On the Way Home from Death Valley

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

On the way to Las Vegas from death Valley National Park, we made several stops at beautiful locations along the way.

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

Crystal Reservoir

First, we stopped at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, which is right outside Death Valley, but in Nevada rather than California. 

I was hoping for lots of birds -- or maybe something unusual. I saw a few birds, but not much else.

Located in the Amargosa Valley, the refuge was created in 1984 to protect an extremely rare desert oasis, which is the largest remaining oasis in the Mojave Desert. 

The refuge is a major discharge point for a vast underground aquifer water system, reaching more than 100 miles to the northeast. Water-bearing strata come to the surface in more than thirty seeps and springs, providing a rich, complex variety of habitats.

Reeds in the chalky water

Virtually all of the water at Ash Meadows is fossil water (water that comes from melted ice from the last ice age), believed to have entered the ground water system tens of thousands of years ago. The ranger told Scott that the water has a number of minerals in it, including arsenic. Early settlers apparently drank it, adjusting after several months of intestinal distress. But, who knows how many years it took off their lives?

Clear fossil water that could be deadly!

When you arrive, Ash Meadows looks like scrubby, alkaline wasteland. 

This is an oasis?

Then, you round a corner and see the lovely Crystal Reservoir, with its chalky blue water – and a contingent of American Coots. 

Crystal Reservoir reflecting nearby hills

Although we didn’t see any mammals except Black-Tailed Jackrabbits ...

Posing Black-tailed Jackrabbit, one of the West's reliable inhabitants

... I saw footprints of both Bighorn Sheep and Coyotes, which come down to the reservoir to drink and (in the case of predators) hunt.

Obviously, the water is infused with minerals, giving it a silty appearance.

Coots on the Lake's surface

After spending some time at the reservoir, we went to the Visitor Center and walked out on  the expansive boardwalk ...

Boardwalk

The boardwalk took us to a number of crystal clear springs surrounding by marsh grasses. What a surprise. You just don’t expect to see this in the desert.

Oasis

While exploring the springs, I was treated to a few birds, including the American Coots on the reservoir ...

This one is trying to walk on water

A Common Raven, rapidly flying over …

On a mission

A number of Phainopeplas, sitting in the trees all around the springs ...

Male Phainopepla, left, and female, right

Although I saw both males and females, most were the pretty black males; females are a dark slate-gray.

An absolutely arresting bird

These gorgeous birds are jet black with striking red eyes. The look like a cardinal designed by the Devil.

My first Phainopepla-in-flight photo; I did not know they had white on their underwings

While I was at one spring, I heard a bird calling out from inside the reeds. I knew I couldn’t wait forever and it was a long-shot that I would see what it was. But patience paid off and a tiny Marsh Wren made a brief, but personality-filled appearance. 

Marsh Wren

Not a lifer, but a bird I haven’t seen all that often.

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was established to provide and protect habitat for at least 26 endemic plants and animals, including four species of fish and one plant that are listed as endangered species. I looked and looked, but didn’t see many fish.

A riot of marsh plants

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was named after the galleries of ash trees described in expedition notes from 1893. The concentration of locally exclusive flora and fauna distinguishes Ash Meadows is the greatest concentration of endemic biota in any local area within the United States. It has the second greatest local endemism concentration in all of North America.

Alkali Grasshopper, not endemic, but waiting on the walkway for me to to photograph it

We did not explore the entire Refuge because we needed to press on.

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

The red is really THAT red

Next stop? Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, which is only 15 miles west of Las Vegas, and is easily seen from the Las Vegas Strip. What a surprise!

My photos belie the reality. It was quite crowded, a big change from the relatively empty Death Valley National Park.

RRCNRA showcases a set of brightly colored sandstone peaks and walls called the Keystone Thrust. The walls are up to 3,000 feet high, making them a popular hiking and rock climbing destination. The highest point is La Madre Mountain, at 8,154 feet.

