"It really clouded up today," said Andy, as we left Las Vegas for Red Rocks. We had not listened to the weather channel, much less any other TV station, in a week. A big sky spread in alternating layers of thin stratus clouds and bright blue as we entered Red Rocks Canyon.
At Calico Basin four or five little girls and their parents primped for a photo shoot. The five-year olds cocked their heads and tip-toed along the boardwalk in vain conceit, the layers of their nylon netting tutus bouncing as they walked.
"That looks ridiculous," said Andy when we were out of earshot.
"Yes," I agreed, "unless they are doing an advertisement for a children's dance studio."
Cars filled every parking space at Calico Basin II Overlook and Calico Basin II. Small groups sat high up on the boulders; singles grappled along the Aztec sandstone faces in the distance; climbers checked their ropes and gear in the parking lot. All of Vegas had taken the day off and come to Red Rocks for Friday morning. The Children's Discovery Trail looped for a full mile into a hidden canyon. There the waterfall dribbled over icicles onto an almost frozen pond, all tucked between hundreds of feet of rock cliff.
Recently, Las Vegas gang members had spray painted more than $10,000 in damage to the petroglyphs of this park. And in Vegas so many of the glass walkways are graffiti scratched with lava rock. It takes such bitter, angry people to cause such senseless destruction in a country of so much beauty. I wonder if it is resentment of those who have some degree of luxury or just their total stupidity. Nevada has the lowest high school graduation rate of all 50 states at 51%. Just shows what a little education can do!
Sunset came early as the last rays sank behind the mountain ridges once we left Pahrump, Nevada. By the time we had driven to Stovepipe Wells, California, our home for the next six days, darkness had settled over Death Valley.
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