My first stop was a few days in Pahrump, Nevada to see my son and daughter-in-law and meet my new Grandpup, Oswald. Isn't he adorable?
The weather was sunny and warm, the high 70s. I should have stayed here a few more days, but I'm always anxious to get back on the road, so ....off I go to see Cathedral Gorge State Park.Volcanoes, earthquakes, water, and erosion created the spires and buff-colored cliffs of Cathedral Gorge. There are lots of hiking trails and slot canyons, etc. to explore here. I took these pictures from Miller Point.
There was some construction on the highway and we were led through by a pilot car, so as a result, several vehicles were "bunched" together on the highway for a while. As we arrived at a turnoff for highway 318, all of the vehicles turned except me. I was torn between being glad they were turning and wondering if they knew something I didn't. 😏
A stop in Pioche is worthwhile. Silver was found near here as early as 1863, and after the mines opened in 1869, the settlement boomed. It gained notoriety as a trigger-happy, lawless town, the toughest in the West. Local legend has it that not one of the first 70 entrants in its cemetery died of natural causes.History is all around here, starting with the Million Dollar Courthouse, so named for its costly (some say corrupt) 60-year debt repayment on the initial 1871 construction costs of $26,400. But when the bond retired in 1936, inflation hit it, and the cost of the courthouse swept up to a massive $1 million.
The Great Basin Highway is a Nevada Scenic Byway and is very pretty. At Majors Place I turned onto my first leg of Highway 50, the Loneliest Road. I'll be spending more time on this highway in a couple of weeks.
Between the wind and the grades, I got really bad gas mileage on this drive. I was hoping my new wheel alignment would give me a little boost in the right direction, but it didn't help.
The Great Basin National Park sits a over 7,000 feet; remember I left Death Valley at below sea level. This is what I found when I arrived ....
Unfortunately, the entrance to the 12-mile scenic Wheeler Peak drive (13,063 feet) was closed.
And this was my campground.
When I'm traveling and the campground doesn't accept reservations, I'm always nervous that it will be full. Not so this time. I was the only guest.
The Great Basin National Park is home to some of the oldest trees, ancient bristlecone pines, found anywhere. Also, a unique species of fish, the Bonneville trout, are only found here. It even has it's own Great Basin rattlesnake!
It's not just one but many basins, separated by mountain ranges roughly parallel, north to south, basin and range alternating in seemingly endless geographic rhythm. Broad basins hang between craggy ranges from California's Sierra Nevada to Utah's Wasatch Mountains. Thirteen peaks rise above 11,000 feet. You can definitely see mountains all around you as you drive into the park.
And below ground are the Lehman Caves (but it's actually only one cave), which extends a quarter mile into the limestone at the base of the Snake Range. Lehman Caves is famous for rare formations called "shields" which are made up of two circular halves that resemble clam shells. I got a good picture of the "bacon" formation as well. 
The inside of the cave is 50 degrees, year-round, so it was actually warmer in the cave than outside. It barely got to the low 30s while I was there; and it snowed, of course. No one else was signed up for the cave tour the morning I reserved, so I got a "personal" tour from two very nice rangers.
I thought Baker would be a little bigger town, so was surprised that it's just a wide spot in the road.
I paid for two nights at the campground, but snow is falling and the weather report says it will continue to do so for three days, so I'm being causous and moving on.
No comments:
Post a Comment