6-30-17 Favorite Haunts, Unusual Caves, and Really Tall Trees (Northern Calif)

Happy July 4^th to all our friends and family! 

California Coast, 17 Mile Drive, Monterey

Monterey Harbor

After fleeing Yosemite early due to the crowds and traffic, we decided to head to one of our favorite haunts, the Monterey Peninsula.  We were able to “camp” at the Elks Lodge, situated on a hilltop overlooking Monterey Bay.   The Lodge is beautiful, with an exercise room, spa and sauna and even a heated pool (which we admired, but did not use) in additional to the bar where we always enjoy meeting and sharing time with locals Elks.   

Harbor Seals, Monterey Harbor

We never seem to tire of the Monterey Peninsula, even though we have been there numerous times while we lived in California.  We skipped it last year when we drove down Route 1 on the coast from San Francisco to Simi Valley, because we were short on time.  This was an opportunity to re-visit it “one last time”.   

Hotel del Monte, US Naval Postgrad School

We enjoyed several new places such as the famous Trident Bar and Grill at the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, which is headquartered in the historic Hotel del Monte (we love all these grand, historic hotels from the late 1800s and early 1900s), and the Army’s Presidio.  We also found some abalone for dinner on Fisherman’s Wharf (abalone is cultivated in Monterey Bay, but hard to find anywhere else at any price).  Abalone is caught only by free diving (no SCUBA).  

18th Hole, Pebble Beach Golf Course

We also re-visited some of our favorites:  17 mile drive and the Lone Cypress Tree (we are glad to report it still stands although we had heard rumors that it had fallen), we stopped and reminisced about our one and only late 90s round of golf at the fabulous Pebble Beach golf course and Lodge, and had lunch in Carmel with its bountiful art studios and excellent restaurants.  Our wonderful 3-day diversion from Yosemite to the peninsula ended all too quickly. 

Lone Cypress Tree, 17 Mile Drive, Monterey

Condors flying Over Pinnacles National Park

We headed back east to Pinnacles National Park, our Nation’s newest national park (it had been a National Monument for many years prior to being upgraded to a National Park), dedicated in 2013.  The park is in the coastal range, but is unusual in that the highest peaks are volcanic remnants.  This breccia volcanic rock is much softer that other rock and the peaks are eroded into unusual pinnacle shapes, which gives the park its name.  Interestingly, it is a release area for rescued condor chicks, and there is a large population there.  We only saw a couple high up in the sky.   

Linda in Dark Part of Talus Cave, Pinnacles NP

However, for us, the most interesting part of the park was the Talus Caves.  The caves are formed when huge breccia boulders, many as big as houses, fall off the sheer cliffs and pile up in the steep canyon below.  The boulders are so big that they lodge high off the floor of the canyon and leave large (and small) gaps under them.  The pile of boulders is quite thick and forms the roof of the “cave” over the stream at the bottom of the canyon; we hiked, climbed, and duck-walked (even with our old knees) through the cave formed by the fallen boulders.  For longer sections, the cave is completely dark requiring flashlights, and has bat residents in those sections.  We were able to hike through Balconies Cave, but Bear Gulch Cave was closed to protect the bat nurseries.  

Bob Standing at Entrance to Talus Caves, Pinnacles NP

 

 

Tom, Linda, Sally, John and Bob

We parked out motorhome across the street from our friend, Tom Hart’s, condo and enjoyed a short one night stay with him away from our coach.  After a great dinner with Tom and friends, John and Sally Bourgoin, we headed north to Mendocino, another of our favorite coastal towns. 

 

Bob and Linda, Mendocino Headland 2017

Bob and Linda, Mendocino Headland, 1995

We had not been to Mendocino or the north central coast of California for a long time….not since the mid-90s, when we flew up with our friends Cindy and Del Foit.  Although the Monterey Peninsula has continued to expand and grow over the years, Mendocino didn’t look much different than it did 20 years ago (although we do - see pictures)! 

Caspar Beach Sunset

Our Mendocino RV park was situated between Mendocino and Ft Bragg, to the north.  It was up a small canyon, just far enough off the beach to be out of the densest fog, but close enough for a short walk to the beach for a beautiful full-fireball Pacific Ocean sunset with a glass of wine (or 2) and a morning beach walk with a cup of coffee and a heavy fleece to ward off the fog and mist.  

