6/27: Great Basin National Park

NOTE: When I first started blogging I was going to try to do a daily blog but it became too much. In the process I just started where I actually was. However, I found some old posts that were completely ready to go! So here they are. :)

The night before heading to Great Basin National Park, we realized that the cave tours tickets were best bought 24 hours beforehand. We had not bought them...and the visitor center was closed for the night. So we set our alarms the next morning so that we could depart by 6:30am and reach the visitor center right as they opened. Amazingly we were able to get tickets for the first tour of the day! And they were sold out by the time we returned from the tour an hour and a half later. SO thankful we were able to leave early.

Lehman Cave tour was definitely one of the highlights of our time in Great Basin. Our tour guide was fun, interesting, and informative. We got to see the various rooms of the cave. No bats live in the section of the cave that we toured. The stalagmites and stalactites were huge and gorgeous. My favorite was a formation that was shaped somewhat like a castle. Unfortunately we also saw the damage in the cave from when the owner before the National Park Service said "If you can break it you can take it." That is a bummer. Another one of the rooms was used for dance parties, including a live band. Still another room used to be hard to reach had names written with lanterns all over the ceilings! It was a way of marking that they had been there before photography became possible. Stories brought the cave alive--and made it seem like more than just a cave. We walked through fault lines (which coming from California was mildly terrifying!) and experienced the beauty of underground. 

*The one that looked like a castle!!

*blurry but you get the idea!

After the cave tour we bought lunch at the only place in town that was open! Thankfully it was quite delicious. :)

Then we headed up the mountain to the alpine lakes hike. It was much cooler up on the mountain--and even started to rain. The beginning of the hike was a bit rough as we adjusted to the altitude, but after that it was a delight. Weather was perfect! Each lake had its own sense of beauty. I think pictures speak louder than words for this one.

We were then tired. So we made the drive back to the hotel for the evening!

The next day we went to a small church in Ely before driving to Moab, Utah for the next stage of our adventure.