Feb 1-2 -- A Storm And Its Aftermath At The Valley Of Fire

It rained pretty hard here in the southern part of the Moapa Valley on Sunday. I'd checked the weather on the Web and there was an alert about a very strong storm cell that was moving in the direction of Overton, and at the time I checked it was at the Valley of Fire and heading northeast at a speed of 45mph. I made sure everything on Discovery was secure, propped up some pillows, and waited to watch the show. Mother Nature put on quite a display -- lightning that zig-zagged across the sky, thunder (booming almost immediately after the lightning, meaning the storm was right above us), rain that turned to near-hail, and winds. (I found out later from a friend boondocking up on the mesa to the south that it was much worse there.) After the storm had passed, I went to the RV park's entrance and saw that the low wash south on the main road was flooded, and even trucks couldn't get through. A resident walking his dog said he hadn't seen it this bad since the rains of August 2014, when part of Interstate 15 was washed away. The day after the rain it was breezy and cold, so I got stuff done at and in the trailer, then went up to the south mesa to get some pre-sunset views. The water in the low washes had receded, and the landscapes from up top were spectacular, especially in the intense last light of the day --  

The Virgin Mountains and the horizontal line of Mormon Mesa; a lenticular cloud is forming over Virgin Peak (it never totally developed) 

A dusting of snow on the desert mountain peaks to the south

A closeup of the Gold Butte area, about 25 air miles from Overton (but 75 miles by road)

A panorama of  Gold Butte 

Overton, Mormon Mesa, the Mormon Mountains and the fractured, folded, convoluted landscape

Rain meant pockets in the rocks with water at the Valley of Fire, so I went up there on the 30th -- and wasn't disappointed. The standing water adds another dimension, rarely seen there, to the already spectacular landscape -- 

Right along the main road through the park

As it was early, and a weekday, there was practically no one there. Usually I park at one of the signed parking lots -- "No Parking" signs were added since I was last there, enforcing leaving your car in one of the 3 lots -- then head off to the west, but I this time I hiked to the east. The sky was a cloudless blue, so I could concentrate on the landscape  and details both large and small --

I climbed to to the top of an incline  and looked over the other side; the ever-present Virgin Mountains are in the distance --

Wow. What a beautiful landscape -- and relatively unseen as most people park their cars and go to the west.

Here's another panorama, looking east -- 

then looking west --

The rock formations were just stunning; here I am near the top of the incline, again looking to the west. That rock formation reminds me of the large "space alien" in the first "Alien" movie -- 

And the water pockets were numerous, and some were near-full, 2 days after the storm. There was evidence all around that the storm that moved through here was pretty intense; this is of course a usually dry and harsh land --

As I mentioned above, the cloudless blue sky meant I could examine the landscape and its "Technicolor" hues.

The still-damp rock made the colors more intense --

This was my last visit to the Valley of Fire during this winter stay, and boy did it put on a show --

A really large pool -- 

Smaller water pockets nearby in the striped rock --

And the patterns in the wet sand added yet another texture to the landscape --

Then I came across some really rare wonders for here. This is a fragile "pane" of ice that had formed around grass, so it took its pattern --

Here it is, on the grass and in the shade; it was still pretty chilly that day --

Sand ripples, striped rock, a water pocket and desert flora --

I was surrounded by eye candy --

The different layers of rock, with the Virgin Mountains -- 

Reflections in the pool --

I said rare events -- and this is another of them. I was in a wash, and saw this...mass. I could tell it wasn't a permanent part of the landscape, so I touched it -- and it was hailstones that had fused together --

The individual pellets were small, but they must've fallen with some force --

And I mentioned the ripples in the sand. Mother Nature's amazing palette --

Here's the wash I hiked through where the chunk of hailstones was located --

Another large pool --

And the pool set in the landscape; I adjusted my lens's circular polarizer to catch the blue of the sky in the water pocket --

Looking to the east, down the wash -- 

Then I came upon the biggest water pocket of all, with its amazing reflections --

And its sand ripples, that in a closeup certainly don't look that what they really are, more like, well, my imagination sees intestines packed in a loop --

What an amazing day; I think it would be hard to match another in the Valley of Fire. But as I plan on coming here for repeated visits in the years ahead, it may just happen again.