The kids had a long weekend off from school so we decided to go camping. We originally were going to go back to Big Bear since Kam wasn't able to join us when we went in April but the forecast called for snow and really cold temps. We still wanted to do something together so we cancelled our reservation and headed north to Valley of Fire State Park here in Nevada. It was only about an hour away and the weather was perfect while we were there. We entered the park and found a good camp site and set up. The boys were super helpful and were so excited to start bouldering on the rocks right in our camp spot. Once camp was set up and we ate lunch we headed out to explore the park. Everything was beautiful!
Riley did surprisingly well considering she's only 2.
She loved climbing and getting dirty!
Our first stop was at the Visitors Center where
Braden entered us into the guest book.
Riley liked looking at the snakes and spiders.
We then started on our first hike. We traveled down Petroglyph Canyon
to Mouse's Tank. We saw lots of petroglyphs and enjoyed climbing
on the rock by Mouse's Tank. Mouse's Tank was named after an outlaw
who used the area as a hideout in the 1890's. It is a natural basin in
the rock that collects water after rainfall and sometimes stays there
for monte after. There was no water but it was really cool to see.
After, we headed to White Dome. We didn't do the whole hike, we only went
far enough to see the domes and what was left of an abandoned movie set.
The kids were pretty tuckered out by this point so we headed back to
camp to make dinner and roast marshmallows. Then we hit the hay
early so we were ready for another big day of adventure.
We sadly had a rough night of sleep. It was really windy and the wind
was so loud it kept us awake; even with earplugs. Also, Riley wouldn't
sleep in her bed and ended up sleeping with Kam and me.
We did have a great breakfast and despite not getting a good nights rest
we were excited to see more of the park. We headed
towards the east entrance first to explore Elephant Rock.
We then took at look at the Seven Sisters and then drove up to see the Cabins, which are historic stone cabins that were built in the 1930's as a shelter for travelers of the Arrowhead Trail.
After looking at the cabins we headed back near the visitors center to
get a better look at Balance Rock. While looking at the rock there
was a herd of Big Horn Sheep moving through the area. Riley and
the boys were so excited to see them. The Big Horn Sheep is one
of Nevada's state animals.
Back view of Balance Rock.
We then took another short hike to Rainbow Vista. We had a hard time
walking in the sand so we didn't do the whole hike; we turned around
after getting a good picture of the rainbow shaped sandstone.
They boys somehow got so much sand in their shoes.
Once most of the sand was out of our shoes
we drove up to Fire Canyon/Silica Dome.
And before heading back to camp we stopped to get a better
look at Atlatl Rock and then over to see Arch Rock.
By this point our terrible nights sleep had caught up to us and all we wanted to do was take a nap. Once back at camp we decided that there wasn't much else we wanted to see in the park (the were other places to hike but those hikes were longer and I didn't think the kids would have made it) so we decided to pack up and head home rather than staying one more day likes planned. On our way out we looked at the Petrified Logs and the Beehive sandstone formations.
As it turned out, we made the right choice to go home early as it rained and rained the following day. Since Kam still had the day off still we all hung out inside and played games and watched movies together. I would definitely say the trip was a success and it has made us very excited to get out and do another camping trip again soon.
