GREAT BASIN N. P.

GREAT BASIN N. P. (May 26 to May 29)

We were off early on Monday, the 26th, from Big Pine to Great Basin National Park which is located in the Northeast part of Nevada. It was a long drive on U.S, 6 with very little traffic, and lots of straight stretches. There were a number of mountain ranges to go over but nothing over 10,000 feet.

Along U.S. 6

Roadside Geology

We refueled in Ely, NV and then headed South about 60 miles to the Park. We camped in Upper Lehman Creek Campground at an elevation of about 7700 feet. The creek ran through the campground which made it very pleasant. However there was no drinking water in the campground. We had to procure water at the Visitor Center. We carry a 5 gallon jug for this purpose as well as two 2.5 gallon water bags.While here we explored Lehman Caves which was quite a nice experience. The Caves were discovered by Ab Lehman in the late 1800’s.

Old Fashion Grafitti

We had a lovely 4+ mile hike up stream of the Creek where we stopped at a small meadow before retracing our steps. Along the way we stopped often to photograph a number of wildflowers (I have ID’d 18 species while at the Park). We did feel the altitude on this our first real hike since leaving San Diego.

Stickseed

?? Help appreciated

Tall Mountain Bluebell

Narrowleaf Paintbrush

Chokecherry

Our last day in the Park we attempted to hike to the Bristlecone Forest Grove which is located at about 11,000 feet. We were stymied by snow on the trail. Winter is still lingering at the higher elevations. We traversed at least a quarter of a mile of snowfield. There was a break, and when we saw that it continued we opted out of the adventure. We were not the only ones to turn back.

An Clearing in the Forest

Flowing Water

Camp Home

Firey Sunset Cloud

Sunset Cloud

 — We will have to return to this Park a little later in the year. In the afternoon we went into Baker, NV for a couple of items. This was one of several roadside pieces of art along the road to Baker. There is an annual contest for this.

Too Tall Tony

Baker consists of two very small grocery stores, two small motels, and a restaurant. To get any real groceries or other items one needs to go to Ely, NV, a distance of 68 miles from the Park.


We treated ourselves to an ice cream at the V.C. Gift Shop and Cafe.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here and plan to return in the future. The bristlecone trees alone would be worth the trip. There is more to explore here and the hiking would be enjoyable at this elevation of about 9.000 feet.