
Tragically, he was found just days later. Morbidly, the white cross marks the approximate place where a Civil War veteran ran out of water and “presumably died of thirst” while emigrating west. He’s got his eye on me.Ĭlark Memorial: While not initially on my radar, I couldn’t resist stopping when I saw a bright white cross with flowers in the desert accompanied by an informational placard nearby. While it’s unnerving to run into wildlife while alone, it proved to be a memorable experience.Īs I passed them, I noticed some of their friends in the distance, keeping tabs on my movements from atop a rock formation. They eventually started munching on the bushes again, and so I gingerly walked past them, coming within about 10 feet of them. To say I was startled is an understatement.
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I was startled, they were startled, and I didn’t really know how to react… so I stood there. The coolest, and initially scariest, part of this hike was turning a corner and seeing the 3 bighorn sheep pictured below staring right at me from about 15-feet away. Here are some photos I snapped along the way. At the end of the trail, you’ll enjoy the Fire Canyon overlook, which is pretty darn scenic. The final trail I hit was Rainbow Vista, which is a 1-Mile roundtrip (.5-miles out and. Almost every time, they scared the heck out of me, and I was grateful to be alone as nobody was there to hear my startled shrieks. While I didn’t see any bighorn sheep on this trail, I did encounter numerous lizards that darted from bush to bush along the way. Once the fire wave was thoroughly explored, I completed the hike by retracing my steps back to the parking lot. To be honest, I didn’t really know what the Fire Wave was… until I saw it. NOTE: This trail is closed from June 1st to September 30th annually due to high heat. The trail started out by wrapping around a large rock formation downhill until leveling off on a flat rock surface that grew more and more scenic by the step. According to the informational placard, “The fire wave is an impressive display of striated sandstone that has eroded over time to create a beautiful wave effect”. 75 miles back, making it a 1.5-mile round trip. The next trail I hit was the Fire Wave Trailhead which is. It was honestly a bit unsettling to come face to face with wildlife like that while by myself in the middle of the desert, but they seemed unphased by my presence. The lack of excitement on the back half of the trail was interrupted by a group of bighorn sheep lounging approximately 20-feet away from me.
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I didn’t realize this coming in, so it was a fun factoid to take home with me, and I’m excited to watch the film.Īfter passing the ruins, the trail takes you through the narrows, which is essentially a skinny canyon that proved to be quite scenic.Īfter navigating the narrows, the trail loops you back to the parking lot through a somewhat unexciting patch of desert.
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Interestingly though, I learned the ruins were actually part of a movie set for “The Professionals” which was filmed on this site in the 1960s. The trail starts on loose sand, which is a challenge to trudge through, and brings you past ruins that look like the remnants of an ancient structure. A 1.1-mile loop, White Domes Loop easily qualified as my favorite trail hiked at Valley of Fire.
