Great Basin NP and the
Road to Yellowstone:
Following an
uneventful flight from Toronto to San Francisco, we arrive at our 'hotel' - in
fact a motel reminiscent of those seen in early fifties American ‘Cops and Robbers’
movies and bearing little resemblance to the website description, but quite
adequate for one night.
The
following day we are delivered to the Road Bear RV depot by courtesy bus for a
comprehensive, if somewhat hurried - questions not really encouraged -
introduction to our home for the next ten weeks. It is one of the latest models
with a SLIDE OUT in the living area, a quite roomy bathroom, fridge/freezer,
microwave and plenty of storage space, including a wardrobe. Quite luxurious!!!
After
stocking up on food at a nearby supermarket we have our first encounter with
'Tom' the GPS. We select 'shortest route' to get out of the city and onto the
motorway. It may well have been the shortest in distance, but after a very
interesting tour of the back streets of suburban San Francisco, we duly arrive
at the motorway an hour or so later than had we chosen 'quickest route'. This
unfortunately placed us right in the middle of peak hour traffic - six or seven
lanes of stop/start mayhem. This eventually clears and the open road lies
ahead.
Route 50 -
"the loneliest road in America," leads to the Great Basin National
Park - the least well known and least visited park in the country. The road
surface is excellent and the traffic light making for relaxed driving. The
route traverses range after range of craggy, north-south aligned ranges
interspersed with broad, flat saltbush plains with occasional herds of cattle,
the odd ranch, a wind farm or two and signs of long-past mining activities here
and there.
The Great
Basin NP is centred on Mt Wheeler which, at just under 4000 metres, is the
highest peak in the area. Along with its adjacent peaks, Mt Wheeler is
described as "...a high-elevation archipelago of islands of cooler air and
more abundant water. Richly varied plants and animals live up there that could not
survive in the lower desert." Such plants include the Bristlecone Pine
which can grow to 3000 years or more on the rocky higher slopes – reminiscent
of the King Billy Pine in Tasmania.
We purchase our America The Beautiful
National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass - $80 and we can come and go
with impunity to any National Park, National Monument or Federal Recreation
Area. A bargain considering that each
individual Park Pass costs $20-$25.
A short walk takes us t through stands of
pine, spruce and aspen to the small glacial lakes of Stella and Teresa and
introduces us to some of the local inhabitants - chipmunks, golden mantled
ground squirrels and mule deer. Gathering storm clouds and plummeting
temperatures herald an oncoming thunderstorm which, by morning, leaves a thin
mantle of snow on the higher crags.
Unfortunately
time does not permit a visit to the underground world of Lehmann Caves beneath
the flanks of the Snake Range as we still have almost 960 kilometres to cover
to reach Yellowstone.
Our journey
northward takes us through the seemingly endless metropolis of Salt Lake City
where we have to divert for repairs to a broken latch on one of the drawers in
the RV. In spite of petrol usually being less than $4.00 US per gallon, it
still hurts a little to find that $100 doesn't quite half fill the tank which
then seems to empty despairingly quickly.
Having
started in California seven days ago and traversed Nevada, Utah, Idaho and
Montana (briefly), it is a relief to at last arrive in West Yellowstone and
cross the Wyoming border into Yellowstone National Park.
Our overnight stay in Idaho Falls is
at the Snake River RV Park…pancakes and coffee for breakfast and the gift of a
stuffed snake to “make sure of our safety as we travel.” Wombat has a mate!
Flickr link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/112494332@N04/sets/72157647001878807/Flickr link:
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