I’ve been traveling for over a month, but I finally find my happy
space: Valley of Fire State Park, which is about an hour northeast of
Las Vegas, Nevada. There are two campgrounds here. One is for the big
rv’s and has electric hookups. The other is called Arch Rock and is for
small Rvs and tents with no electric hookups. There’s nothing luxurious
about my campsite, except for the million dollar views. I do have close
water, garbage cans, and vault toilets. Ample solar tops off the
batteries in two or three hours of late morning/early afternoon sun.
And, drum roll, dogs are allowed on the trails.
Valley of Fire is Nevada’s largest and most popular state park. You
do have to be a bit lucky to get one of the first come, first serve
campsites here. Campsites rarely stay open long (usually filling in
minutes even mid-week), and the campground has always been full by
mid-afternoon with a sign out front indicating “campground full”. I’m
always amazed at the optimistic people who circle through from
mid-afternoon until after dark, hoping that the sign lies. It does lie
in the morning when early risers break camp, but the sign tells no lies
after 3 p.m.
People
who know me well understand that I’m easily entertained, sipping my
early evening IPA while watching the procession of hopeful campers pass
through. This is indeed a case of the early bird gets the worm.
Elvis and I have been hiking in the mornings before it gets warm. In
the full sun on the red rock, it does get hot. I carry water for us
both. By noonish, we are settled under our shade structure at the
campsite. By 3 p.m., the natural shadows from the huge towers of rock
behind our campsite project natural shade for the late afternoon and
early evening.
Spoiled
by our water spigot for doing dishes, I’ve been making apple (from the
Pipe Spring orchard) and banana pancakes in the morning, and branching
out in the evening with steaks, beans and rice, and pasta dishes with
sausage. Evenings are cold IPA’s and perhaps a nightcap of ginger ale on
the rocks (sometimes with a splash of bourbon).
There is no reason to move from here, except a 14 day camping limit
within a 28 day period. In order for Julia to enjoy the area on the 21
st,
I’m going to have to vacate my campsite for a few days and hope to be a
lucky early bird to get another campsite secured for the both of us. I
feel like I understand the rhythm of how people leave and go from this
place, but we will see how that works out. Until then, I’m just going to
enjoy the moment, the quiet, the unbelievable night skies, and the
rocks.
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