I usually plan my 1st day in Las Vegas with little activity to overcome the Jetlag. Part of this is also some shopping tours\u00a0to buy stuff for the trip.\u00a0 I started the day with a nice breakfast at Bellagios Buffet which is my favourite LV Buffet. Afterwards I went to Albertsons to buy an ice chest and plenty of water bottles which I deposited in the trunk.\u00a0 ngg_shortcode_0_placeholderAlso I bought a mobile phone \u00a0at Best Buy for 29 USD including 300 minute calltime. Then I returned to the Flamingo Hotel and spent 4 h sleeping and sun bathing at the Flamingo pool. Late Afternoon around 4.30 pm I drove 70 miles north of Las Vegas to make some evening-sun shots in the Valley of Fire state Park. To warm up I had planned a small beginners hike to\u00a0visit the Ephmeral arch.\u00a0Afterwards\u00a0it proved that this had been a really good idea.\u00a0ngg_shortcode_1_placeholderI learned two important hiking basics: 1) Do never forget plenty of water\u00a0even on a short hike and 2 ) having a GPS with you does not mean you will easily find your target or will not get lost. In\u00a0fact\u00a0I forgot to\u00a0take water with me and\u00a0I used and practised the first time\u00a0my new Oregon 300 GPS. I had the\u00a0short hiking description from Laurent Matres’\u00a0book and didn’t find it too easy to discover the right direction from the Cabins car park towards the Ephemaral Arch\u00a0trail.\u00a0\u00a0Sooner or later I reached the Fire wash and noticed the may sun was still burning\u00a0hot although it was already around 6pm. I got thirsty but had forgotten the water. Of yourse I did not want to go back to the car. The hike\u00a0in the sandy wash was exhausting and I was sweating a lot.\u00a0ngg_shortcode_2_placeholderI was looking for the Arch. With help of my GPS I approached the location where it should have been.\u00a0I didnt see the Arch although my GPS said I had reached my destination. I walked another 10 minutes around searching and\u00a0just when i wanted to give up and go back to the car I spotted the Arch on the\u00a0right of the wash. The sun was still great for some shots and I was happy\u00a0not to fail on my first small hike. I had all\u00a0the time noticed that I would really need to drink some water. I knew it would\u00a0be around 45 min back to the car.\u00a0On my way back I had also this first\u00a0important experience that it is not easy to track back\u00a0the way in this deserted rocky\u00a0landscape cause everything looks differnet on the way back. I must admit\u00a0 that I got a little bit scared\u00a0of missing the right hill to cross to find\u00a0back to the car. ngg_shortcode_3_placeholderFortunately at the intersection of the Fire wash with the hiking trail towards the\u00a0car park a stone\u00a0cairn helped me. I arrived totally exhausted and dried out at the car opening my trunk and drinking a bottle of water. It was late evening in the meantime and\u00a0 my first mini hike had been close to a disaster, scaring, but very instructive fo me. From now on on following hikes I never forgot my water supply and I was warned enough not to overestimate my apparently poor route finding skills.<\/p>\n