Four Wheeling, Whitney Pockets to Grand Wash

Tuesday, 1-3-09, we loaded up the four wheeler and went on an adventure. It seems good to have gas prices at a place where you don't spend your entire month's budget on one fill-up.

The Sierra loaded and ready to roll.

We met Claudine and John at the Texaco around 10:00am and headed south to Mesquite, then further south on Gold Mesa Road. You follow the Virgin River for several miles, then cut out into the desert. You pass a virtual oasis with palm trees and everything called Juanita Springs, then come over a hill for a distant view of Lake Mead.

Here you can see Lake Mead if you look closely

Unloading at Whitney Pockets

After some 20 miles the sort of asphalt road ends and from there it is dirt. We stopped here at a place called Whitney Pockets to unload and begin the adventure in earnest.

One of the few signs telling you to go.

We unloaded and decided to check out this place nearby where the CCC workers built a small dam back in the 1930's. They dammed off one of the cracks in the rocks and piped the water it would collect out to a watering trough for livestock. There must have been more water then though because it was bone dry and looked like it had been quite a while since it had water in it.

This has become known as Whitney Pockets Dam. We called it "Little Hoover".

We spent quite a bit of time exploring the nearby rock formations and looking for a geocache that was hidden a little too good. There is one rock that looks like it must have been tipped over. Normally the red and white layers are separated horizontally, but on this one they were serrated almost vertically. Locally they call it two-toned rock.

Two-Toned Rock

Notice the strange way this rock has eroded to form the pattern on its face.

I called this "Jonah's Demise"

I thought this is probably like looking into a whale's throat. I got a little taste of what Jonah must have felt as he passed through an entrance like this.

Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe

After exploring for a while we had enhanced our appetite and finally had lunch. By then it tasted really good. Chicken salad spread on a soft roll enhanced with tomato and lemon pepper rings and Sunny D. Yummy!

After lunch we explored another rock feature that had a hole in it about the size of a good sized rabbit hole. I was sure if I could just get in far enough I would find Alice.

What can I say? I am naturally curious.

And I almost made it!

Later we drove east over a ridge or two into another valley which seemed to go forever. We found another route to Saint George, but decided not to take it on this trip.

So many choices...

We passed an itty-bitty cemetery where two people were buried, one in 1997 and one in 2000. We decided it would probably be a lot cheaper than the New Harmony Cemetery, especially for us "outsiders".

An "alternative" cemetery

It was here I found a cactus that I felt kinship with. I have been reading a little about eastern religions and reincarnation. I think this might be one of my relatives. John said its belly looked exactly like mine, and Ellie said that sometimes I am about that prickly too.

Kindred spirits?

We went from desert scrub to forests of pinion and Joshua. The desert is just starting to show a little green. I think in a month the spring flowers will be in bloom and it will be quite gorgeous for a few weeks.

The Joshua Forest

At the return point a sign said we were only seven miles form Grand Wash Bay. We wanted to see Lake Mead since we were so close, so we decided by majority vote (John & I) to take that little side trip. It was disappointing because we went as far as we could and were still at least a mile from the water. It the lake was full it would have been 20 feet deep there, but unfortunately the lake is really low. We returned the seven miles and realized we only had about an hour of daylight left and the trucks were still 25 miles away.

On the way back we explored a place called 'The Devil's Throat". It is a huge sink hole right out in the middle of the desert. It is probably about 80 feet in diameter and perhaps 100 feet deep. It would be quite a rude interruption if you happened to be walking through the area on a dark night.

We arrived back at the trucks just as it was getting dark. Though we had put on a lot of miles, we still hadn't seen all we wanted to. There are a lot of Indian petroglyphs in the area that we didn't get to explore so we want to go back again for another adventure.

We stopped in Mesquite and ate at the Eureka Casino buffet until we were stuffed. We had heard that it was great food but decided it was probably a little over-rated. They did have a pasta bar where they would custom make your dish. I had Fettuccini Alfredo with mushrooms, red peppers and shrimp. It was really good. So were the egg rolls and fillet Mignon. The lemon catfish was pretty good too, and the crab cakes. I almost didn't have room for the bread pudding in vanilla sauce and blueberry cobbler for desert!

We arrived home around 10:45pm. We entered the house very carefully and listened for the sound of running water. Last time we went on an adventure like this we came home to a flooded basement. This time I was sawing logs by 11:00. It was a very enjoyable day.