Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
(This is Part 3 of an ongoing digression … see Part 1 and Part 2.
We rolled out of Tonopah in the morning, and straight on through Nevada. Mostly what Nevada has are long valleys separated by a single ridge of mountains, and very straight roads.
At some point we passed an invisible climate boundary, and we began to see Joshua trees. These are actually acacias yuccas, not trees, and are bizarre looking, even on a good day with a following wind.
The only thing that we could see to explain where they grew or didn’t grow was the snow. In the summer you can tell where there are winter snows, because they put extension poles on the roadside reflectors and signs to keep the snowplows from hitting them. The Joshua trees, we found, only grow where there is sufficient snow in the winter. Joshua trees are one of the earth’s creatures that have been claimed to be affected by “global warming” … as if we could tell either the future climate or the winners and the losers.
We rolled south in the Armagosa valley, home of exactly one humongous sand dune. It is called, imaginatively, “Big Dune”.
It’s also the home of several endangered fish … although any fish living in the desert seems to be endangered to me. These are cave-type fish living in sunken pools in a very few places.
We passed a plant called “USEcology”, and some research revealed that it runs one of the few extra-hazardous waste dump sites in the US. Apparently the lack of rain and the geology there, along with the use of landfill liners, allows them to safely bury a hot of different kinds of toxic substances and remove them from exposure to the environment. Curious what you find in the desert …
From there the road runs past the infamous “Area 51”, which is supposed to be where the US Government secretly stored the bodies of extraterrestrials back in the 1940s or something … as if the US Government could actually keep a secret for more than about fifteen minutes … Area 51 is, however, a real area, part of the Nellis Air Force Base. Below is what is supposed to be one of the signs around the place, reflecting its real use as a place to test new experimental aircraft …
From there it’s a straight shot to Las Vegas … but then in Nevada there aren’t many curved shots, it’s straight roads everywhere. The freeways are unusually pretty around Vegas, because the overpasses and walls are all decorated with Paiute Indian designs, lovely stuff:
There are also curious trees …
As before, of course, this is actually a cell tower with fake palm fronds … but not a bad disguise.
The gorgeous ex-fiancee had treated us to couple of tickets to the Cirque de Soleil performance called “Ka”. It was amazing, everything as advertised, amazing aerial feats, a great story, fantastic athletes. And of course, the people-watching in Vegas is pretty amazing. But the noise, my goodness, everywhere there is music blaring out from hidden speakers. My ears grew weary with the listening.
Today, we thankfully escaped from Los Voraces and went to see Hoover Dam. The scale of it is beyond belief. And right next to it is a new bridge that is equally outrageous, the Pat Tillman bridge. Many bridges are named for people like highway commissioners and the like … this one is not.
I was mystified as to how they’d built the arch out over hundreds of feet of nothingness. But I found a photo of the way it was done.
Using temporary “gin poles” at each end erected on the bridge decks, they ran cables over the gin poles and down to the arch. Then they used “slip forms”. These are forms for the pouring of the concrete which move along as the concrete is poured. Both the dam and the bridge are tributes to human ingenuity.
Tonight finds us at Willow Beach, on the Colorado River below Hoover Dam. It’s a lovely spot, although the temperature is a bit on the warm side … here’s the car thermometer at about 3 PM.
For those not living in the last two bastions of the noble fight against the metric menace, that is to say the US and our anti-decimal ally Liberia, that’s 43°C …
But the Colorado River makes up for that, and the sun is setting now.
There’s wifi in the campground, so we’ll go set up our tent now, and I’ll send this off.
And for all of you, my wish is that your days be full of sunshine and your nights be full of laughter.
Best to all,
w.
Watch out for rattlesnakes near the water.
Go metric and a quarter horse will be a 0.40233600000160935 kilometer horse, how many furlongs is that? Dern, I knew something was off, my water’s boiling point is not 100 C.
Thanks, Willis. Good story.
