Before leaving St George, I just had to go out for at least one sunset. By
losing track of time, I missed a beauty the night before, so was
committed to being ready for my last night there. Pioneer Park was my
chosen destination, and it proved to be a good place to watch the action
unfold over town.
Since moving to Beaver Dam, a couple of sunsets have been good and late sunlight on the mountains is nice.
From Beaver Dam, it's not that far to Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada. For this trip, I was joined by a new friend and fellow Jeep owner from the RV park. The first area we visited was the "Twenty-one Goats" petroglyph site, one that I did not visit when I camped here last March. The short hike up a wash offers nice scenery on a beautiful day.
The actual site is poorly named, probably by early ranchers in the area. First, the art has lots of bighorn sheep, not goats. Secondly, there are more than twenty-one of them, probably thirty or so. Still, it's an interesting site, and I'm glad we found it.
Next we stopped at Whitney Pocket to check out some of the man-made structures there. Whitney was a rancher here early in the 20th Century and built a small dam in a slot canyon. In the 1930s, the CCC built a larger dam in front of the original one, as well as a watering trough for cattle. They also built steps on both sides of the dam, so it is possible to go back to the original dam site. The steps are quite steep, making it a little dicey to climb over the dam.
Across the road, remains of a retaining wall, also built by CCC, can be
found in front of a small alcove in the rocks. It appears this was
used to store tools and supplies while CCC was working in the
area. It's also possible that Indians used it for shelter hundreds of
years before CCC built the wall.
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