More Death Valley

I've been back from my trip for a couple days, but have a lot of extra pics so will post a few. Incidentially, for more-and better-pics of Death Valley refer to my friends' websites...The Lazy A, Steve's Bike Blog, and Duane's World; they're all Death Valley veterans and have great pics on their sites. Especially check out their photos of the Racetrack. That surreal site is 20-odd miles off the pavement, and I really shouldn't take my car in that area. I don't even know if it would make it! On my recent trip I stayed on the sealed roads for the most part. The scenery is great even from there; this is Zabriskie Point.

Here's the Devil's Golf Course. I reckon there are no good lies here...does the Devil have a Salt Wedge in his bag? The mountains in the background include Telescope Peak, which at 11,049 feet is over two miles above the golf course.

The word "stark" to describe a desert landscape is somewhat trite, but it could have been invented in Death Valley. This shot is on Artists Drive, on the east side of the valley. It's ironic that the desert, where rainfall is lowest, often provides the best evidence of erosion caused by heavy rains. Death Valley is full of gullies and alluvial fans, shrouded by vegetation in wetter areas but clear for all to see in an area where the average rainfall per year is about two inches.

Near Stovepipe Wells are large sand dunes; the biggest ones are about 100 feet high. When I visited in 1991, I climbed to the highest dune, which was very neat. Didn't have the time to do that this time; will have to go back for several days. The dunes provide a foreground scene to the more distant mountains; the whole scene is delightfully surreal.

Verdant Death Valley?

This winter has seen adequate or better rainfall across most of California. The area of Death Valley from Furnace Creek north about 10 miles has been especially blessed, because here in late February it's a garden! I guess if you were in say, Sonoma county and saw a field of flowers like this you wouldn't think much of it, but in an area where the annual rainfall is about two inches...against an evaporation rate of 150 inches...it's almost a miracle!

How many places in the world can you see a wildflower garden with a barren salt pan in the near background, and snow capped mountains rising two miles high in the distance? It is when viewing such scenes that I marvel at my good fortune to be living in California, arguably the most diverse land on the planet.

Lizards do the Desert!

I drove from Las Vegas to Ridgecrest, CA via Death Valley today. I had only been to Death Valley once, oddly enough; that was in 1991. It was pretty much on the way home, so I endeavored to see it again. In Nevada terms, I hit the jackpot! Two storms earlier in the week left all the higher mountains dusted with fresh snow, which lent a gentleness to the usually harsh desert environment. A third storm was approaching, which brought changing cloud formations, which meant changing light, great for photographers. And the temperatures were very mild, upper 60s in the valley, or about 50 degrees cooler than the summer norm. Here the lizards are hanging out at Zabriskie Point.

When I told the lizards we were going to Death Valley, they were absolutely stoked! As reptiles, they know that Death Valley is as good as it gets in the Western hemisphere; it's the absolute hottest, driest place in the Americas, the ultimate desert. So they very much enjoyed their visit. In this pic they are apparently dancing with joy (probably tango or western swing). They're at Badwater, the lowest point in the western hemisphere, 282 feet below sea level. On this day it was only about 68 degrees, according to my car thermometer. But when the sun shone thru the clouds, with very little wind, it had a certain intensity to it, a precursor to months to come, when the temperature will be 50-60 degrees warmer here. On occasion in Death Valley during summer, the overnight LOW temperature does not drop below 100.

Here the Lizards are at Artist Palette, an avant garde rock formation caused by various minerals contained in the rocks...don't know what they are, but the effect is surreal and gorgeous.

Last Vegas Shots

Today is my last day in Las Vegas. Frankly, I've enjoyed it more than I anticipated. The city, though growing at a crazy rate, is certainly unique among places in the world...there are many things you find here that you can't find anywhere else...at least not in the same place! The energy is invigorating, and the scene is interesting. And the countryside around the city is diverse and often beautiful. Here's a skylight in Paris Las Vegas. The Eiffel tower is almost across the street from the Empire State Building in Vegas!

