Saturday, April 28, 2012

Valley of Fire: Part I

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*** This point in time is where the big camera died (because, according to Brent, “WE” didn’t charge the battery last night).  At this point we switched to our iPhone cameras. (Key: “we” = Christen) ***

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We met this guy in the visitor’s center (that’s a park ranger holding him).  She said that he was a good snake because he killed rattlesnakes…so if were were to come up on him out in the desert we shouldn’t harm him!!!

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We did the Mouse’s Tank hike and saw the little fella above just sunning on a rock.  Why are reptiles so lazy?

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We saw all kinds of petroglyphs on the hike.  A key to what all of the different symbols mean was posted at the beginning of the trail, but I don’t remember what the picture above was supposed to mean.

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The hike wasn’t hard, but it was very hot and the sand was deep and slippery, so it was pretty difficult to get traction.

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More petroglyphs!

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This is Brent standing in front of Mouse’s tank.  There is a hole behind him in between the two canyons where rainwater collects and because of the shade it stays cool for months.  According to the story, there was an Indian named Little Mouse who hid out around this little watering hole when he was on the run after committing various crimes.  Obviously I’m not up on all the details.  Possibly it was this Little Mouse character that drew on the rocks as well? There was no rainwater when we were there.  It was just an empty hole.  Brent said “we walked all the way back here for this?”

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As we drove out, we saw Balancing Rock:

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And the Seven Sisters – red sandstone pillar on the plain.  Some one was having a wedding here!

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And then we went on another hike to Elephant Rock.  Stay tuned for part II!!!

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