Here are a few pictures of various hikes we took while at Great Basin NP.

Our campsite for 10 days, no power, no internet, no television...YAY!

The wildlife around our campsite was fun to watch!

We followed a rafter of turkeys down this path but they never allowed us to catch up and get a clear picture of them.

I can't resist the flowers! :)

These signs are not aligned with pathways and have destinations that don't always jive with our printed map...bummer.  After a few missteps trying to figure out where to go, we're now very skeptical that we made the right choice....another bummer.  So far we've always made it back to where we started from at the end of the day!

After our trek to the summit of the timber creek trail, it opened up to a beautiful, huge meadow.  And on the way down the backside of the meadow we came across this cage with one side broken apart.  It immediately made me think of my brother-in-law, Phillip.  You have to imagine 2 grown (old) men watching a television show called Mountain Monsters.  The show was, to put it bluntly, totally stupid!  It's about a small group of men traveling across the Appalachians looking for Bigfoot and other "legendary" creatures lurking about the hills.  They never see the creatures but rely on locals to describe them and they always end up building huge, fancy cages to capture their prey.  Every time the cage is destroyed and nothing is ever trapped.  We just couldn't help ourselves from tuning in to watch every week and having a good laugh!

On the way back down we enjoyed cool respites along Timber Creek :)

This National Park is accessible through 1 gravel road.  There are no gates but a ranger passes through every once in a while.  Wendy and I are always reading the rules and regulations that are posted, mainly for wild animal sightings and fire restrictions.  Not everyone cares about the postings so we occasionally have to approach others and  inform them about the fire bans.  Now, most of the them have California/Oregon/Washington plates on their vehicles.....go figure!  It is frustrating sometimes, but we do our best and if we have to move, we move.  It is what it is.  There really haven't been any major issues, until the night before we were going to leave anyway.  We woke up at 0230 to a strong smell of smoke.  We've been experiencing smoke in the skies for weeks, but no smells.  More and more campers were ignoring the fire bans. So I got up to confront yet another camper but could not see any fires around.  One couple was outside getting their rig ready for departure and I asked them about the strong smoke smell.  They relayed to me that a fire was around somewhere but didn't know how far away.  So.....Wendy and I decided to play it safe and leave immediately.  Not a very difficult decision!  We got out of Dodge and went to a gas station parking lot and spent the next couple of hours there after securing the ok from the station manager.  The uncontrolled fire was 50+ miles away by ELY, NV.  We were still glad we left in a hurry as it at least gave us some experience with hasty departures at 0230.  On a good note, the breakfast there was very tasty.  And so we moved on, thankful again!  It's still really hard to believe west coast residents thought it ok to build a fire with all the problems their states have.  Rules or no rules, common sense should prevail.  Here ends my rant once again.  We are safe and are thankful to God!

This stop was quite the experience!  We started out the first day driving along the scenic route.  All roads were wash-boarded gravel and dusty, I mean VERY dusty.  We stopped at the 8500 foot elevation sign to take a look around and came upon an elk.  He saw us before we saw him and as far as I could tell he must have been lying down.  We heard a thunderous sound as he came to his feet and skedaddled away, crashing his rack into an overhanging tree and busting off a limb.  Wendy and I crouched when we first heard the sound as we had no clue what was happening.  We both thought a big bear was on the rampage!  Then we saw the elk jump about 3 times and disappear over the crest of a hill, no longer to be seen.  It was only 30 to 40 yards away and his back was easily my shoulder height.  It was HUGE!  That was the largest animal either of us have encountered in the wild!  The experience took our breath away and we discussed what to do if it ever happened again.  All we came up with was to put a tree between us and it to give me time to arm our can of bear spray.  It happened amazingly fast.  Needless to say I didn't get a picture of the elk!

Over the 10 days we were here, we hiked several trails starting from 7500 feet, going up to 10800 feet.  Most were "moderate" skill levels.  But we took a wrong turn on one trail and after 1/4 mile or so we knew we were no longer on "moderate".  We struggled along for a while and came to a fork in the trail.  Now let me tell you that at this particular National Park, the maps and signs don't jive in any way.  All maps along the trail are not oriented to the direction we were traveling.  That is, if you happen along a map to begin with!  We decided to take the strenuous Timber Creek trail.  8 miles later, after sunset and numb from the 50 temps, in our t-shirts, we arrived back to our truck.  We wasted no time in turning on the seat heaters!  I was lucky, I have a steering wheel heater....yay!  The hikes we took over the next few days were challenging and exciting and we were blessed with good health and safe travels!

Don't worry dear, I'm right behind you....with the bear spray!

I took many pictures over the next several days and I've pretty much lumped them together in the interest of keeping me sane.  This "blogging" is fun but I've got to find a way to keep up :)

The hike along the glacier trail took us through many Bristlecone pines, which are dated to be thousands of years old.  When they die, their trunks last a very long time.  This one is over 3500 years old!

We also enjoyed the Aspen trees scattered  throughout the mountains.