Las Vegas is a true desert city. In fact, it's the driest large city in the US, receiving about 4 inches of moisture per year. For comparison, Phoenix gets 7, San Diego 10. But, naturally, the Old Sloat's visit triggered a moisture influx anyway...it's rained two days this week. Not all bad, though; the visibility has been perfect, and today the mix of sun, rain, and clouds made for constantly changing and beautiful light. And, near the end of the afternoon, a double rainbow! Blow the pic up to get a better view. (Solara in the foreground)

It was a superb full rainbow...couldn't get it all in the camera but this is about half of it. How often do you see a complete bright rainbow in Las Vegas? Maybe it was a sign; a couple hours earlier I won a jackpot on the slots. I'm not exactly a high roller...I won 250 credits but was only playing a nickel a credit so my take was just $12.50. Better than nothing though...that almost buys a 12 pack of Fat Tire! For the week I was down about $5-10 on the slots. I cashed out immediately after the jackpot...nice to end on a winning note, if a modest one.

Winter Hike in Red Rock Canyon

Yesterday I hiked about four miles in Red Rock Canyon. It was a chilly day, about 50 degrees, and a bit blustery. One little secret about the Las Vegas area is that they do get some winter here. In fact, there's a ski area about an hour's drive from town. It was rather cloudy while I hiked, which led to some near views.

The area where I was hiking is considerably higher in elevation than Las Vegas, about 4-5 thousand feet. (Vegas is 2000-2500) It's cool and moist enough to support a P-J forest (pinyon pines and junipers). In fact, one canyon near here has some ponderosa pines. They're thought to be a relic of the ice age, when the climate was cooler and wetter and ponderosas probably grew in the Las Vegas valley.

Some areas of Red Rock look downright alpine! The Vegas region is really quite diverse. The highest mountain near the city, Mount Charleston, is over 11 thousand feet high...that's where the ski area is. I didn't go up there this week...if I visit in the summer I definitely will.

Hoover Dam

I visited Hoover Dam for the first time today. This engineering marvel was constructed during the Great Depression from 1931 to 1935. I don't remember the exact specifications...you can find them on the net...but it's over 600 feet high and when it was built was considered one of the foremost engineering wonders of the world. Actually, it still is, over 70 years later. It impounds Lake Mead, the largest manmade reservoir in the US. It supplies power to over a million homes throughout the desert southwest, and regulates water supplies in the thirstiest region of the US.

I took the powerhouse tour. These are some of the turbines...there are 17 in all...that are powered by the waters of Lake Mead. Sorry, the Old Sloat's enginering aptitude is near zero, but suffice to say the whole operation is a foremost Modern Marvel, as the History Channel would classify it.

Several huge tunnels were drilled through the rock during the construction of the dam, and some are still used to transport water to the electrical generation system. I thought this pic

of one of the massive water pipes was kind of futuristic, though this system has been operable for several decades. Incidentially, some of the folks who took the Bisbee mine tour last year might not like the dam tour; once again, I found myself deep down in the rock, hundreds of feet below the surface, with water dripping out of the stone.

By the way, Hoover Dam is a very efficient economic operation. The dam cost about 150 million dollars...well over a billion in today's money. But, the entire cost has been repaid, with interest, by the federal sale of power generated by the dam. The structure was completed over two years ahead of schedule and under budget. Today, all the dam's maintenance costs are paid for by continuing power sales. Taxpayers foot none of the bill. And, it was started under a Republican administration and completed under a Democratic administration. I reckon that at times, government can work!

Really Cool Murals

At the top level of the visitor center at Hoover Dam, these murals are exhibited. They're fashioned from metal plates, and depict scenes from areas affected by the dam. I thought they were really cool! This is a California scene. You can see a mission; movie set lights; the classic Capitol Records building in LA; and the Hotel del Coronado.

This one represents Arizona. You can see Saguaro cacti in the distance, and up close the artist has depicted Saguaro flowers in bloom; the Saguaro is the state flower of Arizona.

This one is a recreation mural. There's a water skier and a tennis player, with one of the dam's intake towers as a backdrop. A lot of other fun activities are represented. I don't know when these metal murals, I guess you'd call them, were made; it wasn't when the dam was first built, as the Capitol Records building, among other things, wasn't there then. The modern skyline of LA is also depicted. So I would guess sometime from the 1960s to the 80s. Though these murals are newer, they correspond nicely to the fabulous Art Deco style of the dam in general.

