Snowbird 2017 Part 2, Lake Havasu, Valley of Fire

 

After Yuma, we headed north to spend a few days in the Lake Havasu area.  The lake is a dammed up portion of the Colorado River.  Kayaking is the name of the game for us here.  We couldn't have had a better day on the water paddling on the Colorado among the reeds just north of town.  In the pictured above I've just paddled through a cave where the middle is just wide enough to get through with a kayak. 

An area I've wanted to kayak is another gorge of the Colorado River called Topock Gorge.  Unfortunately we couldn't get a shuttle service to work for us this year so we will just have to come back again..... Darn...Retirement is tough...

One day we were riding around in the truck and decided to cross The London Bridge.  Everyone has to do that at least once when in town.  On the other side of the bridge we came across this large motorcycle event.  Cyclist were flying around this course comprised of many jumps.  They seemed to spend as much time in the air as on the ground.  It was fun to watch them do something I would never attempt.  I bet there are lots of broken bone when they crash.

 North of Las Vegas is The Valley of Fire State Park.  I'm always amazed when we come across some very interesting and/or scenic area that I've never heard of before.  This state park is one of them.  There are amazing rock formations in the park to explore.  The above picture is of Mona hiking through her first slot canyon.

This formation is called Fire Wave.  It's about a mile hike with very few people hiking it.  We only saw a couple of other groups on the trail.  I imagine this is a little brother to the more famous "Wave" formation in southern Utah. 

 Another view of the Fire Wave

Another trail in the park is Petroglyph Canyon Trail.  A short way down the trail you start to see Petroglyphs all over the canyon walls.  I've never seen so many in one spot.  I could see hiking a few miles just to see one of these.  

 This little rock formation was near one of the petroglyphs.  It looks to me be the Star Ship Enterprise coming out of a cave.

Mona and I like to camp in places other than RV parks.  Established campgrounds in National Parks and Forests are nice.  State parks are ok.  Our favorite camping spots are those un-established gems where you can camp for free with few if any neighbors.  The Forest Service calls it "dispersal" camping.  It's illegal in National Parks but legal in Forest Service, BLM, and, Corps of Engineers lands to name a few.  They usually are restricted to a 14 day limit, but not always.  The above picture was taken from our camping spot in just such a location.  It had close to a 270 degree view.  I had spotted it a few years back.  We only stayed one night since we were on our way to Zion but considered staying longer.  Next time we just might as it is very close to The Valley of Fire State Park.