[This post added later in September … I’m still catching up] Just one day left before Jon and Helen leave… they’ve been with us for 3 weeks, it’s been awesome having them over, and we’ve all managed to get on just fine – even though we’ve hardly been more than a few yards apart from each other the whole time. Spending time as a gang of four is very different from when it was just Rose and I – lots more time chatting and being sociable, but it’s meant I’m well behind on writing up our travels.
Jon and I wanted one last bike ride before they headed back, so we swung by Gooseberry Mesa to ride the classic loop around the top of the mesa (mesa is Spanish for “table” – the mesas round here are plateaus of land formed from harder rock when everything around it has been eroded away. It was the middle of the day by the time we got to the trailhead, along a few miles of bumpy dirt road, and pretty hot. But the ride was epic – yet again different scenery and a different type of riding. Some slickrock, some dusty singletrack through old gnarled Utah Juniper trees, and some donteventhinkaboutfallingoff riding along the very edge of the cliff.
Jon and Helen had been given a tip-off about somewhere to stop in on the way to Las Vegas, a place called Valley of Fire State Park, just 50 miles from the city. It was a long, hot drive from Zion, but we managed to make a small detour to Lake Mead where we had a swim to clean off and freshen up. It’s strange coming across huge expanses of fresh water in what’s otherwise barren, arid desert – this place is “the largest reservoir in the United States by maximum water capacity” – though at the moment it looks pretty low.
Valley of Fire State Park was stunning – outcrops of red rock poking up through the valley floor and catching the last light as the sun set. We found a campsite tucked right in under the rocks, and there was only one other group there! Such a contrast from Zion. Just goes to show how you don’t need to follow the crowds, and how you can find the best spots off the beaten track. For me, the emptiness and silence makes this kind of place much more special. In some ways it’s sad that more people don’t come out and enjoy it, yet if they did, it wouldn’t be quiet, empty and beautiful. We scrambled up the boulders behind the camp with a beer to watch the sunset, and soak up the hot desert evening.
Road and Ocean 