In, Around, and Back Again — YOFO Adventures

View of Hoover Dam from Memorial Bridge.

After we left the kaleidoscope of Red Rocks land (temporarily anyway), we made our way to Las Vegas. Partly necessity (laundry, sadly) and partly joyousness - flying back to PA for Trav and Jess’s wedding (Okay, really, it was 100% joy…). In a crazy twist of fate, we woke up in Vegas the morning after the mass shooting. A bit like living in the upside down (watch the show “Stranger Things”), the previous evening Dean had wanted to go down to the Strip to try to catch a show while Dawn was focused on “I need clean underwear.” For once, Dawn wins for “good call!” We did geek out at the Hoover Dam before our midnight flight.

Travis and Jessica’s wedding was “like stepping into a fairy tale under a curtain of stars” (The Night Circus). Trav and Jess did an amazing job planning and executing and Bobbie and George were the best hosts/venue/proud parent/in-law. Kady and Charlie, along with Jess’ brothers Cory and Wade, had key roles in the non-traditional self-uniting ceremony, and they all were amazing. While in Bellefonte, we had the pleasure of staying at Kay’s place; she epitomizes graciousness and hospitality. And back in Lewisberry we hung out at Silver Lake Farm with Char ‘n’ Jules, the best farm to table B&B in PA with fresh eggs!

We snuck in a quick trip to visit Dean’s mom in Brooklyn (Lee and Missy, too). And before we returned to our YOFOAdventures we were happy that Bill and Jane were available for dinner.

Back to Vegas and the folks at Fix Auto-North still had the truck. Apparently, “tagging” that buck did about 10-full work days of effort workers of damage. Oof. Undaunted, we piled the tent into a rental car and headed to Great Basin NP. We had not been sure how we were going to tag that park in - seriously - the middle of nowhere, so things just aligned.

We're still a bit confused as to why Great Basin is a National Park when some of the other places we've been are not. That is not knocking the park - we hiked a 13-er (Wheeler Peak, 2d tallest in NV), took a cave tour, and saw some 3000+ year old bristlecone pines … which is pretty damn fantastic. But it just was a bit head scratching nonetheless.

Prepping for the final assault. Yep. Way up there. And yep - snow in Nevada.

More on climbing Wheeler - we woke up ass crack early (had to be up, down, and at Visitor Center for the cave tour) and were pretty happy that it was about 5 degrees warmer than predicted - so, yeah, it was about 33. Getting out of the fart sack in the cold and dark was rough! But we broke camp in about 20 minutes, busted into the cold coffee and made our way to the trailhead. Started at about 10k feet after sleeping at about 8k and the trail meandered serenely, slowly gaining elevation for about half its distance when it suddenly got “game on.” Count us in the “there’s snow in Nevada?” camp, but we thanked our trekking poles as we navigated across snow/ice-covered scree fields and some mild exposed sections. Likely a somewhat tame hike without the snow. Never felt unsafe, but it took mental focus and energy, which gets tougher up in the clouds. Unfortunately, our smoke luck continues and the advertised vistas were hazy with pale yellow/orange. Didn't dampen the enthusiasm or the way a granola bar tastes at altitude...but Dean did get a raging altitude headache which made the descent a bit of a slog. Dawn had her typical jackassery/euphoric feelings over about 11,500’ so that counteracted the threatening sinus pressure. Oh, and we busted out the Beat Navy flag just for Shawn. Can't pass up an opportunity to say Go Army in epic fashion.

At the top. Looking northwest across the Great Basin.

With Dean’s cranium about to explode and given another forecast in the high-20/low-30’s...we busted out for lower altitude in a southerly direction. George (Fix Auto-North guru) had recommended the Valley of Fire State Park just north of Lake Mead, so we found a hotel just north of the park. In addition to the hotel being climate controlled, the Park’s campground had filled, so we’d have had to divert anyway. Got up the next morning and explored in Valley of Fire. If you're out in Vegas - see the Hoover Dam and check out Valley of Fire. (Of course, do all the debauchery too...but get outside and stretch your legs to make the Bloody Mary's taste better!) We did a few short hikes and saw more fun red rocks and petroglyphs - seriously cool stuff and their visitor center blows away some of the national park ones!

Crazy Fire Wave formation in the Valley of Fire State Park