Bob M, Linda M, Linda B and Robert B

We had prearranged to call our RVing Florida friends, Robert and Linda Blanco, somewhere/sometime along the California coast; they were supposed to be there about the same time we were.  We had previously determined we would be in the Mendocino area about the same time, and when we called them from Mendocino, they had just arrived there and parked only two blocks from our Jeep Cherokee!  We joined them for lunch at the Mendocino Hotel which served an excellent cup of coffee.  Robert is a coffee gourmet so we learned a lot about great coffee, including his favorite from Ethiopia and how he manages to enjoy gourmet coffees in his RV.  We took notes and hopefully, we learned some neat tricks to improve our own coffee.  Robert and Linda traveled on north while we stayed a few days longer.  The hotel food was so good, we went back for happy hour dinner at the hotel bar.  It is great when a last-minute “plan” comes together. 

 

The Birds Schoolhouse, Bodega

In addition to enjoying the Mendocino headlands, the fog, and the crashing waves along the coast, we drove the section of Rt 1 south of Mendocino to Bodega Bay.  We stopped at the school house used in the Alfred Hitchcock film “The Birds” (it is actually in Bodega rather than Bodega Bay) and visited the only Russian settlement in the lower 48, established in Ft. Ross in 1812, and occupied by the Russians until 1842.  The fort/settlement (manned more by Eskimos and native Americans than 

Russian Orthodox Church, Ft. Ross SP

Russians) supported the Russian fishing, trapping (furs) and mining activities in Alaska by growing produce and meat for them and shipping it north.  The site was strategically selected to be north of the Spanish settlements (which stopped in the SF Bay area) and south of the British settlements (Vancouver and Vancouver Island).  The Russian Orthodox Church there is still used for certain celebrations.  



Manzanita Lake with Mt Lassen Volcano, Lassen NM

We left the foggy cooler coast (great to visit, but not our favorite climate to live in) to head inland and higher to the warmer Lassen Volcanic National Park in the northern California mountains.  The Sierra Nevada of central California are one giant granitic batholith; however, California geology north of Lake Tahoe is dominated by volcanic and other activity driven by islands/plates from the Pacific Ocean smashing into the California coast (plate tectonics is still in action!). 

 

Mt Shasta from East

Lassen is the southern-most volcano in the long line of volcanoes that stretches from Mt Baker in Washington (we were there last year) through the Cascades…. 14 volcanoes in all, some of which have been recently active (Mt St. Helens in 1980).  Nearby Mt. Shasta, part of the same volcanic chain, is much lar ft. elevation (only 400 ft shorter than Mt Whitney), and can be seen from 100 miles away.  

Devastated Area on Slope of Mt Lassen

Lassen Mountain, at 10,457 feet elevation, was still encased in snow at the top. Again, the heavy snowfall of this past winter restricted our activities. Mt Lassen last erupted recently in 1915, and the live event was captured in very interesting photographs….  We were able to visit the “Devastated Area” and touch the rocks that were formed in 1915 (102 years later, very little grows there), and the Cinder Cone northeast of the volcano.  However, the currently active area of hot springs and fumaroles was not yet accessible due to snowed-in roads.  It was interesting to see Bob look at rocks only 30 years older than he is….he is usually looking at rocks that are thousands to millions of years old!    

Bob at Skull Cave (Lava Tube) Entrance

Because a lot of points of interest at Lassen were closed, we had some extra time and decided to take a day trip to Lava Beds National Monument, about 2.5 hours north of Lassen, very near Oregon.   Over the last half-million years, volcanic eruptions on the Medicine Lake shield volcano have created a rugged landscape dotted with diverse volcanic features.  More than 700 lava caves and Native American rock art sites are the major features of this national monument.  We could only spend a limited amount of time there and elected to visit 2 lava tube caves.  The lava tube caves found here were created by flows of smooth lava 10,500 to 65,000 years ago. As the lava flowed it began to cool and solidify on the top and sides. Once the eruption ceased, the tube emptied and drained, and a lava tube cave is left behind. As the rock cooled, the inner surface of the tube cracked and collapsed, producing openings to the surface – cave entrances.  In many areas, the tops of the tubes have fallen in for long distances resulting in ravines of jumbled lava to show their presence on the surface.  But in many areas, the tubes are intact and the caves extend for long distances; the tubes/caves can be several levels high.   

