Nevada and Wyoming

May 17-23

May 17: We woke up around 7 AM, had toast for breakfast, and packed up. Saying goodbye to our niece and nephew, we started the drive to Tonopah, Nevada. Driving through the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite Park was really beautiful. On our way out of the park, we stopped at Olmstead Point to eat avocado wraps for lunch while enjoying a beautiful view and watching (through a monocular) people climbing Half Dome. Then we drove past Tanaya Lake, which was really beautiful, but as the wind and cold picked up, we decided not to walk around the area. We had hoped to hike the short loop around Pothole Dome, but we missed the turn off as the trailhead was not at all marked. Continuing our drive, we headed through the Tioga Pass Entrance at 9945 feet elevation, with snow on the ground and people walking around with cross country skis. We drove down to the quaint town of Lee Vining, stopping for some really good Mexican mocha coffee at Tierra Antigua Café. We walked around a little gift shop and then drove to Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve, a large lake with amazing salt tufas that our nephew had told us about. Walking around the lake was really windy but we dressed warmly and found the stop totally worthwhile as we had never seen anything like this before. Then we drove the remaining 2 1/2 hours through the Nevada desert to our stop for the night at Tonopah RV. 

The drive over was super windy with gusts up to 50 MPH. The landscape kept changing from flatland with lots of scrubby plants to hilly rocky landscapes to mountainous areas. We were hoping to have cell service once we left the national park but we kept going in and out of cell service. When we arrived at the campground, the wind was really whipping up the weather was very cold, 47° with a 28° windchill. We parked at the showers which ended up to be clean, warm, and very nice. Took quick showers and then settled into our site. The wind was so strong that both of us needed to open and close our van doors. After a lentil, kale, and rice dinner we made some tea and hung out, listening to the wind howl, feeling the van shake, and hoping we would stay on solid ground throughout the night. 

May 18: Thankfully by the morning, the wind had died down a bit. After breakfast, we stopped at Love's to fill our propane tanks and refuel, grabbing some extra coffee as well. Then we started our three hour drive to Cathedral Gorge State Park. The drive took us straight across Nevada mostly through meadows with beautiful yellow flowers surrounded by mountains. A few cattle crossed the road as did some pronghorn. A good portion of the road was on US Route 6, a.k.a. The Grand Army of the Republic Highway, the longest road in the USA, connecting states all the way between California and Massachusetts. 

Nevada is way more mountainous than we had previously thought with several 5000 foot peaks. We traveled on Route 6 and then on the Extraterrestrial Highway 375 that took us past an Area 51 “Research Center” that looked very questionable. Then we took the scenic Highway 93 to Cathedral Gorge State Park arriving around 2 PM. The state park was absolutely beautiful, surrounded by formations that very reminiscent of Bryce Canyon’s hoodoos. Walking around, we discovered that there was also cryptobiotic soil here which is always really cool to see. Taking advantage of our amazing surroundings, we hiked the 4 mile Juniper Draw Loop, which took us through beautiful rock formations. Returning to that van, we took a shower and then sat outside with a beer, followed by a stirfry dinner. Because it was getting chilly, we watched the sunset from inside the van. Unfortunately, it was not the spectacular sunset we were hoping for. We were also hoping the clouds cleared up so that we could see some stars at night. Then we watched some television and went to bed.

May 19: After a good night's sleep, we ate toast for breakfast. We saw two lovely hummingbirds on the small white flowers on the ground at our campsite. Unfortunately, our electricity went out again, but we were able to put it back on again using the generator and flipping the breaker. We really need to get that fixed when we return home! 

We packed up and explored the three slot canyons in the park. Walking in and out of the slot canyon was really amazing. The columns had really smooth insides and the formations were just really neat to explore. After that, we drove across Nevada, past open rangeland where we saw pronghorn, cows, and horses, then past several mountain ranges to Baker, Nevada and Great Basin National Park. 