We are now at Cathedral Gorge State Park close to Panaca, NV.  I'll catch you up with another post soon!  There is a fire evacuation story involved....

Now that we have contemporary amenities available again, I'll play catch-up once more with my posts :)  We've been without power and internet for the past week and a half.  Plenty of sun kept our battery charged so that was a big plus!  We left MacKay Reservoir for Jackpot, NV.  Then on to Valley View RV and Mobile Home park in Ely, NV.  One night only at Jackpot and Ely, then on to Great Basin National Park.

Here at Ely I think the face masks cut off a little too much oxygen :)

We've been looking for a reprieve from the heat.  We found it with a vengeance!  The cooler weather feels good to me but Wen would like it just a smidgen warmer.  We left MacKay this morning with the mountains dusted by overnight snows.  It was very beautiful but the biting winds left us a bit numb.  We found out the vault toilets, although very well designed, left one wondering if the engineer ever used one.  They are vented and the wind blows up from below, leaving one wishing for a redesign!  Talk about a wake up call!!!  I know, TMI :)

We had to say goodby to new friends,  Maria and Gene.  They were so kind to us the past 3 weeks. We are very thankful for the short time we were together.  Gene and I are the "catch phrase" champions!!!  (Lampshade-inside joke :))  Safe travels you guys!

As we left this morning I took this picture of a sprinkler left on all night.  It was a winter wonderland for sure.

On the way to our next destination we stopped in Twin Falls at the Snake River, a place we were 20 years ago with Wendy's parents.  Back then we witnessed hang gliders jumping from the bridge.  This time we saw them repacking their chutes but did not see them launch.

These shots almost make me want to carry my golf clubs around with us again.  We did that in a former life, 20 years ago.  40,000+ miles and golfed maybe 3 or 4 times.

Back in the day....our mode of transportation.

Now, the signs of things to come.  (Tesla stations)

We are now at Jackpot, Nevada.  Parking at a casino's campground no less.  Go figure, you'd think we could claim a jackpot.  But NOT!  Breaking even is still a win, even if on the penny machines :)  We were able to find a spot beneath an apple tree, which is a win in my opinion!

:)

P.S.  Wendy informed me we are $2.04 up! 

Be prepared, this is a marathon post!  We've been at MacKay Reservoir,Idaho, for almost 2 weeks.  We followed new, wonderful friends, Maria and Gene (from California), here from our last campsite at Pink House Recreation Area.  They too are leaving tomorrow and we surely hope to see them again!  Today the weather took a turn to the cold side.  40 mile+ winds and the temp has dropped 13 degrees in the last hour and a half on the way down to the low 30's tonight.  Brrrrr!

But as you can see, we're warm and cozy as 2 bugs in a rug :)

A few days ago it was much warmer, in the 90's, and we went exploring!

2 days ago we struck out on a memorable hike in an attempt to make it around the reservoir and scale the hills across from our campsite.

Legend has it a white horse occasionally appears on these hills and brings good luck to those who see it.  Maria and Gene told us about the "Legend of the White Horse".  We never saw it but they said it appeared when we were out exploring.  Wendy did say she saw a huge fish surface and look around.  Sort of like the Loch Ness Monster, so we're thinking about starting our own legendary story.  We'll call it the Legend of the MacKay Reservoir Monster!  So we started out with no water, no cell phone and no bear spray (terribly dumb, I know).  10 miles later we arrived back to the campground, beaten to a pulp in the 93 degree heat.  We will be prepared the next time out!  We honestly had no idea we would be gone that long.  Hear are some pictures of that adventure.

It's hard to appreciate the slope of the this hill, but it's quite the slope!

Here's where it starts to get interesting.  We had to work our way past the wet, marshy area to a drier mud flat.  We could walk on it but the ground was quite spongy.  I told Wendy to walk a ways behind in case we ran into quicksand.  I know I've been watching too many Westerns when I start thinking about quicksand!  Anyway, we separated a few feet nonetheless.  We came across a stream we thought we could cross.  It was pretty shallow and we could see the rock and pebble bed beneath the surface.  It was indeed firm footing.  But to get to it we stepped into a bank of mud and sunk to our knees.  I felt relieved when we stopped sinking at knee level!  It was just like pluff mud, if you've ever experienced that feeling.  Well, we escaped with our shoes and socks still attached to us.  We stopped in the middle of the stream, on firm footing, and spent the next 5 minutes cleaning off mud only to enter another mud bank on the far side!  Arggggg! 

Here's proof some weren't as lucky!  Don't ask me what the 2nd picture could be :)

This was one big bird!

On past the flats to the other side.

These are nice pictures.  I wish they could express the beauty we witnessed.

Time to prepare for the long trek back!

We decided to make it easy on ourselves the last 3 miles by taking the easy road back!

As I finished this post, a strange sound drew outside me out to investigate.  It's now snowing!!!  I hope this brings a cool feeling to those enduring the heat!  God bless and be well!