Great Basin National Park

So after Snowbird, I stopped by Great Basin National Park on the way home. It is the only National Park entirely in Nevada and is home to Nevada's tallest peak and single glacier. The peak is the tallest in the state, but the funny thing is Boundary peak on the border of California has a taller spot, but the technical peak is in California. A little technicality.



Great Basin is amazing. On the drive I saw an odd piece of western art at a three way intersection. A unique stop sign. The park is great with nice campsites near a little river. On saturday I got up and hiked to the upper campground that was closed due to snow. I brought my snowshoes and needed them because I lost the trail after the first 45 minutes of hiking. I wasn't sure where I was going and just figured I'd try to get above 10,000 feet. I went up the side of this hill and was looking for a good picture of the mountain when I looked over and saw a grill sticking out of the snow.




I had found the campsite and was impressed that I managed to stumble on to it. Good reckoning I suppose. The view was great and amazing. Clouds kept rolling over the peak and made it quite dramatic. One day I want to come back and hike to the top.






After the hike I went packed up camp and moved to the overlook to try seeing the mountain at sunrise. It was a bit cloudy in the morning, but the view point had a great perspective.




Then I went down to take the cave tour. Great Basin is also one of the few places that has the limestone to make great caves. They have an organized tour that is pretty spectacular. They are one of the few caves with so many shield formations. No one is really sure how they are formed.



Then there was the drive out with more western rancher art. After that is was a long drive home, but after ten days, it was good to be home.





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Snowbird

I had a Geospatial conference in Snowbird, UT this week. So I came in early to go skiing.




I was expecting spring conditions and a couple of good days of snow. Well, I was mistaken. Saturday the day started off well and skiing felt good. It had been a year since I'd been downhill but it came back quickly.




It started to get worse in the afternoon and soon it was a white out and I couldn't see down the run. Then the snow started coming down in big fat flakes and then the wind kicked up. I rode the tram up and tried doing a run, but after 100 yards I couldn't tell where to go down or where the run went. I thought this was dumb and I took off my skis and walked back to the tram and rode down.



Sunday was even worse, so I just stayed in my room and relaxed. The rest of the week was perfect. Bright and sunny, but I was in trainings and presentations all day so I didn't even get to enjoy it. Bummer. So on Friday I thought I'd try going again for the morning before I left, and I woke up and it looked like Saturday all over again. Just no luck with the weather.




An odd thing about the rooms here, there is a window from the room, into the bathroom. It's very odd, but I did figure out it's great to watch TV from the shower.





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