Part 10 of our holiday in the USA -.Great Basin National Park including the Lehman Caves from our base in Mesquite.

About 100 miles (160 km) north of Cathedral Gorge (where we were in the last blog), Great Basin National Park, established in 1986, is also in eastern Nevada.  It is in the Great Basin desert and contains most of the South Snake mountain range. The park is notable for its groves of ancient bristlecone pines. Some have been aged (by tree rings) at around 5,000 years old and hence the oldest tree species on the planet! They are shallow rooted and grow best in hostile environments. 
Also in the park are the Lehman Caves, originally protected as a National Monument in 1922.  The caverns were discovered around 1885 by Absalom Lehman, a rancher and miner and they extend 400 metres (a quarter-mile) into the base of the mountains.

Proof that we were there :-) That's bare rock, not snow, above the tree line on the mountain behind.

Difficult to see at this scale but this is an informative map of the park, its features and trails!

The Lehman cave system began forming approximately 550 million years ago (during the Cambrian period) while the rock strata were still submerged in a relatively warm, shallow ocean. The caves have been formed by a marble and limestone solution exploiting and eroding cracks in the rock; the solution also continues to form the many and spectacular cave decorations.

The cave system was extended during the later Pleistocene geological period, when a prolonged and increased flow of water further eroded fractures in the cave's bedrock. Eventually, the water level dropped, exposing the Lehman cave system to anyone without scuba apparatus!

On arrival at the Park's visitor centre, while waiting for the tour to depart, we walked around the exhibits and were fascinated by this Winchester rifle in a glass case.

This very rare Winchester 1873 rifle was only discovered in November 2014, just leaning against a juniper tree in the Park! (see the photo at the back of the case). It had obviously been there through all types of weather, the cracked wooden stock well weathered, and the barrel rusty. How many years had it been there? Who was the owner? Why did they not return for it?

What do you think happened?  It is still a complete mystery!

This is a route of the cave tour.

Access to the caves is only via the daily, and popular, guided tours.

From the entrance, visitors are guided through the specially named areas shown on the map; unfortunately  I am now not sure which  of my photos is which, but there are exotically named caves like the Gothic Palace, the Cypress Swamp and the Grand Palace. There are also hosts of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, draperies, flowstone, soda straws, shields and popcorn.  A geologist's dream!

This was my first photo inside the caves, so it is probably the Gothic Palace but....

So many different formations...

and shapes...

in every corner you look.

The colours you see in the photos are all correctly reproduced...

because the lights are white (not coloured) and  switch on and off  manually as visitors pass through each area to protect the precious features, and stop unwanted  fungal growth which would be generated by continuous lighting.

In one section on the route, the fixed lighting system did not work, but thankfully a number of people had torches; nevertheless,  it was  quite a spooky 5 minute walk to the next lit section!

Now I know that this photo shows one of the rare shield formations (the more horizontal bit in the upper centre)...

and you can see a few more here, with stalactites growing from them.

One of my photos towards the end of the tour, maybe the Grand Palace!

Back in daylight, we drove up Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive; there are amazing views along this winding road which takes you up high to a magnificent view across Snake Valley.  There are 11 types of conifers in the Park, including the ancient bristlecone pines!

Looking across Snake Valley towards the Snake Range.

Wheeler Peak is the tallest mountain in the Snake Range; its summit elevation of 3,958 metres (13,065 feet) makes it the second-tallest peak in Nevada. Despite the  extreme heat in the Great Basin during our June visit, there is still some snow to be seen on the mountains!

Also see my daily diary HERE

and My Life Before Charente (updated  25 September 2016)