Images of Great Basin National Park – Eastern Nevada, taken in June 2018.

The Great Basin includes almost all of Nevada and portions of the surrounding states and is known for the fact that its streams and rivers mostly find no access to the sea. Great Basin National Park encompasses the remote Snake Mountain Range which boasts 13 peaks over 11,000 feet tall. The park, surrounded by vast sagebrush valleys, is so remote that the closest city is Ely about 60 miles away along Highway 50, affectionately known as “America’s Loneliest Road”. The advantage that remoteness holds is that there is very little stray light at night and thus the park has been designated as an International Dark Sky Park. In fact later in the week I would attend the park’s Astronomy Program, a presentation followed by viewing Jupiter, Saturn and several galaxies and nebulas through telescopes set up at the visitor center. Having lived in Tucson, dark skies are not new to me but it was fun watching people from metropolitan areas see the arm of the Milky Way or a satellite streak across the night sky for the first time.

This is my second visit to the park; I was here in late April of 2016 but because of snow I was unable to get to the summit or to hike the trails I wanted to hike, most notably the trail to the Bristlecone Pines. Short of all that the situation did afforded me the time to explore the lower lying areas of the park to include Lehman Caves. This trip I made it a point to arrive in June and was rewarded with warm weather and snowless mountain roads. Excited about my prospects I set up my RV and headed directly into the park and to the summit. This was supposed to be an information gathering trip only but once on top of the mountain I talked myself into heading up the Bristlecone Trail and even further to get a glimpse of the only glacier in Nevada, Rock Glacier. In particular the Bristlecone Pine Grove was an extraordinary thrill as I was walking among trees up to 5000 years old!

A day later I found myself back at the summit to hike the Alpine Lakes Loop trail. This was a much easier trail than I had hiked earlier but no less scenic and I took my time and made this one of the few relaxing hikes that I have ever taken. I admit that most of my hikes are like forced marches; I have a goal and I want to get to it as soon as possible so that I don’t miss anything. I don’t know where the 5000 year old Bristlecone Pines might be going all of a sudden but I wanted to get there before they were gone! So I strolled this trail past beautiful Teresa Lake and then on to peaceful Stella Lake where I decided to stop for lunch. Nothing fancy today, just a peanut butter and apricot jelly sandwich and a protein bar, however, the location was spectacular! Birds and the wind blowing through the trees were the only sounds I heard as I sat on my rock perch. If you’ve never had lunch on the bank of a peaceful 10,000 foot alpine lake where you were able to look upon the water at the reflection of the mountain peaks that tower more than 2000 feet above you, I highly recommend it!