A Walk on the Wild Side

Kitties!

(and Human Pals)

Sheebie here.

I ever-so-(NOT)-cleverly uploaded a bunch of photos of the Horde to Picasa before I left for work to utilize as blog fodder, which turned out to be an epic FAIL...I obviously didn't do it right because when I went to use them they weren't there! 

Crappity, crap crap crap.

 I know what I did wrong, though...it won't happen again, I promise.  

::crosses fingers behind back::

Anyway, thank Cod I went for a tramp down to the wash Monday morning and took some pictures on my phone, because now at least I have something to show ya'll, even if it isn't kitty kats.

After all the rain we had I figured the wash would be really flowing, and it was.  Before all the weirs were built and the banks revegetated with native plants the water rocketed down the channel, gouging out a small canyon and depositing literally tons of silt into Lake Mead.  

Most of the work has been designed and executed by my employer, Las Vegas Valley Water District.  LVVWD is a subsidiary (sort of) of Clark County, and of course it's in the Water District's best interest to maintain our source water in the best possible condition.  If you're interested in learning more here's a couple of links:

Wiki Page

Las Vegas Wash

Clark County Wetlands

You can see one of the weirs in the background and the pond it forms from the slowed down stream in front.  A fun fact about the weirs and rip-rap boulders in the wash--most of them are made out of the concrete rubble from demo'ed casinos!  There are huge piles along the wash, waiting to be used, and sometimes you can figure out which casino they are from by the gaudy color schemes.

In fact, you can see some trucks and earth-moving equipment across the stream.  The last time I biked over there I was amazed at how big this project is going to be when it's finally done; easily hundreds of acres, maybe more.  Something to investigate...and photograph.  I'll keep you posted.  

Tomorrow, KATS!!

Happy Tuesday!

XX  Sheebie  XX 

Sheebie Sees Some Sights

Friends and Kitties!

Sheebie here.

I was going through my phone photos and I picked out a few good* ones to show you.

This was taken along a part of the wash that is currently being revegetated.  I decided to ride the gravel road instead of the bike trail for a new perspective.  The pipes on the banks are for reclaimed water irrigation, and the foliage are all native plants.  You can see the dams in the background slowing the water down, allowing a series of ponds to form. The bird in the pond nearest me is a Great Blue Heron--I saw (I think) seven of them!  Imagine, waterbirds in the Mojave Desert--there is a truly diverse biome here in the Las Vegas valley.

(The building in the far background is Sam Boyd Stadium.)

Scott and I were out and about and he realized he had on two different shoes!

Stylin'.

See the bumps and scrapes on his shins?  He's as bad as a six-year-old.

A nest in a cholla cactus at work.  It didn't have any feathers or poop in it so it was likely just a practice nest.

This was taken in late July, during Monsoon season, again at work.  It was pouring in the Spring Mountains forty miles off and sunny in Henderson.  

I love the vistas out here.

Driving home the other afternoon I saw a lady out walking with her miniature pony!  Of course I pulled over to talk and get a couple pictures.  His name was Buddy, and he was the friendliest little soul--walked right up to the car window and peered in--he had to snuffle me, and nibble my fingers, too!  The crew had a field day sniffing the horse spit on my hands when I got home.  

There's more, but I'll save those for another day...The next couple of weeks for me are going to be exciting, yet strange, what with my schedule changing.  My intentions are to keep up a regular posting schedule--everything else is up for grabs, though!  No promises.  I can't wait to awaken naturally, without the effing alarm clock.  Two more days.  wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

Happy Sunday--Have a Great Week!

XX  Sheebie  XX

*good, as in interesting, not visual masterpieces.

Sunday with Sheebie at the Wash

Friends and Kitties!

My name is Sheebie, and I'll be your tour director today.

We're going to go down to the Las Vegas Wash and look around at some of the improvements the Clark County Park Service is installing.

We live in Calico Ridge, and if you follow along Lake Mead Parkway we live on the last street on the right.  Across the street from us is desert--where the City of Henderson is building the new park and trail head.  The trail will head north down to the wash.

View Larger Map

The entire Las Vegas Valley drains into the wash (when it rains) and the treated effluent from the various sewage treatment plants also feed the wash--which guarantees flow all the time!  heh.  It's a beautiful area to hike and the trail system is tremendous; there's over 65 miles of paved trails.  Our area is one of the last to be linked because we are almost as far as you can go without going into Lake Mead. 

So the other evening Scott and I took a little tour down to the wash in the Explorer (aptly named) to...um...explore!

After a little four-wheeling through scrub desert we came out on an as-yet-unpaved road, heading north.

In the distance is a new rest area and lookout.

Scott scaled this mighty peak to get some photos from the top!

Here's what he saw--I'm in the car being a lazy bum.

You can see the water on the left.

From the fence by the wash looking south.

Our house is on the other side of these mountains.

We drove west along the wash for a mile or so.

There is an group of citizens who do lots of maintenance and remediation of the land around the wash, removing invasive species (mainly tamarisk) and planting native ones like the reeds in the middle of the stream. 

 Years of uncontrolled water release has badly eroded the wash so the County is placing riprap along the banks and installing dams to slow the water down.  The piping above the water is for bank filtration; water from the wash will be pumped up for native plant irrigation where it will trickle back into the stream, removing solids and slowing the velocity.

The fence on the right is at the north most edge of the rest area.

ARTSY PHOTO!

We're traveling east now, away from the rest area.

In the distance is Lake Las Vegas Resort, and MY volcano, Lava Butte, is the rounded black hump.

A little further down the road we saw some guys getting ready for a hike, they had some major gear, they may have been planning on camping!

Do you see the water?

This spot has been remediated for a few years now, you can see how beautiful it is!  There's reeds and wildflowers and birds galore.  I can't wait for it all to look like this.

Dams slow the water down and allow it to form the pond in the preceding pic--you can see a few of them on the aerial map. 

What a dichotomy; running water in the desert.

I sure hoped you enjoyed our little tour today!  If you ever visit Vegas, give me a holler first and I'll take you to see the wash, in person.

Happy Sunday!

xx  Sheebie  xx