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Friday, June 10, 2022
Our hotel includes a free, complimentary breakfast at Denny’s. Like many restaurants these days the place is somewhat short staffed. We waited almost 15 minutes just to get seated because, although there were plenty of empty tables, none of them had been bussed. It took another fifteen minutes before someone waited on us.
It was an hour’s drive into Great Basin National Park this morning. We stopped at the visitor’s center, got our maps, and proceeded to the scenic drive. We had almost three hours until our cave tour – or did we?
The visitor’s center is at about 6,000 feet in elevation. The scenic tour wended, winded, twisted, turned and switched-back all the way up past 11,000 feet. The temperature went from 85 degrees to a lovely 72 degrees. Along the way we stopped at a number of viewpoints and got information about the trails. There were lovely views of the valley, or should I say basin, below. The park’s name is really a misnomer. The park is actually situated on a very large mountain with views of the “Great Basin” below. We had an audio guide that explained the changes in vegetation and wildlife at the different elevations. It was quite interesting.
We stopped at Mather Overlook. It was named for Stephen Mather the first director of the National Park Service. The spot has magnificent views of Wheeler Peak. At 13,065 feet it’s the second tallest peak in Nevada (only Boundary Peak, which tops out at at 13,146 feet, is higher). After the stop at Mather Overlook I noticed that the car’s clock, which is slaved to my iPhone, was off by an hour. Did the drive up the mountain take longer than we thought? It mattered because our cave tour was scheduled for 12:30 pm. If we were late we would not be able to get another tour date for many weeks. We pondered for a bit. I called the visitor’s center and Deborah googled. The visitor’s center confirmed that we were an hour off. Deborah found out that, because we are so close to the Mountain Time Zone, it is common at higher altitudes for phones to connect to towers in the wrong time zone. Yikes! We manually adjusted the timezones on our phones and were once again at ease. We had plenty of time.
At the end of the drive we came to the Bristlecone Lakes Trailhead. We had first encountered Bristlecone Pines in Bryce Canyon National Park. They are marvelous looking trees with twisted trunks and roots that often project out of the ground. Bristlecone Pines have an enormous lifespan and are some of the oldest living things on Earth. They can easily live several thousand years and the oldest ones have been clocked in at around 5,000 years old. We had intended to take the three mile hike to the Bristlecone Pine Grove but the sign at the trailhead said that the path was slippery and icy and that crampons and poles were required. Apparently the snow hadn’t melted in that part of the park yet. For us it meant we were going to have to find some other trails to hike. We took a short hike through the forest while we were there. At that altitude the air was clean, crisp and cool and there was ample shade from the trees. It was lovely.
We reversed course and headed back towards the visitor’s center. The grade was so steep that we didn’t use any gas at all. By the time we had another 1,000 feet to descent we could smell the heat from the car’s brakes.
Our cave tour was not for another hour. We filled the time by having a light lunch at the cafe. I wanted a salad but the choices of dressing were so unappealing that I opted for the grilled cheese sandwich. Deborah got the salad.
The Lehman Caves were discovered by Absalom Lehman in 1885. The caves began forming over 550 million years ago and are made up of mostly marble and limestone. Over many years water eroded the rock and left large cavities. To tour the caves you must book a tour through the National Park Service. Our tour, The Grand Palace Tour, was scheduled for 90 minutes. We were told that the environment is wet and slippery, has low ceilings in places and requires scrambling. Participants are suggested to bring flashlights and rugged shoes. Groups are limited to 20 people.
At 12:30 pm our group was assembled and the guide took us into the caves. We were immediately struck by the fact that there was lighting. Also, the path was paved with grooved cement to make traction easier. It reminded us of trips to Howe or Lurray Caverns.
The cave was quite beautiful. It was filled with large caverns, stalagmites and stalactites. We moved from cavern to cavern and our guide talked about the cave, how it was formed, the various structures and the inhabitants (the major inhabitants are bats). It was damp in places but it was never an issue. We enjoyed the constant 52 degree temperature. It was a lot of fun.
Back outside it was close to 90 degrees and the light was blinding. Once our eyes adjusted we went back to the cafe for dessert. During our lunch we’d noticed a few people were eating ice cream. We couldn’t let an opportunity like that pass us by. The cafe served vanilla soft serve which could be topped with chocolate, caramel, or peanut butter sauce. Mine had chocolate, Deborah’s had peanut butter. The ice cream itself was really good but the toppings were amazing. It was only $3.50 for a huge helping. It’s possible we might go back on another day for more 😇.
