The drive from Ely east toward this national park was so beautiful as we crossed 2 more summits and their basins. This is our first view of Mt. Wheeler, the tallest mountain entirely in Nevada.
where we’re going
saw this ranch entrance as we drove along Hwy. 50; interesting use of elk horns
And welcome to Great Basin National Park, one of the most isolated of the national parks and one of the least visited.
a new national park for us
our campsite
Some of the national parks let you make reservations ahead of time, but this one didn’t—it was on a first come basis (a little nerve wracking, not knowing if we’d find a spot). Three sites were available for camping; we went to the one with the most sites, Baker Campground, and found our perfect site, #37.
enjoying our campsite with the following view
Here are our views. Amazing.
one direction
another direction
These campgrounds don’t have any hook-ups, so we had to carry water with us for our 3 days there. At least our generator could power my hair dryer and our air conditioner when we needed them. Our picnic area behind the RV was a little lower than the road, so putting our generator there would soften noise. Also, a creek ran down the mountain in front of our RV, and its noise both helped to drown out the generator noise and was wonderful to sleep to.
Our first afternoon after getting settled in, we went to Lehman Caves Visitors Center just up the road to get the scoop on getting on a tour for the caves. We didn’t have reservations, but they said to just come to the visitors center on the day we wanted to tour them and check on any openings since the tours were marked as full on the website.
The visitors center had a great 30-minute movie about the park, and then we saw this cabin next door.
Rhodes cabin
Rhodes cabin
Here’s the information about this cabin and the history of Lehman.
Ab Lehman, born in 1827 in Pennsylvania, had been a prospector and miner for almost 20 years before he settled here around 1869.
He turned to ranching after settling down, and some of his apricot trees are still around the visitors center. His ranch was known as an oasis of hospitality, and its produce, especially the fruit, was famous in Utah and Nevada.
Since he was an explorer at heart, he discovered the cave on this property in the spring of 1885. Even though local Indians had know about the entrance because they had used it for burials (whether friendly or unfriendly isn’t known), he was the first one to explore it.
News of his find spread quickly, and hundreds visited the cave in the first year. Lehman personally guided many visitors, but usually he gave them a candle, told them it would last for 5 hours, and let them explore on their own so he could stay at the entrance and collect more fees. He charged $1 a person, about $50-$60 today!
After Lehman died in 1891 until 1920, various people owned this land. In 1920 Mr. Rhodes bought it and started developing the area, both above and below ground. He and his wife managed the cave until 1932.
To accommodate all the visitors who came from long distances (and to make money), the Rhodes built out this property to look like this in 1933. It included a log lodge, 9 cabins like the one we’re in, a dance hall, a swimming “tank,” and a dining room.
This cabin was a guest lodge (motel room) for visitors to the cave until 1933. Then it became a home for the National Monument custodian and his family until 1936.
A ranger gave us a booklet for the scenic hike around the hill that was so informative.
The cave became a national monument in 1922, the cabin was kept for the caretakers. Such a small space for an entire family!
cliffrose shrubs are beautiful and were so practical for the early Indians
close up of the delicate cliffrose flower
These are the same trees as we saw at the Ward charcoal ovens, but what we found interesting is that even though some of the plants may look dead, they may actually be dormant—just waiting for some water to return.
New life on the branches. Yes, it’s blurry, but my cell phone camera doesn’t know what to focus on.
distances of mountains and ranges from here
The stone we’re standing on is limestone and marble created by water covering the entire area as part of a shallow sea about 700 million years ago. For nearly 400 million years, the sea creatures lived and died in that sea, leaving their shells on the sea floor. Over time all of those layers of calcite from the shells were crushed and compressed to make what we’re standing on.
what we’re standing on
Okay, I never thought about it before, but the term “basin” was given to this area because it collected the water from the mountain ranges, like a basin, instead of letting it flow to the sea.
Now this was interesting. We’re directly above the caves (really just one large cave), and tiny cracks in the limestone rock we’re standing on create leaks, tiny passages, so water can get into the cave 150 feet below us. Eventually this water develops into the formations we’ll see on our tour.
See any cracks? Nah, they’re too small. But what a view.
Now we’re at the original entrance that Ab Lehman found in 1885. This entrance was used until 1940 when the present tunnel, that we used on our tour, was constructed. Imagine having to climb down a rope ladder to tour the caves. Not me.
slatted cover over the original entrance
The original entrance was covered by a wooden shed. In 1939, the National Park Service blasted a tunnel into the hillside for easier access and closed the hole, disrupting air flow and limiting bat access. Bats? Yes, they hibernate and spend their days sleeping underground here. When the entrance was closed off, they went elsewhere, but when this slatted covering installed, many came back because they could come and go as they wished. These bats eat moths rather than insects like many we’d heard about.
After our short hike, we got iced teas and split a cookie at the visitors center cafe.
