of things here on Earth, a day like this will certainly remind you of that fact.
However…I must say that the Cirque de Soliel show, “Love”, centered on the Beatles music that we saw, was absolutely one of the best creations I ever witnessed. So, all is not lost on ‘human-kinds’ creativity here in the desert!