Saturday (3/12/16) I was up bright and early and had decided to go to Valley of Fire state park in Nevada. I hit the road headed up interstate 15 toward Las Vegas. It wasn't long before I was enjoying wide open desert views.
On the way I stopped by Zzyzx, an odd little town in the borders of the Mojave National Preserve.
The area was used by prehistoric man with stone tools and art having been found along the shores of the evaporated lake. It's been the site of several military garrisons and the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad also passed across the evaporated lake bed. Today it's home to California State University's Desert Studies Center. There were plenty of students there when I visited.
Zzyzx is probably most famous though because of Curtis Springer who gave the area it's name in 1944. Springer was a con-artist who had run schemes all over the country, claiming to be the dean of many made up colleges, a doctor and the holder of several fake degrees. He claimed to have the cure to baldness, cancer and several other ailments. Most of his cures ended up being carrot or celery juice. He opened a health spa at the Zzyzx location in 1944 and charged travelers for their stay and his remedies there. Springer didn't believe in paying taxes however, and in 1974 the federal government reclaimed the land.
The dry lake bed of Soda Springs and the surrounding mountains are quite a sight.
Many of Springer's buildings still remain and are used as classrooms and offices by the California State University. There's a short trail with markers about the historical activities in the area. The students seemed busy with what they were doing and I didn't stick around to explore too much.
I did take the opportunity to walk out onto the lake bed and check out the rail road grade.
I got back on the road and headed for Valley of Fire. Photos don't do this area justice and if you've never been you need to put it on your list. It's the oldest state park in Nevada being dedicated in 1935. It covers almost 42,000 acres and features Aztec Sandstone formations that were created from shifting sand dunes when dinosaurs called the area home. The colors here are just brilliant.
The rock formations take on many different shapes, and there's plenty of hiking in the area. Some of the easily accessible areas near roadside stops are covered up by people, but like most State and National Parks if you get off the beaten path and explore a little you'll find hidden things most visitors never see.
While not as brilliant as the super bloom going on in Death Valley the recent rains here had brought out the wildflowers.
Further into the park the landscape changes with the Aztec Sandstone butting up against volcanic rock and sandstone making for some brilliant transitions in color. Even today geologists don't fully understand how some of this landscape was formed.
There was plenty of breccia around. Resembling concrete, breccia is rock made up of broken fragments of mineral and rock cemented together by other fine elements.
