1998 Northern Rockies Trip

Text on back of postcard:
GREAT BASIN NATIONAL PARK
In the cold, high world of Wheeler Peak's bristlecone pine
forest, there is little water, few nutrients. There is an
abundance of wind and sky.

My message to recipeint:
We didn't actually get to see these cuz the road was still closed due
to snow. But we went on yet-another cave tour. (See Scott's card.) Today
we head for Bishop, Mono Lake, Devil's Postpile, etc.

From Mark's "Book of Doom"
Day 17: Monday, June 1st
Great Basin National Park - "America's third least convenient national park"

Lehman Caves is a relatively small cave, but it had a large quantity of columns and a feature I hadn't seen so far this trip: shields, which are flat discs extruded from the walls.

Later, we drove through the BLM's Lunar Crater lava field area. A couple of nifty lava formations and cinder cones, and we got to drive on a dry lake.

We somehow missed a campground on the way, and ended up staying in a motel in Tonopah, NV. Which isn't all bad. I got a shower.

The sign indicates that 3 of the 4 campgrounds have "No Water" and the fourth is "Closed" ...due to snow
The local fences are an art form of themselves. This one is a fencing fence.

Text on back of postcard:
THE CYPRESS SWAMP
Probably the most active forming section of Lehman Caves, the
Cypress Swamp provides an impressive exhibit of stalactites,
stalagmites, columns and popcorn-covered rimstone dams in the
spring, dripping water fills the ponds and the whole scene
becomes a fairyland in stone.

My message to recipient:
Lehman Caves are known for their abundant stalagtites and stalagmites.
Quite the nifty cave tour. We also went semi-off-roading to the Lunar
Crater and a dry lake bed. Drove out to the Bonneville Salt Flats --
which are still under water, so we waded.

This gives you a good feel for what's called "flowstone"

The Moon Crater, with and without explorers

There's a teeny-tiny dot out there on the horizon somewhere that is Scott.
Don't ask me where! I can't find him!

The boys on the boardwalk overlooking the tufa formations at Mono Lake

An interesting dry tufa formation
Looks kinda like a bear riding a wolverine, don't you think? :-)
Sorry, inside joke.

From Mono Lake we fairly raced home to the Santa Clara Valley. We got in late and tired, but we all lived and we each got to sleep in our own beds that night.