Bristlecone Hike and Cave Tour

 So what do you do with family when they come? Be silly, of course!

We decided to go hiking to the bristlecones, and stopped at Teresa Lake for a snack and photo break. It's such a nice place for a photo. And Desert Girl likes to practice her photo-taking skills.

 We even got a decent family photo. Well, at least we're all facing the camera!

We continued on with bribes of lunch when we arrived.

After a picnic lunch, it was time to explore the interpretive trail and let the one-year olds stretch their legs.

We still had some energy so headed up to the glacier overlook.

It was beautiful. But what really got our attention was a patch of snow a little ways off the trail.

Desert Girl and her aunt had a lot of fun playing in it.

So much fun that the hike back was a little tiring.

But after naps, everyone was ready for a trip to Lehman Cave.

It is such a beautiful cave.

I tried for some artistic photos.

Then after the cave trip we just had to try fitting through the concrete block. Back when the park gave spelunking tours of Little Muddy Cave (before they figured out it had bad air in summer), prospective spelunkers had to fit through the concrete box prior to the tour to make sure they wouldn't get stuck in the cave. We challenged the kids to go through at the same time. They thought that was fun. It was also rather easy.

So then came the challenge of Desert Boy and an aunt. Now that was a little more challenging! But they managed it.

For more about these attractions, visit the Great Basin National Park website.

Underground in Nevada

 A couple weekends ago I joined some friends to venture into a couple caves to see if they'd be appropriate to use for an upcoming Small Party Cave Rescue Class. We met up at a primitive campsite, which made a beautiful relaxing spot.

The next morning we hiked to the cave, where this beautiful hole beckoned.

We put two ropes into the pit so we could rappel and ascend the 180+ feet in pairs.

Here's Bill on a slopey part of the rappel.

Once we got to the bottom, the room opened up and sported some large formations.

Here's a closer view of some of the larger stalagmites.

Chris took a closer look at an insect we found.

In one small side passage we saw a small shield, about five inches across.

It didn't take long to check out the cave, so then it was time to start heading back up.

Here's the view for the last part of the climb. It's great going into caves, but it's also wonderful to emerge to the sunlight.

On the way back down, Tom found a nice gopher snake.

We wanted to see one more cave that day, so we gathered our cave gear and rope and trudged up a hill.

This cave had a short drop onto a slope.

Numerous formations were stained with packrat excrement.

Over on the side we rigged two ropes for the 145 drop to the lower section of the cave.

Watching others go down, down, into the underground. (There's a catchy caving song that starts out with that line.)

At the bottom we checked out neat bones, formations, signatures from the 1920s, and even a little lead (that pinched out).

Once again it was time to climb out.

Seeing different caves always reminds me of the wonderful diversity of our planet.

Junior Cave Scientists

The National Park Service has recently started the Junior Cave Scientist program for ages 5-12+. Those interested can pick up a booklet from participating parks or download one.

I took the kids to Great Basin National Park one Saturday afternoon to get the booklet. We headed over to the cafe to get a treat while the kids completed it.

The booklet starts out with "What are Caves and Karst?" Then it talks about how to protect caves and different scientific things to do in caves, such as geology, biology, hydrology, archeology, paleontology, climate science, and more.

It had a game about the different zones of a cave that we played by flipping a coin. The kids really got into it.

After they finished, we went back to the visitor center to turn in the booklets. Ranger Kevin determined that they had completed the necessary activities and swore them in as junior cave scientists. He had the great idea of having them put on cave helmets.

Desert Boy, Junior Cave Scientist

Desert Girl's helmet was a little big, hence the hanging onto it.

 The kids got their badges and posed for a photo.

The badges are made of wood and very cool.

My little junior cave scientists wanted to go for a walk while on their sugar high, so we headed out to the nature trail. They were being a bit mischievous, posing behind the sign for the photo.

Before long we reached the natural entrance of Lehman Cave, which is now topped with a bat-friendly gate after being sealed shut for decades. The bats seem to be finding it, as each year the numbers are creeping up. Just last week we saw over 20 Townsend's big-eared bats in the cave.

The kids really like the rock wall at the exit tunnel.

We weren't done yet, they still had to squeeze through the concrete block, a prerequisite to going on the spelunking tour when that was offered at Little Muddy Cave.

And one more stop. The kids love getting "kissed" by the cave. They found they could get "kissed" by the roof when they stood under the dripline. Nothing like desert kids finding a little water!

And just think what that water is doing as it seeps down into the ground, through the acidic pine needles, into the porous limestone, into tiny cracks that slowly, slowly become larger and larger. There should be more caves for these junior cave scientists to learn about, if they just wait patiently.

Cave Rescue Training - April 2015

 It had been a few years since we had a National Cave Rescue Commission training in our area. With a little nudging from my friend Andy, I picked a date, found some instructors willing to volunteer their time, and got ready for a fun weekend.

On Friday we had fifteen students come to improve their single rope technique (SRT) skills in the morning. We had seven single ropes up in the fire station, plus a rebelay course that included some J-hangs and a guided rappel. It was a challenging rebelay course, but fun! Here's Deanna doing the guided rappel, which would keep you out of a waterfall or get you over a pothole or some other obstacle.

In the afternoon we went out to some nearby cliffs and did raises and lowers. It was a windy afternoon, but everyone did well and learned something.


While we were prepping the site, I got this fun shot.


In the evening you could tell we were getting a little tired…but we were still laughing! (Can you see what's happened in the photo below?)

The next morning we changed gears and started the Orientation to Cave Rescue class, a two-day class. We spent the morning and early afternoon in the classroom. Here's Bonny doing the best psych considerations talk I've ever seen. It was also perfect for keeping the students awake after lunch as they had to get up.

Later in the afternoon it was time for the obstacle course, which teaches how to move a litter and tests leadership/followership skills. One particularly fun challenge was going through a narrow fork in the tree.

They did it well! Then everyone had to climb through the tree, which took some teamwork.

Sunday it was time for the mock rescue to test their skills. Thanks to Bonny and Tori for getting some of these photos, as I ended up being one of the patients. They had to come find me and carry me out of the cave.

When the students arrived, they got organized. The incident commander sent everyone to the cave.


Then they were divided into teams with different missions.

One of the search teams found me and then had to keep me warm and treat my injuries while they waited for a litter to arrive.


It took me about ten minutes to go to my place in the cave uninjured, but over three hours to get me out, largely due to patient packaging and then various vertical obstacles. It just goes to show that you want to cave carefully or you could end up spending a lot longer in a cave than you had planned!

On the hike back I discussed the mock rescue with Andy. We were both very happy with how everyone had done. Thanks so much to all the instructors, students, Great Basin National Park, Ely District BLM, and Snake Valley Volunteer Fire Department for their support!

The National Cave Rescue Commission has upcoming training--a Small Party Assisted Rescue seminar in June in Lund, Nevada (with only four spots left), and a weeklong seminar with various levels in Park City, Kentucky (next to Mammoth Cave) at the end of July. You can find more info at the NCRC website.