5/27/17 Deserts, Elusive Fossils, Dark Skies and City Lights (Nevada and So Cal)

 

Basin and Range Formation with Seasonal Lake, NV

After leaving Canyon de Chelly, AZ and New Mexico, we headed across Utah to Nevada.  It was a long two-day trip to arrive at Great Basin National Park, a national park typical of the basin and range physiographic section of the country. These many alternating mountain ranges and basins stretch all the way from the Wasatch Mountains in Utah to the Sierra Nevada in eastern California.  Most of Nevada, and western Utah are part of the Great Basin, mostly desert with no water outlet; the water runoff accumulates in the lowest parts of each basin as salt or dry lakes, such as Death Valley.  

Wheeler Peak and Great Basin NP

Great Basin National Park is in eastern Nevada in the “town” of Baker, right next to the Utah border, and includes Wheeler Peak, 13,065 feet in elevation.  Wheeler Peak and the surrounding foothills were selected to preserve a representative portion of the extensive basin and range geologic formations that cover a significant part of the Western US.   

 

Wheeler Peak

Wheeler Peak was still covered in snow, so we were only able to enjoy the lower half of the park.  We were disappointed to not see an ancient bristlecone pine forest, which contains the oldest living non-clonal organism on earth.  Some bristlecones have been found to be 5000 years old (germination in 3000 BC) and grow between 9800 and 11,000 feet; the forest was still under 14 feet of snow (this has been an extremely heavy snow year: 170% of normal).  We did some hikes, but had to turn back a few times when the trails became snow covered and impossible to follow.  We did get to see some unusual winter wildlife; even a marmot, which we had never seen before. We enjoyed watching the Kentucky Derby in our Whispering Elms RV “Resort” bar – the one and only bar in Baker along with a very colorful Navy veteran and his wife. 



Shield Formation (rare), Lehman Caves

We visited Lehman Cave in the Park, which was excellent.  Lehman Cave was discovered in 1885 by Mr. Lehman, a rancher and entrepreneur who immediately began marketing tours to see the caves. The cave was not incorporated into a protected park until 1920, and there is a lot of graffiti in the cave from visitors prior to that.  Interestingly, since the graffiti is more than 50 years old, the National Park Service cannot do anything to fix it (anything older than 50 years is automatically protected).  Visiting Lehman Caves was such a different experience from Carlsbad Caverns (see prior post); Carlsbad has huge rooms and formations and is very hard to photograph because of its vast size (even though it was well lit).  Lehman Cave spaces are VERY tight, requiring that you often duck or walk sideways through narrow places.  It was a great experience.  Linda got some good pics using a strong flashlight to fill in the unlit spaces for more interesting photos.   

Stratosphere and Old Strip

From the desolation of Great Basin National Park and eastern Nevada (no cell or internet service), we headed to Las Vegas.  Our time in Vegas was fun and although it is in the middle of a desert, the City was a welcomed change to camping in the desert landscape.  We stayed at Nellis Air Force Base and were reminded about the “sounds of freedom”: F-22s flying low overhead and "Reveille" at 6am for early wake up calls.   

 

Linda and Bob at Hoover Dam

We spent much of our time in the surrounding countryside.  We had an excellent trip to the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.  The dam tour was not available the day we were there due to “operation issues” (not sure what that means).  The dam is impressive and the visitor center has good exhibits about the politics and construction of the dam.  Equally impressive are the exhibits that show the extent of agriculture possible due to water irrigation from the dam, and the hydroelectric power produced by it.  We didn’t know it, but the Salton Sea in southern CA was caused by a massive flood from the Colorado River in 1905 before the dam was built for flood control. It took years to get the Colorado River back into its original course, but the Salton Sea is now the largest lake in CA. Because it is a terminal lake with no outlets, it is very salty; but the water is used to raise seasonal crops in the area. 

Marina at very low water level, Lake Mead

Lake Mead was very low, even with the very heavy snow cover this year; at least 100 feet below the high water mark.  We have to wonder where the water to support all the people in Nevada, Arizona, and Southern California is going to come from in future years.  

