Overton, NV (3/21 & 3/22/2018)

I left Callville Bay after three days and moved to the little town of Overton, only 47 miles north, to be closer to some of the things I wanted to see next.  Also, being in a town made it easier to get fuel and groceries.  The RV park in Overton is very nice and has all the amenities I need.  In particular, having WIFI and cell service is much appreciated.

One of the "attractions" in Overton is a state wildlife management area, the first place I visited after moving in.  Getting there in the afternoon, I learned they lock the gates at 3:30 pm, so I had little time to look around.  Nevertheless, I was able to get a few bird photos.  A nearby pasture had a white burro, which seems unusual to me.

Black-throated Sparrow

Gambel's Quail

Red-winged Blackbird

Burro

Overton is also home to the Lost City Museum featuring the history of local Anasazi Indians.  The museum is actually built on the site where ruins were found and excavated.  While photography is not permitted inside the museum, here are a couple from outside.

Mormon Mesa is a large formation, 150,000 acres of mostly sandstone, just north of Overton, between the Muddy and Virgin Rivers.  It has been designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern as the home of the desert tortoise.  Moreover, it is where "land artist" Michael Heizer completed his first "land art" project, called Double Negative.  Anyone can drive up on the mesa and view the art, as long as they are prepared for rocky "roads" at the end.  I was, so I did.


Double Negative is essentially two long trenches facing each other with a gap in the middle that is actually a canyon on the rim of the mesa.  Including the open space of the canyon, it is 1500 feet from end to end, each trench being 30 feet wide and 50 feet deep.  Some 244,000 tons of rock and soil were removed to create the "negative space" for which the art is named.  Of course, some walls of it are now crumbling since it was created in 1970.

It was donated to the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art with the stipulation no maintenance be performed, allowing the work to be re-claimed by nature over time.  Now the artist feels differently, but the museum is abiding by the original desire.

Heizer started another "land art" project in 1972 that will be finished in 2020, according to his announced schedule.  It will feature numerous complexes of structures in a piece of Nevada desert 1/4 mile wide by 1 1/2 miles long.  For more info about the artist and his works, click on Michael Heizer.

The mesa had other interesting tidbits.  For example, someone created a competing piece of "land art" and called it Polish Negative.

 Nearby, I found a mysterious container wrapped in WalMart bags and covered with stones.  This could be a Geo-cache, which some folks enjoy placing and/or searching for others.  Or, it could be the remains of Jimmy Hoffa.  No way was I going to open it to find out.

 There was also an old school bus, decoratively painted, that appeared to be the current living quarters for some "free spirit".  I didn't get too close for fear it may be the person who placed the blue container on the mesa's rim.

 Then I came across this old boat, high and dry some 1400 feet above the canyon floor, far from the river.  I don't know who Gracie is, and I don't believe the boat floated there in the last Virgin River flood.

 Post Scrpt: I decided the word on the boat might be "Gacie" not "Gracie".  If so, it is Polish for "undies" or "panties".

 At the bottom of the mesa, near the river, there is a gravel quarry in operation and the foundation remains of some building from long ago.  No clue as to why it was there.

On a lighter note, here are photos of a recent sunset in Overton following an overcast, windy day.

Lake Mead NRA (3/19 & 3/20/2018)

More rocks and dirt!  Will it never end?

One of the best stops along the Northshore Road in Lake Mead NRA is a simple picnic area located in the midst of a spectacular group of Aztec sandstone formations.  Scattered over several hundred acres, these formations rival the appeal of many state parks, and they draw the attention of anyone traveling this road.  Crowds would be even larger except there is virtually no publicity about this location, other than a brief description buried within the Lake Mead brochures. 

These formations, some more than 100 feet high, contain mostly deep red stone, but the sunlight changes its color to tan, brown or gold, depending on angle and intensity.  The intricate shapes sculpted by wind and rain include alcoves, tunnels, caves, arches...you name it.  Some resemble human or animal features, families play games naming some of them.  Others look alarmingly like the inner ear canal, or a recent colonoscopy.  I spent two hours walking among these intriguing formations, really not giving each the time warranted nor even coming close to visiting all of them.

Find the elephant.

Genie from the bottle?

Face watching the plane.

How many arches?

Speaking of arches.

Steer skull?

Sea shell.

Giant tortoise?

Lots of arches.

Any ideas?

I give up.

Sheep head?

I'm not very good at this.

Baboon face?

Face...man or monkey?

Multiple arches

Several faces

Dog's face

Wishbone

I got nothing.

Tracks in the sand.

Palm tree

The end...thank goodness.

During my time at the lake, we had one very special sunrise.

 

Muddy Mountains Wilderness (3/18/2018)

Driving the Northshore Road along the western edge of Lake Mead NRA, I was so struck by the natural beauty of this area, I just had to see more of it.  So, on Sunday I moved to the Callville Bay Trailer Village on the shores of Lake Mead.  This put me much closer to the Muddy Mountains, saving about fifty miles or more every time I wanted to explore the area.

It's important to understand how this region came to be what it is today.  Three hundred million years ago, this entire region was under the ocean, which collected sediment and compressed it into rock.  Tectonic plate movement caused great stress on the earth's crust, resulting in cataclysmic breaks and uplifting.  This continued for many eons, while weathering and erosion further shaped the land.  Some eighteen million years ago, volcanoes spewed forth rocks and ash, littering the landscape with volcanic rock still present today.  Of course, change is still occurring, but it is mostly imperceptible to humans because it happens very slowly.  It takes things like earthquakes, volcanoes or floods for us to see the power of nature at work.

Most of the roads in this region are nothing more than two-track trails in the washes created by rain runoff.  Since there is only about four inches of rain each year in this region, the washes can be used much more for driving than for runoff, and driving is the easiest way to see some of the most spectacular scenery.  Over the next several days, I drove Callville Wash, Anniversary Wash and West End Wash, plus several unnamed spurs off them.  There are still a few I plan to visit before leaving the area.

With apologies to those who aren't into rocks and dirt, here are some representative photos of those washes.

 Notice how the swirling layers of sandstone alternate with layers of conglomerate, created when existing stone is encased in a mass of adhesive silt.  Think of it as a batch of cookie dough containing nuts, raisins and chocolate chips.

 One of the spur trails became what was a narrows, like a slot canyon for vehicles.  After several miles, it was too narrow for the LRJ to continue on.

 Looking at Lake Mead's Callville Bay, you can see colorful formations on the other bank that would be completely covered when the lake is full.

 Sunsets could be very nice in that location, but the clouds just weren't right during my stay.