On a Mission

Sunset glow on the petrified sand dunes, Gold Butte National Monument

I started this journey with a quest.  My husband, with the patience of a saint and his own share of adventurous spirit, seemed happy to participate.

I saw a picture of a geologic feature deep in a part of Nevada known as Hidden Valley.  It is a rather large orange and white striped rock with three tinajas, the largest of which is about 50 feet in diameter. Who could resist, right?  I’ll get back to this part of the story in a bit.

A tinaja is a depression in bedrock that fills with water, creating a microhabitat and providing water for wildlife. The word "tinaja" is Spanish for "large, earthen jar". 

If you’ve been following along for a while, you know that we’ve been overlanding in California’s Mojave Desert each winter solstice for years.  This time our itinerary  was mostly in Nevada, and mostly exploring new places.

Falling Man Petroglyph in Context, Gold Butte National Monument

Falling man Petroglyph Detail, Gold Butte National Monument

First stop was our favorite spot in Gold Butte National Monument, a petroglyph and petrified sand dune site often called The Falling Man Site because of a particularly provocative glyph.  We pretty much never see anyone there, and we like that just fine.

Gold Butte Sand Dunes, aerial

We also camped near the orange sand dunes in GBNM for the first time.  There were petroglyphs here too, and a striking sunrise sky.

View from Miller Point, Cathedral Gorge State Park

We spent one night in a campground.  Part of me feels like that’s a bit of a cop-out on an overlanding trip but I wanted to check out Cathedral Gorge, a 90-year-old Nevada State Park.  It’s a fascinating place, with interesting erosion and small slot canyons.  I found it difficult to photograph but was glad for the chance to see it.  The hot shower was nice, too.

Buffington Pockets eroded canyon

Next was Buffington Pockets, not far from (and with similar geology to) Valley of Fire State Park. This is where the road started to get a little dicey.  I’m sure it would be more easily done in a side-by-side, but in our 4WD Sprinter, we averaged 3 MPH.

Old Dam, Buffington Pockets

Aerial of the old dam, Buffington Pockets

There’s an odd dam, complete with a mural of a barn owl in flight, which was apparently put up ca 1930-50 and which has long since backfilled with gravel.  The entire area features petrified sand dunes in impressive colors, but my favorite was the canyon above the dam.  We found petroglyphs there, too.

 Hidden Valley is another 5 miles or so down the road (The Bitter Springs Backcountry Byway which, for the brave, ends at to Lake Mead).  The 10-mile trek took about 2 ½ hours and a great deal of patience.  I did have a passing question about who would help us if we broke an axel. We landed at the boundary of the Muddy Mountains BLM Wilderness Area, where we camped.  It’s a tiny clearing, and perhaps as out-of-level as we’ve ever camped.  Awkward.

From there, we hiked over a 700-foot ridge into the valley itself and about 2 miles cross-country without a trail. This is a quest, after all, so some inconvenience is expected.

Striped Tinaja, worth the trouble

Striped Tinaja, husband for scale

The tinaja was spectacular, and well worth the effort.

In case you’re wondering about our judgement, we do have our limits. We backed off the next spot we planned to check out in the Buffington Pockets area, called the Color Rock Quarry.  The road was too much for the Raven.  Maybe another day with a shorter wheelbase.

Kelso Dunes pre-dawn

We pivoted and headed for California.  A Trader Joe’s stop in Las Vegas was great for fresh food, but the culture shock of hoards doing their Christmas shopping (it was December 23) was fingernails on a chalkboard.  We were within a couple of hours of our destination, our favorite sand dunes, and decided we’d stop off at another spot and finish the drive in the morning.  We were pooped. Kelso Dunes is not my favorite photo spot, but was quiet and a welcome rest.

Mojave desert dune sunrise

We reached our last destination in the morning, rested and enjoyed being blissfully alone in the quiet. We finished off the trip with the incomparable experience of first light on the dunes. 

Thanks for riding along.  I’m looking forward to sharing next year’s beauty with you all.

Gold Butte National Monument

There are more images in the Winter 2024-25 Gallery on the Website.