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. 

Andale II | Touring San Carlos Waterfront | Mexico

This past week, I was fortunate to go on a tour by boat to see some of the San Carlos scenery from a different perspective.  The tour was on Andale II, at the marina.

Most of my photos of this area so far have been from land.  I loved getting a different viewpoint.

 

The anchorage looked much larger and I had never seen the actual harbor entrance.

 

I was able to see some of the neighborhoods I have driven through, certainly different from being on land.

There are many rock islands out there, some with caves or small passages through them.

 

 

The white coloring on this rock island looks like it could be a dusting of snow - but it's guano, also known as bird droppings.  Yes, it does smell a bit if you're downwind of these rocks.

This is part of a low-lying island called Honeymoon Island, and was inhabited by seabirds.

One of the seabirds I really like is the frigate, and I got to see one on the trip.

The highlight of the tour was definitely the dolphins.  Our captain went to an area where it seems that the dolphins hang out.  If the boat is going at a certain speed, they swim in the bow waves very close to the boat.  I have always been amazed that they can coordinate their speed with a boat - you never hear of a dolphin being hit by a boat. 

 

This photo was taken just as this dolphin surfaced and blew out excess water, creating a small rainbow.

 

 

 

This one was swimming on his back - sometimes they will be swimming along and turn their body so that they can look at the people on the boat.

All too soon, we had to go back to the harbor.  Thanks to Andale II as well as the Captain and Crew for a fun trip!

 

 

Caverns of Sonora

Sonora, Texas is just off I10, the interstate that goes through Texas. It’s pretty much isolated, not too many towns along that road in west Texas. So, anyone who wants to see these caverns is going to be out of the way. My phone barely worked there.

Sonora has a cute little historic district with some old buildings that date back to the 1800s or early 1900s. The court house is quite impressive. I went to the Old Ice House Ranch Museum, housed in the old ice house. This museum is filled with artifacts from that time period, as well as more modern items, such as World War II ration stamps. I was talking with the woman who runs this museum (and owned some of the display pieces). She told me that most people go to San Angelo for shopping such as monthly groceries, clothing and other items. San Angelo is about 60 miles away.

The main tourist draw is the Caverns, an extensive, live underground cavern with amazing formations. We were able to see less than 2 miles of it, but it extends about 8 miles total. Amazingly, this cavern has formations in it that I haven’t seen in other caverns or caves. It is billed as the foremost show cavern in the world.

The most photographed area of the cavern is the first photo above, Horseshoe Lake, about 5 feet deep, although the water is so clear you think it’s shallow. The guide casually mentioned that we were inside a giant geode. A geode is a rock that has mineral matter in it when it is opened. Some of them have brilliant colors and designs and others are just plain. An internet search will give you an idea of what it is. Some can be as small as a golf ball or as large as a boulder.

I never get tired of these caverns, so after a few more stops, I’ll be on my way to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, one of the more famous ones.