This morning we woke up to our first view from our lakeside campsite at Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge:
It’s pretty hot here, so we’re moving on this morning, but first we went for a short hike:
Continuing North, we arrived at Cathedral Gorge State Park. I first visited this park as a junior high school student while on an OMSI summer trip. I’ve wanted to come back ever since to revisit the amazing slot canyons here:
The formation is eroded volcanic ash. Rains wear down the ash into spires:
In some places, surface water has eroded slot canyons into the formation:
The slot walls are about 50 feet high:
It does get narrow in spots:
Looking up:
The slot canyon walls have a variety of textures, depending on how much water flows over them during rain storms:
M found a tunnel:
I crawled through first:
The tunnel opened up into another slot canyon:
There was a rope that could be used to climb up to a hanging cave above:
Working my way back out of the tunnel. It was a tight fit!
We managed to get on top of the formation, but we had to be careful to avoid falling into slot canyons below:
We found more canyons:
Walking around outside:
CCC water tower:
We all really enjoyed exploring the slot canyons here!
Continuing North, we arrived after dark at Great Basin National Park and overnighted on adjacent BLM land. We had trouble finding a spot in the dark that would work, but it should do for just one night.
See the trip map for driving details.
What a neat place and right here in Nevada! Who knew?
It was nice to see it again after all these years.