Great Basin National Park | Lehman Caves | Nevada

I always have to stop to see interesting things left in a field.

Great Basin has ranching exhibit with a shelter over it, and along the rails at the top are these metal cutouts.

Great Basin National Park covers a massive amount of square miles, although some areas are not easily accessible.  The drive to Wheeler Peak is very scenic, another one of those steep roads with some drop-offs that I can't look at while I'm driving.

 

Lehman Caves was the highlight of my tour of the park.  The cave tours are all reserved and led by rangers.  Although it may be hot outside, the caves stay about 50 degrees, we were warned to bring a jacket. 

 

The little wavy formation hanging down is called Cave Bacon because it kind of looks like bacon.  I have seen it in other caves where it actually looked more like bacon. 

These next 3 formations are actually overhead.

 

 

All these photos were taken with available light, since they requested no flashes, which is typical of these tours. 

Some of the areas were lit quite well, like this one. 

 

This is not a usual color for caves, but here it is.

 

 

I thought this was a cute sign.  Not only was there a stop sign at the corner, and the arrows pointing each way, but someone decided Whoa would work better.  The blurry gray squares were political signs, so I blocked them out.

 

 

If you're in this neighborhood, definitely plan on visiting, lots of good scenery and a cool cave tour. 

Convict Lake | Crowley Lake | BLM | California

 

This was my first glimpse of Convict Lake in California.  Supposedly, the name was given to this lake when convicts were found hiding in the area.

Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating and giving me blue skies for my photos, but I like this one.

 

This is where the lake runs downstream when the snow melts.

 

 

The Crowley Lake BLM Campground nearby is great - lots of spaces between the sites.  There weren't many people there, but it was rainy and windy every afternoon for the week I was there.  Mornings were best to get blue skies!  This campground had not only the vault toilets, but drinking water and a dump station.

 

 

 

On the road headed to the campground from the Lake, I came across this interesting house, which used to be a ranch, now abandoned.

 

 

Along Route 395 in California, you see many abandoned houses, and this one had space for me to park my truck and explore.

 

While I was taking photos around the outside, a woman stopped her truck and got out, heading toward the house.  I asked her if it was alright for me to take my photos.  There were no signs to keep out, so I figured I was OK.  She was the realtor and said I was fine - we started talking and she walked inside, so I followed.  Apparently she had a buyer who might be interested.  I can't imagine taking on a project this bad, but the shell was in great shape.