Today was chores day. We had to dump our waste water tanks, change campsites, fill the Explorer with gas, and buy some groceries. We also changed campsites in order to get better Internet service. Our new campsite is on the outer edge of the campground and much more exposed. It wouldn't be good in a wind storm, but the MiFi access is hugely improved, and we now have a campsite with much more privacy.
We drove to the tiny town of Overton for groceries and gas. It had one grocery store, a post office, one gas station, two hardware stores, a McDonalds, and a couple of other odds-and-ends stores. The majority of the people seem to live in mobile homes or RVs. I'm guessing the vast majority of the population is retired.
After lunch, we set out to find a good place to photograph moonset at sunrise. More of the interesting formations are on the west side of the main road, so we thought it would be a pretty easy task to find a good spot. The major challenge to our plan was the lack of pull-outs along the main road. There are three parking lots along the road, but very few turnouts. The best foregrounds for the moonset pictures always seemed to be where there were no parking areas. We finally decided on a pullout near a wash, and we'll have to hike back up the road to a better shooting spot.
One of the most interesting images of Valley of Fire is the road that winds its way toward Gibraltar Rock. We parked on a ridge near Parking Lot 2 and photographed the road as it snaked over two ridges, through Kaolin Wash, past Striped Rock and the Fire Wave toward Gibraltar Rock at the top of the next hill. This is one of the most picturesque areas of the park.
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| Main Park Road Approaching Fire Wave | Red Sandstone |
While we were looking for angles to shoot the road, I noticed a rock formation in the wash below our ridge that
was riddled with cracks filled with a lighter cementing agent. I decided to hike down and check it out. The sand
in the wash above the rock had been wind sculpted into tiny sand waves. Below the rock was a deep hole that
must hold the final drops of moisture in the rainy season. A doe and her fawn had moved through the area
earlier in the day. More tracks led to a back canyon where the deer would settle in for the night.
I named the rock Gene's Rock
because we seemed to pass
it hundreds of times during the week.
On the way back to camp, we decided to take the gravel road behind the campground to shoot the sunset after-glow on the red sandstone formations. As soon as I set up, the moon peaked over the ridge. The moon so close to the horizon was incredibly yellow.
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