A Classic Bridge Under Construction

US highway 93, the main route between Las Vegas and Phoenix, passes right over Hoover Dam. The road is narrow, winding, and two lane, and of course in these times vehicles passing over the dam pose a security risk, so there's a checkpoint to go through. Thus, a new bypass road is being built. This road will span Black Canyon just downstream of Hoover Dam. The four lane bridge under construction is pictured here. This structure promises to be a beauty. It will consist of a single, huge arch spanning the canyon with a style similar to the famous Bixby bridge on the Big Sur coast. It will be named after two people, one of whom is Pat Tillman, the All American football player who was a cum laude student at Arizona State (sorry Suzanne) and who gave up massive coin as a professional football player to join the Army Rangers, only to be killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan. Estimated time of completion is 2010.

Bygone Days

This is all that's left of the old Frontier, once a premier resort in Las Vegas. Except for the sign, the site has been razed completely. The hotel was blown up (imploded is the generally used term) in November 2007. A new and presumably larger and plusher Frontier will rise in its place. The original hotel on this site was opened in 1942; it was the second major gambling resort in Las Vegas. For you trivia buffs, Elvis made his first Vegas appearance here in 1956.

See wikipedia for more details; by the way, thru Wiki you can access an excellent video showing the demolition of the Frontier, done in true Vegas fashion with a fireworks show prior to the implosion!

Vegas From the Inside

I was amazed to learn that as spectacular as Las Vegas is from the outside, if you go inside most places it's just as awesome. This was not the case during my last visit in 1975, but boy, how it's changed! This shot was taken inside Caesar's Palace. If it looks like a Renaissance Italian cathedral, I'm sure that's no conicidence. Beautifully painted ceilings, elaborate columns; wow! Ceasar's is one of the few Vegas hotels that survives in the same buildings that were extant in 1975. Most of the others from that era have been blown up and replaced, either with a new resort of the same name or something completely different. For example, Wynn Las Vegas occupies the site of the old Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn. Caesars has defied the trends and remains plush, up to date, and popular, even by today's standards. Obviously a lot of remodeling has been done over the years...and it's worked!

Here we are inside the Venetian. Vast interior areas are occupied by VERY upscale shops; fine eateries; and reasonably authentic Italian architecture. There's even a long canal, and you can take gondola rides; the gondolier sings to you as you paddle along. All this action takes place under a magnificent trompe l'oeil sky, and after awhile when you get absorbed in the scene, and maybe have skulled a few drinks, you almost forget you're NOT outdoors. In summer, of course, you would really recognize the out of doors quickly...think stepping into a blast furnace. At this time of year, it's a little cooler when you go outside.

This is the passageway through the shops at Wynn Las Vegas. Like Caesar's and the Venetian, massively upscale. Las Vegas has gone through several phases in recent decades. In the 70s and 80s, it was primarily a place where the average American adult could go to get more fun and maybe a wilder time than was found in say, Iowa or Alabama or Fresno. In the 90s, with the baby boomers all having kids of their own, Vegas became much more family oriented. Now, Vegas has gone waaaaay upscale. It now appeals to affluent high rollers from all over the world. Places like Caesars, Wynn, Venetian, and Bellagio all cater to these folks. Yet, in all of them, you can play some slots one cent at a time, so to some extent, a common touch is retained. And despite the plush surroundings, there is absolutely no dress code. Armani and lettered t-shirts are both fine. In reality, though the current trend is upscale, Vegas caters to everyone, and always has. Perhaps that's the reason for its huge attraction.

Titans of the Gaming Industry

You know you've made it in Las Vegas when you have the wherewithal to erect a huge, opulent tower with your name on it, fabulously plush and luxurious, costing vast sums but generating even more cash once completed. So it is with Donald Trump and Steve Wynn. Each started life with an entreprenurial father, but has achieved wealth and fame far beyond their dads' imaginations. Trump, of course, is New York based...his eponymous Las Vegas tower is just a profitable

sidebar to his investments farther east. Though Wynn also grew up in the east, he moved to Las Vegas in his 20s and jumpstarted the Golden Nugget, Mirage, Treasure Island, and Bellagio before erecting his own, personalized place. Wynn Las Vegas is gorgeous. The architecture is graceful, changing image as the sun moves across the sky. Inside, opulence reigns, but it's tasteful and first rate. I reckon that if I ever decide to do The Strip seriously, I'll stay at Wynn for a few days. Incidentially, a second Wynn tower is rising near the first. Though Wynn's has been open less than three years, it's already an AAA 5 diamond hotel. This hardly ever happens in that short a time frame.

