The campground in Ely was quite nice, high and windy, with lots of trees, and with the three noisy burros for entertainment. Even so, we managed to leave fairly early: 9 am! We went backwards, though; we drove back into the town to do some errands. When we did finally leave Ely for good, we didn’t go very far. After just a short drive east, we stopped at Great Basin National Park. The park includes high desert land and the 13,063-foot Wheeler Peak, seen covered with snow in the photograph above. The park also contains Lehmann Cave, a large limestone and marble cave that we were excited to visit.
We joined a 90-minute tour of Lehmann Cave, led by a charming and informative park volunteer named Neil. He told us how the cave was discovered by Absolom Lehman, a local rancher and former miner (although a small sign told us that Native Americans had known of it for hundreds of years). Lehman found the small, hole-in-the-ground opening of the cave when his horse stepped in it, and then lowered himself forty feet down into the space with nothing but a candle or small lantern to light his way. While in the cave, Neil the tour guide switched off the lights for a half minute so that everyone could experience the total darkness. It REALLY is dark! Luckily for us, the park service has made a nice new entrance with a paved floor and reasonably high ceilings, and it was not necessary to be lowered down on the end of a rope. The cave is a series of “rooms,” small or large spaces named after some feature of their appearance: the Gothic Palace Room, the Rose Trellis Room, the Tom-Tom Room, the Cypress Swamp Room. Spectacular limestone formations hang from the ceilings and grow upwards from the floor; some even curl out from the walls in defiance of gravity. Neil explained how water from the ground above the cave seeps through cracks in the limestone above, carrying minerals that build up very, very slowly. He showed us “soda straws,” the hollow, tube-like formations that first form under a crack in the stone ceiling. We could even see water droplets suspended from the ends of the soda straws, each with a fine layer of minerals surrounding it. Eventually, the soda straw clogs with minerals and water begins to flow down the outside, slowly creating a stalactite. Water also drips onto the floor and more minerals begin to build up into a stalagmite. Sometimes, the stalactites and stalagmites meet and become solid columns. Water is also forced through the walls, creating formations that extend horizontally outwards. Each room is very beautiful, and each formation is different from the others. It was a strange feeling, to be underneath the ground in such unusual surroundings; it was really an unforgettable experience! We weren't allowed to take photographs, but if you click on the Lehman Cave link in the paragraph above, it will take you to the park service webpage on the cave and you can read more about it and see photos as well.
We joined a 90-minute tour of Lehmann Cave, led by a charming and informative park volunteer named Neil. He told us how the cave was discovered by Absolom Lehman, a local rancher and former miner (although a small sign told us that Native Americans had known of it for hundreds of years). Lehman found the small, hole-in-the-ground opening of the cave when his horse stepped in it, and then lowered himself forty feet down into the space with nothing but a candle or small lantern to light his way. While in the cave, Neil the tour guide switched off the lights for a half minute so that everyone could experience the total darkness. It REALLY is dark! Luckily for us, the park service has made a nice new entrance with a paved floor and reasonably high ceilings, and it was not necessary to be lowered down on the end of a rope. The cave is a series of “rooms,” small or large spaces named after some feature of their appearance: the Gothic Palace Room, the Rose Trellis Room, the Tom-Tom Room, the Cypress Swamp Room. Spectacular limestone formations hang from the ceilings and grow upwards from the floor; some even curl out from the walls in defiance of gravity. Neil explained how water from the ground above the cave seeps through cracks in the limestone above, carrying minerals that build up very, very slowly. He showed us “soda straws,” the hollow, tube-like formations that first form under a crack in the stone ceiling. We could even see water droplets suspended from the ends of the soda straws, each with a fine layer of minerals surrounding it. Eventually, the soda straw clogs with minerals and water begins to flow down the outside, slowly creating a stalactite. Water also drips onto the floor and more minerals begin to build up into a stalagmite. Sometimes, the stalactites and stalagmites meet and become solid columns. Water is also forced through the walls, creating formations that extend horizontally outwards. Each room is very beautiful, and each formation is different from the others. It was a strange feeling, to be underneath the ground in such unusual surroundings; it was really an unforgettable experience! We weren't allowed to take photographs, but if you click on the Lehman Cave link in the paragraph above, it will take you to the park service webpage on the cave and you can read more about it and see photos as well.
It also was strange to hear how people treated the cave in the past. After Mr. Lehman discovered it, he offered admission to the public with the guarantee that he would come find you if you didn't emerge after twenty-four hours. He also promised everyone a souvenir; visitors broke off whichever formation appealed to them! Later, Boy Scouts camped in the cave, and the Elks Lodge held meetings (and dances!) in a large area now called the Lodge Room. In the Inscription Room, visitors wrote their names on the ceiling. Several wedding have taken place in a small area now called the Wedding Chapel, and people banged on some of the formations (lovely, wavy shapes extending from the wall, called draperies) as a musical accompaniment. Sometimes, the Park Service rules seem overly strict, but I guess it is a good thing that our national wonders are protected...from us!
After leaving the park, we continued east on beautiful (and still lonely) Route 50. We noticed that we had crossed into Utah when Nevada's frisky-cow warning signs were replaced by the usual, more somber-looking, cow signs. The landscape became flatter, although distant mountains remained visible. We watched rain clouds in the distance, although it remain sunny where we were. For us New Hampshire-ites, used to being surrounded by trees and hills, it is continually amazing to be able to see such a long distance in all directions! We walked to a dry lakebed, which was crusty with minerals and somewhat fragile. As the sun was setting in the evening, a little rain fell on us, but we were quickly rewarded with a spectacular double rainbow stretching over us in a complete arc. The sky was gray and cloudy, the fields were lit golden with the low sun, and the rainbow was one of the brightest I've seen. What an amazing and beautiful sight... The sunset that followed, all pastel pinks and oranges, with some patches of blue sky showing through the gray clouds, was beautiful as well. When I stood in a field to take the sunset photograph and heard a bird singing, I realized how very quiet the desert areas had been.
We camped in Richfield, Utah; now on to Bryce National Park!
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