After leaving Zion National Park we left Utah and entered Nevada! First on the list - a scenic drive around Lake Mead. Unfortunately there has been a pretty bad drought for the last few years and the water level in Lake Mead has dropped significantly (see the photo below). Several of the places we had planned to stop were closed because the water level was so low. But we still managed to see a great deal of the Lake Mead shoreline. And of course we were in the desert, so there were lots of rock formations - like the red rocks seen above. Other than the fact that it was about 100 degrees in the shade it would have been a great place to go climbing.

Here is a shot of Lake Mead from the Arizona side (we were back in Arizona for a little bit while visiting). The tower in the left side of the picture is an intake tower where the hydroelectric turbines pull water from to create electricity. 

And here’s the massive Hoover Dam that spans the Black Canyon across the Colorado River, completed in 1936. It really is pretty impressive, just in terms of the size. If you look closely at the top of the photograph you can see pedestrians walking across the dam and a few cars to get a sense of scale. They used a lot of concrete to construct this dam which now helps to prevent flooding and create electricity.

Speaking of electricity… this photograph was taken on the southern side of the dam where you can see the transistors and power lines that carry the electricity into California. The structure itself is incredibly huge and impressive, but what I most enjoyed were the small touches - the 1930’s era Art Deco signage and detailing in and around the dam. 

We spent an hour in the museum enjoying the air conditioning and learning about why and how the dam was constructed. It’s a popular place and there are lots of people around, but it was definitely worth the visit.