Great Basin Getaway Part 2

Here are the rest of the pictures from our short end-of-summer getaway trip. 

We went on a hike in Great Basin National Park - which is one of my all-time favorite trails.  The Baker Creek Trail  is actually a 4+ mile loop trail, that branches off into other trails. It is a lovely, shady trail that meanders uphill back and forth across Baker Creek. We went on an abbreviated portion and didn't get to the Timber Creek section. Here are some pictures from this beautiful hike.

After lunch the same day, we went on a ranger guided tour of Lehman Caves.  We had done this tour before years ago when Josh was about five.  The cave is beautiful, and seeing it is something special.   Here are some pictures.

We were all exhausted at the end of the day after the Baker Creek hike and the Lehman Caves tour.  There was another hike we want to do, so we had originally planned a second day at Great Basin National Park, but there was road construction on the road to the second hike and the trail head parking lot was closed.  We decided to save that hike for another trip here after the construction is finished. Because of that, we left Ely, Nevada a day earlier than we planned and headed off to Cedar City, Utah, where we intended to get tickets to a play at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, but by the time we got to Cedar City, we were exhausted, so we just payed a quick visit to our grandson who now lives in Cedar City, where he works and goes to school.  Josh and I walked around the Cedar City Temple, then we went to our room at the Super 8 Motel and turned in early. 

I thought this was a cool mountain on the road we drove along in Nevada. 

Cathedral Gorge State Park near Paneca, Nevada. 

Here is another view of Cathedral Gorge State Park.  You can see the stairway that goes down to the bottom of the gorge, where there is a hiking trail.  This would be an interesting hike, but it was too hot the day we were there. 

This is the Cedar City Temple of our church where Josh and I went to walk the evening we were in Cedar City. 

This is a view of the front entrance of the temple.  After a restful night in Cedar City, we left before 9 a.m. and drove home. 

That's about it for our little end-of-summer-break trip to Nevada. Thanks for stopping by to share the memories. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Life is short. Go to Nevada!"

~anon.

Getaway to Great Basin National Park Part I

We left Monday to drive to Great Basin National Park in Nevada.  We had a nice time and made some good memories on this end of the summer vacation trip.  

The first stop we made was Great Salt Lake State Park, in Western Utah.  I had always wondered what this state park was like.   Honestly, outside of the Great Salt Lake, and a lot of salt, spiders and brine shrimp and flies, there isn't a lot out there.   Most people have probably heard of the Great Salt Lake, but maybe you didn't know that it has been shrinking in recent years, which could result in an ecological disaster for Salt Lake City and surrounding areas. Who knew that such an ugly, smelly place, with so many spiders, could be so important to the environment!?!  You can read about what would happen if it dried up here. Needless to say, we really, really hope this doesn't happen!

Charly and Josh at a viewing deck. That's the Great Salt Lake in the background. 

Josh and I at the Great Salt Lake. 

This is the Great Salt Lake. The mountains in the far distance are actually an island called Antelope Island. It's another state park with a wildlife preserve, and a significant population of bison. 

Another picture of the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island in the distance. 

The Bonneville Salt Flats are another interesting place to see in the western Utah desert. This is where land speed records are tested and records set.

Here is Charly and I posing at the Bonneville Salt Flats sign.  The actually racing and speed records are set about seven miles southwest of this sign, which gives you some idea of how huge this salt desert is. 

Josh decided to take a walk on the salt.  It looks like a vast field of snow, but it is actually like walking on crunchy white dense and rocky sand. 

After leaving the Bonneville Salt Flats, we drove to Ely, Nevada along what has beened "the loneliest road in America."  We stayed in this old hotel, the Hotel Nevada, which was built in 1929 and has housed many famous people over the years - including Pat Nixon and Lyndon Johnson and his wife.   We have stayed in this place a couple of times before and liked it. The staff was kind, friendly and efficient, which is always nice in a hotel. 

Stephen King stayed here and wrote a book about the town and the hotel. The book is called Desperation. I haven't read it but I want to. 

This is the room Charly and I stayed in at the Hotel Nevada.  Josh had his own room. The rooms are small, but generally clean and nicely updated, while maintaining the historic character of the hotel. 

We ate dinner at a casino across the street from Hotel Nevada. The food was decent, but nothing really special.  There isn't much to do in the little town and we don't drink or gamble, so we went to our rooms to turn in and get an early start on our adventure the next day in Great Basin National Park.  I'll post more pictures of the rest of the trip tomorrow. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"...in Nevada, which is in the West and still pretty wild, 

you can still gamble, carry a loaded pistol, 

and go into a silver-mine, 

and they still have saloons with swinging doors, boardwalks, and horses."

~Caroline Lawrence