 

 

Valley of Fire State Park, NV

Red Rock Canyon, NV

Petroglyphs, Valley of Fire SP, NV

We spent several days visiting the beautiful canyons to the northeast and northwest of Vegas.  The Valley of Fire State Park and Red Rock Canyon are both beautiful, with spectacular red rock cliffs and rock formations.   In Red Rock Canyon, the major geologic feature is The Keystone Overthrust Fault:  Older Paleozoic Limestone moving east over younger Cretaceous Sandstone.  You can easily see all these geologic features because there is no covering foliage.  In the Valley of Fire, we saw one of the more extensive petroglyphs collections found in a single location on a large sheared-off boulder.  The drawings were very high up on a very steep, almost sheer, cliff; the ancient people must have really wanted to make these drawings!  

Basin and Range, NV

We wanted to see if we could find some fossils at the Tule Spring Fossil Bed National Monument, only 15 miles northeast of Las Vegas.  This is one of the newest National Monuments. Interestingly, and unlike some of the other newest monuments, there does not appear to have been any opposition from realtors or landowners to making this land into a monument.  It does not yet have any roads, parking areas, a visitor center or even roadside exhibits. We even talked to a park ranger before we got there, and he was unable to provide any additional information.   We were completely on our own, which made for an “interesting” hike. There are not even good directions on how to find “The Big Dig” – a 1962 excavation that found a huge trove of fossils dating from 250,000 years ago to just 10,000 years ago….an incredibly long span of time for fossils in one area. During this excavation, scientists discovered an abundance of large animal fossils, such as mammoths, camels, bison, ground sloths, and the Giant North American lion. In 2004, almost 10,000 fossils were removed from the southern portion of the area and curated in the San Bernardino County Museum in California. We walked out onto the wash but couldn’t find the dig or anything resembling a fossil.  After about an hour and a half we left…pointless, but a fun exploration anyway.  

Graceland Chapel, Vegas

We are NOT gamblers, so we just enjoyed the “Vegas entertainment”.  We spent a day on the historic old strip, the Las Vegas Boulevard State Scenic Byway.  This is old Las Vegas:  tattoo parlors, bail bondsmen, wedding chapels (including a Graceland Chapel where you are married by Elvis) and old casinos, all mixed together in a seedy part of town. 

 

Old Stardust Neon Sign, Neon Museum, Las Vegas

We visited the Neon Graveyard and Museum, a museum filled with neon signs, some dating back to the 1930s. Each of the 200 + signs came from local casinos, businesses or hotels.  It was pretty cool to see and to hear the history of these iconic places and famous people stories.  We also visited the Mob Museum; a museum about the history of the mob and mob influence in the US; a different side of history than we normally see.  The displays included lots of conspiracy theories, the most notable being that Kennedy was assassinated by the mob because he was targeting them through the Attorney Generals office. The Stratosphere is at the southern end of the old strip.  Great 360 degree views of Las Vegas.  

Slotzilla Zip Line, covered Freemont St, Las Vegas

Our last stop was Fremont Street, an enclosed street on the old strip, which is now a street entertainment venue with bands and lots of outside bars and colorful scenes along the street.  We rode (in the flying position) the zip line that goes the full length of the enclosed street.  We took the elevator to the 10^th story launch platform and zipped about a half mile over the crowds below us…. quite a different experience than zip lining over a rain forest or canyon!  



Chihuly Glass ceiling, Bellagio, Las Vegas

We also spent an evening enjoying a few of the newer, thematic casinos, on the “new” strip.  We started with the Venetian.  It is very elaborate Italian with canals throughout the casino property, inside and out, and even a St. Mark’s Square.  Our next stop was Caesar’s Palace; very Romanesque, with lots of roman columns.  The Bellagio was the most artistic; the entire lobby ceiling is made of Chihuly glass, worth $50 million dollars  (we went to the incredible Chihuly museum in Seattle last year)!   They have a beautiful greenhouse/ conservatory full of gorgeous flowers under a high glass roof….beautiful. Paris, a tribute to Paris, France, hosts the Eiffel tower, Arc de Triumph, and Versailles.   The inside is a little dark, with an at-dusk sky painted on the ceiling meant to be romantic.  After dinner, we watched two street shows:  the Bellagio water show and a volcano eruption at the Mirage.  We were disappointed that we couldn’t see the Treasure Island Pirate Show, a favorite, which was cancelled about 1 year ago. It was a fun evening, just walking and people watching.  

