Great Basin NP and the Sand Pit

May 14-17
Great Basin NP, NV and Sand Mountain Rec Area BLM, NV


On our way out of Spanish Fork we stopped at Costco for gas.  We do this often as Costco usually has the best gas prices in any given area.  What made this special was we were all alone doing it.  Not a car in sight.  But it was Sunday morning in Utah near Salt Lake City.

Quiet Sunday morning at Costco gas. Utah

With our Gas, Propane, and water tank full and our gray and black tanks empty we headed for the "Loneliest Road in America" and Great Basin National Park.  Ellen had found a free boondocking spot near there called Sacramento Pass BLM Campground.  The UC Public CG app is your friend.  It was an actual campground with level (relatively) pads, covered picnic tables, and fire rings.  We looked at the main area and saw some OK spots, but the hidden gems were up the hill off a rutted dirt road.  Three back in sites with beautiful views.  Two were occupied but the one on the end was open and just long enough for our 31' motorhome.  The trees were a little close for our slides, but after some maneuvering we fit in nicely.  There were even rail fences around the sites.  Hiking trails were close at hand.  The only drawback was the Verizon signal was sad.  I had 1X on my phone and Ellen had nothing.  This makes planning your stay and next leg impossible.

Nice site.  The guardsnake lived on the other side of the car.

One of our neighbors came by to tell us to be wary of the large rock at the end of our driveway.  A rattlesnake had taken up residence under it and came out to sun itself regularly.  They had photos and video of the snake but we never actually saw it.  But we took the warning seriously.  That evening we took a hike from our campsite into the countryside.  The trail was not clearly marked, so it was more of a wander than a hike.  Knowing our guardsnake was back at the motorhome made us extra vigilant for his possible relatives in the area.  None were sighted, but we did wander a bit to find our way home.

Trails from our campsite.
The sign was better than the trail.

This was a trail...
or was it?

The next day we drove up to the Visitors Center for the park and picked up the requisite maps to see what was available at this park.  Ellen had previously told me of the Lehman Caves here that sounded intriguing.   You had to go to a different Visitors Center to book your tour so we started there.  When we arrived there were two rangers to talk to.  One was a new hire who knew only enough to point to the other who was very busy so we got in line to speak to him.  All tours for the day were booked except the three o'clock and they could only sell same day tickets.  He gave me a card for Recreation.gov with a phone number.  I called and after waiting on hold for approximately fifteen minutes I found they didn't know the Lehman caves existed and couldn't help me.  So we went back in and bought tickets for the three o'clock tour.  Meanwhile the older ranger had let some late arrivals go on the eleven o'clock tour because of no shows.  We could have gone if I hadn't been on the phone.

Nice valley view.  I think it would have been spectacular
without the cloud cover. But then there would have been no snow.

We drove up to see their full campgrounds and the last lookout point before the road was closed repair after a hard winter and spring flooding.  The Visitor Center was at about 6500' and the lookout was at 9000'.  So climbing we went.  The campground on the way was nice and even had a few spots we might have fit in but you could tell it was made for tent campers.  The sites were not even close to level and had great tent spots behind a short parking spots.   But beautiful with tall trees and a stream nearby.


The viewpoint was OK.  It had views of a valley and a plaque for one of the influential nation park founders.  We had a nice in car lunch and it started to snow.  Ellen's eyes lit up and she got out to enjoy the experience.  OK, saying it snowed may give the wrong impression.  There were actual flakes, but not all that many, and for only about ten minutes.  But we hadn't seen snow falling this year and it was fun.

Snow??

The tour through the caves was fantastic.  The ranger told stories of the caves, described the features, turned off the lights (yes, it was lit the entire way) and told us not to touch anything.  But if we bumped into the walls or ceiling less than five times we were doing alright.  I had three such experiences.  One of which gave me a nice scrape on my head.  That lack of hair thing coming to bite me again.  The tour was about ninety minutes (the caves are extensive) and was well worth the time and cost (about $7 each).  I would strongly suggest this tour.  And get the same guide we did. I can't remember his name, but get him anyway.

Tunnel leading to Lehman Caves.

We got back to camp and ran into our neighbors out walking their dogs.  These were not the ones who warned us of our snake neighbor.  It turned out we had met earlier in our travels.  They were the folks from Navajo Bridge who had discovered the Condor nest.  They had camped about three sites up the hill from us at Lees Ferry and the other neighbors here had camped two site down the hill from us.  Great folks.  I hope we run into them again down the road. They were leaving that day to go back to see the Condor egg hatch.  Small Rving world.

The weather reports (the ones we could get with the distinct lack of cell coverage) told us to expect rain or snow at our campground within the next day or two.  After our muddy road experience at Koosharem Reservoir we decided to leave early.  The idea of going down that rutted dirt road from our site in slippery mud might have been too exciting for us.  And we also seen all that the area had to offer.

Loneliest Road in America.
Look it up, it's a thing...

From here we continued on the Loneliest Road.  We had several possible destinations, but could do no research because of the wonderful cell coverage in the area.  So we open our off line apps and drove…   Two hours later our first possibility…  no coverage…  half hour later…  no coverage…   next possibility, no real spot to camp. OK, there was a winter road gravel staging area with two fifth wheels parked there, but it didn't feel comfortable.  Looking way ahead (about two more hours) there was a place called Sand Mountain Recreation Area BLM.  Dispersed camping.  $40 a week but free on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We were tired and it sounded OK.

We arrived and it was exactly as named.  A sand area with RVs camping on it.  Most had sand buggies to run around in, but it looked OK.  I drove off the road and for the first time I felt the 22,000 lb motorhome spinning it's dual back tires in the deep sand trying to push me along.  WOW.  A little panic set in.  I could get stuck in here.  And it was windy.  Sand blowing everywhere.   We moved closer to the entrance and found the sand less deep.  We were tired and could spend the night here.  No slides as we didn't want to get blowing sand in the slide mechanisms.  Just settle in for the evening, make some dinner and figure out where we were going in the morning.  Verizon coverage back with us.

Google photo.  We didn't take any photos.
It was not our happy place