El Tovar and the Valley of Fire

The Adventure Begins! Don Pedro de Tovar was a Spanish explorer, military man, and colonial ruler. In his service to Vasquez Coronado, he searched for the Seven Cities of Cibola seeking gold and riches. El Tovar never found the cities of gold. He became aware of the great Colorado River and Grand Canyon but never … Continue reading El Tovar and the Valley of Fire

Scorpions in the Darkness

The temperature was already closing in on the mid-day high by the time I reached the BLM’s Black Rock field station. Gazing out over the alkali pan of the playa, a stiff wind whipped the loose surface into a column of dust several hundred feet high before sending it sailing east into Selenite mountains.  A … Continue reading Scorpions in the Darkness