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15 April 2011

Location 33: Cottonwood Cove

Nearing the end of my tour, I reached my penultimate stop: Cottonwood Cove. Er.... ave?


A ramp for launching boats...
One trap for anyone relying solely on their Pip-Boy/GPS for directions is that there's a street named "Cottonwood Cove" in Boulder City, so my suitably dusty SUV and I bowled up in a neat residential street that's more soccer mom than switchblade maniac.

... or launching campaigns
Not to be deterred, I fast travelled to the correct place thanks to a friendly BLM ranger or two. That's the great thing about American recreation areas - once you get on the right road, it's generally a straight run to the venue.

The first indication I was in the right place came at the ramp; the sloped launchway is easily discernible in FNV, although the water table seems to have dropped a bit.

Latin is a language,
dead as dead can be
First it killed the Romans,
and now it's killing me.

The clincher, though, came with this rocky dune on the left. It's where you peer out after arriving from Camp Forlorn Hope, Boone hissing through his teeth if he's your travelling companion.

In reality, much of the area is concreted over, but the general shape of the bay, jetties, and strollways fits. 


I'm seeing cover, sniper points,
throwing lines...
The lighting's a bit odd in the game here, presumably to create an aura of menace - this is, after all, the second-most Caesar'd up location in the game.

I'm seeing blind alleys, dead ends,
places to die a horrible death...
In reality, Cottonwood Cove had the most glorious weather of anywhere I visited, well over 30C.




Always trust a brown sign
A shout-out here for the USA's Bureau of Land Management (the agency that puts up all the brown signs.)

Especially if it's wood
The rangers you meet in such areas tend to be full of information, friendly and outgoing and obviously enjoy their work although it can hardly be a high-paying job.

On my trip they were a constant presence, a bit like the NCR, and always keen to help out. 




 

I came, I saw, I conked out
So here's the cove itself: drier in the game, but both pontoons are there. I tried to cadge a lift to the Fort, but couldn't find a boatman to take me there.
Misty eyed as the trip nears its end
It was at Cottonwood Cove that I sensed my strange journey was nearing its end. There was only one place left on the list: Hoover Dam.

2 comments:

  1. Are you going to do Searchlight?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Afraid not, couldn't find any commonalities!

    ReplyDelete

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