From Tucson we headed northwest for the valley portion of our trip, mainly Valley of Fire state park and Death Valley national park. We couldn't make it all the way to Valley of Fire on Thursday evening after work, so we overnighted at a lovely little patch of dirt on the side of a not very busy highway.
Our chosen campsite for Valley of Fire state park was first come first serve so we were quite nervous as we pulled in. Luckily there were plenty of spots available so we didn't have to consider finding another side of the highway patch of dirt. We parked, set up camp, and headed for a walk in the vicinity of our campsite. Just down the road was a petroglyph display, so we headed there first. The glyphs were quite high up, and in order to get a good view we had to climb some steel stair to a platform. Remy and Emma were not a fan of the stairs so we turned around halfway and decided the view from the ground was good enough.
We ended up walking for several miles, stopping to climb rocks whenever we found some that met Remy's exacting standards, and eventually found our way back to the road and back to our campsite. We had a delightful steak dinner outside (with jackets and blankets, it is still very cold at night) and went to bed early to catch up on sleep.
Saturday was our big day of hiking, and we made the most of it. We completed four different hikes and walked somewhere in the vicinity of seven miles.
Our first hike was around two miles through White Domes. We hiked down a sandy rock face and then climbed over several large rocks before going through a slot canyon. After exiting the canyon we travelled over relatively flat rocks back toward the parking lot. After our hike we had snacks.
Our next hike was just a fewinutes down the road. There was a bit of confusion (other folks on the trail shared our confusion), as there were actually two hikes in one, Fire Waves and Seven Wonders. We started on the Seven Wonders loop, climbing down several different rock faces. Some of the rocks have exposed minerals that have oxidized, giving them purple, yellow, and white stripes. Very cool. We explored two more slot canyons (one of which had some very narrow passages where Dad had to duck and turn sideways), crossed back over the road, and made our way to the Fire Waves. These red and white rocks are bigger than big, but they have domelike appearance that makes them very easy to climb. After scrambling up to the top, we took in the view and walked it the rest of the way back to the parking lot. Then we had snacks.
Our last two hikes were shorter, just a mile each, out to Rainbow Vista and Mouse's Tank. Rainbow Vista ends in a view point overlooking a very long and very scraggly canyon, and mouse's Tanks had several petroglyph stops along with a lot of small caves. Remy is very fond of balancing, and he told us several times how impressed he was with his own abilities. This was almost always followed by him stumbling or falling face first in the sand. After each hike we stopped for snacks (I know some of our readers are very worried about our snack intake).
Valley of Fire is one of the top parks we've been to for several reasons. Firstly. The campgrounds are very nice. They are well integrated into the park and don't feel like you're pulling into a Walmart parking lot. The sites are large and the bathrooms are very clean. Secondly, the views and scenery are incredibly beautiful and interesting to look at. There are about a million different kinds of rock formations and types, including the aforementioned slot canyons, arches, mountains, caves, and everything else. This area is a convergence point for a whole bunch of different geological phenomenon, which is part of what makes the scenery so diverse. Dad tried to stop at the visitor's center to buy a book about the park but the parking lot was full. Perhaps he can find something elsewhere. Thirdly, and perhaps luckily, most of the trails were sparsely populated. We talked to a few hikers that said that it can get busy, but this was nothing compared to the lines and overflowing lots we encountered in Utah.
What a wonderful way to kick off our week of adventuring with no work!
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