Almost everyone who travelled on land from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon has stopped at Hoover Dam, which was built in the 30s at the border between Nevada and Arizona to control floods from Colorado River, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power. While you stand above the dam to admire the construction built among the steep cliffs, you'll see a small portion of the reservoir behind it.
The reservoir impounded by this magnificent concrete dam is the biggest reservoir in the U.S. by the maximum capacity when the water level is high. It stretches to 112 miles (180 lm) behind the dam. While the dam was named after the 31st President Herbert Hoover, this man made lake was named after Elwood Mead, the commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation at the time during the planning and construction.
I'm lucky to have good friends like Stephen and Eunice, who drove me to take pictures from the new Hoover Dam Bypass (photo 7 & 8) and from the other angles around the pretty Lake Mead, which lies about 30 miles (48 km) south west of Las Vegas.
