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.

Sorry, a little web humor there for you.

Today we said goodbye to my parents and drove North out of Las Vegas.  Here we are at sunset along the road:

We are overnighting in Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge.  There are dispersed campsites along the shore of one of the lakes in the refuge.  We arrived after dark, so I can’t say it’s pretty here, but I have my suspicions…

See the trip map for today’s drive.