Yosemite and More

Great Basin National Park is located in the eastern part of Nevada, but the  Great Basin ranges from the Easter Sierra to Utah's Wasatch Mountains. It has  valleys, several mountain ranges and very few rivers. Much of it high desert.  The Park ranges from 6,825 feet to 13,065 feet. That ranges gives you a  variety of scenery and photographic opportunities. When I first got to the visitors center I asked if there were any Aspens in bloom since none were visible from the center. The ranger said it was the best year in  many years. He was right, I timed it just right. One of the problems was the road was very narrow and limited where you could stop. One of the main attractions in the park are the Bristlecone Pines, some of the oldest living things on earth. This is where you start.... Then you climb.... Turn a corner.... Just keep going, notice the elevation sign. I got there at the peak of color, usually you will see areas that are past peak or not yet at peak. I ...

 By the time we got to Canyonlands National Park, as my sister said 'We'd seen a lot of rocks'. And we had a lot more ahead of us, each park is unique, and as you look around you find more than just rocks. This was our introduction to Canyon Lands One of the hikes we took was the Cave Springs Loop.. It took us under this overhang where there was a small spring, up a couple of ladders and across the  top. A good hike. While not overly abundant there was (for me) a lot of colorful plants. I don't know the name of some. While some of this one has seen better days I was still taken with it. And yes there were a lot of canyons This is Harvey (my name for it) an Elvis impersonator who watches over Canyon Lands As you might imagine there are cacti in the park. I felt very lucky to catch this Hedgehog Cactus in full bloom. If you look very closely you can  see a black striped bee in the lower right of the right flower The Prickly Pear Cactus is actually edible, but you have to ...