Entering the Winter, I See Snow!

We crossed back over into Nevada, heading North for hot springs in Idaho.
We spent the night at Great Basin National Park. I was really excited to go there to see the Bristlecone Pines (the oldest non-clonal living things, some of these trees are like 4, 000 years old!). Sadly, upon arrival we found out that the road up to the trees was closed for the winter, due to snow... So we would have to hike the 10kms to get up there... We had intentions to do so, but after a freezing night (literally) camping, we were both too cold and stiff to feel like walking anywhere! So, back in the car with the heated seats on! I'll go back there some other time - the trees aren't going anywhere.

Today we made it to Sun Valley (Ketchum), Idaho. We're out of the deserts and into the snowy mountains!! This trip has been good to ease me into the winter - starting off in shorts in California and adding layers day by day! Now I'm getting kind of nervous knowing that I won't be in warm weather again for quite some time... But it's beautiful up here. We pulled in just as it was getting dark. The little town is all decked out with Christmas lights and there is snow on the ground! Feels like a "proper" festive season. I'm excited to explore in the morning.

Into Nevada

Next destination was the Valley of Fire. A little far to get to in one day, so we stopped in Las Vegas for a night on the way. I was pretty interested to find out what that city was actually like, I didn't expect to really love it and I guess I was right. All very glitzy and glamorous, but I was in desert-camping mode.
We put down $10 on black, the minimum bet. We lost it, put down another $10 and lost that too. $20 down in a space of 2 minutes, and that was that for gambling.

We left Vegas early the next day to explore some mountains we'd seen on the way into town. Rainbow Mountain Wilderness, what a name! We walked around for quite a few hours, through desert and gullies to reach the base of the crazy cliff faces. We even saw a coyote!!

That after, we headed north to the Valley of Fire. And what an incredible place it is!!
Huge lumps of red rock protruding out of the desert floor, all rounded, twisted and full of holes. The rocks were perfect for climbing, rough like sandpaper, and home to all sorts of little creatures.
Our campsite was right in amongst it all.

This was the view from our tent!

It's hard to accurately portray the scale of these majestic landscapes in the desert... Just bear in mind that everything is HUGE.