Eiffel Tower, Paris, Las Vegas

Gondola on Canal, INSIDE The Venetian, Las Vegas

Death Valley, CA

We next headed to Death Valley National Park, CA, the largest park, by area, in the continental US.  Although we were early to Great Basin (snow not yet melted), we were late to the Death Valley season.  Much of the park was already closed and summer hours (off season) were in effect.  We were very lucky; instead of the usual 100+ degree weather, we had mid 80s weather.  This was very different from our prior visit to Death Valley in 1986; we took a cross-country tent camping trip with Rob as we moved from New Jersey to Sacramento.  We visited Death Valley during the day when it was over 120 degrees (you could cook an egg on your car hood).  We visited Dante’s Peak at night to see the stars, but even then it was HOT.   When we got down from Dante’s Peak, the only place in the entire valley to cool off was the Furnace Creek Saloon. It was the only place with cold drinks and air conditioning and was packed even at midnight.  There were no rooms available, so we continued to drive all night; it was much too hot to camp or sleep in the car. Just for old time’s sake this trip, we did indulge a cold beverage at the “new” saloon. 

Artist Pallet, Death Valley, CA

We enjoyed traveling the mostly deserted park; Furnace Creek, camped at Stove Pipe Wells, the Ubehebe Crater, and the two highest points on either side of the valley: Aguereberry Point on the west and Dante’s Point on the east.  Interestingly, Dante’s Point is directly above Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the continental US, at 282 feet below sea level; the elevation contrast was awesome.  Artist Drive is a beautiful drive past colorful rocks; Artist’s Pallet, the culmination of the drive, has all kinds of colored rocks mixed together in one small area.  The effect of elevation on temperature was quite evident in Death Valley.  In the valley, the temperature was hotter (mid 80s) than the surrounding mountains; mid 70s at 4000 feet and low 60s at 7000 feet elevation.    

Trona Pinnacles, Trona, CA

Our last desert stop was “boondocking” at Trona Pinnacles, CA. The pinnacles are designated a NNL (National Natural Landscape) by the NPS.  To camp there, we drove 7 miles on a dirt road, parked wherever we wanted,  and set up the motorhome (including our solar panels).  We were the only people there and spent a very silent night under a remarkable clear starry sky. The pinnacles are tufa columns, some as high at 140 feet, that originally formed underwater from calcium carbonate precipitation, between 10,000 and 100,000 years ago, in Searles Lake (now a dry basin). These unusual formations have been used in a variety of movies  including Battleship Galactica, Star Trek V, Dinosaur, Lost in Space and Planet of the Apes. The formations are beautiful in the setting sun.  As a note, Great Basin NP, Death Valley NP, Trona Pinnacles NNL, and even Las Vegas are all in the basin and range formations of the Great Basin.   

Desert Night Sky (NPS Photo)

One of the more interesting features of the many remote places we have visited are the “dark skies”.  Several of the national parks are now promoting dark skies as a way to see the stars, planets, and other astronomical features.  We are very familiar with the darkest skies; while cruising our sailboat,  hundreds of miles out to sea, and no moon, you have VERY dark skies.  Some of the more remote parks (Big Bend TX, Canyonlands UT, Capital Reef UT, Death Valley CA, Natural Bridges UT, etc) are so far removed from city lights, that you can see a wonderful starry sky.  Most of the people living in the US have never seen such a beautiful sky, and we are very supportive of this National Parks effort.    

Our next destination is the mountains and national parks of the Sierra Nevada in California.  More to follow. Feel free to pass the blog link on to anyone who might be interested.   

Best to all,

Linda and Bob