Maggie the Mountain Goat

We took a drive out to the Valley of Fire State Park  today for a picnic and a hike.  It's about an hour northeast from where we are staying.  Miss Maggie thought she could climb the rocks like a mountain goat.  She certainly did have a good time on our hike.

The scenery was phenomenal and we ate lunch in a picnic area surrounded by red sandstone mountains.  At the Atlatl Rock area there were petroglyphs we could view at the top of a very long staircase built to reach them.  We then drove further into the park, stopping at the visitor center, and then further to Mouse Trap Canyon for a hike.  It was a bit like hiking in sand dunes on the beach only redder!  It wasn't a long trail - about 3/4 of a mile round trip -  but it was a workout because of the soft sand in the the canyon.  I've chosen a few of the many pictures we took to upload to the journal to share with you.  I'm hoping to put the rest in a "cloud" somewhere so that if you want to see them you can.  I'll let you know the website when/if I get it set up.  Roger took some really incredible shots (as usual) and I did get a few good ones as well.   The weather was perfect for hiking in the desert - sunshine and mid 60s.  We had a fun day!

Atlatl Rock with stairs leading to rock art

Prehistoric rock art

Can't describe the beauty.

  

Do you think maybe they get
wind here?  This is the Ranger's office
roof being held down by the chains.  

Plants pop up at the barest  places.

Rog getting ready to capture the petroglyphs
high up on the wall.  You can see them if you look closely.

Rawhide!!!  Where are the beeves?  

Back lighting for effect.

Off into the wilds of the desert!

Canyon walls.

A lone prehistoric warrior.