On July 11th we arrived at the Whispering Elms RV Park in Baker Nevada; eight miles from Utah and a different time zone. Baker is a very small town, but has three restaurants. Two, sit next to one and other, and the third is directly across the street ! There is a VERY small Grocery store attached to one of the restaurants. We were running low on supplies and spent a lot of money for just a few items. I’m thinking it is probably cheaper for people to eat out than to prepare their own meals in Baker.
The RV park is not only for RV’s and tenting, but there is also a motel on the property. However, my favorite part was when I went to register and pay for the site, the office was a bar! A full bar and it only opened 4 pm- 8 pm. There were two customers in the bar. Not that I frequent bars, it was just something totally unexpected at an RV Park. So I called Terri and told her to get up here. She was tired from the drive and told me take my time and have fun. So I did. I had 2 beers, and sat and talked to an older couple who have been to many National Parks. The gentleman was a Veteran and he and his wife have a love of nature. they had some interesting stories and advise for our Journey. I love meeting people.
Our site was next to a nice couple- George and Anne. They also do a lot of traveling to National Parks. They said they “like to spend their kid’s inheritance and have no problem doing it! ” George is a mountain climber and avid hiker.
We rested up the evening of the 11th in anticipation of spending a full day at the park the following day.
Initially I thought, ” Another cave, can’t beat Carlsbad and looks like there is some hiking.” It wasn’t the type of park that would stun you with it’s beauty immediately, like Bryce or Arches. It’s beauty was much more subtle and for me, it ended up being my favorite cave tour and favorite hike so far.
We started the day at Lehman Caves. The name is plural, but there is only one cave. We had a young female Ranger who had only been at Lehman for two and a half months. She was very informative, but really needed to give up the caffeine. She appeared nervous, and couldn’t stop fidgeting. Nonetheless, she was extremely intelligent and a wealth of information. She appointed Terri to be the caboose of the tour which meant Terri would carry a flashlight and when the guide saw the light at the end, she knew everyone was accounted for.
Terri took her role seriously and was hilarious at the same time, especially when we reached narrowing passages. In this cave tour, there was a lot more stooping and squeezing through tight spots. Terri kept yelling at me for stopping to take photos.
Lehman Cave is unique because of it’s Shield formations. Lehman Cave has the highest concentration of these formations, over 300.
Shields consist of 2 oval or round parallel plates with a in crack between them. When the bottom plate gets too heavy with decorations, like draperies or stalactites the plates separate like an Oreo cookie.
I did not take a lot of photos, namely because Terri was yelling at me, and because we were in a lot of small spaces, the flash could be bothersome to other people on the tour.
This is a great link to explain cave formations :
https://www.nps.gov/grba/learn/nature/cave-geology-in-depth.htm
I took these photos at Lehman Caves-
Here are photos of cave popcorn :
Here is Flow-stone:
Soda straws, which eventually thicken and become stalactites or stalagmites:
I did not get photos of Draperies or Cave Bacon at Lehman but here are some examples I shot at Carlsbad:
The Bacon is the wavy illuminated decoration:
Column:
Here is an active stalactite: 
The water contains calcite which will deposit onto the stalactite. This stalactite will take 100 years to grow an inch.
From the discovery of Lehman caves in 1885 up until 1922 when it was designated a National Monument, the cave was used for entertainment purposes. Couples were wed in the cave. Dinners were held inside. People could pay to spend the night. The interior of the cave suffered a lot of damage as people would break off pieces of soda straws for souvenirs.
All three caves Terri and I have toured are Limestone caves. The caves are at a constant temperature, with no exposure to the elements, therefore anything inside is well preserved. In one of the rooms with a much lower ceiling, people would write their names or other graffiti with the flame of a candle. Here is an example from the late 1800’s that appears to have been written recently:
The Ranger pointed out, this area must have been slippery as the person wrote Skate Rink. The tour was 90 minutes and it went by very quickly. Terri reluctantly relinquished her duties as Caboose…