Monday, May 08, 2023

Uraling in the Valley of Fire State Park

I rode Scarlett, my 2014 Ural Patrol Sidecar Rig, the five miles or so to the western entrance to the Valley of Fire State Park.

I left the campsite by 7AM so I got to the place before it got crowded.  I still kept encountering the same people at each site but that's not unexpected.


Note to self, if there's ever a next time for this park, and you're there early enough, go to the Fire Wave first!  It's apparently quite popular so this way you beat the crowds.

Elephant Rock (meh) near the western entrance




The Seven Sisters, again meh, but worth a stop if you're picnic'ing I suppose.


Nice little access road crossing massive rock formations.  You take this road to get to Mouse's Tank:

Mouse's Tank, on the other hand, proved lacking.  It's apparently a .75 mile there and back trail, felt longer and the disappointing end didn't help.


Mouse's Tank

Across the highway from the stop for Mouse's Tank, there's some picnic benches.  I checked out the area behind the benches and found a neat rock formation which I'll call the Sunburst:



A view of rock formations from Parking Lot 1 enroute to Parking Lot #3 where one can begin the trail to the Fire Wave.  There is no stopping allowed for the four mile stretch before spot #1 and beyond spot #3.  Too bad.


From Parking Lot #3, you walk about .75 miles (1.5 mile there and back) to the Fire Wave.  The light of the nearly Noon sun had quite the flattening effect on the swirls of the rock that form the wave:





The Wave?

Near Rainbow Vista

I stopped at the sweeping curve near the Visitor Center (meh) and got a shot of their "Balancing Rock".  Perhaps I'm jaded from having seen other Balancing Rocks elsewhere...




There were many more cars and people than earlier so it was time for me to exit the park and return to the campsite.

I spent the afternoon reading a book outside the VRRV as the winds steadily became stronger and stronger.  I did go into town briefly to get gas for Scarlett and rubber seals to fix a slight leak in the kitchen faucets in the VRRV.

Got a call near 5PM, the mechanic said they're close to fixing up Yagi and should be done by 10AM tomorrow.  We shall see.  I'll probably displace to Henderson in the morning and prepare the VRRV for further travels as I await receipt of Yagi.

I doubt I'll return to this park.  It looked so promising but ... meh.




3 comments:

CCjon said...

That place looks very attractive and interesting... meh? Maybe you need to experience the wet humid green Gulf Coast for a few weeks... the humidity has you sweating just making your morning coffee. I'd trade places with you?

I do like your photos today.

redlegsrides said...

CCjon, pretty sure I'm just jaded. :)

RichardM said...

The wave looks pretty interesting!