Valley of Fire

We went to the Valley of Fire today.  We've driven past it several times and haven't made the trip.  Today we did and I would rate it a "totally worth the effort" experience.  It's a hike from Las Vegas, we were up and out early to avoid the people and the heat.  My pictures are not great, the sun is always where I don't want it to be.  However, it was truly spectacular.

I have never seen Bighorn Sheep in the flesh.  These guys were just past the visitor's center.   

Our first stop was parking lot #3 for the Fire Wave trail. We went straight there to go as early as possible.  Jim slogs up a hill.

It is so beautiful out there.  We were again reduced to "holy crap look at that."  I am so erudite with my adjectives.

Waviness.

We found a tiny slot canyon we had read about.  It's not very long, but it's a cute little canyon. 

 

Then it was off to Fire Canyon.  This is an amazing thing to see.  There's a pull out with a short trail up to a rise, and you see this.  Notice the color change on the pointy rock on the left.  I love how definite the stripes in the rock are.  This is 150 million years in time.  Sand was deposited when the dinosaurs were here, then squished into rock and eroded.  

A wall of red rock along the road.

A person could spend days here.  We passed on a couple of hikes that would have been good, but I'm still puny and Jim is still on restricted duty.  I'm glad we went.  If you're in the city of sin, you should go!