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This page last updated on 08/07/2017
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| (Fig. 01) |
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
Henry David Thoreau
General Description : The Clark County Wetlands Park is the largest park in the Clark County, Nevada park system. Only a few miles from our house, the park is located on the east side of the Las Vegas valley and runs from the various water treatment plants near the natural beginning of the Las Vegas Wash to where the wash flows under Lake Las Vegas and later into Lake Mead. The park includes 2,900 acres of water, trails, and trees along the Las Vegas Wash. The 210 acre Nature Preserve (Fig. 02 below) is a map showing the preserves two miles of concrete and graveled secondary walking trails.
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| (Fig. 02) |
Our Morning Walk: On 08/05, Blake Smith and I got up bright and early and around around 5:30 am we headed over to the Clark County Wetlands Preserve. The 'red' circle bottom center of (Fig. 02) at the north end of the parking lot is where we started. Even though it was partially overcast after a night of rain, I captured the picture in (Fig. 01 above) as the sun was rising shortly after our start. Even though we have both been to this preserve several times before, I forgot to bring my map and we ended up getting 'lost' among the maze of paths and trails. Even though Our original goal was to hike to the Weir Bridge and falls in the upper right corner of the map, we ended up weaving around the mostly dirt trails in the western side of the preserve, and never made it to the bridge.
Along the way we circled three different ponds (Fig. 03). As is usual here, we must have spotted more than a dozen rabbits (Fig. 04) along side the trails. One of the small ponds had a little waterfall at one end (Fig. 05). We could hear occasional birds, but couldn't get any shots. Near one pond we spotted a Dusky Moorhen tending her young chick (Fig. 06). Clickhere to read about this waterfowl ...
Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa). On the side of the largest pond, there was a small bench that provided us with a good spot to rest and drink some water. It was amazing how much we were sweating. Even though the temperature was only in the upper 70's, due to the previous nights' rain the humidity was more than 40%, high for Las Vegas. The picture in (Fig. 08) was taken from in front of the bench. Figure 08 is the third pond we found. Even though I didn't take many pictures on this visit, we both enjoyed the walk and the conversation. We both agreed that we wanted to to it again soon. After walking more than 2.2 miles, we drove to the Cracked Egg on Green Valley Pkwy for breakfast on our way home.
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| (Fig. 03) |
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| (Fig. 04) |
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| (Fig. 05) |
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| (Fig. 06) |
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| (Fig. 07) |
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| (Fig. 08) |
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| (Fig. 09) |
I challenge you to walk where you have not yet walked before - there is a whole world right outside your window. You feel the silence as if it were a great fresh wind blowing away the clouds of life. The silence is tremulous. You can walk yourself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness, imagined or real. You’d be a fool to miss it.
Click here for pictures and info from previous visits ...
Clark County Wetlands Park & Nature Preserve.
