Donald Pyle asked:


What is it like to stand in the shadows of or with your hand on the oldest living non- clonal organisms ever known? Awe inspiring! Incredible experience! It definitely is something near impossible to put into words. Great Basin National Forest is one home to these living ancient wonders. Its remoteness assures a private connection.

If you are traveling east or west via U.S. 6 and 50, take Nevada State Highway 487 to Baker, Nevada. It will be a quick 5 miles and then another 5 miles on Highway 488 to the park.

From southern Utah travel north on Highway 21 and when you cross the Utah-Nevada border 21 becomes 487. Turn west on Highway 488 in Baker for the last 5 miles to the park.

From southern Nevada travel north on Highway 93 to the junction of U.S. Highway 6 and 50 and drive east to Nevada State Highway 487 and then it is 5 miles to Baker and another 5 miles to the park via Highway 488.

Just for reference, Ely, Nevada, is 68 miles distant, Delta Utah, is 106 miles, and Cedar City, Utah, is 142 miles. This area is off the beaten path! You won’t have cell phone service or the Internet. Fill up the gas tank before you venture into this remote area.

So again, tell me, why are we are going to Great Basin National Park? Oh, that’s right - the bristlecone pine. Get directions at the Park Visitors Center to the Bristlecone Pine Trail. Take your hiking shoes, appropriate clothing depending upon the season, water and a lunch. It’s only 2.8 miles round trip on a moderate, well-marked trail. If you have more time and energy, continue up the trail to see Nevada’s only glacier at the foot of Mt. Wheeler (13,063 ft. elevation), Nevada’s second highest peak.

The Lehman cave tours, either 60 minutes or 90 minutes, are well worth the fee of $8 and $10 respectively for adults and $4 and $5 respectively for youth 5-15 years of age. Infants and toddles are free but are not permitted on the 90 minute tour.

Limited camping is available during the summer and holidays, so make arrangements ahead of time.



Content for WordPress

Joshua McAllister asked:


If you are planning a visit to the Beehive State, you will be pleasantly surprised by the variety of sights and activities this picturesque state has to offer. There truly are activities and sights that will suit everyone’s taste and sense of adventure. For those seeking lodging in Utah, there also is something to suit every taste and budget.

Exquisite Salt Lake City, Utah Lodging

Salt Lake City offers all the standard accommodations you would expect to find in any city, including the Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton, and Best Western. If you want a fresh and unique Utah lodging experience, consider the Hotel Monaco, located just two blocks from the famous Temple Square.

This boutique hotel is a newly refurbished historic landmark with French-inspired architecture and décor reminiscent of the glamorous 1940’s Hollywood. Suitable for everyone from business suits to blue jeans, this Salt Lake City lodging choice boasts high customer satisfaction at a very reasonable price.

While staying at The Monaco, you will be within walking distance of the home of the world renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_Tabernacle_Choir), who broadcast their program “Music and the Spoken Word” from this location. Tours include a pin-dropping demonstration of the amazing acoustics inside the sanctuary, and you can experience an up-close look at the 12th largest organ in the world, with over 11,000 pipes. The best part is that admission is free.

If you have come to Utah to ski, consider the Cliff Lodge and Spa, just 25 miles from downtown Salt Lake in the ski village of Snow Bird. Famous for its champagne powder, this upscale lodge gives you ski-in, ski-out convenience. The Cliff Lodge is connected to the town of Snow Bird by ski lifts, and offers a complimentary shuttle to the Alta ski area.

Try Camp Snowbird for the kids, which offers movies, arts and crafts, and skiing lessons at nearby Chickadee Run. There is also a nursery for infants six weeks and older.

Diverse Park City, Utah Lodging

Home to the world-famous Sundance Film Festival, Park City is also a focal point for winter sports in Utah. Lodging in Park City includes a variety of accommodations, from modest hotels to condominiums, all within a short distance of the slopes and historic Main Street.

The Yarrow Hotel and Conference Center is located just one mile from the town’s center, and three miles from the Deer Valley ski resort. This moderately-priced hotel offers a heated outdoor pool and spa, on-site restaurant, and free wi-fi access.

A short distance away, and just one-half mile from the Utah Olympic Park, is Fox Point at Redstone. Accommodations include fireplaces and full kitchens, complimentary access to the Silver Mountain Sports Club next door, and a ski shuttle.

If you are seeking an upscale Park City experience, consider the Canyons Grand Summit Hotel. This ski-in, ski-out resort and spa is a 100% smoke-free hotel, and is just four miles from the White Pine Nordic Center and Park City Mountain Resort. During ski season, a free shuttle provides service to Park City and Deer Valley.

For unprecedented views of the Park City area and the majestic Wasatch Mountains, try the nearby Flight of the Canyons high-speed gondola. Tours are available Thursday through Sunday.

Breathtaking Lodging in Utah’s Zion National Park

The only in-park lodging in Zion, this ecologically friendly hotel in Utah offers both standard rooms and private cabins. Zion National Park (http://www.nps.gov/zion/) Hotel includes full bath and private balconies or porches from which to take in the peace, serenity, and beauty of this red-rock rimmed canyon. Cabins also include gas fireplaces. Special winter rates are available from December to March.