We stopped at the Great Basin Visitor Center in Baker, picked up some information, and then drove up to the Lehman Caves Visitor Center located further in the park. Unfortunately, the caves were closed until Friday so we missed that part of the park by just a couple of days. Instead, we decided to hike the Baker Creek Loop Trail which turned out to beautiful. Actually, al of Great Basin National Park turned out to be a real amazing surprise. The area is really beautiful and the hiking is fabulous. There was still snow on the ground, which was unexpected but the weather was in the 60s and 70s with bright sun. Prior to coming, we didn't know really anything really about Great Basin. The reason for it’s name is that snow falls on the mountains, the snow melts and creates streams that empty into a “great basin” at the bottom. We learned that the water never leaves the basin. It just stays there. Some of the water evaporates and some of it leaks into the earth to create the caves. But none of the rivers flow to any sea or ocean. The rivers all just flow into the basin. And the whole park only gets about 10 inches of rain a year. So almost all the water comes from snow melt. There is quite a history of indigenous people living there, as well as miners who were part of Nevada’s Gold Rush, and we saw remnants of both throughout the area.

After the hike, we drove back down into Baker, stopped at the Bristlecone Market where they were nice enough to take our compost. Then we drove to our campsite at the Great Basin Desert and RV Camping, located right behind the Baker gas station. This was the first campground we stayed at that was part of HipCamp, and honestly, we were not impressed. Some HipCamp stays look amazing, but this was not one of them. There was nothing special about this campsite other than it has full hook ups, free showers, and free laundry. After a shower, we decided to do our laundry which we didn’t finish until around 8:30 PM.

While reading the materials about Great Basin, we realized that this was the darkest sky in all of the lower 48. While the sky our first night at the park was clear, the lights from Baker prevented us from seeing much of the night sky. So we quickly got online and snagged one of the few sites left for the following night at Lower Lehman Creek Campground, located inside the park. Information online said that this was a great area to see the Milky Way. 

Despite staying that first night right next to a major road, the night was quiet and we had a good night's sleep.

May 20: we woke up after sleeping in a little bit, had pancakes for breakfast and then packed up and headed out for our hike on the Alpine Lakes Loop Trail. Luckily, most of the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive had opened up the day before so we were able to drive as far as the Summit Trail trailhead. On the way up we stopped at the Mather Overlook and the Wheeler Peak Overlook. The views of both peaks were absolutely spectacular! The rest of the drive up to Bristle Cone Trailhead, which would lead us to the Alpine Lakes Loop, was closed due to snow. That meant we had to add 2 miles to our hike to get to the trailhead we wanted. 

We packed up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and headed out. Starting out at about 10,000 feet above sea level, we first passed by Stella Lake, where we found an absolutely gorgeous spot to eat lunch.  Then we continued on to beautiful Teresa Lake and then hiked around the rest of the loop and out again. Along the way, we saw a lot of mule deer, a woodpecker, and heard the songs of yellow-rumped warblers, chipping sparrows, ravens, and hermit thrush. We also hiked by forests of Aspen trees and really cool bristlecone pines that probably were hundreds if not thousands of years old.

After driving back down, we drove to the Baker Archaeology Site (aka Baker Village) which showcased an archaeological site of indigenous people who lived in the area over 700 years ago. Then we filled our water bottles at the visitor center, drove back to our original RV site, dumped our tanks and took showers. Unfortunately, while we were in the shower, the sky clouded up after being an absolute gorgeous bluebird sky all day. Leaving the campground, we headed back up to site 15 in Lower Lehman Creek Campground for the rest of our stay. After a beer, and kale and eggs for dinner, we hung out hoping that the skies would clear so that we could experience the dark sky. The darkness that surrounded us was truly amazing, particularly with the cloud cover. 

May 21: We woke up around 1 AM and were thankful to find a clear sky with stars and the Milky Way! We didn’t see the really vibrant Milky Way that you find in pictures, but it was definitely visible to the naked eye. We stood outside for about 40 minutes and then came inside very chilled. Luckily it was not as cold as we thought it might be. 

Having fallen back to sleep, we woke up around 7 AM, had toast for breakfast, and then headed toward Idaho. Today was mostly a driving day. Driving through the rest of Nevada, we passed through mostly range and the rest of the great basin surrounded by mountains. As soon as we entered Idaho, the landscape changed and became much more agricultural with more farming and no cattle ranging the area. 

