Decisions, Decisions! To do it or not to do it! That is, to bicycle the 6 miles uphill, some 2000' in elevation, off my route, to visit the Great Basin National Park and inparticular the Leeman Cave's. As you can see by the photo above, what my decision was. No, I didn't want any extra climbing and especially off of my route, but I couldn't pass up my chance to see these caves. I woke up early from my free camping spot, beside the Post Office in the tiny town of Baker, Utah. Not my best camping spot ever, but it worked for the night and no one seemed to notice me. The sun was just coming up over the horizon as I heading uphill the 6 miles to the Leeman Cave's visitor center. I thought of thumbing a ride and leaving my bike below in town but what's an extra 6 miles up and 6 miles back going to do to me. Just make me stronger, I hope. It took me just over an hour to do those 6 miles uphill, until I reached the visitor center. I bought a ticket for the 90 minute guided tour of Leeman Cave's. You can't go into the caves without a guide and without purchasing a ticket for $15. The best $15 I ever spent. What an incredible place. I have never seen anything like it, or the closest thing I had seen like it were the cenotes in Mexico that Bonnie and I went snorkeling in years ago. A group of 12 went with one guide walking through these caves at a snails pace just in awe at every corner. I took many photos as we walked through, but your not allowed to touch any part of the cave because the oils on your fingers will damage the stalagmites, which are alive and still growing. Pretty amazing and very happy to have made the side trip. After the tour, I had lunch in their cafe and biked down the 6 miles to Baker and continued on with the intention to rough camp again off the side of the road due to the distance of the next town. I filled up all my water jugs, at over 2 gallons (which is 16 pounds) and food for what seemed to be a week. My bags were maxed out. I crossed into Utah in early afternoon. My first time cycling in the state of Utah, so I was pretty excited. As the afternoon went on, it got hotter and hotter, and I drank more and drank more. Till I noticed I was running low, down to about half a gallon and I still had tonight and tomorrow to go with no services, and no houses. I started to get a little nervous and thought of flagging down a car or truck that passes me next. I haven't seen a vehicle in hours. I continued on and found an old abandoned ranch right off the road. I pulled into that ranch and looked around but saw no one. There were farm sables out back but no animals. Windows were broken on the ranch as I looked in, just a mess and not really livable. In my eyes at least. To my great surprise, I found a pipe coming out of the ground with a hose attached to it and water flowing out of it at a good rate. I can't believe this! How lucky is that? First of all, is that water safe to drink? I tested it, with a small sip. It tasted ok, and I was going to need water somehow, and someway. I filled up all my bottles and even took a shower under it. As I looked around, I noticed it getting darker and decided to camp here inside the animal pens. I just had to move some dung out of the way and set up my tent during a beautiful sunset. In some way, I thought of this as being a miracle. It's not for everyone I know, but I felt very lucky this night, as things could have got much worst.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Day 13 Baker, NV to Wah Wah Summit, UT
Decisions, Decisions! To do it or not to do it! That is, to bicycle the 6 miles uphill, some 2000' in elevation, off my route, to visit the Great Basin National Park and inparticular the Leeman Cave's. As you can see by the photo above, what my decision was. No, I didn't want any extra climbing and especially off of my route, but I couldn't pass up my chance to see these caves. I woke up early from my free camping spot, beside the Post Office in the tiny town of Baker, Utah. Not my best camping spot ever, but it worked for the night and no one seemed to notice me. The sun was just coming up over the horizon as I heading uphill the 6 miles to the Leeman Cave's visitor center. I thought of thumbing a ride and leaving my bike below in town but what's an extra 6 miles up and 6 miles back going to do to me. Just make me stronger, I hope. It took me just over an hour to do those 6 miles uphill, until I reached the visitor center. I bought a ticket for the 90 minute guided tour of Leeman Cave's. You can't go into the caves without a guide and without purchasing a ticket for $15. The best $15 I ever spent. What an incredible place. I have never seen anything like it, or the closest thing I had seen like it were the cenotes in Mexico that Bonnie and I went snorkeling in years ago. A group of 12 went with one guide walking through these caves at a snails pace just in awe at every corner. I took many photos as we walked through, but your not allowed to touch any part of the cave because the oils on your fingers will damage the stalagmites, which are alive and still growing. Pretty amazing and very happy to have made the side trip. After the tour, I had lunch in their cafe and biked down the 6 miles to Baker and continued on with the intention to rough camp again off the side of the road due to the distance of the next town. I filled up all my water jugs, at over 2 gallons (which is 16 pounds) and food for what seemed to be a week. My bags were maxed out. I crossed into Utah in early afternoon. My first time cycling in the state of Utah, so I was pretty excited. As the afternoon went on, it got hotter and hotter, and I drank more and drank more. Till I noticed I was running low, down to about half a gallon and I still had tonight and tomorrow to go with no services, and no houses. I started to get a little nervous and thought of flagging down a car or truck that passes me next. I haven't seen a vehicle in hours. I continued on and found an old abandoned ranch right off the road. I pulled into that ranch and looked around but saw no one. There were farm sables out back but no animals. Windows were broken on the ranch as I looked in, just a mess and not really livable. In my eyes at least. To my great surprise, I found a pipe coming out of the ground with a hose attached to it and water flowing out of it at a good rate. I can't believe this! How lucky is that? First of all, is that water safe to drink? I tested it, with a small sip. It tasted ok, and I was going to need water somehow, and someway. I filled up all my bottles and even took a shower under it. As I looked around, I noticed it getting darker and decided to camp here inside the animal pens. I just had to move some dung out of the way and set up my tent during a beautiful sunset. In some way, I thought of this as being a miracle. It's not for everyone I know, but I felt very lucky this night, as things could have got much worst.
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