We Can See For Miles And Miles And Miles And Miles...

Wednesday, June 26
Day 8

We had made it to our destination, Great Basin National Park in good time. We still had plenty of daylight left and time to set up and explore the region. There is no entrance fee to Great Basin National Park like there is to other National Parks. However, there is a fee for camping, $15.00 a night. However, for a person holding a Senior Pass, it was only $7.50 a night. We got a lovely site, #18 which is a

handicapped site. It was quite large and spacious. It was located right next to a rushing creek which was lovely. 

We got the tent set up and the site squared away then drove up the mountain to the snowline.

Our inverter to blow up the bed

Home away from home

From there we could see for miles. Christie went for a little hike and came back with a small bristlecone pine cone.

The trees there are over 3000 years old. We went on to check out the best places for some astrophotography later that night.  It was very windy and quite uncomfortable as we were over 11,000 feet up in altitude. 

We came down the mountain and decided to go check out the lower campground down in the valley. After doing so we felt we found the best place for us and were quite satisfied with our selection. 

We went into Baker to get some potatoes and bell peppers and went back to our camp and fixed dinner of sausages, fried potatoes, bell peppers, and onions.  Boy, it sure did smell good, tasted good too.

Christie got all her photography equipment together and checked out. We got our warm weather gear on, Hats, gloves, scarves, coats. socks, boots and long fleece pants on.

Up the mountain, we ascended at 11pm. On the way up we saw jackrabbits, deer, and other small animals. Once we got to our vantage point Christie got out of the car and got everything set up to start taking pictures.  I stayed in the car to keep the dogs' company and to keep warm.  The wind was blowing pretty good.  Christie came to get me and I got to see what she was shooting and boy oh boy! What a sight!

After staying there for about half an hour we left and came back down the mountain.  It is the kind of drive that is nerve-wracking in the daytime, can you imagine it at night! We got back to our campsite and hit the rack after walking the dogs.  I was ready and passed out. Christie stayed up and got more night shots from our campsite. 

Christie seemed to be quite pleased with what she got. She is getting pretty good with her night shots. 

Pressing Onward to Zion and Great Basin National Parks

Tuesday June 26
Day 7

After we got all packed up, we headed back into the Grand Canyon National Park to one of the main campgrounds that had shower facilities. After the much needed shower that felt sooo goood, we headed out of the Kaibab National Forest toward Zion National Park. 

Zion did not fail to disappoint. The grandeur was overwhelming on a different level than the Grand Canyon. Where the Grand Canyon was so vast and spread out, Zion's beauty is up close and personal and smacks you in the face!

The landscape is unlike anything we had ever seen before. A lot of Zion is not open to the public, you have to pay to have someone guide you in, it is so wild. We arrived too late to get our passport stamped, Darn!

We did get to see Bighorn Sheep and went through the longest coolest tunnel ever, through the side of a mountain. 

It was starting to get to that magic hour where we needed to find a campsite. We headed out to the main highway US 15 which to our surprise had an 80mph speed limit. We zipped up to Beaver got gas and headed over to the Minersville State park to grab a campsite. Cost, $20.00. It was about 10 pm when we got there and started setting up camp.  There were fishermen out on the lake in their tiny wakeless boats being as silent as could be. The only sound was when they dragged their boats out of the water. 

Again Christie went out late and captured the night sky. Even though it was late, we were far enough north for the ambient light to have an effect on her shots. Once again someone hit their lights as she was taking her shot. 

Night sky at Minersville reservoir

Finally a good shot!

The sleeping weather was good and cool but not cold(29°)like at the Grand Canyon.  We had a great sleep and got up early when we heard the guys next door putting their boats in the water, also heard water hitting our tent. We didn't realize we had set up next to a sprinkler system.  Christie had to take Lizzy up to the shower to clean her off as she had gotten sick and got her coat messy. 

