further adventures of Lewis M. Goat

NP94, aka Callville Wash Road North, took the 3 of us north off Northshore Drive in Lake Mead National Recreation Area.   Most people use the first few miles of this road to access trails into the Bowl of Fire area so we decided to see how far we could go on it.....and what was at the end.

The scenery was breathtaking in a rocky, mountainous, blue sky, desert sort of way.

Once again, we had the road (think, wash) to ourselves.   The conditions ran the gamut from a wide, open. sandy wash (sometimes deep sand, sometimes bedrock) to a narrow curvy track running very close to (sometimes under) the walls (sometimes stable, sometimes not very.....).

niche nest

We made our way slowly, stopping to climb up on (Lewis) or photograph interesting areas.   In one area we got out to explore a large, smooth, hump of blue/green mudstone along the wash.

We stopped for lunch in the shade of a fantastic chocolate brown cliff that was crisscrossed with spiderwebs of gypsum and wide bands of the same blue/green mudstone.

The wash road came to an end about 6 miles from the paved NorthShore Drive.
We had room to park the Jeep in a wide sandy area in front of a narrowed slot in the rocks.

We parked and set off to see where the little slot would take us....led, of course, by Lewis M. Goat.   He loves to race into slots and up onto the rock walls.

Unfortunately most of my "racing" pictures are blurred....he's just too fast for me.

There were a few beautiful pour overs, a couple with a small pool of water at the bottom.

Lew doesn't possess the grace of a Mountain Goat, but he has the drive to get the job done, what ever it takes.    We won't have to trim his nails for months!    Up and over....

mom, mom, come on up mom!

Once on top he roared around, coming to a rather ungraceful, but just in time, stop on the edge of a pretty high drop off.   The brakes were definitely on.....

The walls of the narrows were interesting, filled with layers of colored rocks worn smooth by the tremendous force of flowing water.   Above the water level, the the walls were embedded with small rocks and flakes of blue/green mudstone.

We didn't explore much beyond the end of the slot....the shadows were getting long and now that it gets dark so very early we didn't want to be in the back country when we couldn't see our way.   Who decided on this "turn your clock" back nonsense!

Even a Mountain Goat needs help getting down from the little pour overs on the way home.   Don't laugh at him, he's very sensitive.

He only plopped in the water once.....

sixty two

At mm 8.9 we turned off rt. 93 and headed west on NP 62 (Old Ranger Station Rd).   We three looked forward to another day of rough jeep roads, hiking among the rocks, ending with lunch at the river.

This time the NP road was signed as they are supposed to be.

The road was rougher and more circuitous than 61 but just as much fun.   Lewis didn't whistle as much, perhaps he knew he'd have a chance to get out and stretch his legs at the end.


We followed eroded tracks down into wide washes, up onto narrow saddles and then down steeply into other washes, tilting just a bit sideways to fit through.  Always the Jeep took us steadily along, without as much as a spinning tire or hesitation at what we asked of it.    Certainly nothing like Gay and Joe offer their Jeep, but enough excitement for us.

We didn't see anymore Bighorn Sheep, only a few lizards and a covey of manic quail.   We were quite alone.

The end of the road was made clear by the presence of a huge boulder blocking the wash.

looking for the crawl through

Pam had warned us that if we wanted to hike beyond the boulder we'd have to crawl under it.    We were all on board.

We walked around the largest boulder and found the crawl under spot.   Some of us managed easily and gracefully.    Some of us managed, but not gracefully.

Some of us enjoyed the challenge of the obstacle, again and again.

Dave, Dave, come on Dave.....this is the way!

One of us was happy to show the way, one of us wondered what took the rest of us so long.....

are you coming?

In the end, all of us made it through in our own special way - only to find another rock obstacle a few feet down the trail.

The same tactics proved successful again (butts rule!) and we were all free to hike the rest of the wash on our feet.

The afternoon was quite hot so we continued our trek moving from shade spot to shade spot.

We had to laugh at Lewis....he walked directly behind Dave, making good use of his shadow!    When Dave stopped, Lewis banged right into his legs, every
time...

The wash ended at the River and it provided a cool splash and a shady spot under the salt cedars for lunch.

We hiked back the way we came, under the rocks and back to the Jeep for the ride home through the starkly beautiful desert.  

Sixty one?

Thursday and Friday we put the Jeep through its paces.   Pam and John (ohtheplacestheygo.wordpress.com) had been in this area two years ago and suggested a couple of lesser known Jeep roads with nice hikes at their terminus.

We picked NP61 (aka Crane's Nest Road) as our first drive as it was known to be an easier road and hike.    We packed a lunch, loaded Lewis in the backseat, picked up a paper map from the Lake Mead Visitor Center and set off.     At mile marker 8 off rt. 93 we were to see a NP yellow marker indicating the dirt track  we were looking for.    Nope, no marker.   Only one bullet riddled sign telling us that this was an area where hunting was allowed, therefore no target shooting. Alrighty then, we stowed our target guns,  drove over the cattle guard and started down the wash towards the unseen river.

Lewis had no idea where we were going but whistled softly in excitement most of the bumpy way.

We enjoyed the drive, the landscape and the jeep's easy handling of the rocks and deep sand.   Never did we see a marker of any kind telling us we were going right, but Dave doggedly followed the tracks and all went well.

We love it when the GPS says we're not on a road, we're nowhere, there is nothing ahead,  but Sirius radio still serenades us with lovely classical music!    Definitely our kind of day.


The "road" became impassable after 4 or 5 miles so we took Lew and our lunch and continued on foot.

The walls of the hike were lined with interesting rock formations.    Yes, more rock pictures!

study in pink

Lew practices his Mountain Goat moves on the rock ledges

The canyon and wash ended at the Colorado River, our lunch destination.

a fuzzy head photo bombs the River

Lew enjoyed himself running around the shore, sniffing the breeze coming up the river and a tidbit or two of our ham sandwich....life's small pleasures.

pointing into the wind, enjoying the smells moving past

We walked along the shore for a bit, enjoyed our lunch in the shade and then hiked back to the Jeep for our ride back home.

After all, it's the journey not the destination.