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.