I never realized just how close Vegas is to Hoover Dam. Guess all the times I've been to Vegas, heading outside the casinos hasn't really been a priority (nor has being awake during daylight). But, it was just a quick 30 minute drive to see one of the modern day wonders of the world. Hopefully, the first of many modern and ancient wonders I'll be seeing.
My first glimpse of the Hoover Dam area was Lake Mead as it dead-ended into the backside of the dam. It looked like a normal big lake with concrete at one end and some random towers rising out of it. Then, the front side of the dam came into view and it was a whole different story. A massive swath of concrete stretched across the width of the valley, carved into sides of the canyon and dropped nearly 500ft to the river below. Seeing the depth of the dam and the miles and miles of Lake Mead behind it, I was amazed at how much water volume the dam must be holding back at any given time.
I drove over the the dam first and just hoped mine wasn't going to be the 'one car too many' that finally broke the back of the cement monolith. I parked on the Arizona side (it splits the Arizona/Nevada border), and walked back across it. Looking out the back of the dam to Lake Mead, I noticed a pretty interesting sight. Just above the current water level was a stretch of white rock that lined the mountains surrounding the whole lake and ended at a definitive line currently about 30ft above the water. Above that line, the rock returned to its typical red-brown color. That line also coincided with the top of the overflow spillway built into the side of the dam. It was pretty clear that this was the high water mark of the lake which evidently can, and does, often get to that level before its diverted to the spillway. I was amazed that the the water can go that much higher with out risk of flooding or dam break. I was even more intrigued as to what chemical reaction between the fresh water lake and rock caused it to turn white. But, science was never my strong point, so I just assumed it was a natural reaction.
I crossed back over the dam on the front side and peered my head over the side periodically along the way. It's one hell of a drop down to the Colorado River below. But, the face of the dam is concave with the bottom jutting out something like 30-40ft below. The smoothness of the concrete and angle of the curvation almost made it seem like you could slide down it and land safely at the bottom like a giant water slide. But, I figured I'd let someone else test that theory. Instead, I just marveled at this feat of 'modern' engineering that is over 80 years old and doesn't seem to show signs of its age despite the massive pressure it must incur every minute.
SEE PICTURES: "Hoover Dam" in Photo Gallery
