Stewarts Point to Pahranagat NWR

Time was winding down on our stay at Stewarts Point on Lake Mead, and it was time to plan out a new destination.  It sounded a bit too cool to start heading north up I-5 direction.  That brought Highway 93 into focus, and one of our favourites at the Pahranagat NWR. 

Approaching from the south, the highway provides a good view of many of the campsites along the lakeshore, and I had intentionally made sure to arrive early in the day to improve my chances of getting one of the campsites.  Sure enough, one of my favourite spots was vacant!  It is well over a mile before the turnoff, and alas, by the time I got back, someone had just moved into ‘my’ spot ;-(

Now, the only vacant spots were three tight, side by side spots at the very end of the lake – one of which is reserved for someone with a ‘disabled’ placard, and one was already occupied.  I spotted a familiar looking camper and regular blogger part way down the lake…

Once set up, the spot did provide some good lake views right out of the camper windows.

But one of my main reasons for wanting to visit here is the abundance of waterfowl that are usually teeming along the shores.  In past times, one had to be careful opening the door first thing in the morning, as that usually caused a flock or two of fowl to be scared off.  And this would be my first visit with a decent telephoto lens, and a GoPro camera that I hoped would provide some unique photo opportunities.  But for some reason, this time there were virtually no birds!  Even the usually abundant coots were notably absent.  One or two geese and a trio of mallards pretty much made up my sightings of waterfowl.

My campsite was very close to and fully exposed to the heavy daytime traffic on the highway, which did calm down quite a bit at night. A couple of hikes around the lake did provide a few wildlife sightings.

I found a tiny laundromat in the nearby town of Alamo, and filled a couple of water jugs.  They also have camping (3 day limit) with water and a dump site at the sports/rodeo grounds in town for $13. and a $5. dump fee if not camping there.  There is a full range of housing styles in Alamo, including this rather quaint spot!

But the combination of traffic noise and lack of waterfowl made the decision to move on an easy one!  Hailey just couldn’t take it any more!

I could hear some hot springs in California’s Sierra Nevada calling my name!