another day

Another day we took Lewis for a long jeep ride and a bit of a hike down to the Colorado River.

Crane's Nest road

We were not completely alone.....

this big guy suddenly appeared on the ridge above us

Above us four large male Bighorn Sheep kept a close eye as we moved along the trail.

At our feet, teasing Lewis, were several small lizards.

After a little more than a half mile's hike we came to the beautiful Colorado River.

What to do with a hot hike behind us, not a soul in sight and the cold clear water ahead?   Swim!

Swim

no, we didn't swim - just Lewis was crazy enough to go in that cold water

Shake

and shiver......

Another day we joined Pam and John and their friends, Steve and Joan, on a historic gold mine tour and then jeeped home up and over the mountains and along the gigantic power lines.

The Techatticup Mine bills itself as the oldest, richest and most famous gold mine in Southern Nevada.    I don't know about that but it certainly is an interesting place.   The various buildings house a historical hoarders dream, the outside areas were the backdrop of several movies and collections of all manner of memorabilia and oddity litter the area.    You'd need hours to wander by yourself to see everything.

We were met by a local tour guide who first gave us the area's wild and lawless history in general and this mine's history specifically.   He used many of the old photographs that lined the walls to punctuate his stories. 

John and Pam's new rv?

After his introduction we followed him across the street and entered the actual mine there.

in we go! (thanks for the picture Pam)

Even though it was fairly well lit with lanterns every 20 or 25 feet I still had a bit of  claustrophobic angst for the first few feet.   Pam counseled me to just keep talking and I'd forget about it, but she and I were the last in line in case either of us felt the need to turn around and exit quickly!

The guide showed us the veins of quartz and iron that were indicators that gold and/or silver were nearby.

We crossed a catwalk through an interesting but scary example of drift mining where a long deep drift cut downward from the top through the mountain where it's load of ore was located.   We could see daylight streaming in over our heads while we were deep in the mine, a very weird sensation.

Once outside after the tour we followed Steve and Joan to a beautiful area overlooking the Colorado River.    We ate our lunch there then continued to follow our leaders on rugged Jeep roads through mountain and desert terrain home again.

Pam and John
Joan and Steve

consultation

the scream?

these rocks all have names it seems.....

The ride was through wonderful wilderness, yet often passing the feet of huge, crackling power lines.    At one point, as we were standing outside our vehicles, I remarked that it didn't feel like it was raining as hard as it sounded on the hard packed sand next to us.    Joan laughed and told me that the noise I was hearing was coming from the high power lines above us.   It crackled and fizzed in a most alarming way.

the road taken

At every turn it seemed the plant life changed.    In one area the Cholla was so thick and healthy you couldn't put a foot down without encountering a nasty stab.

Joan called (we carried a walkie talkie in each vehicle) our attention to a small group of Bighorn sheep fleeing up the side of a peak next to us. 

Once back in Boulder City we all enjoyed a Mexican dinner before Steve and Joan headed back to their motorhome.


Another day Dave and I drove up Bootleg Canyon road behind our rv park to take a look at Las Vegas in one direction and Boulder City in the other.

LV

BC

Another day Dave and John played golf so Pam and I decided to make it a girl's day in the desert.      We headed for the Anniversary Mine road and the Ore Car Mine to see if we could find any agates.

We walked and walked, hunched over, carrying hammers and bags.   She took a path in a deep wash and I moved along on the top, all the while stooping to inspect interesting rocks, occasionally stopping to smash one with my claw hammer. 

me on top......

Pam down low

After our bags got too heavy to continue to carry we found our way back to the jeep, set our chairs up in the Jeep's shade and dumped them out for closer inspection

We then continued our search in the other direction.    I'm not sure we found anything of interest to anyone else, but we surely had a great day searching!

And....another day Dave and I drove to the gates of Las Vegas Motor Speedway which happens to be across the street from Nellis Air Force Base's runways.   This week they were holding Red Flag exercises and we joined a number of others parked along the road to watch the various jets take off, land, and do maneuvers above our heads.

My little point and shoot camera just couldn't do justice to the planes, I tried to get some good shots, but......

We're down to our last two days here......We leave Sunday for Utah.