Great Basin

7/29 -- 7/31/2016 

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Great Basin National Park, located in eastern Nevada. protects a remnant ice field on Wheeler Peak, ancient bristlecone pine forests, and decorated galleries of Lehman Caves.  A geographic region of the American West (from California's Sierra Nevada to Utah's Wasatch Mountains), the Great Basin is defined in geologic terms and hydrologic boundaries that precious water draining from the mountain ranges does not flow into the oceans.  Although only a small part of this immense, wild land, Great Basin National Park is undoubtedly the best example of the entire Great Basin region.   Lehman Caves National Monument was created by presidential proclamation on January 24, 1922, and  it was incorporated into the national park on October 27, 1986 including much of the South Snake Range. 

Getting there ...

We had a flight to Salk Lake City, and got a rental car for the 4-hour (234 miles) drive.  The section of Route 50 in Utah passes through desolate, remote areas where we seldom saw other cars in either directions (the Nevada section was named The Loneliest Road in America by Life magazine in July 1986). 
We arrived in Baker just before 5PM and had a quick visit to the visitor center before it closed for the day. Baker is an unincorporated community in Nevada, with a population of 68 in 2010 census.  It has a very simple main street (with 2 restaurants/grocery stores/hotels, 1 post office, 1 gas station,...) and basic lodging (the room sign says: you are in Baker, not in Paris...).

 

 


Day 2 (7/30) ... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Day 3 (7/31) ...

 

 

Salt Lake City ...

It was a long drive back to Salt Lake City.  Linus volunteered to drive the first leg from Baker to Delta (~ 100 miles) so he would not get too bored in the car.  After the lunch at a McDonald's (with a huge playground which is useless to us now) in Delta, I took over to drive all the way to Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

The city was founded in 1847 by Brigham Young, and numerous other Mormon followers.  Home to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and Temple Square, Salt Lake City is historically considered a holy city by members of the LDS church.   The construction of the Salt Lake Temple started in 1853, and it took 40 years to finish in 1893.  The temple has become an icon for the city and serves as its centerpiece.

 

 

 

 

 

Going Home ...

We had a good dinner at an Oliver Garden a few blocks from Temple Square (Oliver Garden has been one of our favorite for more than 20 years and we have been missing it since they closed the one in Palo Alto a few months ago).  Although it was only a short 3-day trip, and although Great Basin is not the most popular national park (it was ranked 49th out of 58 US national parks in number of visitors in 2015), it was still good to get touch with the nature, enjoy the solitude of sunrise/sunset moment, and have some good quality family time.


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