A Hoover at Hoover Dam and Boondocking at Stewart's Point

Sunday, February 23. 2014

Bucket List time! All my life I have had to spell my last name for people. The story goes; H-O-O-V-E-R, like the vacumn cleaner, the president, and the dam. I have owned Hoover vacuums, am not related, as far as I know to President Hoover, and now I have seen the dam!

Leaving Boulder Beach campground this morning, we drove back towards the dam. Since we are in a motorhome, we had to be given a more thorough inspection at the security point to enter the dam, than the cars. Greg had to get out and open our outside storage bins. I had to host a security guard inside the rig. He took a quick look around, including the bathroom, and then asked me what was in the flat, black nylon bag with G-TOPS written on duct tape. I laughed! I told him that was the clothing bag with my husband's shirts/tops in it. I added that all the black bags had clothing in them. He was satisfied, thanked me, then exited the rig. Did he think it meant Gun-Tops? When we started traveling we each had two identical black bags, four total. To keep from getting them all mixed up and constantly unzipping them to see the contents, I grabbed the only labeling tools I had at the time, silver duct tape and a Sharpie.

RV's have their own separate parking on the Arizona side of the dam, so we drove across the top of the dam to get to it. On the Nevada side are a parking deck, gift shop/cafe, and the visitor center. Greg high tailed it on foot back across the dam. I took my time walking over. The entry to the visitor center is $10. To take the combined dam and power station tour is $30! I wasn't that interested in either, so Greg went alone. He was hoping to get on the next tour but still had to wait until the 11 am one hour tour.

Intake Towers

Powerhouse buildings

Emergency Spillway tunnel entrance - only used once, 1n 1983.

New Visitors Center, opened in 1996

I walked over the dam and shot photos and people watched. Whenever we reach the bigger national parks and tourist attractions, I am still surprised at all the international visitors and languages. The recession and the more attractive currency exchange rates have changed tourism. I tried to find a way to hike up to the bridge. The highway was finally re-routed off the dam when the new bridge spanning the Colorado River was built. Driving across it the day before, we discovered that the barrier is too high to see the dam below. You have to take the exit for the dam, drive a distance, go through security and park in a small lot. Then a trail criss-crosses a steep hill and takes you onto a walkway on the bridge in order to see the dam. There was nowhere for a motorhome to park, so we weren't able to walk on the bridge.

The new US 93 Bypass Bridge

We saw plenty without going on the bridge. Greg enjoyed his tour and came back with lots of nerdy facts, and I took too many photos, got tired of waiting for him and went back to the rig for tea. Then we needed to head for Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas to do laundry and shopping. We were hoping to finish up and still have time to find a boondocking site before dark. We never did the laundry. After driving a distance and finally finding it, almost all the dryers were out of service with a lot of people waiting for the few that were. We still had enough clothes, except underwear, so I decided to hand wash what we needed later.

Generators in the Powerhouse

Looking downstream from an air vent in the dam face

The dam is designed to withstand a magnitude 8.5 earthquake

Emergency stairs in the dam, looking down

We found the nearby Trader Joe's and a Walmart and took care of the empty fridge. Greg topped off the diesel tank and we decided we had enough time to head back to the lake and drive along the western shore to reach Stewart's Point before dark. It took us about an hour driving through some great geology. The road doesn't even go within sight of the lake, rather disappointing. Stewart's Point had a couple mile drive to get to the official boondocking area near the water. It was going to be dark soon, so we stayed farther away from the water in a wide spot that we knew the rig could easily drive around. We didn't want to get into any soft sand in the twilight. Just as we were leveling the rig, two pre-teen girls came running up from the lake. Their mother's car battery was dead and she needed a jump. I didn't want to take a chance driving closer to the uneven bluffs along the lake, but Greg felt that it might be doable so we drove farther down and out onto the bathub ring. The lake has been very low for decades and has a pronounced ring of white calcium carbonate around it.

North Shore Road

Rocks

We pulled up next to the car on an uneven bluff near the water where they had parked. It was a mother, grandmother, a friend and the two girls. It took about a half hour of charging her battery for it to finally start. By now it was dark, so as they drove off, we decided to just stay where we were and try to find a level spot on the bluff.

The next morning we found ourselves in a prime spot looking up and down Lake Mead. It is a short climb down to the water. We have two RV's nearby, but a good distance away. Two more arrived today, but stayed farther away. An occasional boat goes by, a few high jets, and a few helicopters, otherwise all we have heard are the sounds of a few fish jumping, coyotes, and burros braying across the lake. It is very peaceful and quiet compared to the Boulder Beach area. Greg rode his bike, but there are few roads here. Mostly we have been sitting outside gazing at the lake. It's odd to see the water in the midst of the desert. There aren't even plants along the shores.

Local Resident

Our view

The Beach

Watching the sunset

Three nights are enough. We're ready to move on tomorrow to nearby Valley of Fire State Park. The geology and especially the colors are supposed to be amazing. We may stay in their campground or boondock again elsewhere. Then, since there is actually a chance of rain and won't be good for exploring, we'll probably head up to St. George, Utah and look for a laundramat again!

