Bolder Boulder — Hoover Dam

Burning a hole in my bike tire yesterday was a bummer and weighed on my mind. It took me a little while to fall asleep, but I got up “early” in the morning and went for a run at 7:15. It was already pretty warm. Probably in the 80s. Boulder City is a nice little place. I ran to a park towards a hill and could imagine a very festive 4th of July celebration. Boulder City, as I came to learn, was the hometown for the building of the Hoover Dam. The dam is indeed very close, and prior to the construction, I doubt there was much reason to do business here. The pride the town feels is obvious.

I had a “free” breakfast at these hotel and then dashed off to Henderson, another town to get to a bike shop to get my wheel fixed. The place I found, McGinies, was huge. It was about five times bigger than Rob’s shop in Carmel. I explained my problem and the tech there was awesome. My wheels are quite big (29+), so I knew the price range would be pretty big. I was worried too that the heat might have done something bad to the rim or spokes, but the tech didn’t think this had occurred. In the end, I have a new robust front tire, and three inner tubes (buy two, get one free.) A pit stop to get PB, sunscreen, and contact lens case, and I was off to Hoover Dam.

The plan was to park at a trail head and bike. The trail is an old train track, the ground is smooth, pretty dang flat and wide. Everything woulda worked perfectly, except there are tunnels along the way. One of the tunnels has been deemed unsafe and was closed. I thought there might have been a trail around, but alas, no. Back to the car and then a drive to HD. Needless to say, a lot of other people had this idea. Security was tight-ish. I guess it would be bad if someone blew it up. People drive across the dam to the parking areas and the temperature was over 110.

They used a lot of concrete for that thing. Coming down from the parking lot, I could see the back or upstream side of the dam. That was impressive. Looking over the edge when I got to the downstream side of the road was incredible. When Jack was small and we’d look over the edge of something high, he’d worry he might lose his hat or something. I had the same thoughts as I tried to get pictures over the edge. That was a long way down. The pool of water on the other side looked inviting. The amount of electricity it generated as it moved from Lake Mead to the other side is impressive. I declined to take a tour; I’m sure it would be great, but I wanted to move along. Many pictures later, I got back to the car and started driving to Zion.

I did stop for lunch outside of Vegas. I swear Alex Paluba was at the same Burger King. The dude looked straight at me and looked away, but what a doppelganger. As I was leaving, I was about to ask if his name was Alex but as I was about to it was clear it wasn’t him. Funny. After getting gas I headed for the rest of the trip to Zion.

I was expecting Zion to be more in a forest. It’s very much canyony. Lots of Burch and red rocks. Kinda Birney on steroids. I got in about 7:30, and the temp was over 100. When I placed the reservation, I grabbed the first site I could. It’s not the greatest. I’m up against the road and away from the river. Still it’s pretty fabulous. I pitched my tent and made dinner — Curry chicken with rice. Afterwards I walked to the river and along the bike trail towards the lodge. It looks like a fabulous trail. I came back and made a duraflame fire and enjoyed the warm evening. It was still very warm. The camp host said it cools off around midnight and can get to 60. He also said the wind picks up around 2:00 am. He was right on both counts. The wind did howl through most of the night. I didn’t pull my sleeping bag over me until very late. It was a restful sleep and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures.