New Exhibits in Great Basin Visitor Center

In 2006, a new visitor center opened at Great Basin National Park, down in the town of Baker. The old visitor center, up at Lehman Caves, is still open, but focuses on caves, while the new one looks at the entire Great Basin region. It took time and money to get the exhibits, but they've finally arrived and are really neat.

The visitor center is the building on the right, and the resource center, which includes a classroom, lab, office space, and a small library, on the left. Jeff Davis Peak, part of Great Basin National Park, is in the background.

One of the first things you see when you enter the exhibit area is this life-like bristlecone pine tree. It looks very much like the old-growth bristlecone pines found up near the Wheeler cirque and rock glacier at over 10,000 feet high. These trees are known to live over 4,000 years, but only in harsh conditions. In addition, only a small part of the tree is alive, like the exhibit shows.

There's a wall with cultural exhibits, looking at how the Fremont and Shoshone cultures lived. There is also this sheep camp exhibit, complete with the border collie lying underneath it. Kids love looking at the dog.

Another wall has exhibits about the different life zones that are found from the valley floor all the way up to the mountain tops.

Desert Boy was fascinated with the stream exhibit, which was down at his level and had fish. He can say "fish," which probably was part of the reason he liked it so much. I have to admit, having a small child made me look at exhibits in a totally different way. 

This rattlesnake made a few people jump. It stayed put, though.

There were some cutaways that showed what lives in the ground, which in the desert is quite a lot. The sagebrush vole is one of the creatures that hides from the temperature extremes in a burrow.

Here are some gigantic ants that look a little creepy.

Each exhibit has birds included with it. There's so much more to see, but I figure if I show it all, then you won't have an excuse to go and see it for yourself! To find out when the Great Basin Visitor Center is open, call 775-234-7331.

And if you have a little one, ask where the toy drawer is. They have puppets of all different sizes that don't even mind someone riding them.

Northern Nevada Railway

In honor of Desert Boy's fascination with "choo-choos," today we'll take a look at the Northern Nevada Railway, headquartered in Ely, Nevada. The East Ely Depot is now a gift store and offices, and is a commanding presence next to the railroad tracks.

This looks like a snowplow car. We haven't had real huge snowstorms this winter, but enough that snow would occasionally have to be plowed off the tracks. A variety of train cars are located behind the East Ely depot on the tracks. This is where train trips start.

The Nevada Northern Railway includes a work yard, a museum, and the so-called Ghost Train. The train has two different routes, one towards the north and one towards the west. There are two different types of locomotives: steam and diesel. Steam locomotives are difficult to maintain, but a dedicated cadre of volunteers keep Engine #93 puffing away.

Although they have some specialty trains run in the winter, the main season begins April 11. 

Isn't this caboose beautiful? I love the yellow color. Kennecott is the name of a local mine, and mines are what brought the railroad here in the first place. Today trucks transport ore to market, but the railroad is still maintained around the Ely area. It's a great way to step (or ride) back in history.

Here's the diesel locomotive, ready to pull. On this particular day we spent our time around the rail yard, but you can be assured there will be future train posts. Desert Boy will make sure of that. 

If you'd like to learn more about the Nevada Northern Railway, check out their informative website!

Not Quite a Desert Destination: Hoyt Arboretum, Portland, Oregon

Usually every Monday I visit a desert destination. This past week I was in the Pacific Northwest and saw a few things that reminded me of the desert, but not much. For the sake of variety, I thought I would feature a post from a different area.

Located in Washington Park in Portland, Oregon, is the Hoyt Arboretum. It's not nearly as well known as the zoo or Children's Museum, located nearby, but it has the lovely distinction of being free and containing miles of interesting trails. Near the visitor center are some desert plants, like the yucca above, with a palm tree in the near background, and some of Oregon's fantastically tall conifers in the distant background.

One of the suggestions for a winter visit was to go to holly hill, where about 40 species of holly (Genus Ilex) had been planted. Holly is not native to Oregon, but it is commonly grown for decorations. Some hollies are invasive, particularly the popular European holly (Ilex aquifolium), and the arboretum shows several examples of other hollies that are just as beautiful but won't be a nuisance.

The trails were surprisingly empty despite the sunny day, and Desert Boy and I enjoyed wandering aimlessly. The trails are well-marked, but because we didn't really have a specific destination in mind, we just wandered wherever looked interesting. In some cases, Desert Boy had a different idea of what was interesting than me, and I had to go chasing after him. In the photo above, he takes off near the really cool Monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), native to Chile and Argentina.

Finally I managed to corral Desert Boy and we continued on. There are some accessible trails in the arboretum, but we found the stroller was able to navigate most of the other trails as well. The huge ferns are something we certainly don't see in the desert, although we have some small varieties hiding out on moist cliff faces.

The moss-covered trees were fun to look at. Some trees I'm used to seeing in other parts of the country, like sugar maples, look entirely different when they have mosses and lichens covering most of their bark. We got bogged down in mud a couple times on the trail, but I was surprised how stable everything seemed. The trails were well-used but had little erosion.

