Great Basin National Park, Nevada

As I write I am sitting by a rushing creek, surrounded by invisible songbirds, rustling cottonwood trees, and snowcapped mountains. Yes, this is Nevada. Even though the state flower is sagebrush, there’s much more here to explore than most people expect.

We are staying in Lower Lehman Creek Campground, Great Basin National Park. The “Great Basin” is a geologically defined area that actually takes up most of Nevada, and some of the adjoining lands of Utah, California, Oregon and Idaho, but the park is only a small area in eastern Nevada, very near the border with Utah. What a strange and fascinating range of plant and animal life this park offers, in addition to interesting geology and beautiful scenery. With elevations ranging from about 7,000 to 10,000, harsh winters and hot summers, there are several microclimates.

This morning we toured Leahman Cave, one of about 40 caves in the park and the only one open for tours. The cave is amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed the tour as our guide Alex, a biology major from Arizona State, explained all the strange formations and the challenges the park service has in maintaining the integrity of the cave with so much human traffic. Tours fill up fast, so there are a lot of feet traversing the fragile environment.

In the afternoon we took a drive up to Wheeler Peak, passing the 10,000 elevation mark as we did so. At such an extreme elevation spring is only now arriving and trees are just beginning to leaf out. Tortured tree trunks are testament to the harsh winter and dry summers, but wildflowers still manage to survive. The view is amazing, but not something that can be captured by the camera. It’s too big, too wide, too distant. We break camp tomorrow for new adventures!