Tag Archives: Nevada

Birding, Boondocking, Camping, Nature, Travel

Wild Horses And Wildlife Refuges

April 4, 2015 Keevan 8 Comments

Happy Easter!

Desert National Wildlife Refuge:

We hadn’t planned on backtracking, but after talking with and exchanging information with some fellow nomads, we realize there are a few more places we want to visit before leaving this part of Nevada.

We head off to Desert National Wildlife Refuge…Five long washboarded dirt and gravel road miles, and arrive late enough that it is really too late to see much. DNWF makes it clear that dry camping is allowable on the back roads of the refuge, so we find us a lovely spot, watch the sunset, and retire, so we can get going early enough the next morning to be able to hike a couple of trails before it warms up too much, and while the birds are most active.

It’s a beautiful place, a true oasis in the middle of the desert. Most of the back country requires a 4 wheel drive to crisscross the mountains and dirt roads, and although our Van has pretty high clearance, we decide not to take her on any more bumpy rides, after all the work we put into her this past winter.

We spend the morning around Corn Creek instead. Tall Cottonwoods, native shrubbery, ponds, walkways, trails, and lush green meadows surround a beautiful new visitor center. We hike on some of the trails, and enjoy a slow and easy time of it. It’s very relaxing to just hang out and enjoy the wildlife here. We meet a photographer from Massachusetts, exchange bird information, and spend much time chatting away the morning.

So many birds are busy building nests now! They are flying to and fro carrying all sorts of materials. This little Verdin has quite a mouthful!

We continue to laze around here until it starts to heat up and all is quiet in the woods.

Cold Creek Village

After making it back out and off of that horrible washboard road, (which evidently is about to get paved) we drive a few miles up the highway and take a left turn up Cold Creek Road.

This is an interesting area – the entire village of Cold Creek is off grid. The off grid homes are not just little cabins, but real substantial sized houses, all with solar panels mounted on roofs. The surrounding area is a large ATV riding area. And it is also a quaint community where wild horses roam freely.

We find it to be a beautiful valley, with snow covered peaks rising up from the desert floor.

These Wild Horses here seem much more tame than other wild horses we’ve seen. Surely they interact with the people who live in the Cold Creek community.

Of course there are signs posted asking visitors not to feed them, but there is evidence that they do get handouts, and they act like they are used to at least occasionally getting treats from someone.

Pretty hard to resist those eyes and soft noses.

No treats from us, but I did get to rub a few of those noses.

It’s the middle of the day while we visit, and mostly the horses are pretty quiet, but we do find a few youngsters a bit more frisky.

Nothing like wild horses in the desert mountains!

Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge:

Finally we wander into Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge, on the southern border of the huge Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex. On the northeast corner of the DNWF is where Pahranagat National Refuge is located. Remember, we were there last week.

We are surprised by yet another oasis, rare fish living in the spring water here, and more large reservoirs of water. Where does all this water come from?? I thought deserts didn’t have water!

We mostly drive around these reservoirs, then pull up to the visitor center, after it is closed for the day, and enjoy a picnic dinner all alone enjoying a lovely dusk as evening befalls us.

Shall I say how surprised we are, that we are loving this part of Nevada so much.

After all, we are just a stone’s throw away from Yucca Mountain, and the largest military Nuclear testing site in the West.

But that’s another story… ❧

Birding, Camping, Simple Living, Travel

Water In The Desert

March 30, 2015 Keevan 5 Comments

Lake Mead

Still in Nevada, we decide to explore the lesser used areas around Lake Mead.

They are less used, because the water level is historically low for this man made reservoir – the holding tank for Hoover Dam.

When the outflow is more than the inflow, the math doesn’t quite work out, creating problems. Hmm.

Too many people, too much water use, too little rainfall. That seems to be the real equation.

Now that the levels are so low, and the water is so warm because of the low levels, the algae levels are extremely high, creating toxic conditions.

Basically what we have is yet another deteriorating watering system.

This part of the Colorado River is suppose to supply the water to all of Las Vegas, much of San Diego, and huge areas in Arizona.

The scenery is still Beautiful!

And for us, less recreation users (water skiers, jet skiers, and boaters) means more quiet peaceful camping spots. The boat launches are all closed at this end of the lake due to low water.

We spend three days dispersed camping here at Stewarts Point, on the north end of the lake, enjoying front row lakeside seats.

Pahranagat Wildlife Refuge

Leaving Lake Mead, we retreat to Pahranagat Wildlife Refuge, where we find a sweet little campground right on the water again. Here our van door opens 15 feet from the lake.

This water is natural, not man-made. It comes forth from natural springs that bubble from the ground creating lush fields for farmers, and heavenly refuges for birds and waterfowl passing by on their flights north and south every year.

Another three days was spent here at upper Pahranagat Lake, enjoying company such as this pair of Mallards, who kept us constantly entertained.

They were so comfortable with us, they ventured into our campsite a few times a day, to see what crumbs they could find.

No…we didn’t feed them. There is plenty of food in this lake! We also watched and listened to huge fish jumping all day long.

