Hiking the historic railroad trail May 15

Wednesday, May 15. The day started out with plans to take the Jeep to the Hoover Dam and take a tour of the inside of the dam, as well as the power plant area. When we got there, we discovered that the tours were shut down for the day because of ... We didn't know. It seemed to be a security issue, something top secret. I bet it didn't even make the news where you are at, but after some persistent detective work, I found out what was going on. I'm not sure if I should put it on the Internet, but here goes..... The toilets were clogged!
Since the entire Hoover Dam tourist industry was thrown into disarray, we decided to go for a hike in the 98 degree weather. There is a trail near our campground that is a continuation of the trail system that I rode on yesterday, but it was dirt, rock, and gravel, made for mountain bikes and walking. It was about four miles long, through five tunnels, with its final destination being the Hoover Dam parking lot. We had a nice walk, through the mountains and tunnels, on the rail path that was used to deliver all the goods needed to build the dam. We saw two rock squirrels, which I had never seen before, and were in constant search for the elusive bighorn sheep. Didn't see one yet though. When we got to the dam, it was still closed to tours, so we had a coke, and hiked back the way we came.  8 miles round trip!
After the exercise, we thought a trip to Boulder Beach was in order, to soak in the cool Lake Meade water, and enjoy the sun and some reading time as we dried out and warmed up. There were several people there doing some swim training for a triathlon that must be coming up.
After getting our fill of the beach, it was hamburgers on the grill, and a decision to try the Hoover Dam tour again tomorrow.

Railroad trail - reading about the first tunnel.  These tunnels are bigger than normal RR tunnels because the trains needed to transport large equipment.

Looking down at the Lake Meade marina from the trail.  Before the lake filled in, this was a tent city for workers and their families.

Next tunnel!  The coolness was a welcome moment!

This is how much the water has gone down....

King of the mountain!

Cooling down on Boulder Beach