Tag: hoover dam
Last day in Vegas. About 1h away from Vegas lays one of the most impressive dams / lakes: Lake Mead formed by Hoover Dam. Lake Mead is the largest lake / reservoir in the US at maximum capacity (which it did not reach since 1983 due to various causes – let’s not get into the climate change debate just yet).
How was Lake Mead formed? Well, it’s a combination of nature and careful human planning: do you remember that river that carved the Grand Canyon (name is Colorado river)? Well, guess what! It’s not done yet. Hoover Dam is built on the Colorado river and led to the natural creation of Lake Mead. Here is Hoover Dam:
Doesn’t seem like much, right? Well, Lake Mead is big – it’s 110 miles (180 km) long when the lake is full, is 150m at it’s deepest and can hold 35km^3 of water (that can be used for irrigation and to produce electricity for Nevada, Arizona and California). So, while it might look small, it’s just part of what we actually see.
Hoover Dam is the one that is “responsible” for Lake Mead, so here is a peek down the wall. Long way down, right?
Even closer to the edge, looking down.
As you can see, it was a very sunny day in the middle of the desert (mom actually got sick from all the sun). But in this picture, like two bosses.
One thing I should mention – Hoover Dam sits between two states: on one side is the Nevada state (with Las Vegas just miles away) and on the other side, it’s Arizona state. The Colorado river flows through a couple of states before heading to Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. At Hoover Dam, there is a commemorative plaque that tells you through which states the Colorado river flows (in this picture, Colorado, California and Utah – also, Arizona and Nevada).
Last but not least, here I am at the border between Nevada and Arizona. Not very exciting to be within two states at the same time. It’s almost as if the state lines just belong to a map, not excising any force in the vicinity of their physical presence. Oh, wait…
Disclaimer: I did not help fill Lake Mead, but this sign is funny:
Even after turning a corner, we can only see a small portion of the lake. I understood it’s best seen from airplane / space station:
Over and out – done with Vegas. The story goes on – we went back to Seattle, I went to work for a week and then headed for the Big Apple – pictures coming soon.
/cd