Driving around the lower lake we spot this Osprey. It’s been awhile since seeing one of these handsome hawks.

Note the fish in it’s talons. I didn’t realize that, until looking at these photos a little closer. I hope I didn’t interrupt him (?) too much.

This Great Blue Heron, was another recurring visitor. We realized that it was gathering nesting material, and would frequently fly back and forth with twigs and branches in it’s large bill.

On a long hike around the upper lake one evening, we were really surprised to encounter this Vermillion flycatcher. We saw these beautiful birds back in Arizona last fall, and were enthralled to meet up with them again here. They are now in full breeding color. There must have been about four pairs of them at least.

We really love this camping area, and could easily spend a few weeks here exploring.

But…we’re moving on. ❧

Boondocking, Nature, Travel

Valley of Fire

March 22, 2015 Keevan 3 Comments

Valley of Fire

Since we’ve been exploring “other” areas of the Mojave Desert, we decide to visit the area north of Las Vegas, in Nevada.

On the route northward, we camp along the Colorado River, and plan on camping in Lake Mead Recreational Area. Hoo Boy, when we arrive, we find out it is Spring break here, and all Nevadan’s it seems, take their break around this lake and river.

Where else would one go I guess, if one lives in Nevada?

A little creativity, some solid research, and a bit of luck, lands us a few hidden gems for some out of the way spots to spend a few nights.

After long stretches of Creosote bush and low lying desert scrub, bypassing the lower end of Lake Mead, we instead drive the scenic back road to Valley of Fire State Park.

Ooh la la…Here it seems, is where all the Beauty of this vast and lonely state wound up eons ago.

Large mountains of red sandstone formations formed from ancient sand dunes, stand majestically against brilliant golden hues.

Imagine dinosaurs roaming here, and later Anasazi Indians gathering and hunting these canyons. The later leaving their artwork on the rock cliffs.

In more modern times, “bad” guys hid from the law in the last century, in these same box canyons, which I’m sure hold untold secrets and some rip roaring stories unknown to us present day nomads.

We meet our first Chuckwalla!!

He does look dinosaur-ish, doesn’t he?

We don’t camp in the park, the campgrounds are taken over by humongous motor homes, all with power cords leading to I wonder where? There is only one tent in the entire upper loop of the park.

We go back to our hidden jewell at night time, and enjoy the park during the day.

Before leaving we meet this little tyke…not very dinosaur looking, but awfully cute.

❧

Camping, Travel

Wild Burros And City Lights

December 6, 2014 Keevan Leave a comment

Sad to actually have to leave the rest of Arizona behind, but we were on our way back to see our family and friends in Santa Cruz county. And we did have this engagement in Laughlin…

So, onward we went.

We drove up along the lower Colorado River, enjoying different scenery and marshes like this one around Parker, Az.

Laughlin, Nevada, was actually a pretty cute town, for a gambling town. We camped almost in town, right on the Colorado River, with this view of one of the casinos from our van door. That was a first – after so many mountain and scenic river views. It was fun to have such a different view, with it’s own type of beauty with all that color reflecting on the waterfront.

Along a good portion of our trip, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed the company of these Grackles. We loved their voracious voices and extended sing-song vocabulary dearly. Sunsets and sunrises among them always made us feel like we were in a tropical jungle. So long little Grackle birds. We’ll miss your humorous stories.

A little excursion was on the agenda, for a visit to Oatman, Nevada. Oatman is another old western mining town, but this town has an added attraction.

These cute little wild burros pretty much rule the streets of this town. They are “wild” burros, but have become quite comfortable in town, where the tourists and locals alike feed them and watch over them.

Better make sure that purse is zipped up or they will have their noses stuffed into it in no time. And they act like a football linebacker if you happen to be carrying around a bag of carrots.

We enjoyed spending time with some extended family, waiting for their car to get repaired. We actually crammed four adults along with Pia and all our stuff into Miss Keevan for the ride, which was a feat in itself.

Oh yes…the night before we left town, between Fred and I, we won enough in the casino to fill up our gas tank for the next leg of our journey.

❧

Boondocking, Travel

From Desert to Water

August 2, 2014 Keevan 3 Comments

Campfire ring with sunset behind mountains — Desert Boondocking

Driving through the Nevada emptiness, we turn off the highway and follow some sketchy directions found on the internet, following miles and miles of gravel roads in search of a cool spot to camp. We arrive at this quaint little used spot along a creek, complete with shade and a very quiet and level camping site. It’s 100 degrees out, but here by the water, we are cozy and comfortable. Lucky Day.

The drive through southern Idaho along the Little Salmon River is beautiful and scenic. We spend a night at a campground outside of McCall. We quickly visit the town of McCall before heading out, but I couldn’t recognize it at all, remembering it just a bit from visiting friends there long, long ago.

We drive past lush green meadows, alive and vibrant, home to what seem to be REALLY happy looking cows. Velvet green forests blanket the hills, there’s water everywhere. Rivers, streams, creeks, and waterfalls. The land is beautiful, as I remember.

