Picture By: Lisa Pattiani
Hello friends. Hope you’re keeping cool on this hot summer day .It is set to be 113 F today here in the Las Vegas desert. It was up to 117 F this past Sunday! I hope it’s not as brutal as it is here wherever you may be. So, this last week, my friend and I ventured out on one of our hiking excursions again. This time our adventures led us to a place called Saint Thomas, Nevada. Saint Thomas is an old, abandoned town that was submerged by Lake Mead in the 1930’s. The town is an old Mormon settlement founded by the members of the LDS church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).
When looking for places to explore, this definitely piqued my interest. I love exploring old ghost towns and finding out the history of the people that lived there. The trail is unmaintained by the National Park Service, but is pretty distinguishable to see in the dusty pathway. There are plaques nearby each of the foundations of the buildings and the rubble that is left of them. Each plaque describes what the building was and in some instances who lived there and owned them.
There used to be a rail car that would bring in goods from nearby cities to Saint Thomas. On the plaque in front of where the train track used to be, it describes how people eagerly awaited the arrival of oranges, because it was such a treat to have in the desert. It is strange to think about that, because now we can just go to the store and get a bag full of oranges, and not think twice about it. It just goes to show you how the convenience of technology and growth have made everything so easy for us, we sometimes take it for granted.
One of the plaques describes how people used to keep cool back in those days. There was no air conditioning, so people would keep a bucket of water by the window and hope that a breeze would come in the middle of the night to find some relief from the scorching desert heat. Some people would dip their sheets into water and sleep with a drenched sheet over them to keep cool and just re-wet the sheet if it got too hot. Can you imagine doing that now? People that were wealthier had two-story houses, so they had a better chance of getting more airflow on the upper level of their homes.
If you live here locally and like hiking, I would recommend checking this place out. A word of caution, there is no shade. If you are a novice hiker, I would highly advise against going in the summer months. Also, the road leading to the trailhead is gravel. You could take a 2 wheel drive vehicle out there with no issues. As much as we enjoyed learning the history of this beautiful place, there was also sadness. The people of this town were forced to leave their home with the building of the Hoover Dam. The last resident to leave this town was a man who set his home on fire and drifted away in a boat as the water began to rise all around the area. If you would like to learn more about St. Thomas, NV click here: St Thomas Nevada – Lake Mead National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).
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Columbia Bora Booney Hat:
Mini Compact Binoculars:
First Aid Kit: