Getting away from the Iron Man...to Gandy and the Crystal Ball Cave, etc.

 We had such a fun little trip!  It was a long drive, but we saw some really cool, out of the way stuff in the middle of nowhere at/around Gandy, Utah (population 12) over by the NV/UT border near Great Basin National Park.  I had heard about the Crystal Ball Cave a little while ago and have wanted to go and see it ever since.  A family discovered this cave years ago and took care of it let people come to see it.  They had a mining claim on the property it was on and one year they were late renewing it, so the BLM took it over, but eventually allowed them to become Stewards of the cave.  They continue to show it/take care of it and take donations for their time off from their cattle ranching operation to do it.  They also have a little campground for tents, RVs or you can stay in little mini cabins.  That's what we did.  They have a bathroom/shower place you can also use.  It was all very nice and we loved our time there.  The place is also covered with old farm equipment that is very interesting.  Nearby is Gandy Warm Springs which makes the place an oasis in the middle of the Great Basin area.  It runs all the time never differing in flow even if it's a dry year.  And also nearby is the Devil's Gate slot canyon.  We went to both of these places as well.  It was not warm there.  (We tried to go to Lexington Arch on the way, but got snowed out and the stream crossing the road didn't look like we'd make it there either.  We had rain, sleet, snow and sun weather on the trip, but luckily the day we saw the cave and the evening before when we went to the slot canyon and the springs it was cool, but good weather.)  We got in the springs, and because it was 81 degrees, you could be in it, but the limestone rocks on the bottom really hurt your feet too much to stay in long.  Wish I'd brought my old tennis shoes to wear in it.  Our cabin was cute and clean.  Bean slept in the loft.  It was too cold to eat outside for dinner/breakfast, so we did our cooking on the tailgate of the truck and then spread the tablecloth across our bed and ate inside.  It worked out very well!  The cabin had a little heater, so we were warm in the night.  The cave tour was fantastic.  I've never been in anything but paved trail caves before.  This one was natural, without lights.  You had to bring you headlamp/flashlight.  The guide was a niece of the family that found the cave and she gave a great talk along the way with lots of geological info and stories of the family's discovery and exploration of the cave.  It was fabulous actually!  Very casual and easy going compared to other tours we've been on.  They take good care of the cave, but make you feel very at home there.  On the way there we also stopped at Parowan Gap petroglyphs which are also very cool!  The 150 year old apples trees at the campground were all blooming while we were there!  It was so beautiful! Oh, they had a camp dog that was the cutest ever.  It would come and walk with you and "talk" to you when it wanted to be petted or for you to follow it.  They had peacocks!  The males were gorgeous, but so loud!!!  They got in the trees in the evening and made tons of noise!  The place was full of amazing birds since there were lots of trees in the middle of a treeless basin here in this oasis area.