WHITNEY POCKETS ATV RIDE

My brother, Vernile, already wrote about this ride, so if you read his, mine will be boring. But, I have to write so that you will know I do something once in a while. On Tuesday, February 3, (yes, you can go on Tuesday when you are retired or simi-retired in John's case), we drove to the Riverside exit of the freeway. It is west of Mesquite, Nevada, just before you go up on the Mormon Mesa. We turned south there and went about 25 miles to Whitney Pockets. We followed the Virgin River for a while and then mostly desert. Some farms with palm trees along the way, but they were few and far between. Whitney Pockets is a place where jagged cliffs and rocks jut up out of the ground and they are beautiful. Kind of carmel and orange color and some white. There was one big formation that was half white and half orange. We unloaded our bikes and got going at about 1 p.m. It was the most beautiful day that I have seen in about four or five months. The temprature was about 68 degrees and just a slight breeze. We had our sweatshirts on to ride because it is kind of chilly when you ride. The ride was 65 miles long, but it was all dirt road and no scary trails. We saw a dam that the CCC boys had built in the 1930's. Also a sink hole called "Devil's Throat". We came upon a small cemetary with a black wrought iron fence around it with two people burried in it. It overlooked a farm with lots of apple trees growing there. It was out in the middle of no where. Kind of reminded us of the movie "Deliverance", because it was so desolate. We got to within a mile of Lake Mead but couldn't get there because of all the thick willows and bad trails that were where the Lake used to be, I think. We got back to the trucks just as it was getting dark. I thought it was dark until I took my goggles off and then it wasn't so bad. We headed back to Mesquite at about 6:30 p.m. We stopped there and ate at the buffet in the Eureka Casino. For the price, it wasn't all that great, but we had a fun time visiting with Vernile and Elma Lynne. They have a beautiful aquarium there that was worth the trip in the Casino. We arrived back home at about 10:45 p.m. It was a great ride and a good time was had by all!

Beautiful rock formation where we unloaded the four wheelers.

John and Vernile looking for a geocache. Notice the

rock in the foreground looks like a skull.

John on top of the dam. Look at the dark blue sky.

Elma Lynne, John, Me and Vernile eating lunch on the rocks.

Small cemetary with two people burried in it.

John at the Arizona State Line on the way to Lake Mead.

John entering the Parashant National Monument.

Interesting how this red dirt seems to come up out of the mountainside.

Those two men we came with, trying to make widows out of us at the sink hole.