Ice Floor, Skull Cave, Lava Beds NP

Many of the “developed” caves contain trails through the cave and stairways or ladders into the cave. Most of the developed caves are located along Cave Loop, a 2-mile road near the visitor center. Developed caves are divided into three groups based on their varying levels of difficulty in the hardest section of the cave: least, moderate, and most challenging.  We chose to visit the caves with easy walks, and did not visit caves that required visitors to crawl through mud and very tight spaces.  We visited Skull Cave; it was multi-level (lava tubes over lava tubes) and the hike was almost vertical with lots of stairs and ladder to the bottom where the temperature was less than 30 degrees.  It stays that cold all summer, even when it is 100 degrees outside (it was 85 the day we visited).  There is ice on the floor in the bottom of the cave, all year long.    

California Coast Near Mendocino - Note Fog Bank in Distance

Redwood Trees, Redwood NP

Our last stop in California was on the Klamath River to visit the Redwoods National Park (and State Parks).  This is along the very northern coast of California, just south of Crescent City.  When we traveled across the central valley from Lassen, it was 103 degrees (California was in a heat wave), but by the time we arrived at the coast, the temperature was the usual low 70s, with fog in the morning and evening.  For those not familiar with the coastal climate of California, the Pacific Ocean current comes from the north and it is VERY cold.  In June, when the air warms up and collides with the cold water, it forms a fog.  It is called “The June Gloom” (which usually starts mid-May and lasts until mid-end of July), but usually burns off during the middle of the day. We were able to “enjoy” the fog and mist in the early morning and late afternoons, because most of the days turned out to be beautiful sunny, warm “realtor days”  while visiting Monterey, Mendocino, and Klamath.    

Our Jeep on Redwood NP Back Road

There are three types of Redwood trees: two are found in California – the Coastal Redwood and the Giant Sequoia.  The third type, the Dawn Redwoods, was originally found in China, but are now grown throughout the US.  We discussed the humongous Giant Sequoia in the Sequoia, Kings and Yosemite National Parks in our last blog… it is only found in the Southern Sierra Nevada between 4500 and 5500 feet of elevation.  

Linda inside burnt Redwood Tree, Redwood NP

By comparison, the Coastal Redwood is found only on the Northern California coast, not right on the beach, but close enough to enjoy the dense fogs and mists along the coast.  Although the Giant Sequoia is larger by volume and has much bigger trunks, the Coastal Redwood is slightly taller.   More importantly, the Redwoods are much more prevalent.  While we only saw Sequoia in small groves found sparsely through the mountains, the Redwood groves are dense and prolific…it is a wonderful forest to hike in or drive through.  

Bob Next to Fallen Redwood, Redwood NP

 

Redwoods in Usual Coastal Fog (NPS Photo)

We were able to hike to and through quite a few groves along the coast, as well as to enjoy the coast cliffs and stunning scenery.  We were fortunate that there was a hot spell in California, and it was sunny while we were there.  Usually, the coast is surrounded by heavy fog, which the redwoods need: the obtain 50% of their water needs from the fog/mist, through their needles.  

Pt Cabrillo Lighthouse, Mendocino

We are fans of Lighthouses and visit everyone we can along the way.  We had stopped at Point Pinos Lighthouse in Monterey, Point Arena and Point Cabrillo near Mendocino, and Trinidad Head and Battery Point near Crescent City.  The Battery Point Lighthouse is on an Island/Peninsula in Crescent City.  Linda had taken pictures of it when Bob was doing a Field Day for his Ham Radio, but wanted to wait until Bob could go with her to actually visit the Lighthouse.  When he was done later in the day, we went to the Light, but it was hightide, and the lighthouse was now on an island and not accessible.  Since we left the next day, we didn’t get a chance to go back.  