From the Mojave Preserve to Lake Mead or Burros, Burials, and Boulder Beach

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Yesterday we left our boondock spot behind the mesa and next to Banshee Canyon. Our “close” neighbors were still there, so it was time to move on. It was about a 20 minute drive south out of the park to I-40 where we turned east. After crossing the Colorado River and arriving back in Arizona, we exited at Topock and began the ascent up the historic Route 66 to Oatman, Arizona. The road runs over the mountains from Needles to Kingman. We arrived in Kingman too late last fall to drive it, on our way to Lake Havasu City, and took the interstate instead of the detour over the mountain.

Cholla Garden Wilderness Area next to I-40

Crossing the Colorado into Arizona

Heading north on Route 66 toward Oatman

Boy were we glad we didn't try this road late in the day and in a hurry. Once out of the Colorado River valley it climbs in twists and turns to Oatman. The scenery and geology were great and we figured we'd pull over for lunch at Oatman before descending the other side. We thought the town was an old abandoned ghost town. A “Watch for Burros” sign, and then a peeling paint, “Welcome to Oatman” sign greeted us. There was a small art gallery before the curve into town. As we rounded the corner we had to stop. There was a large parking lot full of cars, and a street lined with tourist shops and filled with people and burros! The first burro I saw I thought was stuffed. But, then it moved, and as we crawled through the town we saw them on the sidewalks, on the boardwalks, and in the street. Everywhere people were feeding them. Most of the burros were overweight, except the baby.

"Will Bray for Food"

"If I ignore the noisy diesel right behind me, it will go away."

People feeding "wide" burros

The shops looked mostly junky and we really weren't interested in feeding the burros in their “natural habitat”, so after crawling along through town, we were suddenly back on the twisting winding road and descending. We found a pull-off near the top and stopped for lunch. Walking out on the point of the cliff we could see the Colorado River Valley and a large copper mine below. Then we realized that on the backside of the point people had turned the slope into a “memorial garden”. There were a couple dozen crosses turned into shrines, some with solar lights and plastic flowers. Some of the crosses were elaborate. We guessed that there may have been ashes spread here, but it certainly wasn't a cemetery. Oddly, there was a big for sale sign on the property, so it wasn't public land, even though it was near the road and in a wilderness area. We had lunch in the rig and drove on down the mountain.

Escape from the crowds of Oatman. Note the drop-off with no guard rails!

Wild curves and no guardrails

Memorial Garden Viewpoint

 The descent into Kingman had 10 mph hairpin turns and no guardrails to keep us out of the canyon below. I was glad Greg was driving! He is Mr. Cool and after 15 months driving the rig and negotiating crazy roads all over North America, not much fazes him. From Kingman we drove north on US 93 and had a straight, flat shot to Lake Mead. We checked for boondocking sites along the way. The road runs near Lake Mojave as it nears Lake Mead. Lake Mojave runs south out of Lake Mead below Hoover Dam. The only one we found was down a very steep dirt road with no turn-arounds. Rather than pay the $30 to the RV Park on Lake Mojave we continued over the Colorado River into Nevada on the new bridge below Hoover Dam. I had the camera ready to shoot the dam. Well, the side barrier on the new bridge is so high you can't see it! The bridge was full of people looking at it, but you have to take a turn-off, park, and hike to the bridge.
We passed the dam by a few miles, and found a spot in the Boulder Beach Campground in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. $10 a night for no hook-ups, but access to water, trash, and a dump works for us. Our campsite is in the second row above the lake, so we have a view of the water. Nice, except that the beach used to be up to the campground and is now ¾ of a mile away! Tomorrow we can head back to Hoover Dam. Because we have a motorhome we have to park on the Arizona side of the river and walk over the dam to the visitor center.

Descending into Kingman - is that our own taillights ahead?

Lake Mead

Good exhibits in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area Visitors Center

Lake view from our campsite. See the houseboat!

Getting all the way to the water was quite a hike

Boulder Beach

Greg found out about a 34 mile paved bike trail along the lake, around the River Mountains, and back to the lake again. He took off on that this morning, with a detour to Hoover Dam along the old railroad path and tunnels built to construct the dam. The ride totaled 48 miles and Greg claims it was all uphill. Tomorrow we can drive to see the dam, and then head into nearby Henderson for groceries and to do the “monthly” laundry. Food is running low after all our desert wilderness boondocking. Woo-Hoo! I located a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods! Hopefully after that we can drive along the western shore and find a good boondocking spot. This end of the lake is crowded and noisy due to being close to Las Vegas. The jets are landing at the airport, the helicopter tours flying overhead, and there is the loud humming of RV generators morning and evening in the campground. Viva Las Vegas!

Construction railroad tunnel from 1931

Boulder Beach Marina

The River Mountain Loop bike trail climbs the stormwater channel for 7 or 8 miles

Las Vegas from Railroad Pass

Finally, descending toward the lake. Only 20 miles to go and plenty more hills ahead.