It is an amazing place. So much wide open space, so few people. One of the days I had to go around to 7 different springs spread out over about 200 miles to evaluate them as potential flow monitoring sites.
The trees and green vegetation you see in this picture are two of the spring sites. You can see that the springs are the only source of water for many miles, which is why we want to monitor them. When Las Vegas begins to pump very large amounts of water from eastern Nevada, these springs could be the first to feel it.
At one of the springs I think I saw some wild horses, but they were so far away I couldn't be sure. It just added to the mystery of the place. I had to leave immediately and could not go investigate them because I was running very low on fuel and the nearest gas station is about 60 miles away. The nearest grocery store to where we stay is about 90 miles away. (The gas station at 60 miles has about 40 different kinds of ice cream in a case like at Baskin Robbins though, which I find rather peculiar.)
Whenever I come back from being out there for even a couple of nights, I always find myself slightly repulsed by civilization. The desert gives me a genuine sense of peace, but in the city, that peace is elusive. Too many people, too many tasks to do. Have to update our blog... and on and on.
Very cool! I predict that large salt water desalination plants on the coast of Cali will be required to pump huge volumes of water to that area eventually, after all the ground water has been removed :(
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Nice pics.
Rich
Funny I feel the same peace when I'm near the ocean with just the sound of the water. Voices can be like listening to a radio tuning in and out of a station.
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