Saturday, June 11, 2022
This morning we planned to do the The Osceola Ditch Trail. In 1872 gold was discovered near what was to become Great Basin National Park. To aid in the mining effort an 18 mile long ditch was created to carry water to the mining site. The miners still lacked adequate water and in 1901 commercial mining operations were abandoned. This trail parallels the old ditch. In places remnants of the old wooden structures are plain to see.
The trail was initially quite steep as we descended into the forest. The way was rather narrow and rocky. The further we went the more we encountered slabs of pretty, multi-colored marble. Suddenly, something crossed very quickly in front of me from left to right. A snake was hiding in the rocks just on the right edge of the path. We were able to get a good look at him: it was a rattlesnake. We didn’t know what to do.
Deborah gave me one of her hiking poles and I pounded it on the nearby rocks. It had the intended affect. The snake slithered off. We stopped for a moment to regain our composure before continuing on our way. About fifty feet further down the trail I heard something and we both stopped to listen. It was another rattler somewhere on the hill to our left. We’d had enough. We turned around and scurried back to the car as fast as we could.
We may not have hiked the full trail but we still managed to get into the forrest, see some pretty rocks, sniff some trees, find some snakes, and live. We considered it a full day’s work. Yes, I said sniff some trees! During one of our hikes at Bryce someone told us that if you get up close and personal with a Ponderosa Pine they smell like vanilla. Naturally we tried it. They smell sweet with a distinct aroma of vanilla. Ever since then we’ve been tree sniffers 😜.
Deborah suggested that we go to the visitor’s center and inform the rangers that there were rattlesnakes on the trail. I said that they’d just laugh at us. It’s a wilderness. There is all kind of wildlife everywhere – including snakes.
We decided that we’d had enough hiking for the day and decided, instead, to see The Ward Charcoal Ovens at a nearby state park. We’d seen pictures of them and they looked interesting. The ovens were built around 1876 by Italian immigrants in order to turn wood into charcoal. Six of the original beehive shaped ovens still stand and are said to be in excellent condition. When we got to the turnoff we realized that the next ten miles would be over dirt and gravel roads. We decided it was best not to make the attempt in our little Corolla.
For our combination lunch/dinner we went to a burger place called Hunters. The burgers were made from fresh beef. They were just ok. The fries were made from fresh cut potatoes. They were really good. We wanted to try their soft serve but their machine was down. Not easily put off we went over to a drug store with an old fashioned ice cream fountain. They were serving some brand of ice cream we’d never heard of. It was hardly premium. We ordered sundaes. They came with virtually no sauce at all. They did, however, come with nuts. The problem is we ordered them without nuts.
Sunday, June 12, 2022
We stayed close to our hotel today and did a bit of trip planning. We booked some hotels and some campsites at our next few destinations. We’re set until the end of the month.
We originally had intended to leave tomorrow but had to stay an extra day so Amazon could deliver our camping equipment. Way up here in the boonies there’s no such thing as two day delivery, much less same day delivery.
This evening we watched a new TV show called Dark Winds. It’s a collaboration between George R.R. Martin (of Game of Thrones fame) and Robert Redford. The show takes place in Navajo lands and was obviously filmed in Monument Valley. We had fun picking out all of the formations and roads that we have become familiar with. It was a hoot!
Monday, June 13, 2022
This morning we tried to take the Toyota in for service. It’s just about time for an oil change and tire rotation. We assumed we could get it done here in Ely because who knows when we’ll be in a position to have it done again. We called just about every service center in town. Only one was “possibly” available and it turned out that they didn’t have the right oil filters in stock. It shouldn’t be that hard.
Around noon our Amazon order came in. Everything was there. The tent and the sleeping bags were even more compact than we’d hoped they’d be. We broke out just about every power converter we had because we needed six USB ports to charge all of the electronic “felgercarb” we bought.
Our route tomorrow is going to take us through Reno, NV. We figured we could pick up the missing air mattress there. Two of the three Walmarts in Reno claimed they had the item we wanted. In sequence I purchased one at each store and was later informed that they were not in stock. What is wrong with these people???