One of my favorite parts was the redwood trail, where there were seven different species of redwoods. Their amazing height boggled my mind. I took this picture standing up--I didn't even need to lay down to make them look tall (which is something I sometimes do in the desert!) 

It was a fun visit, and if you're ever in the area, I'd recommend trying out some of the trails at the Hoyt Arboretum.

Desert Destination: Baker Archeological Site

Every Monday we visit a desert destination.

Not far from Great Basin National Park is the Baker Archeological Site. Located on the valley floor, it's accessible year round. The site is a Fremont culture village, occupied from approximately 1220 to 1295 AD. Brigham Young University's Office of Public Archeology, along with the BLM, excavated the site from 1991-1994.

Those visiting have a nice area for picnicking, along with barbeques, a pit toilet, and a trail to the site. The Baker Archeological Site is located along the cut-off road between the town of Baker, Nevada and Highway 50 and is marked with signs.

A short trail with markers along the way leads from the picnic and parking area to the village site.

The hike is even suitable for those with short legs.

BYU's excavation revealed a small village, with pit houses, ramadas, and adobe structures. They found evidence that the Fremonts were using the nearby land for agriculture, particularly corn, beans, and squash. Based on seeds and other evidence found in the excavation, it is thought that when the Fremont lived there,  the desert landscape probably was wetter, with wetlands nearby.

Here is an artist's interpretation of what the village looked like. It is thought that the buildings were constructed to orient with different positions of the sun to help indicate planting and harvesting times, along with other important dates.

The BYU excavation was backfilled, but in 2002 berms were built around the outlines of the buildings to help stabilize them and help visitors better visualize the site.

In the foreground is the big house, with smaller houses in the background.

The light early in the morning or late in the day make the Baker Archeological Site especially dramatic to visit. Somehow those shadows make it come more alive and easier to imagine what it was like centuries ago.

The trail markers are found in the shape of owls, due to a beautiful slate figurine found on the site in the shape of an owl. If you look in the background, you can see the outline of an owl (or bat) with two pointy ears and rounded wings on either side.

Here's a closer view of the "owl" in the mountain.

It doesn't take long to visit the Baker Archeological Site, but it's a fun stop to imagine what life was like so long ago. As it is today in the desert, water was a limiting factor. The Fremont village at this site was small, most likely due to the scarce resources available. For more information, visit the Great Basin Heritage Area website.

Coyote Springs--A Pipe Dream?

Out in an uninhabited valley about an hour north of Las Vegas, an incongruous sign and palm trees rise from the valley floor. This is the site of Coyote Springs, touted as a 42,000-acre master-planned community by developer Harvey Whittemore. The plan is for 159,000 houses to be built here, along with schools, fire departments, and shopping centers. Where would these people work? Las Vegas is oft-mentioned, but it's about an hour away, mostly on a two-lane highway with lots of slow-moving recreational vehicles. No houses have yet been built, with Pardee Homes announcing that the building has been delayed  due to a slowdown in the economy.

The first of 16 golf courses is completed. The Coyote Springs website begins "Coyote Springs is defined by a continuous valley of green." I couldn't quite find what they meant, since this is dry desert with lots of space between the cacti, creosote, and yucca, but perhaps that green is going to be the golf courses--if enough water can be found. There are no streams flowing through the area, no springs, no lakes, no ponds. Water has to be pumped out of the ground and piped here. In a desert area with little precipitation, it certainly raises the question: Is this kind of development sustainable? Or is it destined to become the next ghost town?

There were a few golfers on the fairways on the winter afternoon. For this opportunity, it costs up to $175 plus caddie gratuity. If you want to save some money, come golf in the summer, when playing under the sun in 110 degree temperatures will run you just $105 plus gratuity.

Another entrance further down the road has the big Coyote Springs sign, but the landscaping has yet to be completed. I find it rather interesting that every plant has its own irrigation drip, even the cacti.

There's an onsite nursery at Coyote Springs. The trees look outlandish in this place that gets just a few inches of precipitation a year.

This is the entry to the golf club. There were a few vehicles in the parking lot the day I went by.

In the foreground is some of the desert landscaping. It's nice to see them make some attempt to preserve some semblance of the desert, especially since most of this area planned to be developed is (was) desert tortoise habitat. 

I have to wonder who would want to live out here. People who like the remote desert aren't going to want to live with tens of thousands of other people. People who like living near other people are going to want to have more amenities nearby. And the site used to be owned by a Department of Defense contractor and was considered fairly worthless because it's downwind from Area 51 and Nellis Air Force Range, which has bombing practice. 

Recently the developers petitioned the county commissioners for a change in zoning so they could include a hotel-casino on the property. Again, from the Coyote Springs website: "In the town of Coyote Springs, schools are a primary focus." I've always thought schools and casinos to be an odd juxtaposition. 

Despite some xeriscaping, the developer just had to add palm trees. The nearest native palm tree is found hundreds of miles away.

Even worse than the palm trees are the fake rocks and pond--yes pond! planned at the grand entrance.

To the far left of the Coyote Springs is a man-made waterfall. The water will then pool below the sign. I guess this is to make it obvious that as the advertising proclaims, "an amazing desert oasis is taking shape."

It will be interesting to see if home buyers are as elusive as water in this dry, isolated place.

Desert Destination: Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

Every Monday we visit a desert destination.
Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area is located just 17 miles west of Las Vegas' downtown. The bright red sandstone rocks can be seen from most of the city, but they make up just a small part of this nearly 200,000-acre area managed by the Bureau of Land Management. 

There aren't a lot of signs showing the way to get to Red Rock, but fortunately there are just two main ways to go, and they make for a nice loop if you want to see some different landscapes. The northern way is to take Charleston Boulevard west, and it eventually turns into Highway 159. The southern way is to take Blue Diamond Road, Highway 160, and then take the cutoff to the north, Highway 159.

 
A fee booth is at the entrance of the 13-mile scenic drive. It's possible to visit parts of Red Rock directly from Highway 159 if you really don't want to pay the fee, but it's only $5 per vehicle, and you can also use the America the Beautiful Pass here. 

A good first stop is the visitor center. There is a lot of construction around the visitor center, as they expand the one made in 1982, which was made when 20,000 people visited Red Rock a year, to a new one that can accommodate the 1,000,000 annual visitors.

The visitor center is up above the parking lot, and it could use a few more signs. While waiting ten minutes in the parking lot, three different people asked where the visitor center was. Inside are a variety of exhibits, some good views, and friendly volunteers.

After the visitor center, it's time to head down the Scenic Drive. This is a one-way loop with a maximum speed limit of 35 mph, so you can just take your time and enjoy the scenery. The scenery is eye-popping, beginning with the Calico Hills.

This area is popular with rock climbers--can you see the two climbers and two belayers in the photo above? Red Rock has all different levels of climbing, from beginner to expert routes that take more than a day to complete.

The Calico area has some pullouts to stop and enjoy the view or start a hike. In the foreground of this photo is a burned Joshua tree. Numerous wildland fires have burned in Red Rock Canyon over the past years.

 
Looking in the other direction, the burned area goes as far as the eye can see. The land managers are concerned about non-native vegetation taking over. To combat that, rehabilitation efforts like seeding with native vegetation are ongoing. 

The Red Rock Canyon newspaper lists 19 different hikes. It was hard to choose which ones would be best for us. Because we had Desert Boy along, we decided the Children's Discovery Trail near Lost Creek would be a good place to start. The trail is 0.7 miles long and was listed as easy. 

At first, Desert Boy was bored with how easy the trail was.

Then we got to the wash, which during flash floods can quickly fill with water. The wooden structure and the pipe on the left-hand side are a crest-staff gage. Inside the metal pipe is a piece of wood and some cork. When the flood comes through, the water makes the cork float and it sticks to the wood. A USGS employee checks it after the flood and can estimate the amount of water based on the height of the water, the slope of the wash, and the substrate. USGS records show that this gage was in operation from 1961-1999 and the highest recorded flood was over 7,000 cubic feet per second, in 1969. To put this into perspective, 7,000 cfs is about the average streamflow for the Columbia River, that giant river flowing from between the states of Oregon and Washington into the Pacific Ocean. Seven thousand cfs is more than what usually flows in the Hudson, Chicago, and Rio Grande rivers.

Desert Boy was more interested in picking up rocks, and his great-uncle had fun photographing him.

Then the trail got a little rockier and steeper. Did Desert Boy want to be carried? No way! He likes challenges, and fortunately the knees in his pants were up to it. He walked/crawled/rolled down the entire trail by himself. 

After our hike, we continued along the Scenic Drive, passing more beautiful scenery. Then we reached another trailhead, for Pine Creek Canyon.

The Pine Creek Canyon trail descends from the parking lot across a rather flat area full of a variety of bushes and grasses. In the distance is the triangular-shaped rock formation called Mescalito. From a guidebook I knew that the trail led to the canyons on either side of Mescalito, and it sounded like a fun place to go rockhopping.

Eventually we got to a wilderness boundary sign. There are two wilderness areas in Red Rock Canyon NCA: Rainbow and La Madre, designated in 2002.

Mescalito appeared closer as we walked down the narrow path with the red dirt.

Desert Boy ran out of steam (and so did his mama carrying him in the backpack), so the great-uncles stepped in to help him through the tall bushes...

...and across the rocks down into the streambed.

The streambed was very rocky and had quite a bit of vegetation growing in it, making it difficult to travel. The trail had split in many different directions, and we couldn't figure out which one was the right one. So instead of trampling vegetation, we decided it was time for us to head back to the car, and we turned around.

On the way back, Desert Boy found a nice place to rest. Hiking in February was really comfortable, although we noticed a big change in temperature from sunny to shady areas. During the summer heat, this hike wouldn't be nearly so nice.

This big yucca graced the trail on the last stretch up to the car. It was a pleasant hike, although we had been expecting the trail to lead us somewhere instead of petering out. Nevertheless, it was a welcome breath of fresh air and quiet not far from Vegas.

Red Rocks has lots of territory to explore, and I hope to be back soon to check out some more trails.