Once we got the dogs fed, walked, tent packed away and car loaded we struck out in search of a place to eat. We hit the first little town of Minersville. They had a gas station, grocery store and a hardware store and that was pretty much it. No coffee shop at all. We moved on to Milford a good sized town that had a rail yard. There we got ice for the ice chest and stopped at the Dollar store for some supplies and headed out of town. I began to wonder if it was going to be a dry hole as well. The very last business out of town was a place called Penny's Diner. A haven in an empty oasis! We went in and had the best breakfast. The coffee was great, service was great, everything was great. The price was reasonable as well. Found out that Penney's was built with a 50's theme for the railroad boys and they decided to open several years ago to travelers. Good thing they did. It looked brand new but in fact had been there for 15 years. 

After breakfast we pressed on to Great Basin National Park in Nevada. Again we faced wide open spaces and great expanses. We hit the little town of Frisco a blip in the road and just about didn't see another soul until we hit Garrison just before the Utah/Nevada border. We saw some of what we think were the first telephone poles which were tree trunks. There were miles of them. You could tell they were ancient.

We arrived at Baker, Nevada which is a kick off spot for the loneliest road in America. Baker is a little wide spot in the road but it has a certain charm, a grocery store, ice cream shop, a little motel and bar. And that just about covers Baker. You turn at Baker and head towards Great Basin National Park. There is no admission charge so that is a plus. We were ready to see what Great Basin had in store for us. 

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The Wonder of Wonders...The Grand Canyon

June 23, Day 3

We spent the day on Monday a year ago in June, at the Grand Canyon. There aren't enough words to describe this wonder of nature. This is one thing you need to see for yourself. Each view is different, each minute is different. Everything changes with the tracking of the sun. There was a lot of haze in the air as there had been a controlled burn in the area. We got some great pictures in spite of it.

I have had friends visit both the South Rim and the North Rim. After talking to them and reading quite a few RV blogs, Christie and I decided to visit the North Rim. Besides, it's on our way to Zion National Park. Grand Canyon is BEAUTIFUL!!!! Fewer people, cooler temperatures, more trees and shade for the dogs.  Oh...And The VIEW...Spectacular!!!

We went first to the Visitors Lodge. Beautiful on the inside, very much like the lodge at Yellowstone, big timbers and MASSIVE! Got our National Parks Passport Book stamped! Thank you Bobbie and Jim! Our first official stamp! We bought some postcards and mailed them to the grandkids. Hope they got them. We went into the gift store there and I found a very light weight but nice camp jacket that I sorely needed as I was freezing at night. Yes, I had forgot to pack my jacket, toque and sleep socks. Those things you need if you cold camp. We also charged our electronics that were in desperate need of charging. Christie went down to the point to take some pictures, I stayed back and people watched. 

Afterward, we took the scenic road to the overlooks to have lunch and was surprised to see the pass we had come through 2 days earlier, the Vermilion Cliffs, the path of the Colorado River carved in the valley floor and it is cutting into the Grand Canyon. We were blown away by the expanse and sheer size of it all. You really have no concept of size when looking at the total scope of the area. One can only shake their head and wonder what great event made such a wondrous cut in the earth that we enjoy today. 

Then you look at the Grand Canyon and WOW!!!, WOW!!!, WOW!!! Being up on the vantage points doesn't even begin to bring it into perspective. You are viewing such a tiny portion of the canyon, the sheer size of it...it would take you years, a lifetime to see it all. As we headed back to the campsite after an event filled day, we saw lots of mule deer and buffalo. The buffalo herd we saw are now located in Oklahoma with the Quapaw tribe. They had to remove them due to grounds damage and a water shortage. 

The wildflowers in the park were spectacular. It was hard to choose which pictures to post. 

We had another wonderful camp dinner cooked in our cast iron skillet. Pretty much the same thing as the night before but no campfire as there had been some rain and our wood was wet. We developed a method of cleaning our stuff without water and not once did we ever get sick. We wiped everything off with paper towels and then with our Melaleuca wipes would wipe again. In some of the National campgrounds, you can't dump your gray water on the ground so we came up with this method and it worked great for the whole trip. 

Christie took this just as someone turned on their car headlights

Christie went down to the meadow again and got some fantastic sky shots. Ed Averyt, I wish you could have been here with your telescope! The night sky was something to behold.

Grand Canyon Night Sky was taken from Demott Meadows

Well, the close of another day. Goodnight Noah, Andy, and little Miss Maggie! I am loath to leave this place as it is so Junoesque!