On your way back, please get a photograph of one of those endangered fishes.
For those wondering about my comment regarding metric, I see that sarcasm doesn’t translate well. For the record, I far prefer metric. For example, 1 mm of rain falling on a square metre equals one litre. And while I know the secret for dividing fractions in my head (half of 3 and 11/16ths is 1 and 27/32nds), I far prefer to divide in metric. As a builder myself, metric is far simpler.
w.
I got the sarcasm, but I had sympathy for the literal meaning. I always have to translate temperatures to Fahrenheit, peoples’ heights to feet and inches, and weight to pounds. I’ve memorized 5/9, 2.54, and 2.2, but I don’t like having to use them–even though I’ve known metric since the Eisenhower administration.
The other day a Chinese guy marveled at why we graybeard Americans don’t adopt metric, I told him we’re inscrutable.
And one litre weighs a kilogram.
As a builder myself I will stay with the old fashion way. I can, like many from the old days, frame/build without use of modern tape measures and other modern measuring devices.
At being 6 feet tall, I can spread my arms and the measurement will be 6 feet from finger tip to finger tip. My boots measure 1 foot in length at the sole. My lower arm from the elbow resting on a flat surface to the tip of my middle is a 19 inches or a cubit. Three lengths with an eyeball gives me 5 feet. Works good for laying out framing. My normal stride is 3 feet and I can perform quite an accurate rough layout by stepping it off. I can spread my hand and get a consistent measurement of 8 inches every time. My finger nail is 1/2 inch wide. I can eyeball 1 inch with amazing accuracy. I can stand on my toes and my finger tip will reach 8 feet.
Using the above various forms of measurement I can build it with a feel.
We don’t need no metric system. 😉
Should read: My lower arm from the elbow resting on a flat surface to the tip of my middle FINGER is a 19 inches or a cubit.
Thanks for the photo of the way the single span bridge was built. Engineering at it’s best.
I spent a few years as a ‘weekend warrior’ raft guide on West Virginia’s New and Gauley rivers. The New River Gorge bridge at Fayetteville, WV looks to be very similar. I believe that it’s about 900 feet high and over one half a mile span. Between winter (cold) and summer (hot) I think the elevation mid span increases about ten feet. From a bus you can see the entire deck when crossing in the early spring but in the summer maybe one half way. Godzilla of thermal expansion.
If you got the balls you can even jump off in October.
One more thing about the New River Gorge Bridge is that the old road is still open and winds its way beneath the new bridge. Viewing such an engineering and construction marvel from the point that it arises from the earth to span a gorge half a mile wide is truly awesome. An engineering feat such as this MUST be viewed from below and close-up.
Another bonus is that if you visit in Sept and the first week or so of Oct you can book a whitewater trip down the upper or lower Gauley River. The guaranteed flow in the Gauley is the result of the lowering of Summersville lake about 80 to 100 (?) feet so as to provide flood protection from winter and spring rains. When the Army Corps of Engineers release 3200-3300 cfs the Gauley is a ‘must do’ before you get too unfit for it. Note: do the lower section before you do the upper unless you have previous whitewater experience.
We built the greatest country on earth using inferior units of measure. Just think what we could have achieved with metric units. /sarc
Willis, great travelogue. If you get a chance, drop by “Scottie’s Castle” in Death Valley. It has quite a story and the house has some very ingenious devices to make the desert a bit more tolerable.
Another fun road is Hiway 50 across Northern Nevada. “The loneliest highway in America”
Typo: “Apparently the lack of rain and the geology there, along with the use of landfill liners, allows them to safely bury a hot of different kinds of toxic substances and remove them from exposure to the environment.” Assume you meant ‘lot’—or maybe ‘host’?
/Mr Lynn
Thank you for the three part story. I’d like to read more of your travels.
I “robust”-ly agree about this crazy, junk science based, open-ended spending of OUR dollars on crap shoots.
Take care.
P.S. Long live the Quartet Pounder!!