Battery Point Lighthouse, Crescent City, CA

We are now headed north to Oregon.  We have never spent any time there, so we are really looking forward to experiencing the state.We continue to feel very Blessed and Thank God for giving us the time and health to enjoy our retirement to the fullest. 

Feel free to pass the blog link on to anyone who might be interested.   

Best to all,

Linda and Bob  

6/11/17 Big Trees, Snow and Waterfalls (CA Sierra Nevada)

 

Southern California Sierra Nevada from the East

Mt Whitney from Rt. 395 on East Side of Sierra

Out of the frying pan into the ….snow.  Fire and Ice.  We headed west from the heat of Death Valley and drove toward the snow-capped Sierra Nevada of Southern California.  The Sierra seems to rise “straight up” out of the ground with many peaks over 14,000 feet (Mt Whitney, the tallest in the lower 48 stands at 14,491) just a few short miles from the lowest point in the US (Badwater, Death Valley at 282 feet BELOW sea level).  It is a stunning vista from even one hundred miles away! 

Our Tiffin Motorcoach Boondocked on flooded Lake Isabella

Our first stop was at the southern end of the Sierra - we spontaneously boondocked on Lake Isabella near Kernville.  We drove to the end of an isolated unpaved road in BLM land at the northern end of Lake Isabella; we camped with no one else in sight except for a couple of fishermen for a few hours on day.  The lake was at recent highs and rising but still well below the high water mark; the large snowpack (170% of normal at Lake Tahoe) and a recent warm spell was causing a quick melt with high, sometimes flood, river levels throughout the Sierra.  We spent a few days off the grid enjoying Kernville and the Lake Isabella area, before we headed to our reservations for Sequoia National Park.   

Lake Isabella High Water Mark - long way to go

In Kernville, the rafting vendors were all happy; they will have rafting water levels through the entire summer. The Kern River below the Lake Isabella Dam was flowing even faster. Unbelievably, it appears to us they are not storing the record snow melt in the lake, which could hold a lot more water (hopefully they have the remaining meltwater runoff calculated accurately).  We wanted to drive the Trail of the 100 Giants (Sequoia Trees) in the nearby Sequoia National Forest, but it was still closed due to high snow levels.  This was a refrain we were to hear many times over the next few weeks.   

Our Tiffin Climbing into Sequoia NP, Serra Nevada Mtns

From Kernville, we headed to Three Rivers RV Hideaway in Three Rivers CA as we were not able to get a reservation at the only campground in Sequoia NP that could accommodate an RV of our size. Most of the park is accessible only on steep winding roads, and the campgrounds and most roads are limited to vehicles less than 22 feet in length.  Our campground was only a few miles from the entrance with full service for our week-long stay.  

Bob next to Giant Sequoia

The Sequoia trees (the biggest trees by volume in North America) are huge.  Some are as old as 3500 - 4000 years. The undisputed king is the General Sherman Tree, is not only the largest living tree in the world, but also supposed to be the largest living single organism in the world??  It has a circumference of 103 feet, is 275 feet tall, and is estimated to be 2300 - 2700 years old. The reason it is the largest is the great growing location.  The path toward a protected national park started when a lumberman counted 3000 rings on huge cut tree and decided that these special trees needed protection.  Thankfully, he was successful.  Even in all the protected parks, there are only a few groves of these special trees remaining.  The largest grove is The Giant Forest in Sequoia, with hundreds of these giants.   

Climbing up Morro Rock

The Sierra is a giant batholith, a huge intrusion of granite, that has been exposed by erosion that extends from Lake Tahoe to Bakersfield and from the Central Valley to Highway 395 on the eastern side of the Sierra. It is the large granite outcrops, standing out from the trees on the lower slopes and the snow on the higher slopes, that make them so picturesque.  In Sequoia National Park, the most well-known granite outcrop/dome is called Morro Rock.  You can see it for 20 miles as your drive up the steep and winding Generals Highway; it is at the same elevation as the Sequoia Trees,  4500 to 5500 feet elevation.  We enjoyed climbing Morro Rock….up a long, crooked, narrow “staircase” of 350 steps, and long narrow steep trails, to the top of the dome; fabulous vistas in all directions, including a great view of the snowcapped high Sierra. (Although Mt Whitney was directly east of us here, we couldn’t see the peak).  

