After our Arts District breakfast on Day One we got in the car and drove about 90 minutes outside of Vegas to hike the Valley of Fire State Park. This was true desert terrain, and the temperature reflected it: 97 degrees and unrelenting sun, with very little cover.
The world feels bigger out there. And a lot of the hike felt like we were walking on the surface of mars.
Early on, Syl established her love of climbing high and then sitting down to take in the views.
Shade was rare enough that when we found some, we spent some time.
The "path," insofar as it existed, was marked by sparsely-located poles like the one in the photo below... and by footprints in the sand. About an hour in, with no idea how far we'd come or if we'd managed to stay on the path back to our car, I was starting to wonder if our failure to respect the desert was going to become problematic. Oh, and no cell phone service whatsoever.
Luckily we came upon these nice folks, who seemed to know where they were going. So we trailed them for a while.
Whatever trepidation we might have been feeling was interrupted repeatedly by moments like this one: walking on a rainbow!
Ultimately, Syl's love of a good climb saved us: she went up high and spied the parking lot!
We loved our first hike... and we also loved getting back to the car and cranking the AC!
Late lunch at a random Mexican place nearby set another pattern for the trip: this part of the country has a REALLY strong Mexican food game. I am not sure I have ever seen Syl wolf anything so fast as she downed this burrito.
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