Many of the trails in Valley of Fire State Park are less than 2.5 miles. That’s great because we can do much more each day. Well . . . the trails may be short but often take you twice as long as expected. Learned that the hard way. Why? Most trails are sand and that’s hard walking. Then you travel over rock with some steep sections, some five +/- foot drops to negotiate, and it is difficult to keep trail markers on top of rock so were some missing? Yes. The good news is this rock is not slippery unless wet which rarely happens in the desert. In addition some trails are not well marked even on sand so walking in circles can leave you wondering. The good news? The scenery is to die for!! Off we go . . . in sand.
Getting to the end of the trail we see above, we now see this! Hmmm . . . I always wondered why all the blogs I’ve read about this trail skips this part. No narrative, no pictures. Well, I’m giving them to you. This is one steep decent!
Be careful and go slow. Uh oh, taking pics is making me dizzy. This is not a place to lose your balance. I better pay attention to the trail now and use the safer perspective from the bottom up.
Going down some of the steep rock steps is like doing deep knee bends. Take your time!
Can you even see the trail that brought us down? Phew, that was a challenge but onward.
We have a bit of a flat area, but the trail continues gently down behind the remains of this . . . hacienda?
Did you see The Professionals? I talked to a few people along the trail and they never even heard of it. I have a feeling they weren’t born yet. Ouch! One fella said the last time he walked this trail he read the kiosk, went home, and watched the movie. He loved it. Wonder if that happens often. Could it be a comeback for westerns 😉 ?
Anyway . . . I think I forgot to mention that Valley of Fire is in the Mojave Desert. The Mojave covers about 31,000 square miles in four states. We visited the Mojave Desert before when in Death Valley National Park.
We may be trudging through sand, but the trail is flat, and these colors just keep amazing!
Here is this trail’s fun part. A slot canyon. Just be careful getting over those rocks ahead. Now where did these colorful stones come from? No idea and no explanation, but a wonderful surprise.
Just look at the formations along the walls. A fire-breathing rock dragon or two?
Valley of Fire gets about 6.5 inches of rain a year. November through February sees the most rainfall. Although there may be some erosion due to water, much more is due to wind.
Here we go.
The side wall formations and erosions are fascinating so we keep stopping to look up and around.
Just about to the end of this canyon area and we have those colorful rocks again leading the way.
Really wanted my friend to go up and sit in the cave, but just too steep a climb. Amazing erosion.
Starting up the last part of our loop trail the colors of the rocks are just incredible. Remember they are all Aztec sandstone regardless of color.
We are now in the open desert walking back to the parking area. What amazing colors and formations!
I know I keep saying amazing, but just can’t help it. It all is!!
One last thing to share. The Creosote bushes (Larrea tridentata) on this last section of trail. They have small yellow flowers that bloom any time of year after rain, but typically December through August. We see no flowers, but the white fuzz balls are their seeds. The bushes here are quite scraggly but they are desert plants with unique features that help them thrive in this arid environment. These bushes may live to 100 years, but due to their ability to clone they could live centuries. This article discusses the Creosote bush and I think you’ll enjoy (don’t miss page 2).
There is one grouping of creosote bushes in California called King Clone. This cluster is believed to be 11,700 years old. Now that is staying power. If true, it would make those creosote the oldest living thing on Earth. Amazing . . .
Until next time my friend . . .
