Desert Destination: Crystal Ball Cave

Located in the west desert of Utah is Crystal Ball Cave, so named because the interior is filled with calcite crystals called nailhead spar. It's a little-known wonder well worth a visit.

For part of the Millikin University Spring Break 2009 trip, we headed out to Crystal Ball Cave.

The trip starts at the end of the driveway framed by hundred-year old Lombardy poplars. Jerald and Marlene Bates lead tours through Crystal Ball Cave, so if you want to go you need to call in advance (435-693-3145). The cave is on BLM land, but they have the mining rights so manage the cave.

After meeting Jerald, you follow him to the parking area for the cave and immediately realize he has a good sense of humor. He's lived out at Gandy for his entire life, and it was an uncle that found the cave in 1956. The uncle dragged young Jerald with him to help explore it. Jerald wasn't too enthusiastic due to previous unproductive trips, but this hole in the ground turned out to be different from the rest.

To reach the entrance of the cave requires a short hike. Jerald realizes when the group needs a break and points out plants and other things of interest.

At the cave entrance, he gives more background and tells everyone not to touch cave formations. Then it's time to go in. Jerald unlocks the door, and everyone walks into the dark cave.

A bunch of stalactites are near the entrance. There are no lights in the cave, so everyone needs to bring one.

I thought this weathered formation looked very interesting.

Patches of cave popcorn decorate some cave ceilings and walls.

Most of the cave formations are calcite, but some gypsum is also found in the cave.

Jerald was good at explaining the different types of formations in the cave, as well as the history of it.

This tall stalagmite was taller than everyone on the tour.

The trail goes next to this primitive ladder, leading up to an upper chamber. Jerald said he wouldn't go up it today.

The tour route is on the cave floor, next to more formations. Everywhere you look there's something interesting to see.

Although Crystal Ball Cave is only about 45 miles from Lehman Cave, it looks totally different. After the cave was dissolved away by carbonic acid, the cave filled several times with water supersaturated with calcium carbonate. The calcium carbonate precipitated out in a crystalline form, called nailhead spar. These crystals cover most of the surfaces in Crystal Ball Cave (hence the name of the cave). Walking into the cave is sort of like walking into a huge geode.

 
Over time, many of the crystals have been covered with sand and dirt, so they're not shiny, but they are large.

Ceilings, walls, and floors all have the nailhead spar coating. 

Sometimes it's more translucent and glows when you put a flashlight next to it.

Further into the cave are interesting formations called cave cones or raft cones. They are the remains of calcite rafts, thin layers of calcite on top of the water. When water dripped onto the calcite rafts, the rafts broke apart and formed into these mounds.

Besides the amazing cave, another appeal of the cave tour is Jerald's quick wit and funny jokes.

He enjoys showing people the cave.

Further into the cave the ceiling drops and requires some stoop-walking. 

Then the cave opens up again and you see what looks like moonmilk decorating the cave ceiling. Moonmilk looks sort of like white cheese that has oozed out of the carbonate rock. It may form due to chemical or bacterial causes. 

Near the exit is a very large rock that has some beautiful crystals exposed. There are a variety of colors.
A close up of the crystals reveals even more beauty.

Besides the geologic wonders, Crystal Ball Cave is a treasure trove of biologic wonders. A paleontological survey of the cave revealed bones from numerous animals. Some are no longer found at this low an elevation (like bighorn sheep), while others are now extinct. These animals lived in the cave vicinity tens of thousands of years ago, when the climate was much different. Roughly 15,000 years ago, the arm of a huge lake, Lake Bonneville, filled the bottom of the valley, and trees extended down near the lake margins. In this landscape, large-headed llamas, camels, small horses, helmeted muskox, American sabercat, and more roamed. 

Crystal Ball Cave is the first location that a new, extinct species of skunk (Brachyprotoma brevimala) has been described.

The cave tour exits from a different place than the entrance, and then it's time to walk back to the vehicles, looking out at the vastly different valley than was there not all that long ago. It would be interesting to come back in 15,000 years and see what it looks like then.

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.

Herding Sheep

As I was driving down the highway, I noticed something out of the ordinary--hundreds of white objects moving on the hillside. As I got closer, I saw it was a herd of sheep. This is sheep country out here, and every winter sheepherders bring thousands of sheep. The sheep are good at using the snow for moisture (unlike cattle, which need water). Thus  the sheep can survive in remote places in the desert, far from water as long as there is some snow. 

This big white dog is a sheep dog (sometimes referred to as a livestock guardian dog). The most common types of sheep dog in this area are the Pyrenees or Akbash. They are strong and loyal, and they always stay with the sheep, protecting them from predators like coyotes. They also protect them from strange humans, so it's never a good idea to get out of your car near a big sheep dog--you're liable to get bitten because you're seen as a threat.

Here's the sheepherder on his horse at the back of the herd. With him are several border collies. They are extremely helpful moving the sheep, with their herding instinct kicking in. The border collies stay with the sheepherder, returning to his camp at night. They are loyal to him, doing what he says.

If you look closely at the sheep, you'll notice they aren't all white. A brown sheep is put in for every 25 or 50 sheep (depending on the herd). The brown sheep allow for the sheepherder to quickly count the herd by counting them and then multiplying by 25 or 50.

The sheep are moved every couple of days so they don't overgraze any one area. Often the sheep are ready to move on, making it a bit easier to move them. 

They graze on the way, their thick winter coats protecting them from the elements. They will be sheared in April by sheep shearers that come all the way from New Zealand and Australia. (I will try to have a post about that when they come.)

Being a sheepherder is a lonely, but relatively peaceful life. It definitely involves lots of fresh air and sunshine. Most of the sheepherding is done far from roads, requiring the old-style skills of managing a horse and dogs. I admire the sheepherders--I don't think I could do that job for even one day.

Sheepherder's Party

This weekend we went to the Sheepherder's Party out on the Utah/Nevada stateline. This area, generally called the West Desert, has been a big winter sheepherding area for over a century. This party is put on to encourage sheepherders, sheep owners, and others involved in the sheep industry to celebrate their heritage and to take a break from the mundane routines of winter.

Denys Koyle, owner of the Border Inn, organized the event, which went from Friday evening to the wee hours of Saturday night. Friday night was a dinner and sheepherder's stories; Saturday was a pancake breakfast, presentation by Sour Dough Slim, a dinner, and the sheepherder's ball, with lots of good music to kick up your heels to. 

Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons opened the program Friday evening with remarks.

Some of the actual sheepherders came. There aren't so many of them anymore as transportation has improved. Nevertheless, they still do a lot of the sheepherding the old-fashioned way, living in small sheep camps, riding horses to move the sheep, and having only their border collies and sheep dogs for company most of the time. At one point most of the sheepherders were Basque, but today they are all from Peru. 

Sourdough Slim showed off his excellent musical abilities and sense of humor.

The program included those of all ages, including young Melanie singing a pretty song in her pink cowgirl hat.

This gentleman showed off a quilt his made. He explained that he wore the elbows out of his wool shirts, and they would mysteriously disappear from the closet. He wanted his wife just to cut the sleeves off to make short-sleeved summer shirts, but she used them to make this beautiful quilt--her 100th quilt!

The emcee was the hilarious Hank Vogler. His son got up to take his turn at filling the room with hot air.

No program is complete without a little cowboy poetry. Here is the Sheepherder's Lament by Jack Ingram, about the difficulties of getting a wife while herding sheep:

And then came something new for me: cowboy yodeling. I really enjoyed it. If you want to hear more, Sourdough Slim will be performing at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada the end of January, or you can get CDs from his website.