We arrived at a Walmart in Twin Falls, Idaho, thankful to restock what had become a pretty empty refrigerator and pantry. We also purchased some silicone because the top of our black tank was leaking a bit and we definitely needed to fix that!  And we purchased some beer because we were down to our last one! So much of where we had been in California and Nevada were food deserts, which must be very challenging for the locals. 

Then we drove the short 20 minutes to Shoshone Falls Park to see the falls. While they were not in full force, they were still beautiful. In addition to the fall, there were interpretive signs that explained how the water from the Snake River was diverted for farming, which explained how Idaho is able to farm the land that otherwise looks very similar to the dry, unharmed land in Nevada. We also learned about the indigenous people who lived in the area, as well as how Chinese miners participated in the Gold Rush. Reading the history explained why several busloads of Chinese tourists were visiting the falls. 

Having seen the falls, we drove 45 minutes to our Harvest Host stay at the Boathouse in Burley, Idaho. The spot was very pretty along the Snake River and we enjoyed eating a pizza that we ordered from Portside Pizza, located just next to the Boathouse. Then we caught up on our New York Times games and fixed the black tank. We are thankful to have some decent cell service to catch up with friends and family as we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the river while sitting at our camp site. Even though the spot was very beautiful, it was clear that we were near farmland because there was quite a strong odor coming from the farmland.

May 22 - After a pretty lousy night's sleep for no apparent reason, we woke up early and were on the road by 7:15 AM to head to Grand Tetons National Park. Driving through Caribou-Targhee National Forest made for a beautiful trip. Despite the 10° grades going downhill, having driving serious grades and windy roads in California, we decided to take Wyoming 22 - Teton Pass, the most direct route into Jackson, WY. Because we had visited Jackson and the Tetons only two years earlier, we only stopped to refuel but didn’t stop in town. Then we drove to our campsite at Signal Mountain Campground located in the national park. The Tetons are always spectacular and being here again was really nice. Our campsite, while pretty unlevel, was close enough to the bathroom, water fill, showers, store, and lodge where there was some Wi-Fi available. As with the parks in California, because we have T-Mobil, we did not have any cell phone service in the park. Our friends who had AT&T have service all throughout.  

Because Signal Mountain Campground is right on Jackson Lake, we were hoping to rent kayaks. We walked over to the Signal Mountain Lodge to inquire about boat rentals and to check out the restaurant and gift shop. Then we walked over to the Signal Mountain Marina told us that they were not yet renting kayaks because the water was still too cold. We considered taking out either a motorboat or going on an organized float the next morning, but the floats were all full and we really didn't want to use a motorboat. So we called over to Colter Bay Marina who said they were renting kayaks that we would rent the next day. Having a bit of a plan, we took a short hike along the water, returned to our campsite, took showers, and drove up to Colter Bay Campground to the group campsite area for the pre-wedding welcome party. After a fun time hanging out with friends over drinks, pizza, and salad, we drove back to our campsite around 9:15 PM. As we drove through the park in the dark, we passed by two deer very close to the side of the road, which was a little scary. But we were happy to have made the 20 minute drive back without incident. 

May 23: After a fabulous night's sleep, we had a relaxing breakfast of French toast, and then drove to Colter Bay to rent a double kayak. Kayaking on Jackson Lake for nearly 2 hours was glorious! While the water was really cold, the sun was shining and we were actually pretty warm other than our very wet feet. 

Back at the campsite, we had a wrap for lunch. Sitting at the picnic table, we saw and heard a yellow rump warbler. There was also some scat on the ground from either a canine or feline nighttime guest. I had thought I had heard some footsteps outside of our campground earlier in the morning, but was not sure. After lunch, we walked up to the gift store where we could get some Wi-Fi, played our New York Times games and caught up with friends and family. Then we took a shower, came back and hung out in the beautiful sunshine of the Grand Tetons before getting ready for the wedding.

The weather for the wedding at the Jackson Lake Lodge was spectacular with bright sun and warmth. It was a beautiful wedding in an amazing setting. After an evening of dancing and partying, we left the wedding around 10 PM, driving back to our campsite without incident.