Alive and well on Veridian III*

In the final 4 days of boondocking on Poverty Flats, south of Overton, we grasped the opportunity twice to hike and be amazed at the beauty of Nevada’s first state park. Named the Valley of Fire, this nearly 46,000 acre treasure is the one place you do not want to bypass if you are ever in the vicinity of Las Vegas. Home to a cavalcade of human groups during the past few millennia, the climate of this location is formidable.

Whether passing through the majesty of a treasure such as Glacier National Park or taking in the beauty of a field of wildflowers close to home, it is readily apparent that what the human eye sees and what a camera sees are vastly different. The dimensions, spectrum of colors and sense of majesty which unfold before your eyes as you hike the various trails in the park give me a thrill in my core and send me on my way with a deep sense of gratitude for the work wrought by the hand of God.

Unwilling to forget these feelings and views as well as the peaceful days I have shared here with Shep, I took my iPhone in hand and made my best attempts to woo a seemingly endless assortment of buttes and the myriad variety of shapes into a digital representation which will allow me to reflect and to remember.

*The climax of the movie Star Trek Generations where Dr. Tolian Soran attempted to destroy Veridian III’s star in order to alter the direction of the Nexus ribbon was filmed here. In the course of the movie, Captain James T. Kirk met his end and was laid to rest on Silica Dome.