Coast to Coast Grandkids Tour - Great Basin NP (July 2011)

Kathy and the boys hanging at the entrance to Great Basin National Park in Nevada.

Here we are hiking the Alpine Lakes Loop Trail.  The trail passes two beautiful lakes and you get to see good views of Wheeler Peak.

We stopped at Lake Teresa for a short break.  The water is a dark turquoise and looks inviting, but it's really cold and no one is getting in.  What's wrong with this picture?  Ryan has a jacket and everyone else has short sleeve.  What's up?

You can see there were other visitors on the trail.  The hike was about 2.7 miles in length.

Yes, we did have some snow to manage during our hike.

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In the shadow of 13,063-foot Wheeler Peak, 5,000 year old bristlecone pine trees grow on rocky glacial moraines.  The glaciers are covered by ash so you cannot see them, but you can definitely see how deep the snow is on the edge leading up to the peak.

On our return hike, Jake finds a great seat to take a rest.  Ryan has Mom Mom's pack.

Here we are awaiting our Ranger lead tour of Lehman Caves.  Lehman Caves is a beautiful marble cave ornately decorated with stalactites, stalagmites, helictites, flowstone, popcorn, and over 300 rare shield formations.

Here our Ranger briefs us on stalactites, the ones hanging from the ceiling, and stalagmites, the ones growing from the floor up.

Over 300 shields are known to exist in Lehman Caves, more than any other cave in the world.

Lehman Caves is a beautiful limestone cave with charming and unusual formations.

You can see here that some areas of the cave are wide but there are a few places that you have to bend and stoop to get through.

The camera does not do justice to the beauty of the cave.   The elevation at the cave entrance is 6,825ft. The temperature in the cave is a constant 50° F (10° C) year round so a light jacket is recommended.

Here you can see a pool of water. There are several different pools throughout the cave.

These look a little like jellyfish you see in the ocean.  Others have said it looks like an elephant stepping in bubble gum.

These are rare tulip bulb formations. Lehman Caves is a window into the past. Information about past surface climates are preserved in the layers of cave formations, while much can be learned about natural history from the "treasures" in the cave itself.

A ranger had a telescope set up to view the sun.  We all took turn trying to find a sun spot or solar flare.

Here, Jake holds a board during a demonstration on the phases of the moon.  Here at Great Basin the night skies are among the darkest in the country so we decided to attend the stargazing program.  We had a great time viewing the Moon and Saturn where you could see its two rings.