September 22, 2020
A little town called Delta in the central western part of Utah was a nice little town where we stayed for a week. It was the closest we were going to get to Great Basin National Park on our 2020 journey, so we decided to take a day trip to add another National Park to our accomplishments. Even so, it was more than 100 miles to the park which is actually in Nevada. We packed a lunch and headed out in the morning. It was a pretty barren landscape until we got within 30 miles or so of the park. There’s a huge dry lake, Sevier Lake, that offers some views from the highway. It is an endorheic lake (a drainage lake with no out-flowing streams to other bodies of water).
Before we drove far inside the park, we stopped at an outdoor exhibit. In the field beyond was an old car. It you look beyond it, you can see part of the Great Basin that the park is named after. According to Wikipedia, “the Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Oregon and Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Wyoming and Baja California in Mexico.” It is a vast area. What is surprising is that the Great Basin National Park itself is mostly a road up a 13,000 foot mountain called Wheeler Peak, and the surrounding foothill areas. The park derives its name from the surrounding basin area.
View of Wheeler Peak
The drive up to Wheeler Peak was breath-taking. Right away you could look over the vast distances of the Great Basin below. The smoke from the summer wildfires in the west obscured our view somewhat.
As we traveled further up the mountain, the aspen trees began to show their fall colors.
The road took us over 10,000 feet in elevation. At the top are the bristlecone pines, some of which are hundreds of years old. Looking up close at the pine cones, I realized why they are called “bristlecone” pines.
Here’s a closer view of Wheeler Peak. At the end of the road is a parking lot where there are trailheads for hiking trails to see ancient bristlecone pines and even one trail to the top of Wheeler Peak. The high elevation and thin air would deter me from such an adventure. On the day we went the parking lot was full, so we turned around and headed back.
Other items of interest to explore would be the alpine glaciers, Lexington Arch–a natural arch, Lehman caves, and the many trails around the park. This park is a hidden gem that I recommend exploring if you ever get the chance.
Categories: Airstream Travel, Utah Travel Tags: Bristlecone Pines, Fall colors, Fall colors in Utah, Fragrance, Full Time RVing, Great Basin National Park, Nevada travels, RVing, Utah travels