Las Vegas, Nevada - Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon is a National Conservation Area 20 miles west of Las Vegas.  It has easy access and is also very accessible for great pictures with an abundance of "pull over" parking areas throughout the park.  Many thanks for fellow adventurer Vicki for the Lexus four-wheel-drive trek to photograph this beautiful canyon.  Best at sunset and sunrise.  We were there for the sunset part and need to return in the early morning to catch the light on the other side of the canyon.  The area also has a lot of hiking and biking trails.

There is a very nice visitor center with exhibits and a gift shop.  Make sure to get your National Park Passport stamped!

Laughlin

Last view of Frontier sign

Middle of Death Valley

Elizabeth and Beth walking at the lowest point on the California Highway, in Death Valley. Beautiful vistas and incredible landscape. The drop from the mountains to the valley is breathtaking (with many thanks for strong breaks.) Initially we were going to only go as far as the "Welcome to Death Valley" National Park sign, but hey, once you are this far you might as well go the distance. Kalen walked out to the salt flats, just to check out what was really there since it all looks like water. It was salt!

May the journey be quick because we don't want to get stuck here.

To our surprise, there is a resort and also a restuarant in the middle of the drive. We had burgers and BBQ chicken and it was very good. We were starving! AND I think that we were all releaved to find food. We forgot our snacks...

Rhyolite

Rhyolite is a ghost town a few miles outside of the Death Valley park entrance, on the road from Beatty, Nevada. We stayed, believe it or not, for about two hours. This is a fun little town to walk through and the photography was delightful. I imagine that it is easier to visit in the winter due to the heat. There are no food places on site, but there is a restroom.

The site has been maintained by the Bureau of Land Management since 1990. Fred and Betty were the hosts and they did a great job describing the town, its rapid growth, and sudden downfall. They are shown here on the front porch of Tom Kelley's Bottle House, a residence made entirely out of beer bottles. This is recycling at its finest!



This railroad car was also converted into a home and looked quite cozy. There was a railroad line to the town, and even a fancy railroad station.



I think that someone said that the railroad station was later turned into a casino (what a surprise!) This is about the best that you could have for a photo, as the chain link fence was guarding it.



If you find this interesting, go to the town website. There is a lot of town history and old and new photographs. It may even be intrigueing enough to get you to take a day trip when you are visiting Las Vegas. I would recommend going in the early morning and working with dramatic light for your photos.


http://www.rhyolitesite.com/



On the outskirts of town is the home of the late Belgian artist Albert Szukalski and some of his works. The site is called the Gold Well Open Air Museum and has a number of very interesting works.



See more

http://www.mccullagh.org/location/rhyolitenevada.html