There was so much to see that I have to divide the day up into 2 separate posts, possibly 3...I'd been to Khota Circus before, nearly 2 years ago. It's an astounding place, but the journey to get there was nearly as memorable. I left Overton around 6:15am as it's about a 65-mile drive over paved and 4-wheel-drive dirt roads, and I didn't know what condition they'd be in. As I drove north along the main road through the Moapa Valley, I could see the sky to the east was going to give a terrific dawn display. So of course I ended up behind a school bus. Luckily, it only stopped once to pick up kids, but it looks bad if you pass one at all, so there was quite a procession of (mostly) trucks behind it before it pulled off to the side to head back down the valley. I got on the interstate and stopped at a truck parking turnout in time to see the sunrise colors over the Virgin Mountains, my destination for the day --
Now THAT is a good omen. I looked off to the north and saw the tops of the Mormon Mountains were being it by the sunlight, so I pulled off at the next offramp (to Carp and Elgin, via a tiny dirt road) to get some photos, first with the 17-55 f/2.8 landscape lens --
Then with the 100-400 f/5.6 lens, zooming in on the main peak --
Boy, this was starting out to be a great day trip! The actual road to Gold Butte starts of by passing some ranching areas -- including one that has a sign reading "Bundy's Melons"; yes, it's THAT Bundy. There are other signs along the potholed, uneven and sometimes dusty road, some at bit more humorous --
Let's hope that doesn't happen to me as it's a long way back into town... I pass a road veering off to the west, which goes down to one of the north arms of Lake Mead (the other, Overton Arm, dried up when the reservoir's water receded due to the drought). You can see Lake Mead, and the north shore of the national recreation area --
Gold Butte is only about 30 miles air distance from Overton, but you have to drive around 60 miles to get there. The Virgin Mountains' Virgin Peak is 8,075 feet high --
And the road to Gold Butte heads south, both roller-coastered and potholed --
The road I take to begin the hike to Khota Circus isn't as bad as I thought, but you still have to take it VERY slow unless you want to sail over the small, narrow washes and break an axle. There's one old guy parked in a battered red truck; he must've spent the night there as he was airing out his sleeping bag. Hmmm, I was hoping I'd be alone during my hike -- I am.
The setting moon over Gold Butte.
All of southern Nevada and the tip of southwestern Utah are in the driest of all the North American deserts, the Mojave. Joshua Trees, named by Mormon settlers because their shape reminded them of a story where Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer, are what's known as an "indicator species" for the Mojave. They can live for hundreds of years; they're scattered here and there in this landscape. With the clouds (which do wonders all day) and multi-colored rock, the scenery is dramatic and beautiful.
Like my recent visit to Buffington Pockets, it's as quiet as a church mouse -- or as quiet as the grave. There's not even the slightest breeze. And though I see animal tracks -- lizards, mice, coyote -- I only see a single lizard the entire time I'm out here.
The Gold Butte area, south of Mesquite, is 350,000 acres of spectacular, wild, and remote scenery. The area has a history of mining -- the town of Gold Butte had a population of 1,000 at one time -- but the total takeout in the district has only been $75,000, and no significant deposits have been found. In current years, it's seen battles over its status: protected or unprotected? All or part?
It's a focal point of the "Sagebrush Rebellion". These things and more are going through my mind as I make my way to Khota Circus.
To be continued...
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