Jan 19 | Hilaree O'Neill :: Road Tripping Installation #11

By Athlete Parents

We drove the 400 mile stretch of Highway 50, also known as the Loneliest Highway, in one day. 

http://ponyexpressnevada.com/pony-express-loneliest-road.html

It was tough to do not so much because of the distance, but because of all the amazing things we saw and all the potentially cool places to stop. The amazing thing about this road trip is that it’s brought me to some really cool parts of the country. Even though I haven’t exactly had a lot of extra time to really explore the places I’m passing through, I know I want to come back. As a skier, it would be an amazing trip to come back to some of the mountain passes along Highway 50 and try for some winter ski traverses.  It looked like there would be some good adventurous rock climbing in the spring or fall and also just remote places to camp and explore and let the kids run wild.

Not only was the drive well beyond my expectations, pulling into the Great Basin National Park ended up being one of my favorite stops on this 4500 mile road trip. 

http://www.nps.gov/grba/index.htm 

Partly because there were no crowds and the camping was incredibly relaxed, partly because it was such an unexpected surprise but mostly because of the cave tours and how excited Quinn was about spending an hour climbing through massive cavern after massive cavern in the Lehman Caves.

"The finest workers in stone are not copper or steel tools, but the gentle touches of air and water working at their leisure with a liberal allowance of time."

-Henry David Thoreau

We spent two nights in the park and most of that time was at the main center where the Ranger station, restaurant and Lehman Caves are located. The kids obviously loved the caves, even though I was really nervous to take them on a guided, structured tour. Quinn only strayed from the group a few times and neither of them tore down any stalagmites or anything so, all in all, it went pretty well.

When I make a trip back to this area, I would really like to climb 13,065 ft Wheeler Peak and explore the limestone arches and cliffs that lie within the park. Truly, though, this was one of the best surprises of the trip and an amazing National Park.

Packing up the camper and the kids this time, I realized we only had one more stop before heading home. From the Great basin we were driving due east across southern Utah to a friend’s place in Boulder, Utah. Again, this was a slice of the country I had never seen before but had heard lots about. There is a high concentration of National Parks in this part of the country- Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Zion. I was excited about the drive though this wild and scenic area. Also, my very good friend, Kasha Rigby, was at the end of the drive and I always love any chance I get to see her.

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