June 19th, 2012. Park #38. Great Basin National Park is located in northeastern Nevada very close to the Utah border. Great Basin became our 49th National Park in 1986 based around a 5,000 year old Bristlecone Pine grove, Wheeler Peak (the 2nd highest peak in NV), Lehman Caves and some of the country's darkest skies! (There aren't any major cities for hundreds of miles; hence, the light pollution is minimal! the Stars come out en mass at night!)
The drive from Phoenix to Great basin looked like this. 600+ miles of vast wasteland. Out in the distance, the mountain range is home to Wheeler Peak. Like when we approached Big Bend last year, we were both wondering if we'd made a sound decision to visit this remote Park.
Once you head up the hill from the small town of Baker toward the Park, the landscape changes dramatically! Soon you are driving thru an alpine forest and the oxygen level diminishes rapidly! Our campsite (Upper Lehman Campground) sat at the 7700' elevation.
Terry found Campsite #20 for us and we quickly moved in. C-Dawg adapted and found his favorite grassy knoll. If you ever venture to this Park and plan on camping, give us a holler. We scouted out the entire Park and know which sites are primo...and which are not!
Before leaving home, we purchased some peppered bacon from Fry's. It is THE BEST bacon on the Planet! Campsite cooking is the best. Nothing like waking up at 4:30 am; (that's when the birds begin to chatter like alarm clocks) brew up a pot of hot coffee, light a fire to cut the morning chill and slap some bacon on the griddle for breakfast in the pines!
Whoa! Nevada has an unusual approach to stop signs!
One of the key features at Great Basin is the Lehman Cave Tour. The caves were "discovered" in the late 1880's by Absalon Lehman, a local rancher. Lehman didn't actually discover the Caves. The local Indians had found them many moons before. Lehman did, however, exploit the caves charging a dollar per customer to take the tour. (A buck in 1890 was worth the equivalent of about $26 today)
Back then there was little regard for the amount of time it takes to create formations like stalactites and stalagmites. Lehman would guide his guests into the depths of the caves, help them light up their candles and then leave them to explore. As he departed, he would tell the cave explorers, "If you can break it, you can take it." Consequently, many of the cave's formations have been snapped up.
The "Poster Child" for Lehman Caves is a shield called Parachute. (pictured above) Cave popcorn, helictites and other oddities also adorn the walkways of the Caverns. Not nearly as grand as Carlsbad Caverns; however, much more interesting than Wind Cave, Lehman Caves is worth the visit.
Caves are nice...however, I'm a tree guy so the Bristlecone Pine Grove was far more interesting to me. Yeah, yeah, yeah..I know it took millions of years for the cave formations to develop. But these 5,000 year old trees are not holed up in the the bowels of a mountain protected from the elements. The Cave's only enemy happened to be the human visitors! The Bristlecones, on the other hand, have had to endure wind and rain and cold and fire and ice and of course...man.
Bristlecone Snags
The wire's namesake lake.
C-Dawg sporting his normal cheerful expression letting us know how excited he was to have been invited along for this portion of our Trek thru the Parks!
C-Dawg in his normal daytime pose!
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