Bighorn Sheep in Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada

This post has a lot of photos, but I took so many of the bighorn sheep in the valley of fire, and I wanted to share.

In my last post on Valley of Fire, I mentioned we had hiked the fire wave trail in the evening and saw a couple bighorn sheep. Later that night we saw some way high up on the bluff in that same general area. I wasn’t super happy with my photos of fire wave I took that night, and wanted to go back in the early morning. We were on the trail just after sunrise, and saw a group of sheep coming down off the high bluff. The male was out in front, and his two females and their babies were following him down.

We were the only people out this early in the morning, so they were aware of us, but not super concerned.

I’m pretty sure these lambs weren’t very old. Maybe a month? I have no idea when babies are born here. But they sure are agile.

One of the females just started walking right towards us.

Of course the babies were following the moms down. One mom has twins, and the other has a single. We watched them all make their way down the mountain. It’s crazy how fast they can all move in such vertical, rocky terrain.

One tiny hoof is making contact in this photo.

My new camera is pretty fast, and I got a bunch of images of jumping. I’m going to use the very best ones for next weeks Dogwood challenge though, so look for those.

This little one graciously stood still, and posed so nicely.

They soon went over a hill, and we continued on our way. Happy from the encounter I must say.

We got to the fire wave, and I was glad we went back at sunrise. We were lucky to have a slightly cloudy morning too, which helped with photography a ton.

Again, the land that Dr. Seuss created. But oh the colors and textures, we were in heaven. Al took as many photos as me. Now he can’t give me a hard time anymore. Lol

Since we did have such great light, and apparently the area to ourselves, we left fire wave and just started wandering. Our very favorite thing to do.

I love how the root of this little bush was like the stripe in the background.

Something interesting to photograph every step I took. Honestly guys, I have soooooo many photos it’s crazy.

I went to take a step off a rock, and almost stepped on this guy. It’s different I know, but I like it.

Colors!!!

As we were wandering, I looked up and there were all the sheep again!

The cute twins.

The whole family. Dad seemed to be taking them somewhere for the day.

Dad went first up the bluff, and everyone followed his route exactly.

Look how high these little ones can jump!

A rainbow of lambs.

As fast as they appeared, they disappeared again. Leaving us glad once again for the encounter. We wandered a bit more, but had to get back home for the doggies.

That evening we went back with dogs, and a picnic again. I wanted to hike a loop trail I had read about, White Domes. Al was content to relax in his lawn chair, so Torrey and I went on the short 1 mile loop trail. It started by descending into a little canyon, that turned into a short slot canyon.

It then opened up into more colorful, and beautiful rock formations.

I was glad I hiked it.

I hope you’re not all suffering from photo overload now. Lol. I figured many of you will never get to see this place though, so I wanted to give a good tour through photos. And if you do get to go, now you know a little about it.

If you missed part 1, and part 2 they can be found at these links.

Valley of Fire part 1

Valley of Fire part 2