Saturday, July 1, 2006 - Cedar City, Utah (The Great Basin National Park)
Just before we arrived at The Great Basin, we passed through a small town with one unattended gas station, a restaurant, and several shops. The approach to the park was a steep grade upward and we reached the visitors center at 6,825 feet. The park is representative of a larger geographical area that includes parts of California, Nevada, Utah, Washington and a little bit of Idaho. The great basin area is unique in that any water collected here has no outlet to the ocean. Water collects in salt lakes, marshes and mud flats. It then evaporates in dry dessert air. We decided to have lunch in the cafe and then take a sixty minute tour of Lehman Cave. This underground cave extends a quarter mile into limestone and marble layers. After the tour, we took a drive up to the higher elevations of the park. The highest point is 10,000 feet. The road is a steep, winding road with no shoulder or guard rail. Bob has a small problem with heights and decided to turn around at on overlook around 8,500 feet. On our return, we stopped at a site near Cedar City that had ancient petroglyphs. These markings on rocks were made by ancient people and their meanings are unknown. They are carved on rock formations and are found throughout this part of the southwest. We toured the relics and took some pictures. We returned to the KOA in Cedar City for dinner. |