Chap 10 (Nevada)

---December 16th 2013---

Caveman for a Night

Las Vegas was an important destination as it was my takeoff point for Montreal, for the holidays. Reaching Sin City a few days early, I got the opportunity to visit the region, not just the city but also the nature surrounding it. My first mission was to visit Red Canyon, just on the edge of the city. It was a beautiful park, but nothing I hadn’t seen earlier on this trip; red rocks, petrified dunes, deserts, etc. Once back in town, I decided to test my heart. I went to the Heart Attack Grill. This restaurant is quite unique as you must pay before eating, so you’ll have paid if you have an actual heart attack, you can eat for free if you weigh more than 300lbs, and the smallest calorie meal you can get is a good 3000 calories. After having filled my arteries with cholesterol, I went for a run up to the Stratosphere Tower, and tried one of their rollercoaster. The one I took is a small cart over a straight track going beyond the boundary of the tower. At first, the track leans backward, but eventually, it seesaws toward a freefall. The cart starts rolling down as a wire amplifies the acceleration. At the very last minute, the rollercoaster stop, but still leaving you with one less heart beat to your life long collection.

Heart Attack Grill and their 9982 calories burger

The next day, I once more left the city, but for a more distant destination: Valley of Fire. The first day, I simply hitchhiked out of the city. The second one, I managed to find my way all the way to the park, but ended up being kicked out before dawn. The patrol kicking me out gave me a ride to the limit of the park, but I got stranded in the middle of nowhere, once more. I tried to get a ride back in the park, but couldn’t get anything. When night came, I realised how big of a problem it was to be stuck here. The small bush spread over the desert prevented me from putting my tent up, but as I examined the area, I spotted a hole in one of the hills. I climbed the hill toward that hole, and found myself a cave. I examined it in more depth, for any snake of tarantula, follow by an examination of the other nearing caves, but the first one was the perfect one. I took my sleeping bag out, but not my tent, and build myself a fire to keep me warm. 

My cave away from home

The Sun fully disappeared at 16 o’clock, but I could just go to sleep. Normally, I would of read, but with the full Moon and the pale desert valley reflecting the light, I could go for a walk in the night without any worries.

Night Walk

When I got back to my cave, I lay down went to sleep, but my cave had one more magical moment in stuck for me. As I took a last glimpse at the Moon lite valley, I heard the howl of a coyote greeting the Moon. To my great surprise, this howl wasn’t scary, but turned out to be simply beautiful, I was one with the nature.

The next morning, I snoozed until the road reopened, and once I saw my first car, I got back to the road. One car in, I had my ride to the park. This time, rather than hitchhiking in the park, I decided to tag along my host all the way across the park. The entire park was worth the detour, but the road between the main road and the White Dome was by far the prettiest of the park. Both sides were surrounded by many petrified dunes. But unlike the one I had previously seen, these were rainbow like. The dunes varied between pink, white, yellow, blue, green, orange, red and purple. Many people ask me why do I like desert, after all desert are boring sand dunes, but these desert are much more than just sandy area, they are geological wonders and full of colors.

Valley of Fire

Before leaving the park, the couple I had spent all morning with and I paid a little visit to the museum. It was a good thing I had seen it after the night in the cave. Seeing the locals bugs like the Giant Vinegaroon (a cross between a spider and a scorpion roughly the size of my hand), the Jerusalem Cricket (a fat cricket with an ugly face) or the Pale Windscorpion (a scorpion without a tail but with a disturbing head), would of most certainly scare the hell out of me all night long.