Has it really been 10 days since we started our trip? In some ways it seems like we just got started. In others - we have done so many things and gone so many places already.
Let me talk about sleep for a while. Some nights we get good neighbors and some nights we really don’t. Night before last, we had a family with kids arrive about 10:00 p.m., just after we turned in for the night. They were banging loudly, kids were yelling and jumping all around our tent, and it was miserable. Last night, we had the same people on the left who were visiting from the Czech Republic, and they were so thoughtful and so sweet, and on the right, 3 tents full of people that I barely heard at all. We talked to the young couple from the Czech Republic for quite some time about the parks there and the parks here, and how Prague has changed, mostly for the better. I think some people just do not understand campground ettiquette very well, or they just don’t care.
John got up before 5:00, and made coffee and took a shower before he ever woke me up. Yay for sleeping in until 6:00 a.m.! We loaded up and headed out.
Yesterday when we went to the movie, John bought a tub of popcorn as he usually does. This one was a sturdy plastic tub, and when he was finished, I told him I wanted the tub to make a place to get ahold of my things that I use daily like my camera, headband, battery charger, etc. He gave it to me, but of course let me know all day long that we had another tuhb in the car. He’s so funny. He wants ya’ll to know that we are up to 16 tuhbs, including the collapsable double sink I brought.
First stop was Kolob, which is in the northwest corner of Zion. This part of the park is not nearly as crowded as the rest of the park, and was 10 degrees cooler. However the hikes are much longer here and I can see where this would be a technical climber’s paradise. By that, I mean the thrill seeking people who use ropes and pulleys and other equipment to climb sheer rock faces. It was a very rugged part of the park, and like the rest of Zion, absolutely breathtaking.
We did pick up something to eat for tonight because the burgers we’d bought had gone bad. More hamburgers!
Finally we said goodbye to Zion and then to Utah. On to Nevada - Great Basin National Park.
This is a very mountainous area with lots of spruce, douglas fir, and Engleman spruce pine, quaking aspen and bristlecone pine trees. The further we ascended, the cooler it got. We chose the campsite at over 10,000 feet because they are much more beautiful here than at the campsite at 7,000 feet. The temperature dropped 21 degrees as we went higher. We found an idyllic campsite with a meadow to the left, pines and aspen to the right and a view of the mountain straight ahead. There was a very soft place to put the tent, so we set up camp and then went on a hike.
Oh man! We saw so many mule deer on this 2 mile hike. A buck, several does, and even a fawn. The trail followed the stream for quite a while, and the water bubbled and danced for us as we crossed it a few times. It was an elevation change of 600 feet, but it did not seem like it. I must be getting used to the altitude and hiking uphill. Most of the hike we were in forrest or near a beautiful, lush meadow. Finally we arrived at Stella lake. It was very pretty, and had a great view of the glacier and snow on the peak just across the lake.
Then, we went back down to the visitor center, watched the movie, and took our hike inside Lehman’s cave. I love caves and have hiked several of them. John and my (arguably) first date was Carlsbad Caverns. This one is not very big, but it sure has a vast variety of formations! Stalactites, stalacmites, draperies, bacon, popcorn, shields (which are very rare), soda straws and even parachute formations were everywhere. Our Naturalist was not very well informed and was not able to share much but she was friendly. In this cave, rather than lots of lighting everywhere, there is some subtle lighting and you are encouraged to bring your own flashlight. That was a two edged sword, because the kid in front had no problem shining his light in your eyes.
After the cave we made dinner, met the couple next to us, and sat down to relax. It is going to be pretty cool tonight - in the 40’s. Tomorrow - Reno! More Chilies!
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