Great Basin National Park, NV

This park protects a small mountain range located in the middle of a sea of sagebrush. These mountains contain caves, alpine lakes and the oldest living organisms in the world, the Bristolcone Pine. It is a bit off the beaten path but worth a weekend visit if you are in the area.

Lehman Caves

Our first day we were lucky enough to reserve the 90 minute Lehman Caves Grand Palace tour. The tour was almost a mile long and had several rooms. Our guide explained how this cave has native cultural significance but since the late 1800s it was used for tourism and was handed down twice before being sold to the NPS.

The tourists were encouraged to inscribe their name in the ceiling as proof of accomplishment for crawling through the mud. We saw dates from the late 1800s to the 1930s.

The Great Basin Bristolcone Pine

Bristolcone Pines grow very slowly and are very resin rich. This makes them resistant to rot and insect infections. Even when they die it takes 1000s of years for them to decay. They only live where other trees can’t – dry, low nutrient alpine environments. The oldest recorded tree was estimated to live almost 5,000 years.

Wheeler Peak

Molly and I summited Wheeler Peak, the tallest peak in Great Basin at 13,063′. It’s not the highest peak we have summited but it might be the highest elevation we will see on our trip. This summit was like others we have done, snow, lots of wind and rock scrambling at the top.

About 150′ from the summit we faced a melting snow field with a shear cliff underneath it. We decided this peak wasn’t worth the risk and almost turned back. We then decided to just scramble up rock fields and eventually found the the top. In one of the wind breaks at the top we found a mail box with a log book. We saw that another person from Milwaukee summited the day before us

Back at Camp

On our way out of the park we stopped at an archeology site with a self guided tour. Next stop Mammoth Lakes California.