One of my favorite places to spend the day is the Smoke Creek Desert just across the state line in Nevada.

It received its name back in 1844 when John C. Fremont explored the region. His party noted the dust storms created on the playa there cast a smokey hue.

When I conducted the BLM tours in the 1990s,Smoke Creek was a popular one. We did a mixture of prehistoric and historic sites. There are a lot nooks and crannies in Smoke Creek to see.

It is an ever changing environment. That is evident as the desert slowly reclaims the abandoned homestead, when those hardy souls tried to eke out a living.

Tim