Pahranagat Wildlife Refuge and the town of Alamo, Nevada.

I really needed to vacuum the inside of the rig….huge dust storm in Laughlin.  While I did that Eric was off on his bicycle to explore the town of Alamo. 

What did he see?  In this very small town he found four manicured baseball diamonds under lights, a running track at the elementary school, a new senior’s centre and a newish rodeo grounds with RV hook ups for about 50 rigs.  Massive facilities for such a small town with no apparent industrial base.  It is the service centre for the valley with one gas station and one grocery store.   None of this can be seen from the highway.  You need to stay an extra night and have a look around.   

After lunch we headed south to have a look at the Pahranagat Wildlife Refuge.  It’s spring and the valley is green. 

The head of the wildlife refuge.

We drove into the northern end of the refuge and had a look at the visitor’s centre which is new and pristine.

Inside the visitor’s centre there is lot’s of information.  The young ranger who was on the desk was extremely helpful and gave us lot’s of information.  The whole valley is green because of natural springs and an ancient aquifer. 

The native Paiute Indians have been in this area for thousands of years.  This is one of their woven biscuits.

Ancient petro glyph plaster cast.

We watched a 12 minute movie on the area and then we were on our way for a walk. 

 

The Cacti are blooming.

We left the visitor’s centre and returned north to the camping area along the lake.

We parked the truck and took a walk on the causeway over the lake.

Looking north.

Spring has sprung and the birds are starting to arrive.

Brackish to the north and dirty on the south side.

This flock of birds flew off as we passed by.

Amazing to see this water and greenery in the middle of the desert.  There is no surface water in the area other than the springs.

I sat the camera on a rock and took a timed photo of us…..

and as usual I didn’t get it quite right as it took more than one and I thought it was done. 

Just lovely!

Another desert flower. 

The Joshua trees are blooming here as well and Eric read that the flowers attract white moths that pollinate them.

The entrance sign to the camping area.  We drove the length of the camping area that is along the edge of the lake.  We could get in with our 5th wheel and stay for a night but we’d have to drive three miles to the end to turn around if there wasn’t room.  Don’t think we will try it even though it’s very lovely.

 

Looks like the flowers turn into big seed pods.

I’m sure something must feast on them and distribute the seeds.   Perhaps the bats do.

The cacti are such a pretty color against the grey of the desert. 

So….a good day and we’ll stay in this area again and look around more.

When we returned to the park around 3pm the rigs were rolling in.   By 6pm it was almost full.

There must be a big event at the rodeo grounds as huge horse trailers have been passing by the front of the park all day. 

Tomorrow we are off to Jackpot, Nevada for an overnight stay. 350 miles so a longer day.