We pass steep rocky mountains populated with miles of pine trees, and little old log cabins dotting the hillsides. It’s July. The bottomlands are green, the treeless hills are brown. There’s an odd mixture of remnants of old homesteads, scattered among rusty metal industrial trash, peppered with modern new lodges catering to the tourists with dollars dangling from deep pockets.

Nearing the Northern panhandle, (that skinny little arm of Idaho) the landscape changes from rolling wheat fields back to forested mountains. I’m lost. The towns I remember no longer exist. The little smoke shops and general stores are nowhere to be seen. In their place are many, many new shiny metal thrown up buildings, and huge made to look old cabin style resort structures. The little winding two lane highway I drove daily, has been replaced by a mega four lane freeway.

I can’t even find the road that I once lived on. The tribal buildings are monolithic. The casino stands stately in the field.

Finally arriving south of Coeur d’ Alene, there is a yacht club where once a simple restaurant lived. I have memories of my co-worker and friend, who lived south along the highway, boating to work, because she could never drive the little snow covered road. Now, another friend tells me, it takes her about ten minutes in the winter, and the drive is a breeze.

The downtown area has been completely rebuilt. Mazes of new buildings, high rises, and hip little shops line the once simple main street.

I feel like I’ve been left in “Happy Days”, while the town fast forwarded into some futuristic movie. It’s been 33 years since I’ve lived here, and even the brief visits since, seem foggy.

View of Coeur d'Alene Lake from Beauty Bay — Coeur d’Alene Lake

It is still as gorgeous as ever. And I feel like I am finding a bit of my heart, left here, many, many years ago. So much love, so much sadness, much growth and introspection took place in these mountains and along the lake edges when I was young.

Memories have faded, but it is wonderful being back!

Boondocking, Camping, Simple Living, Travel, Van Living

Cruising Westward

June 10, 2014 Keevan 2 Comments

Leaving Utah Behind

After overloading on so much National Parkitis, we were ready for a little relaxation. The Parks in Utah are really magnificent, but there really is a limit, and taking in so many beautiful vistas in one trip results in a touch of scenic wonder overdose.

The fact is that Memorial Day weekend, a major holiday celebrated in huge fashion around the Moab area, combined with a storm front moving into town, had us looking at the map again. We wanted to spend one more night in the desert outside of Moab, but were concerned about rain on the very sandy roads we were camping on. Checking the weather over and over again, the weather people assured us no more rain would be occurring until mid-day on Friday.

We believed them.

Suckers we were!!!

We awoke at 4:00 a.m. to the pitter patter of raindrops falling on little Ms. Keevan. We discussed staying, we discussed going. We both tossed and turned in bed. The saying goes, if it rains, and you are on back roads in the desert, be prepared to stay put put for day or so, until the rain soaks in and the roads are once again dry and drivable. We had already decided to move on, and really didn’t want to stay put in the muck for a few days. Back and forth went the discussion, until finally at 4:15, we got up, dressed, threw everything on the bed, pulled the top down, and beat like heck, slipping and sliding out, all the way to the highway.

We drove, trying to get ahead of the rain, which was more of a downpour than a shower, the entire width of the state to western Utah, where we happily camped on dry BLM land with another great view.

The next morning we made our way into eastern Nevada, where we found the most desirable of forest service campgrounds, with lots of “NO ATV’s” on sign posts. Ah bless these parks gods from heaven. Just my type of people. We spent a couple of days at Ward Mountain Campground unwinding, relaxing, reading, and taking a lovely hike through the junipers and pinyon pine forests.

Through the Wastelands

Nevada. Now Central Nevada is it’s own character for sure. So much nothingness! And in between the nothingness, is missile testing sites, heaped up junkyards, and half filled pee bottles strewn along the highway. Mountain ranges separated by vast flatlands.

Sounds pretty destitute for sure, but in a way it was relaxing, so much nothingness, after so much everythingness of parks, rocks, beauty, tourists, visitor centers, and overpriced souvenirs.

But here’s the real story. When we went with the flow of the nothingness of Nevada, it all came to life!

First we came across a large band of Bighorn Sheep!! Not two or three mind you, but at least a hundred of them. So close to the road, we could tell the rams from the ewes. (By the horns, is how you tell.) They were so amazingly awesome!

Next, after alternately looking for wildlife and reading my magazine, I spot a lone Pronghorn Antelope!

And if that’s not enough, tooling down the highway, over yonder, we start spotting small herds of wild horses! Yes, those horses. The famous herds of wild horses of Nevada.

O.k. no more wonders of all wonders please!! We need to start looking for a place to sleep for the night, the shadows are getting long, and the sky is dimming. The last mountain range we pass over is the last bit of forest land for a long while, so we’re looking hard for a dirt road to turn off on. I spot one off to the side. Fred does a u-turn, and we turn in to check it out.

Driving slowly over the bumps and lava rocks we come around a bend, and shhh…”Fred, there’s a horse, right there!” And another, and another, and a young baby in the herd. A beautiful palomino. A Big Black. Wow.

This is where we’re camping.

Another wow. This is the view out our door tonight. Dreams of slumber overcome us.

Life is Good. There is beauty everywhere. We just have to allow it in.

❧

Keevan Soul