Lehman Cave in Great Basin National Park, Nevada

During the 2017 Spring Break, we went to visit the Great Basin National Park in Nevada. It's not nearly as well known as many other parks, but it's the biggest National Park unit in Nevada. It used to be called Lehman Cave National Monument, but it was enlarged and made a National Park in 1986.

The Park Service offers cave tours to help show the features of the cave while also protecting them. The natural entrance is no longer used for entering and exiting the cave, instead, you enter and exit through separate tunnels that are sealed with doors at both ends. We tended to be the last ones to move along the tour since we took lots of photos.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Lexington Arch in the south end of Great Basin National Park in Nevada

Lexington Arch is a limestone arch in the southern part of Great Basin National Park in Nevada.  To get here you have to drive on dirt roads and then hike about a mile and a half on a rugged trail.  The fact that this arch is composed of limestone is very noteworthy, since most of the arches in the West occur in sandstone.  The fact that this rock span occurs in limestone may mean that it was once part of a cave that has eroded away.  Or it may be that the stream that carved Lexington Canyon carved this span when the canyon was much shallower, in which case this arch would actually be a natural bridge.

Remember it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Hinkey Summit Arch, Humboldt/Toiyabe National Forest, north of Winnemucca, Nevada

 This is a natural arch formed in granite.  It is located in the Santa Rose Range of the Humboldt/Toiyabe National Forest north of Winnemucca, Nevada.  According to the late Robert Vreeland, a geologist who cataloged many of the natural rock spans of the United States, this is a young, cave-type arch.  It has a span of 20 feet, a height of 15 feet, a thickness of 40 feet, and a width of 15 feet.  The top of the arch is over 8000 feet in elevation.

Natural rock spans are a particular interest of ours and we have traveled to many parks and wildlands looking for them.  Although this arch doesn't have an official name, we would like to call it the Hinkey Summit Arch, after the nearest named feature.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.