High Meadow, Mineral King, Sequoia NP

We were lucky for the opportunity to drive up Mineral King Road, a narrow, often one-lane, secondary road to a high meadow in the NP passing through the rustic Silver City Resort. Most of these high meadows are only available if you take long, strenuous hikes way into the high Sierra.  Luckily, the road had opened just two days prior; it took over 2 hours to drive up.  At the top, we were in a high meadow (almost 8000 feet elevation), still mostly snow covered, surrounded by snow cap peaks. The snow melt was flowing everywhere, causing streams and waterfalls to flood the meadow, now a marsh, and adding to the roaring Kaweah River below. We had a delicious lunch on the resort patio at 7,500 feet elevation.  

Running Water Carving Rock, Crystal Cave, Sequoia NP

The one feature of Sequoia NP that was not affected by the snow was Crystal Cave.  It opened for the season while we were visiting.  We booked a tour ticket and enjoyed the 1 hour tour through the cave.  Unlike most of the other caves we had been in recently, this cave was formed in marble, not limestone - hence the name Crystal Cave (the walls glimmer).  Because marble dissolves much more slowly than limestone, there are very few stalactites and stalagmites; instead the force of rushing water is the main cause of the formation of the cave.  This was a cave with mostly tight, small spaces, and therefore, an “intimate” caving experience.    
 

Kings River and Canyon, Kings NP (Note all the white water)

Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks are right next to each other, and managed by the same office.  Kings Canyon NP is mostly wilderness, but one road takes you into and along Kings Canyon, the parks namesake.  It is a beautiful, deep glacial valley, cut by yet another roaring river, the Kings River.  The narrow, winding road hugs the cliffs up high looking down on the canyon and river, but sometimes skirted the river itself; some parts of the road were recently flooded.  Again the uppermost sections of the park were still closed due to snow. 

High Sierra, Eastern Side

We had originally planned on visiting Mono and Mammoth Lakes as a day trip from Yosemite NP.  However, when we were in Sequoia, we realized Highway 120 that crosses the high Sierra in Yosemite was closed due to snow and not anticipated to open until August!  If we wanted to see the eastern side of the Sierra, we had two options to cross the mountains; either go north to Rt 50 and Lake Tahoe from Yosemite, or drive south from Sequoia around the southern end of the mountains near Bakersfield. We chose the faster and shorter trip (still 800 miles round trip) from Sequoia around the southern end of the Sierra, back past Lake Isabella.  We wished we had realized the snow and road conditions when we were in Lake Isabella, not after we had driven all the way up to Sequoia/Kings.  However, we decided to make the trip anyway, and not miss the eastern Sierra Nevada.   

Mammoth Lakes, CA

We left our motorhome parked at Sequoia and drove the car around and spent the night in Mammoth Lakes in a hotel.  We couldn’t believe it, but Mammoth Lakes was still very much a ski town in June; the slopes were still covered in deep snow, and it was very COLD.  We had wanted to go to Devil’s Postpile and Rainbow Falls, but the entrance to the road to get there was still under 20 feet of snow!  Instead, we just toured Mammoth Lakes, June Lake, and spent a wonderful half day exploring the tufa pinnacles of Mono Lake.  These are the same type of tufa formations found in Trona Pinnacles (see last blog), but in Mono Lake they are still forming in the water.  As a note, there was once an inland sea that covered the entire area east of the Sierra.  

Bob and Linda, Tufa Formations, Mono Lake South Shore

Mono Lake South Shore, CA

June Lake, Mammoth Lakes, CA

 

El Capitan, Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Valley

After we returned to the Sequoia, we headed north to Yosemite.  We had been unsuccessful getting a reservation for a motorhome campground in the park - they book out for each month in 7 -10 seconds.  Instead, we camped right outside the park in El Portal.  It was only a few miles from the entrance to the park, but it still took almost 30 minutes, without traffic, to reach Yosemite Valley.  We arrived on the very crowded Tuesday after Memorial Day; on Memorial Day, the park was closed to incoming traffic by midday and it took 4 hours for cars inside the park to complete the valley loop (usually a 30 minute drive with no photo stops – hard to do!).   

