Overlooked

I'm constantly daydreaming of my next expedition in this world. And without a doubt, it's always transatlantic. What new place can i set foot on? What authentic cuisine can i try even with knowing the potential risks involved? What basic terms of a new language can I master after only hours, days, or weeks of repetition in a new country? I guess the reason I feel such a gravitational pull to other parts of the world is because I'm drawn to the unknown, unpredictable, and unfamiliar.

I've realized though, that in the days I spend researching far away worlds and how i will pay for these overseas adventures, I overlook the amazement of places nearby. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm out and about doing everything I possibly can in the free time I do have. If you can board it, hike it, or climb it in a day's time I'll do it! Yet, when it comes to planning trips I guess you could say I set my sights high, and far away. I dream of places like Thailand and Argentina when I haven't even seen the depths of National Parks within my own state. There is so much to see in this world, in the U.S., and even in Nevada that has yet to grace my eyes and leave an imprint in my mind.

I know the desert landscape well. I've lived it for the past 11 years, but it never fails to amaze me the secrets the desert keeps hidden within it's windblown rocks and sandy valleys. While visiting my parents in Vegas this week, we planned a day hike near Lake Mead. Currently I live near Lake Tahoe, so trying to compare the landscape is difficult when your bias leans towards the place you live and love the most. We set out on a 4 mile trek with a group through the desert. We scored the massive rock dunes by hand and foot, leaving no trace behind but windblown footprints in sanded crevices. The red desert rock blazes like fire showing the signs of it's age by the layers within which things lived. Camel prints and bird tracks emerge like blooming flowers in the layered rock, giving a prehistoric time stamp to a land that was once conjoined to other continents. This desert graveyard yielded more historical fruit than the dozens of hike's I've taken in the high sierra range. Sure it's desolate and barren, but it's beauty in the rawest form....beauty that can be seen in your own backyard.