Where Eagles Fly : Valley Of Fire and the Virgin Mountains National Natural Area

I lensed these interesting images while flying over the Mojave Desert area to the north of Lake Mead, Nevada while looking for interesting formations to film. The vivid splashes of vibrant colors filled the entire area with a bright glow which from the air had a soft warm quality to it. The closer I got the more intense the colors became. 

The first image below is of the Valley of Fire State Park,  while not a huge park at 46,000 acres (19,000 ha) it is a wonderful place to visit due to the remarkable Aztec Sandstone formations that vividly cover the area.  Considered Nevada's  oldest state park, (opening in 1935) Valley of Fire derives its name from its fiery multi-red colored sandstone rocks in the formation often appear to be on fire when reflecting the sun's rays.  

Valley Of Fire State Park ~ Click to Enlarge

In the above image; Valley of Fire Wash drains down through the center of the photo and on the bottom right of the wash lays Elephant Rock. To the left in the image is the formation known as the Seven Sisters and lying above the park, just next to those yellow colored formations is Baseline Mesa and the Silica Dome. The mountains lying just to the north of the park are called the Muddy Mountains. 

These twisted jagged stones are some of the oldest natural rock formations known to mankind and the incredibly rough, stark red fossilized sandstone formations formed out of great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs 150 million years ago. They were created by a dramatic shift in the Earth's crust, then complex uplifting and faulting and followed by extensive wind and water erosion over time, which sculpted the land into what we see today. (Research Source)    

Moapa Valley & The Muddy River ~ Click to Enlarge

In the image above, the aptly named Muddy River flows down from the Muddy Mountains Wilderness through the Moapa Valley and south into Lake Mead.  First Nations Tribes have occupied these mountains for thousands of years. They have left behind rock art, artifacts, agave roasting pits, and rock shelters. 

Looking behind me I lensed this image below while over Red Rock Springs (in the bottom left foreground), while Lake Mead is in the top right of the image.  This is an unusually harsh environment yet ancestral First Nations Anasazi People are thought to have migrated into the region about 300 B.C. and while here, survived on a mostly vegetarian diet consisting of all kinds of cactus and plants including yucca, mesquite tree, prickly pear and beaver tail.     

Red Rock Springs & Lake Mead ~ Click to Enlarge

Looking back to the north in the image below, this is part of the Virgin Mountains National Natural Area,  part of the Gold Butte National Monument. The line of small hills on the left side of the image is called Black Ridge and where it joins the larger Virgin Mountains on the right side, that small peak in the middle of the two ranges is called Little Virgin Peak.

Black Ridge and Little Virgin Peak ~ Click to Enlarge

On the other side of the valley in this image above and below is the First Nations Moapa Indian Reservation. These are the descendants of the original people who occupied these lands for so long.   As prehistoric users of the Valley of Fire this would have included the Ancient Pueblo Peoples, also known as the Anasazi, who were farmers from the nearby fertile Moapa Valley.   

Black Ridge & Virgin River Wash

Eventually, they learned to plant corn and beans and hunt animals like rabbit, sheep and antelope. Their approximate span of occupation has been dated from 300 BC to  1150 AD.  Their visits probably involved hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies, although scarcity of water would have limited  their stay. Fine examples of rock art (petroglyphs) left by these ancient peoples can be found at several sites within the  park.
(Research Source)    

These days only wild animals dwell in Valley of Fire area year-round.  Rattlesnakes, kangaroo rats, kit foxes, coyotes, bighorn sheep and the white tailed antelope ground squirrels are just a few of the animals  that inhabit the area. (Research Source)    

Here is a link to google maps for the location of this beautiful place. 

I lensed these images while exploring this awe-inspiring wilderness area for my ongoing project, "Where Eagles Fly".

About The Project

Where Eagles Fly - The American Wilderness Expedition is my personal mission to introduce people to these amazing locations that surround us. I am piloting a bush plane while exploring and filming throughout the remote back-country areas of North America to raise awareness of the 47% of the USA and 90% of Canada that remain unpopulated wilderness.

About The Author

My name is Zedekiah Morse and I'm a Bush Pilot, Photographer, Explorer and Filmmaker. I live in the Rocky Mountains and devote my time and resources to exploring as much of the world as I can by air. If you wish to watch a short film detailing how I do my work and this project, go here.

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