Red Rock Canyon

I'm staying in the western part of Las Vegas, and only 20 minutes away is a fine natural spot, Red Rock Canyon. There are many picnic grounds here;, a good visitor center; hiking trails of all lengths and difficulties; and very cool rocks. There's a mixture of sandstone, limestone, and others, of varying colors. As always in a diverse rock area, photo ops are unlimited.

This area is unusual in that in some places, newer rock is actually beneath older formations. In the case pictured, this is due to diagonal faulting. The rock on top, older than the rock below, was thrust up above the newer rock when the diagonal fault moved it from left to right.

The trail I hiked yesterday led up a wash that actually still had a little water in places; a strong front went through last week and there was some rain, plus snow in the surrounding mountains. Looking at the vegetation, obviously large volumes of water have flowed through the wash in recent years.

The Old Sloat Does Vegas

This will seem a little odd to readers of the blog, but one conspicuous gap in the Old Sloat's travels had been that in all his long life he had spent only one night in Las Vegas...and that was in 1975...until this year! This despite the fact that I have lived within 1000 miles of the city most of

my life...Monterey is actually only about 500 miles away. I guess the reason for my absence from Vegas is that I have never been much of a gambler, or a Broadway type show enthusiast. Add to that my recent trend of avoiding big cities in favor of more natural settings. But, I had a 2006 timeshare week that had to be used by the end of this February, I didn't want to go too far from home, and most of the exchange availability was in Las Vegas. Thus, I'm here. And, it is indeed an interesting place, as I observed back in '75. Where else can you see large replicas of the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, the Great Pyramid, and a medieval castle complex, all on the same street? Nowhere in the world, I reckon. And you see all kinds of people on the streets and in the casinos, from tacky rednecks to suave blokes in suits. It's a little more open here, too; I spotted a bunch of young sheilas strolling down the street swilling beer from bottles...at 1130 in the morning. Personally, I see nothing wrong with this as long as folks dispose of the bottles properly (except for the fact that these people were drinking light beer...ugh) but there are very few other places in the US...New Orleans may be one...where this is actually legal!

For the few of you who may not know, the Eiffel Tower replica is at Paris Las Vegas, and Miss Liberty presides at New York New York. Of course neither of these places, as well as most other resort/casinos, were here in 1975. Most of the places I saw back then, with the exception of Caesars Palace and Circus Circus, have been blown up and replaced.

Desert Views

Australia has a lot of Big Things, especially the magnificent Big Prawn from Ballina NSW, blogged in Dec 07. But America has some too. Here's the tallest thermometer in the world, in Baker, California, on the road from Barstow to Las Vegas. If you blow up the picture, you can see the temperature reading of 59 degrees. This seemed a little cool...my car said 64 and the sun was fairly warm. But usually it's much hotter here in Baker...the top rung of the thermometer is for temperatures in the 130s. The town is only about 900 feet above sea level...it's actually in an extension of Death Valley...so it's seriously hot here in the summer.

On Saturday the 16th, the air was crystalline. Above 400o feet, the arms of the Joshua trees stood out in front of the deep blue sky.

Here's a typical lake in the Mojave desert...just a salt flat. This one, like several others, is called Soda Lake. It's near a little settlement officially known as Zzyzx. (pronounced zye-zix)This name was coined by a bloke who established a mineral springs resort on the site and crafted the word so that it was the last one in the English language.

Lizards on the road!

The lizards are taking a road trip. It's the first one for Verde, Lizard's new sidekick. Here they are hanging out on the Pismo Beach pier. They were a little apprehensive at this venue, since it's quite a long way down to the water and they are not aquatic.

This is more like it! My reptilian friends are back in the desert, which of course is their natural habitat. In this case we're hanging out in Mojave National Preserve, about 75 miles SW of Las Vegas. This spot is near Cima Dome, about 12 miles S of I-15. This is one of the largest and densest Joshua Tree forests in the world...I thought it was even more spectacular than the national park! I'd never been here before, and it's beautiful and peaceful. I shared the trail with several dozen equestrians who passed by, all very friendly and enthusiastic about the beauty of both the desert and the day (crystal clear, mid 50s). They were on a 50 mile ride. I'm thinking sore butt. That aside, it was indeed a fine afternoon.

The Mojave National Preserve is wild country, outside of the I-15 corridor. The freeway was packed with traffic roaring frantically toward Las Vegas...it's early in a 3 day weekend, and throngs of holidaymakers were racing toward the gambler's nirvana in the desert. At one point I was cruising at 80 in the Solara and being passed by EVERYONE. I guess they couldn't wait to get to the slots and the blackjack tables and the showgirls. At any rate, all you have to do is go a couple of miles off the freeway and it's quiet and virtually deserted. And the spaces are wiiide open.

