America’s man-made wonder on the Nevada-Arizona state line.
On Sunday, June 17th, I drove from Las Vegas to Boulder City, the home of Hoover Dam. Las Vegas is flat desert, but Boulder City has treeless, bizarrely formed desert hills colored in horizontal layers of red and brown. Sagebrush is mainly what grows there, but along the base of the mountains Boulder City residents live in large, beautiful Mediterranean-style villas. The town is small and caters to tourists, but it seems many live in grand style.
Further down the road stands a road sign, a warning sign, featuring a horned goat instead of the familiar deer. Apparently mountain goats do wander in those hills. That day, I didn’t see any wildlife – not even a lizard.
The road wound around through magnificent views with no shoulder to stop and take pictures. It was a beautiful day – not cloud in the blue sky. I found parking, but the parking lot attendant told me to find free parking across the dam on the Arizona side. Sure enough, being the early bird that I am, I found space available!
The dam is surreal. On one side stretches the blue water of the Colorado River, and on the other side yawns a vast canyon spanned by a huge bridge – the Hoover Dam overpass, built to alleviate traffic problems caused by the dam. The road between Nevada and Arizona actually runs over the top of the dam, and I can imagine the congestion here used to be awful between the winding roads and the tourist cars driving slowly to see views.
Since I’m always fascinated by the arcs of history and where they may lead in the future, one of the most interesting parts of the Hoover Dam experience was the astronomy worked into the memorial platform beside the dam. Two statues with a flagpole between them standing on a celestial map. Anyone versed in astronomy can read the star-chart in the far future to determine the date of the dam’s dedication: September 30, 1935. You can read more about it on Quora here.
The Hoover Dam doesn’t just stand as a testament to man’s abilities for the benefit future galaxy-trotting aliens. It serves a huge practical purpose as well. Each spring, far up in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the snow starts to melt. It rolls down the mountains into the Colorado River, then inevitably snowballs down to the Gulf of California to the Pacific Ocean. President Herbert Hoover had an interest in engineering and conservation. He saw an opportunity to dam fresh water and control the flooding with a dam. Many legislative hassles later, Hoover realized this dream. The supply of water is a lifeline for cities like Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
I was proud to get to at least cross into another new state: Arizona! And of course, I had to take pictures with the state signs.
The Hoover Dam: what a wonder!
~ The Dauntless Princess ~