The 70th Birthday Adventure – November 2022 - Part Five – Gold Butte

 

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Please click here for - Part Four

 

Falling Man

 

The Lady and I were amazed, when we went over our notes, it had been a decade since we last visited Gold Butte. Since our last visit, thank god, it became a National Monument. We were ecstatic about this opportunity to return to one of our favorite places on this planet.

 

I recommend two sources for information on visiting Gold Butte. One is Jim Boone’s website – BirdandHike. Jim’s website is phenomenal with the amount of detailed information he presents. Also, Jim personally worked hard on the effort to attain National Monument status for Gold Butte. We all owe Jim a debt of gratitude. The second source is - Friends of Gold Butte.

 

We had a long day and drive to reach our first destination in Gold Butte. Our first stop enroute was China Ranch Date Farm where Deb dropped off copies of her book. My Mom loved dates and I remember stopping here with my family in the 1950’s and 1960’s. When you stop, be sure and have a date shake. The Lady and I shared one.

 

Driving on the interstates through Las Vegas – especially after our many days of backcountry solitude – was horrifying culture shock. We resupplied with a stop at Smiths Grocery in Mesquite. It was almost as bad as Vegas.

 

We chased daylight to reach our dispersed campsite, but we made it. First light the next morning illuminated the fantastic sandstone landscape we had entered.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was out before dawn to watch light hit, what we call, “The Sunrise Panels.”

 

 

 

 

 

Steve & Deb joined us on our early morning coffee walk. We introduced them to “The Birth Canal,” a naturally carved tunnel through a sandstone formation.

 

 

 

 

 

Julie and Deb zipped through and were born again. Steve assisted with the delivery down at the narrow exit. Julie came out a footling breech, as she did 66 years ago, always positioned to hit the ground running.

 

 

The two “Born Agains” climbed to the Sunrise Panels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After breakfast, we donned our boots and packs and explored. And what an exploration it was!

 

 

 

 

 

Ancient rock art – petroglyphs and pictographs – is tucked away seemingly everywhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The shapes, textures, and colors of the rock were mesmerizing. I could not stop taking photographs, it was so incredible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We wandered to our hearts’ content.

 

 

 

 

 

We climbed up to and through the tunnel that leads to the “Falling Man” petroglyph, and to so many other spectacular panels of rock art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lady’s memory kicked into gear and she led us to several panels she remembered the location of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was Deb who rediscovered Newspaper Rock for us.

 

 

 

 

 

A close look at the center reveals that the ancient artists knew exactly where little sheep came from. Here are other details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent quite some time at the “Skyscraper.”  Petroglyph panels adorn all heights on this massive formation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I remained distracted by the incredible colors in the rock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tinajas in the sandstone still held water from the rains.

 

 

 

 

 

We hiked south to the main wash and visited the “21 Goats" panel that resides in a side canyon. That’s the name we’ve always heard. They are sheep, of course, not goats, and quite a few more than 21.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Monument status has enabled restoration for native plants.

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, we did not see any bearpoppies.

 

We completed a nice loop hike and returned to camp midafternoon. We had time to drop the tops of the campers and relocate to a spot a couple of miles away to put us in position for the next day’s adventures.

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed another wonderful evening sharing stories under the stars – as long as we refrained from looking west where the massive light pollution of Las Vegas obscured the night sky.

 

The story continues. Please click here for - Part Six