Great Basin National Park, part 2

So, what exactly did we do when we visited Great Basin National Park?
Well.....we hiked a lot! But we like hiking and we always have.
Our whole family hiked to Rock Glacier, elev. 10,800 ft. and I have to say I was pretty impressed with us!
MDH and Josh hiked to the top of Wheeler Peak, elev.  13,159 ft. on our last day there. More of that on another post.
We hiked to some mountain lakes.
We explored a cave (see part 1)
We visited a trout hatchery.
We enjoyed afternoon mountain rainstorms in the trailer while we played games, read books, ate snacks and rested.
We roasted marshmallows and generally just enjoyed being a family.

It was fun for us to observe and comment on how our oldest went from enjoying hiking as a young girl to not liking it so much to liking it again as a teenager. I think what turned the tide in her enjoyment of that pastime was a camera. Once she had her own camera in hand she's been loving our family hikes.
However, as a girl she always wanted to lead our pack and she couldn't stand being anywhere else than the front.
Now, she's always in the back, sometimes she keeps me company and sometimes she drops even behind me because she's getting some pretty darn spectacular pictures of our journey.
We don't mind. In fact I think we like it.
But on this particular hike I think she got tired of me asking her not to get too far behind because I didn't want her to be eaten by a cougar. Part of me was joking but the biggest part wasn't. I just wanted our girl to be safe.

The following pictures were taken by our girl.

Now a few pictures from my camera from our hike to Rock Glacier.

We've discovered a couple of things in our years of hiking as a family.

1. Always bring a first aid kit.
2. Always bring toilet paper.
3. Always bring lots of yummy snacks.
4. Always bring lots of water.
5. Be prepared to find a few bushes for the younger kids if you follow number 4.
6. Be prepared to sing, it just makes the hiking easier.

Hannah in her new, usual spot.

Sweet Cheeks hamming it up.

Believe it or not that tree we are next to is alive!

The snow in the background is Rock Glacier.

We hiked there.

It was weird and exciting to hike above the tree line.

Live long and prosper.

Yo baby!

The afternoon thunderstorms here moved in quickly and were violent.

We were warned that if we hiked to the glacier we should go in the morning and be gone before the storm came in the afternoon because it is above the tree line and in a little canyon where lightning was prevalent during the regular storms.

Because we had some little people with us and because I'm slow it took us a little longer than we thought to get there and so after arriving at the glacier we found ourselves racing to get out of the open and back down the mountain before the storm hit.

Once we hit the trees we all felt a little bit safer but we still tried to move as quickly as we could.

The first few drops started to fall when we were about 3/4 mile from the car.

Luckily the intense rain and lightning didn't really hit until we were back at our camping spot.

Coming soon: Wheeler Peak Boys Hike

Great Basin National Park, Part 1

It turns out it's been a long time since I've blogged regularly.
So long I almost forgot how.....almost.
My family has been patient with my lack of blogging, mostly, but occasionally they mention that they miss it.
I guess they like my blogging habit and like reading what I have to say.
Kind of makes me feel like they like me.
And that feels good.
So,
this is me jumping back into it. Or at least I started last week and I'm still continuing it this week.

Great Basin National Park
I know, you just thought, "Hmm, where's that?"
That's what everyone said when we told them we were going camping there.
Except for one, my brother, who said, "Hmmm, is that new?"
My answer, "Yes! It was made a National park in 1986." Really that's not too long ago.
And the answer to the other question (where's that?) is; Just west of Delta, UT.  over the boarder about 5 miles into Nevada.
Of course I'd heard of it before. I did take Geology of National Parks back in my college days after all. However, I didn't have any desire to visit. Who wants to visit the desert? and camp?
But it turns out there are some pretty majestic and grand mountains there complete with lakes, forests, streams, wild flowers, interesting caves, spectacular star viewing and wild life.
So last week back in August we rented a tent-trailer and headed off on an adventure.

It's fun to have lots of photographers in the family and putting this together months later it makes me even more grateful to have lots of pictures to go with the memories.

The next few pictures were taken by Josh.

Just finishing up braiding my hair.

He was so happy to be out of the car and at our camping spot.

We ate really well on our trip. What is it about camping that makes the food taste so good?

Is it the fresh air? the exercise? the dirt?

Probably all of the above.

Isn't she cute?

Just beautiful.

The group gathering area where the rangers would but on nightly fireside programs.

The stream that ran by our camping spot.

The glacier we hiked to.

Another shot of the stream.

These bristlecone pines were amazing! They're the oldest known non-clonal organisms.

 The next few pictures are from my camera which means they could have been taken by me, MDH or 5 other people in our family. It's been too long since they were taken and I don't remember who took what any more.

On one of the trails there were these stumps that had been cut to make a chair.

They would have been perfect for our weary hiker's feet if we hadn't just started our hike.

Beautiful girl!

Neat scenic view area. We were checking out where we'd been.

Taking pictures of flowers. It's what she does. :)

We were able to go in to and take a tour of Lehman Cave.

"The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time."

-Henry David Thoreau

Lehman Caves is a beautiful marble cave ornately decorated with stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, flowstone, popcorn, and over 300 rare shield formations. (http://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/lehman-caves-tours.htm)

I have to say that the ranger who took us on our tour was FANTASTIC!!!

He took our youngest guy under his wing and made him his junior ranger. Of course Mr.Man loved that! The ranger was so patient and made it lots of fun for the kids. I am so grateful for people who take the time to make things memorable for children.

Okay! So that's a lot of pictures! If you're still reading, congratulations!

I still have more but that will have to be another day.