NEVADA'S VALLEY OF FIRE

I always thought my first blog post from North America would be about a National Park, but it was not to be. After visiting the Valley Of Fire State Park, which is about an hour's drive from downtown Las Vegas, I can't help but feature an account of my experience here, before anything else. Though I will forever be indebted to the public transport system in Europe, I have to give my husband-also an extremely entertaining chauffeur-the credit for not being distracted by the exquisite desert scenery, during the road-trip from Vegas. It was an early morning start and our first stop in the Valley of Fire was the Mouse's Tank Road.

We were one of the few shabbily-clad early-birds compared to the insta-ready influencers being photographed in their flowy-gowns by professional photographers. But in mid-Feb, the Mojave desert still felt cold. Grateful for our hiking clothes that kept us warm and comfortable, we clambered one of the many low-lying rocks by the road-side to get a bird's eye view of the winding roads converging into distant rocky mountains.

The next half hour was spent in a trance. The dramatic views changed with every passing minute, as the early morning sun rose higher and higher, illuminating each layer of the landscape. The short walk back to the Rainbow Vista point, where we had parked was not on our list of things to do in the Valley of Fire, but we gladly chanced upon it. It was filled with all hues in a mesmerizing color gradient, defined by the age of the rocks in the area. Next, we spent a couple of hours driving through the valley and stopping for a few hikes. At multiple points, we encountered dips on the road, with warnings prohibiting visitors from halting, except at designated trail heads.

As we wandered closer to the rocks on our first hike for the day, it seemed like we had found our way to Mars. Besides shades, patterns were starting to emerge on the rocks and some were humongous. Formations along the Fire-Wave trail were just extraordinary! The wave-like, multicolored striations resulting from erosion by wind and water over millions of years, are truly worth some attention during our massively insignificant human lifespan.

Another wonder is the slot canyon that forms part of the White-Domes trail. Sculpted to perfection by an ancient water body, rushing through the surrounding hills of limestone and sandstone, nature's creativity as an artist presents itself at its best, here. The third trail that we walked was the Pastel Canyon trail, where we were surrounded by rose-coloured formations.

Finally, after all the outdoor exploration, the one hour we spent at the Visitor Center was extremely enlightening too. The mountain ridge that sits right across the Visitor Center, is a fine example of the age of the rocks in the valley. Fossil records have proven that the red colored rocks are the youngest and the grey, the oldest.

Afterwards in the day, we also drove through the scenic loop in the nearby Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. It narrated a similar tale, but the mountains still had a sprinkling of fresh snow left, and we hadn't expected to witness the rare, beautiful sight of snow in the desert. Archaeological findings like petroglyphs displayed in the Visitor Centers show that these areas were inhabited by many native American hunter-gatherer tribes. One tribe that mastered creating living conditions through the ages, despite the harsh arid summers, and continues to reside in the region is the Southern Paiute. Luckily in the present day, most inhabitants of the tribe have found suitable land to run modern businesses or a ranch or farms for a settled form of livelihood. Driving past such properties, amid a landscape fabricated by natural processes since the beginning of time, made me feel so removed from the regular urban existence. It felt like jet-setting into a past that feels completely alien - an otherworldly experience indeed. With that our adventure-in-colour came to an end, and I hope, I have convinced you to not underestimate the State Parks in the USA. They are seriously underrated!