Learning about the Old Spanish Trail Association

By in Interview, Nevada No Comments

Today I was fortunate enough to meet with both Ashley Hall, the President of the Old Spanish Trail Association and with Liz Warren, the Nevada Director. It was great to feel their passion for the promotion, awareness and associated education of the route which I am currently exploring. Our meeting place was the Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park which is the oldest non-native settlement in Las Vegas.

In this video you can hear Ashley talk about the role of the organisation and its aims for the future. I will be also posting soon an informative conversation with Liz Warren about her professional research on defining Antonio Armijo´s route.

To find out more about this trail that crosses the Southwest you can visit the website: www.oldspanishtrail.org

 

Orwell has broken down…

By in Nevada, Orwell No Comments

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We arrived this morning to Las Vegas and visited the Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park. We had a great day thanks to Ashley Hall and Liz Till Warren from the Old Spanish Trail Association who gave us an insight into the history of the trail and also into how Las Vegas developed.

But on the way out of town Orwell broke down, so we had to visit a garage and park over night at their carpark until they can fix it in the morning. They were nice enough to let us charge our batteries and use their internet to make the waiting a bit more bearable.

A truly Spanish inscription

By in Fotos

Explorers left inscriptions in trees and rocks in case they never returned home. In 1776, the expedition of Dominguez – Escalante passed by Glen Canyon and carved on the rock `paso por aqui, año 1776´, (We passed by here. Year 1776).

The Father Dominguez and Father Escalante were trying to find a direct route between the Spanish missions established in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Monterrey in California. Due to hardships experienced during their journey, they decided to return to Santa Fe before reaching their destination. They wrote a journal and mapped their expedition which became an invaluable resource for future explorers such as Antonio Armijo.

This ins

Climber rescue on Lake Powell

By in Fotos No Comments

Whilst its marginally off topic I wanted to include the following post as today, aside from seeing the remarkable 1776 inscription left by the Dominguez-Escalante expedition, I also witnessed what was a truly remarkable rescue by the National Park Service of an injured rock climber who had fallen about 35 feet at Gregory Butte in Lake Powell. The team risked everything to repel down to the climber, hand winch him up to a safe point and then used two separate helicopters to firstly get him off the mountain from a very difficult position and then to take him to the nearest hospital. I can only highlight the amazing team efforts by the National Park Service and the associated organisations involved in this rescue. Photograph by Matt Wright. You can use the gigapan above to zoom in and see the challenge they faced.  

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