Looking back on the Calico formation from the High Point Overlook, which sits at 4,771 feet

A one-way loop road, 13 miles long, provides vehicle access to many of the features in the area. Several side roads and parking areas allow access to trails.

The rock itself is a mish-mash of multiple colors

As many as six different Native American cultures may have been present at Red Rock Canyon over the millennia, including Paleo-Indians (11,000-8,000 BC), San Dieguito (7,000-5,500 BC), Pinto/Gypsum (3,500 BC-1 AD), Anasazi (1-1150 AD), Patayan Culture (900-1800s) and Southern Paiute (900-present).

Pictographs in Red Rock Canyon; Photo: Las Vegas Entertainment Guide

In the early 20th century, around the time the first European Americans settled in nearby Las Vegas, the Excelsior Company operated a small sandstone quarry near the northern area of the scenic loop. It proved to be uneconomical and was shut down. Evidence of the quarry's existence includes some of the huge sandstone blocks that have been left behind.

In 1967, the Bureau of Land Management designated 10,000 acres as the Red Rock Recreation Lands. In 1990, special legislation changed the status of the Red Rock Recreation Lands to a National Conservation Area, a status that also provides funds to maintain and protect it.

Interesting formations

RRCNRA is one of the easternmost parts of the Mojave Desert; the lowest elevation of the area, from 3,600 to 4,500 feet, is in the Lower Sonoran Zone, while the area from 4,500 feet up is in the Upper Sonoran Zone. A number of year-round springs are found in the recesses of the side canyons.

Some 600 species of plants are known in the area. Common types in the valley floor include the Joshua tree, Mojave yucca, banana yucca, creosote and blackbrush. Higher up, Utah juniper and Sonoran scrub oak dominate. Agave is easy to spot in red rock niches, with its thick low leaves and flowering stem that reaches twice the height of a man. Ponderosa pines may be found at the top of the valley, where it connects to the Spring Mountains.

The mountains to the west

Animals that live in RRCNRA include Wild Burros, Black-Tailed Jackrabbits, Desert Bighorn Sheep, Red-Spotted Toads and they protected Desert Tortoise. In our brief time there, we didn’t see anything but a couple of Woodhouse’s Scrub Jays. 

Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

Color!

The RRCNRA area has a complex geological history, which over millions of years helped create the region's dramatic landscape. 

The area was under an ocean basin 600 million years ago. Up to 9,000 feet of limey sediments were deposited and eventually "lithified" to limestone. Lithification is the process in which sediments compact under pressure, expel fluids and gradually become solid rock.

When the earth's crust started to rise due to tectonic shifts 250 million years ago, marine shales and sandstones were deposited. 

As the basin became isolated, evaporite formations of salt and gypsum were deposited. Oxidation of iron in the sediments resulted in the red colors of some of the rocks. Deposition by streams and in swamp environments resulted in the formation of petrified wood.

By 180 million years ago, the climate continued to change and the area became a desert with vast expanses of huge shifting sand dunes. These dunes accumulated over a broad area, up to a half-mile thick, and were lithified, cemented with calcium carbonate and iron oxides. They developed as the colorful Aztec Sandstone.

Can you believe this is 15 miles from las Vegas?

During a mountain-building period around 66 million years ago (around the time of dinosaurs), the Keystone Thrust Fault developed and movement of the fault forced the older gray sedimentary rock over the younger red rocks, forming a varicolored landscape.

The swirls and loops are fascinating

Spring Mountain Ranch State Park

People were taking advantage of the great weather and lovely view on the Ranch lawn

Our finally stop was Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, which sits right next to RRCNRA and the historic Sand Stone Ranch, which was entered into the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district in 1976.

When we drove in, we were treated to a Greater Roadrunner crossing the road and disappearing in the scrub. 

