Wild Nevada III

This trip began on March 28th when we left Carson City for the Monte Cristo Range on Highway 95 between Hawthorne and Tonopah. It didn't look like much from the road but as we began to approach it we could tell this was going to be some adventure. The site is known as badlands because of the color of the soil and formations. We could have stayed there for a week but we had a plan and wanted to stick to it. The next site we visited was Redrocks State Park, east of Las Vegas. The formations were fantastic and the desert was in bloom. We headed over the hill and all of a sudden there it was. Las Vegas. It was huge and we were on the interstate at rush hour. Oh My Gosh! The Traffic! The freeway was eminence, and landscaped with palm trees and art work. It sure didn't look like northern Nevada. The pillars for the overpasses were covered with art work. It is true "The money left in Vegas stays in Vegas"
We could not take the city so we blasted right through and headed for The Valley of Fire State Park. Quite a change from the big city. We camped in the desert among the flowers. The next day we hiked through the red rocks. The colors were intense. I could have stayed right there for the rest of the trip but, we had a plan. The next day we checked out the town of Overton then headed for a camp spot on the Virgin River.
Again we were in the beautiful desert among the flowers and the colored rock. Mike had by this time collected about 100lbs. of rock for display at home but the big find came that evening as he walked through the river bed. A beautiful spear head. He was so excited that the next day was spent looking at the ground for the next big find. His luck did not continue so we headed for Highway 375 to spot Extraterrestrials. We couldn't find any but did camp in the Yuccas. They were in bloom and just as we found a spot we saw a Bighorn Sheep. The next day we continued our journey back to the Monte Cristo Range for another evening hike. Saturday it was time to head home but we had one more place to find. The badlands of hwy 264. It was a great place to rock hunt and explore canyons of colored dirt and rock. We drove home the long way over Montgomery pass to Mono Lake and 395 and discovered a place to be explored on our next trip, The foothills of Boundary Peak and the Inyo National forest.
Ah to be camping AGAIN!