Gateway to Great Basin National Park
Tiny little town at ~5,300′ elevation,
with a population of 41 in 2020.
We camped in one of 5 spots behind
the only gas station in town and
spent our 2 days…
Visiting 1 new National Park Site:
- Great Basin National Park (#373), protects a sample of the incredible diversity of the larger Great Basin region, from the 13,063-foot summit of Wheeler Peak (the tallest independent mountain in Nevada), to the sagebrush-covered foothills, to the subterranean passages of over 40 caves. It’s also home to some of the oldest plants in the world, the ancient bristlecone pines.
Day 1, we visited the main Visitor Center in town, drove partway up Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive to Mather Overlook at about 9,000′ for lunch, before heading back down to visit the Lehman Cave Visitor Center and take the 90-minute Grand Palace Tour of Lehman Cave. Lots of shield formations, something we don’t recall seeing in other caves.
Day 2, we drove the whole 12-mile Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive (end at ~10,000′), stopping to hike ~3 miles on the Osceola Ditch Trail (~8,500′), and at the end hiking ~5 miles (9,950′ to 10,460′) on the Alpine Lakes Loop Trail to the Wheeler Peak Bristlecone Grove and around the Sky Island Forest Trail. Great Day
Great Basin NP-First view of Wheeler Peak, and glacier carved valley, from Mather Overlook 
Great Basin NP-Lehman Cave-Ranger pointing out the late 1800’s entrance into what is now called the Inscription Room…yes, that is a crawl space, which would be navigated with a candle, and people paid $1 for the priviledge, including women in dresses! 
Great Basin NP-Lehman Cave-ceiling of the Inscription Room, where all those people who paid $1 to visit left their mark 
Great Basin NP-Lehman Cave-a few of the Shield Formations 
Great Basin NP-one view from the Osceola Ditch Trail. Most of the trail was in the remains of the ditch built to divert water for the placer gold mining done here 
Great Basin NP-View of Wheeler Peak from Wheeler Peak Overlook, ~10,000′ 
Great Basin NP-on the Alpine Lakes Loop, the Aspen are turning to their autumn foliage 
Great Basin NP-on the Alpine Lakes Loop-Stella Lake 
Great Basin NP-on the Alpine Lakes Loop-Lake Teresa 
Great Basin NP-Gail entering Bristlecone Grove 
Great Basin NP-in Bristlecone Grove, a Bristlecone Pine estimated to be 3,200 to 3,300 years old 
Great Basin NP-View of Wheeler Peak from Bristlecone Grove (the highest elevation we reached)
AND, we learned about the Great Basin Region!
It is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds—meaning water drains internally and never reaches an ocean—in North America.
It covers nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and parts of California, Idaho, Oregon, and Wyoming.
Who knew? Not us.
Now heading Home!
Five days, ~950 miles. We’ll drive 3 days with 2 stops for 2 nights each, in Idaho and Oregon.
0 Comments