Greater Roadrunner on the run

In the mid-1830s, a campsite was established along the wash that runs through the Ranch. The spring-fed creek and grassy meadows formed an oasis for travelers using the alternate route of the Spanish Trail through Cottonwood Valley. The use of the site by pack and wagon trains continued until their replacement by the railroad in 1905. This remote trail was also used extensively by outlaws involved in Indian slave trading, horse stealing and raids upon passing caravans. 

Historical reenactment at Spring Mountain Ranch; Photo: Spring Mountain Free Trappers

In 1840, a group of American mountain men and Ute Indians conducted a famous raid on the Mexican Ranchos in California. Mountain Man Bill Williams, a member of the raiding party, brought his band of horses through Red Rock Canyon where he rested the horses from the hard trip across the desert. Later, he revisited the area several times and, although he never lived on the property, the site became known as the "Old Williams Ranch" or "Bill Williams Ranch.”

In 1876 James Wilson and his partner George Anderson bought the land and created the "Sand Stone Ranch." Anderson left the ranch after a few years, leaving behind his Paiute wife, Kayer, and their two sons, Jim and Tweed. Jim Wilson later adopted the boys and deeded the ranch to them in 1902. 

Left to right: Jim, Tweed and Jim Jr. Wilson; Photo: Spring Mountain Ranch Docents

For many years, it operated as a cattle ranch serving to local area, although the owners also continued to prospect, hoping to strike it rich.

Then, it became a luxury retreat for a string of colorful owners, including furrier Willard George, Chester Lauck (of radio’s popular “Lum & Abner” show), German actress Vera Krupp and millionaire Howard Hughes. 

George (and a Chinchilla), Lauck,  Krupp and Hughes; Photos: Spring Mountain Ranch Docents

While Hughes owned the Ranch, he may have never visited, although his leather bar is in the historic ranch house. 

Left, Howard Hughes' bar; Right, Scott

Lauck called the property the Bar Nothing Ranch and Krupp changed the name to the Spring Mountain Ranch.

Vera Krupp's dressing gowns

Krupp lived at the Ranch for 11 years and is responsible for building and/or updating most of the buildings currently on the property, including adding a swimming pool and a "secret room" that could be reached via a closet door in her boudoir. 

Krupp had a glamorous wardrobe and serious jewelry, including a 33.6-carat blue diamond that eventually became Elizabeth Taylor's famous engagement ring from Richard Burton. But, she also enthusiastically worked the ranch and made jewelry from local minerals found in the Spring Mountains. She went through several husbands while running the Ranch.

After Krupp died, her estate attempted to sell it to the State of Nevada, which declined the offer. However, when the next owners announced plans to turn it into a gated golf/equestrian housing development, there was significant public outcry. Nevada then purchased the property and turned it into a State Park.

Vera Krupp with spring calves; Photo: Nevada State Parks

Historical sites at the park include the main ranch house, cabin and bunkhouse, blacksmith's shop, barn and corral, two-hole outhouse, Chinchilla shed (yep, Willard George ran the Ranch as a Chinchilla farm for awhile) and Wilson family cemetery. It also has trails, a picnic area and a summer theater program presented through a local non-profit theater organization.

Ranch house

Under the trees on the expansive grounds, I saw an American Robin, reminding us that Spring is on the way.

American Robin

What a lovely setting! If I ever were to live on a ranch, I think this would be the perfect spot.

Can you imagine that view every day?

But, we were running out of time and had to get to las Vegas for dinner.

Dinner

Photo: Firefly

On the last evening, we had dinner at Firefly, a fabulous tapas restaurant. So good that we forgot to take pictures. I love tapas and can heartily recommend this place, especially the green apple and manchago salad, Spanish piquillo peppers stuffed with mozzarella and garlic cream cheese and the bacon-wrapped bleu-cheese-stuffed dates, all recommendations from Nancy and Russell. 

Photos: Firefly

A nice wrap-up for a lovely birthday trip.

Trip date: March 6-10, 2020