Zion is appropriately named, meaning, “a place of peace and refuge.” This 146,000 acre park includes a variety of animal life among its cliffs, canyons, and the frigid Virgin River. Take the three mile hike up the Virgin River Gorge, called “Gateway to the Narrows.” Be forewarned that you may have to wade, or even swim, part of the way. It is well worth the effort when you reach the point in the trail where the canyon walls are only three feet apart, but extend over 3,000 feet overhead.

Just outside the park is the town of St. George. Known as the Gateway to the Canyonlands, there is a variety of Utah lodging in St. George to suit every budget.

For any traveler, Utah lodging has something to offer to families, adventurers, and nature-lovers alike.



Content

Angela Titus asked:


Imagine yourself traveling the daunting distance from Kansas City to Sacramento…on foot. Now imagine your journey with no cars, no roads or bridges, no hotels or restaurants, no reliable maps—and certainly no GPS!

Over rugged mountains and barren deserts in hostile Indian Territory, your only mode of transport is horsepower—of the animal variety. Your only means of navigation is the sun.

Think it sounds impossible? In the 1830s and 40s, tens of thousands of people from the East didn’t. They risked their lives to claim free, fertile farmland in Oregon or hit the mother lode in California.

The Oregon Trail is the original and best known of all emigrant trails. Farmers established the route migrating west to Oregon. The other well known is the California Trail. A few settlers diverged from the Oregon Trail and headed south to California, establishing a southerly track.

In July 1846, Jacob Donner made a fateful decision. He led the Donner Party on a shorter, less traveled version of the California Trail. The legendary, disastrous expedition trekked through Utah’s Great Salt Desert. Amazingly, the group followed advice from a trail guide who had never attempted the route.

Unlucky and unwise, the group faced hardships day after day. They didn’t reach the towering Sierra Nevada Mountains until late October. They attempted crossing the range anyway. Early winter snows trapped the group in the mountains for the winter. Rescuers reached the debilitated party in March. Half of the original 87 had perished. Infamously, emigrants found alive committed cannibalism in order to survive.

As a result of such hazards, the California Trail was little used. In the mid-1840s, few migrants had settled in the Sacramento Valley. During the gold rush, traffic along the California Trail increased 50-fold. An estimated 30,000 to 45,000 emigrants traversed the trail that year.

You can experience sections of terrain crossed by the Donner-Reed Expedition today. Silver Island Mountains Loop Trail near Wendover, Utah crosses Donner-Reed Pass at its north end. This is an easy but remote track that illustrates the hardships the Donner Party would have faced. The beautiful and unusual scenery must have seemed hellacious to the party, struggling through the soft, muddy sand flats. Dozens of side tracks off the loop are interesting to explore.

An offshoot of the Oregon and California Trails was called the Applegate Trail. The Applegate family blazed this arduous trail after two family members drowned crossing the Columbia River. They swore they would find a faster and safer route into Oregon. The first emigrant party to use the track proved theirs was neither.

After the disastrous journey, Oregon settlers condemned the route. It was longer than the original and crossed treacherous Indian Territory over rugged and barren terrain. Emigrants abandoned the route. The only subsequent traffic was Oregon prospectors rushing south to the California goldfields.

Portions of the historic Applegate Trail can be driven today. One part of original trail is on the Surprise Valley Trail, in the extreme northeastern corner of California. This tricky piece of road climbs up and over a rocky ridge embedded with large boulders. Keep an eye out for wild mustangs that roam the area today.

The nearby Fandango Pass 4WD Trail also crosses the original Applegate Trail. Many settlers and miners lost their lives here, attempting to cross the Warner Mountains. Historical markers indicate these stretches of historic trail.

Henness Pass Road presented migrants with a better way to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This new pass crossed into California further north than Donner Pass, avoiding harsh terrain around Truckee Lake. Henness Pass was such a good alternative that it was later improved into a wagon road.

Most of the original route of Henness Pass Road can be driven today. For high clearance 4wd vehicles, Henness Pass Road is a long, easy, and scenic drive. Along the trail are many historic emigrant campsites and stage stop sites. Although most are little more that sites, the large number of them reveals how busy the road must have been.

Lesser known, is the Mormon migration. The religious group pressed west searching for a home free of religious persecution. Salt Lake Valley was the perfect place. Soon overpopulation forced settlement expansion. Blazing a route across south Utah, they encountered Hole-in-the-Rock Pass: a 1,200-foot gorge to the Colorado River.

With no feasible way around it, they had to pass through it. They blasted boulders, widened the crevice walls, and graded a path, creating a series of roads along the cliff edges. An amazing feat of engineering, they tacked a road onto the sheer face of the gorge by chiseling holes into the rock and inserting log supports. The result was a 50-foot wooden road. They planned 6 weeks for the expedition. It took them more than 6 months.

A long, interesting 4-wheel drive trail in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument travels sections of the historic Mormon Pioneer Trail. Slickrock sections in the trail’s last 5 miles require short, steep climbs and careful wheel placements. It’s only a short scramble at the end of the trail to the Hole-in-the-Rock site. The enormity of the work of the early pioneers is still obvious. You can still see scrapes from the wagons that descended through the Hole-in-the-Rock on the sides of the passage.



Content for WordPress