This is a very remote park in Nevada just 8 miles from the Utah border in the Pacific time zone in the central part of NV.  As I researched it, I got more and more interested in the park for these reasons:

Lehman Caves
Stargazing
Bristlecone pines
Wheeler Mountain - 2nd highest peak in the state with only glacier in NV

We flew into Salt Lake City instead of Vegas because of this park.  After landing, we went to Park City where the 2002 Winter Olympics were held.  We saw aspens which were expected.  Looked like the Colorado Rockies. We then went down the east side of the mountains to I70 then circled back on I15 to stay at Fillmore.  The next morning we drove about 140 miles to the park where we saw many signs that said "No Services Next xxx miles" - really makes you look closely at the gas gauge.  After stopping at the visitor center we went up the 12-mile Scenic Drive to the Wheeler Peak parking area where several trailheads were.  On the way we unexpectedly saw aspens! Looked like the Colorado Rockies.  We were now at 10,000 feet!  We also had to crunch through snow drifts that had not melted completely from the snow storm they had a week before we arrived.  We took the 2.8 mile Bristlecone trail where there is an interpretive loop on the bristlecones at the end - saw a living bristlecone that was 3,200 years old - some live to almost 5,000 years which makes them the champ for longevity.  Picnicked at Teresa Lake.  Had a 3:00 tour ticket for Lehman Caves Grand Palace Tour (call early to buy the tickets) so we scurried down the mountain only to find that we were an hour early - that sorry Pacific time!!!  I'm not ready to admit to a senior moment!!!  So we took the self-guided Mountain View trail behind the Lehman Caves Visitor Center.  Then we got to see the marble Lehman Caves on a tour conducted by a ranger from Gonzales, LA (can you believe it???).  He and others thanked all of us profusely for coming to the park.  Only 70,000 or so visit the park each year where in the winter some days they have only one visitor.  Each ranger said they knew we went out of our way to visit the park and thanked us and thanked us - I think they get lonely.

The stargazing did not work out but I did find out that it is one of the premier sites to view the heavens at night.  We then tanked up at the Utah line to drive to Cedar City which was our hub for the rest of our vacation.  Although we did not know it at the time, this park would end up high on our list on par with Bryce and Arches.

BILL, 3200 YEARS OLD!  I KNOW THAT EXPERTS COUNT THE RINGS OF A TREE TO GET AGE, BUT HOW DID THEY FIGURE THIS ONE.

ABOUT STAR GAZING, HAVE YOU BEEN TO MCDONALD OBSERVATORY OUTSIDE OF FORT DAVIS, TX.  IT IS VERY GOOD.  WE COULD NOT BELIEVE THE NUMBER OF STARS TO BE SEEN AND THE NUMBER OF SATELLITES IN THE SKY.

I AM INTERESTED IN YOUR PICTURES, KEEP THEM COMING.

JOHNNY GONGRE

In order to not permanently damage the tree, they utilize a boring tool to extract the ring information.  In the case of the 3,200 year old tree, I think I remember that they had to bore up to 5 holes to accurately determine the age.  They also say that the hole(s) bored will close up naturally so that even insect penetration is not a problem - bet that is true based on the concentrated rosin the tree seems to have.

I have never been to Ft. Davis but I will go there when I make the Big Bend NP trek.  It is the only TX NP that I have missed so far.

Thanks for reading the posts.  When I posted them, I wondered if anyone was still reading our website.  Guess I'll carry on.

Bill

Bill, please keep posting!  The site will not be as active as it was prior to the reunion but if we can keep some degree of activity I think we will continue to enjoy it.  It will allow us to keep up with those who were such an important part of our lives at a critical point in our lives.  Obviously, we will lose some of us before our next reunion in, maybe, five years.  Who those will be, me, you, who knows, I know I'm ready for Christ's return so death creates no fear here, just not wanting to get on that bus today.

I hope you will keep posting your commentaries on the parks and monuments.  Polly and I made a trip to Ft. Davis and the observatory years ago when looking at a Supervisory Border Patrol Agent position at Alpine, TX.  We camped, tent, in the state park there and were almost blown away during the night when winds came blowing down the canyon.  Drove up to the observatory but didn't get to go in.  Will have to make another trip down there.

I'll never forget stargazing once while working a smuggling case east of Waco, TX, got out and laid back on the hood of my car to see billions of stars.   Another time was atop Signal Mountain in Grand Teton NP, Wyoming, overlooking Jackson Lake.  The wolves/coyotes howling off to the south towards Jackson Hole just added to the experience.  But, a full moon night is not conducive to stargazing.  :)

Having said that Great Basin is very remote, I wanted to share with you what appeared in some of the literature put out by the park - I think it was the Great Basin park newspaper:  It said  something like - "Please help us out.  Tell your friends that Great Basin is your favorite national park".  Although I will not go that far, I will say it ranked at the top (with Bryce and Arches) on our 2010 visit list.

I probably should mention that one is allowed to carry only a camera (no case) and a flashlight.  There is a long list of prohibitions headed up by no backpack.  This is because there are narrow passages in the cave where a backpack would probably scrap the formations.  The tour also showed what it looked like with just candle light as opposed to the lighting today.

In Lehman Caves (plural but there is only one Cave called Lehman- but there are 60 or so other caves in the park) there was a formation that looked like bacon when a flashlight was placed behind it.  Someone else told me that there is an "egg"-type formation - I think at Carlsbad.  Bacon and Eggs anyone?  I could mention hungry to go to a park but I wont.