Elephant Sloats in Love

It's Valentines Day, and the thoughts of elephant sloats turn to...love, same as with humans! Yes, February is the mating season for the elephant sloats. Here at Point Piedras Blancas, there are vast numbers of them...I've commented on this in earlier posts. This whole group has grown up here since about 1990, when they first started hauling out on these beaches. Now there are probably thousands of sloats here, so they have been very successful at establishing their colony. Pups are born in January...hundreds each year...and in February the sloats start making new pups!

Here a couple of bloke sloats are scuffling on the shoreline. In many instances the winner gets to hang with the sheila sloats in the vicinity, but I watched these two for awhile and they appeared to both be batchelors, hanging out on the edge of the action but blocked from participating by older, bigger bloke sloats. These guys could just be doing sparring practice.

The alpha bloke sloats get the sheilas! Here's a happy couple in rapturous embrace on the beach. Notice how he affectionately hugs her with his flipper! In reality, there are disputes. Sometimes the bloke has to chase the sheila around a bit first, and sometimes they bicker. Sometimes the sheila sloats argue among themselves. And the blokes are rather, uh, boorish...they occasionally run right over the pups when moving about, which is hazardous and sometimes lethal to the pups, since a full grown bloke sloat weighs in around 3 tons! But somehow, given freedom from human hassles, things get done and the elephant seal colony thrives.

Return to Pismo

I'm heading to Las Vegas on Saturday, but for about a week the computer models have forecast a beautiful day going down the coast to Pismo Beach on Thursday, so I took off early and cruised down highway 1, top down most of the way. It was indeed a sparkler! I'm staying at the Best Western Shore Cliff, my usual abode here...it's my first visit since December 06 when I stayed here on the last night of my 82 day trip around the country. The motel has an especially fine view of a long sweep of coast, past the Pismo Beach pier to the sand dunes in the distance. You can see waves a mile or more long. Very nice.

Another fine sunset...this pic was taken from the deck of my motel room. Pismo is a classic beach town. It's laid back most of the time, has a fine pier, good restaurants, and of course an excellent beach. I've enjoyed hanging out here for a long time.

Shakedown Cruise

I took the Solara up to the Sierra foothills this

weekend to visit friends, and continued a little farther up into the mountains. It was the Solara's first sustained road trip, and it cruised the Cali highways very nicely. I did not test it in the snow; when I went up to about 4500 feet yesterday, no snow had fallen for a week so the highways were bare and dry. But with the La Nina weather pattern we've had this winter, there is certainly a lot of snow in the Sierra. We have alternated between cold storms with low snow levels and dry sunny periods. In most years we also get some warm storms that melt most snow below 4-5 thousand feet, but not this year.

Here the Solara is parked at a vista point 4500-5 thousand feet above sea level, not far from Blue Canyon. There are about 6 feet of snow on the ground though the temperature is around 53 deg F. An ideal day to enjoy winter snow without the winter weather! On the trip back down the mountain I put the top down and cruised alfresco past the snowbanks.

Spring Bloom Documentation

This is a picture of a cherry tree in front of my townhouse. Obviously, it's pretty much in full bloom...on February 10. To those readers outside the sunbelt, this may seem early, but it's actually a good 3 weeks behind schedule; the cherry trees in Monterey usually bloom by the middle of January, and I've seen them in full blossom on New Years Day! Next year I'll look for a similar blooming stage and compare it to this year. Incidentially, since we've been in a La Nina weather pattern, a late bloom is not a surprise; La Ninas usually bring us cold storms and below average temperatures, and this winter has fit the pattern.

Fine Winter day on the Coast

It was a clear, crisp winter afternoon today, a perfect time to take the Solara down the Big Sur coast. No, I didn't take the top down...it was 55 degrees and blustery and the Old Sloat's top down minimum temperature is around 60. So I'm a bit of a wuss...when you're old you can get away with that.

Garrapata Beach sparkled in the sunshine, with big waves. Big waves are about average here in the winter...if you classified the waves at this spot into five categories, they'd be small, medium, big, massive, and humongous.

The waves made neat patterns as they rolled onto the beach and around the rocks. One of the many neat things about the beach is that you can take an infinite number of abstract photos there.