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, Yosemite

With the crowds in mind, we planned our day trips to see the Valley and Glacier Point on weekdays and very early in the day.  We got up at 5am and were driving into the park by 7.  We parked the car in the parking lots that were full by 8am, and took the shuttle bus to the trail heads to finish our hikes before 11am.  After 11am, the shuttles were so full, they often did not stop at each stop.  We have been in several parks with shuttle systems, and most work well.  In Yosemite, the logistics are broken.  There are too many people, too many cars, too few parking spaces, and too few shuttles which only come every 30 minutes (in Zion and the Grand Canyon, they come about every 10 minutes).   



Lower Yosemite Falls Mist and "Rain"

Yosemite is still one of the most beautiful glacial valleys in the country.  One of Bob’s favorite parks is Glacier National Park, because of the glacier carved landscape.  Yosemite is even more beautiful in a very, small compact space, where you can almost see it all at once.  From the splendor of the thousand feet tall granite walls, culminated in El Capitan, Half Dome, and Glacier Point, to the numerous waterfalls dropping hundreds of feet to the valley floor. Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Vernal Falls, and Nevada Falls flow almost year-round, but this year they were roaring from the huge snowmelt.  The mist formed at the bottom made it almost impossible to get near the foot of the falls without getting soaked and blown away by the wind from the force of the falling water.  There were even numerous seasonal falls, all adding to the beauty and wonder of the park.  

Flooded, Raging Merced River with Mist Rainbow

The Merced River was flooded, with many areas in the park closed.  Although the Merced is flat in Yosemite Valley and therefore had no whitewater; however, as the Merced River Canyon leaves the valley, it becomes much steeper, and the river became a flooded, roaring white water almost the entire length of the canyon.   The rafting companies here were also very happy.   We had been to the park many years ago, but only for a day or two at a time, so we were glad for the six days in the park; in spite of the maddening crowds, we were really impressed with the park and high recommend going there, off season if possible. 

Linda's BD, Ahwhanee Lodge, Yosemite
 

We really enjoyed our evening and dinner at the former Ahwhanee Lodge (now called the Majestic Yosemite Hotel) to celebrate Linda’s birthday.  It’s hard to believe we have been “retired” and traveling since 2005!  

Vernal Falls, Yosemite

 



Mirror Lake, Yosemite

Half Dome, Vernal and Nevada Falls, from Glacier Pt, Yosemite

Dbl Rainbow from outflow, Hetch Hetchy

We stayed out of the Valley and explored the lesser travelled parts of Yosemite on the weekend.  We drove to Hetch Hetchy, the reservoir for San Francisco on the Tuolumne River.  Again, we were surprised at how much water was still being let out of the reservoir.  When we lived in Sacramento in 1997, it was also a year of heavy snows with lots of runoff water.  That year they let too much water out of Lake Folsom, Sacramento’s reservoir, and by the end of the summer, it was as empty as it was before the big runoff.  

It is unbelievable to us that California has not built a dam or reservoir since the late 1970s. Instead, they are wasting taxpayer dollars on a “bullet train” between San Francisco and LA; the initial section is from Merced to Bakersfield, both in the central valley, and is already 50% over budget and estimated to cost $100 billion.  Much of the farmland in the Central Valley is fallow because of lack of water (no storage dams and much spring runoff water is used to save the endangered delta smelt fish in the San Francisco Bay delta – a worthy cause, we are sure?).  We saw signs all over the valley “Dams not Trains” on blackened farmland, vineyards, and orchards.  Water is the next “train wreck” waiting to happen in California;  we are glad we are not living there anymore to share in the “fun”.  

The crowds and hassle in Yosemite finally got to us; instead of the planned 10 days, we decided to leave early after six days and spend a few unplanned days on the Pacific coast at Monterey and Carmel before we headed to our next planned visit to Pinnacles National Park, just east of there.  

We continue to feel very Blessed and Thank God for giving us the time and health to enjoy our retirement to the fullest.   

Feel free to pass the blog link on to anyone who might be interested.   

Best to all,

Linda and Bob  

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