Middle of Nowhere, Nevada

Last weekend Jo and I ventured 5 hours Northeast of Vegas to Great Basin National Park. This was the last of our summer trips and we were excited to explore this under visited gem of the National Parks System. The drive was boring and long (think Pullman to Ellensburg for you Washingtonians), but we did listen to some good music and chatted about this and that on the drive.

When we arrived in Baker, NV (the gateway town to the park) we stopped off at the park's visitors' center and found out that there were very few camping spots left at the Wheeler Peak campground and that we needed to hurry up there to claim our spot (all sites are first come, first serve), but we also needed gas. Getting gas required an 8 mile trip out of town. Baker and Great Basin truly are on the edge of nowhere, Nevada.

We managed to get gas and secure our camping spot. The entire campground was gorgeous and there were very few spots that were not surrounded by beautiful pine trees. Wheeler Peak campground sits at the base of Wheeler Peak and is at a 10,000 ft. elevation. The 12 mile drive from the Lehman Visitors' Center (the one in the park) is straight up hill. After setting up camp we toodled on down to the Lehman Visitors' Center and scheduled our Lehman Cave Tour for Sunday morning. We also took our first hike along an interpretive trial just behind the center.

The little hike was nice and we learned a lot about the flora of the park and a bit about its history. Afterwards we decided to head back up to the hill and do the "Lakes Hike" that had a trailhead by the campground. The lakes were gorgeous and it was a beautiful afternoon. While hiking the lakes we decided that the next day (Saturday) would be best spent going up Wheeler Peak.

Now, Wheeler Peak is not just a little day hike. Scroll back up and look at the elevation for the campground ( go ahead)....

We started the hike at 10,000 feet. We ended at 13, 069 feet. The peak is the 2nd highest point in Nevada (the highest being 13, 149 ft.). From the trail head it is 4.1 miles to the top of Wheeler Peak.

The first mile and a half or so was a beautiful winding path with a very slight incline that went in and out of an aspen forest. However, once we stepped out of the tree line we had 2 miles of switchbacks and steep inclines all hiking on this:Talus (loose rock at the base of a cliff) is much like sand in that it is a 2 steps forward, one step back type of material. Not only was the terrain difficult, but there were parts of the hike that were buffeted by heavy, cold winds without any barrier to protect us. When we did make it to the top, there was a definite feeling of accomplishmentThe hike down was easily more treacherous than the hike up. We both spent time slipping and sliding down the hill until we hit the tree line. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and warming up. Little did we know that it was going to hover around freezing that evening at our campground.

On Sunday we broke camp and headed to Lehman Cave. The cave tour was about 90 minutes and was very interesting. Lehman Cave is a limestone cave, which tend to have some pretty spectacular cave formations. Lehman is rare in that it is one of the few caves known to have a formation known as shields. Shields occur when two formations grow together to make a circular protrusion

The tour was a nice way to end our trip to the park. We stopped and had coffee in the gift shop after the tour and then hopped in the car and headed home.

As an aside, how many of you read these? Could you let us know in the comment section of this entry? Thanks!

-Cory