Rambling RV Rat: Visiting Great Basin National Park

It was time to leave our little-slice-of-heaven boondocking spot on SR-722 in East Gate, Nevada. We hopped back on US-50 heading East, once again following some of the Pony Express Route.

We passed through Austin, Nevada, a small community consisting mostly of churches and saloons competing for souls. We arrived at Austin Mountain Pass, where we kept climbing and climbing. Then we descended slowly—good thing because we almost ran over a coyote! The silly youngster did not look both ways before crossing the highway!

By what I have witnessed thus far in Nevada, it is easy to believe that 75% of the State’s population reside in Clark County (Las Vegas). There are miles and miles of nothingness in this Eastern part of the State, and I just LOVE the remoteness!

Eureka, we found civilization! Once a prominent mining district, Eureka is now a mixed bag of contemporary structures and historical buildings.

Like many old company-owned mining towns, Eureka had an opera house for entertainment.

Mural of a Basque sheep herder. The Basque people immigrated to this Nevada area in the mid 1800s.

Ruby Hill Mine in Eureka is still active. The checkerboard look is created by oxidation of the several different minerals and rocks being mined.

Eureka, known as the Friendliest Town on the Loneliest Road in America, is home to our evening’s Harvest Hosts location, Miller Bison and Hay Farm. There is plenty of room to maneuver and park in their huge, level, gravel lot with spectacular views of fertile fields that are hard to believe exist in arid Nevada. The grounds have many walking paths, making it easy for Mom to get some mileage after a day of driving. We made $72 worth of bison purchases: two 1/2-pound NY Strip steaks and one pound of ground Bison. (Back in the day, we always said Walmart was our most expensive overnight “campsite” because we would always go in and spend at least $100. Harvest Hosts locations are running a close second.)

The bison at the Miller Farm were elusive and grazed in a very distant field. But these other furry farm friends...

...were very receptive to posing for a photo.

The next day we continued traveling along US-50 through Ely, a once-upon-a-time stagecoach and Pony Express stop. We couldn’t pull over to do any touring because all the shoulders along US-50/Main Street were dug up. So, we continued along US-50 reaching our destination, The Border Inn in Baker, Nevada, named appropriately since it is a spit from the border of Utah. Like Middlegate in my last blog, The Border Inn meets your every need in one location: motel, RV Park, restaurant, fuel station, convenience store, and casino. Heck, it even has EV charging stations! It is an older, no-frills campground, whose laundry facility leaves much to be desired. But it has full hook ups, Wi-Fi, and picnic table for $44.82/night. Its staff is pleasant and helpful. Most importantly, it is within 10 miles of Great Basin National Park.

This place figured out a way to reuse/repurpose/recycle the bones of butchered animals.

A view of Wheeler Peak from US-50. At 13,065 feet above sea level, Wheeler Peak is the second tallest peak in Nevada.

Like my Aunt Laurie, I have an affinity for playing the slots. Lucky 7s!

After setting up and indulging in an early dinner (Mom always prepares a meal ahead of time for travel days so we can just heat and eat), we ventured out to the Baker Archeological Site. This picnic day-use area operated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) contains what was a village of the Freemont Indians some 700+ years ago. Excavated in the early 1990s by Archeologists from Brigham Young University, the community contained a main big house surrounded by small pit houses and granaries. I had to use my imagination to envision what this looked like--the entire village was back-filled for preservation in 2002.

Behind the back-filled Freemont village are the Snake Mountains, where gold and silver were discovered in 1877.

Having been on my travel “wish list” for quite some time, I was eager to start touring Great Basin National Park. Our first order of business was at the Lehman Cave Visitor Center. We arrived super early the next morning, and we were successful in scoring “day-of” cave tour tickets since advanced on-line tickets were sold out more than a month ago.

We opted for the 1-hour tour offered this time of year ($12/adult) rather than the 30-minute tour ($8/adult). If you have the America the Beautiful Pass like we do, you get a ticket at half-price.

The first thing that all guests must do before entering the cave is leave behind any item that has been exposed to another cave environment. Then you must dip your footwear into a hydrogen peroxide solution (except for this stuffed rat—I don’t wear shoes!). This is to ensure that humans don’t bring white-nose syndrome to the approximately 80 brown bats and western pipistrelle who call this cave home. I found this rather ridiculous. This was not done when we toured Carlsbad Caverns National Park two years ago, and it has a quarter million bats living in its caves. Furthermore, even this cotton-brained stuffed rat knows white-nose syndrome is typically transmitted to bats through contact with other bats. But all the humans, including my parents, complied with this requirement for entry into the cave.

Our Ranger imparted tons of facts, but I’ll just share a few. Named after the gentleman who first discovered the cave in 1883, Lehman Cave is the longest cave system in Nevada. It maintains a year-round temperature of 52F degrees. Formed millions of years ago, the cave is comprised mostly of limestone, and its walls are marble. Interestingly, it served as a Speakeasy during the days of Prohibition. This tour was well worth the time, cost, and loss of my beauty sleep to get in line for tickets.

The restored cabin of the Rhodes family, who once ranched on the property that now contains the Lehman Cave Visitor Center.

View from the trail at the Lehman Cave Visitor Center.

By watching the film at the Lehman Cave Visitor Center, by completing the Junior Ranger program, and by perusing all signs and placards throughout the Park, I learned that the Great Basin encompasses an area much larger than just the Park. It extends from the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California to the Wasatch Range in Utah! Generally, it receives less than 10 inches of precipitation annually. When rain/melting snow occurs, there are no rivers to drain the water to the ocean. Instead, the water evaporates into the air or is captured in the basin, subsequently sinking into the earth, creating mountain arches (through erosion) and sculpting underground caves.

Your truly being sworn in as a Great Basin National Park Junior Ranger.

Over the next several days, we traveled along Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, stopping at each point of interest for photos and hiking. We had to acclimate to the high desert and alpine elevations because some hikes start at 10,000 feet above sea level! Fortunately, we had glorious weather during our 5-day stay. Temps were in the high 80s/low 90s at lower elevations, but at least 15 degrees cooler in higher elevations, where we spent most of our time.

Great Basin National Park receives less than 150,000 visitors annually. So, we drove the roads more leisurely and savored our time on the trails and overlooks, marveling at the magnificent scenery and the wonders of nature provided by our Master Creator.

You never know what you will find in the desert. Here lies "Too Tall Tony."

Overlooking the Basin...

...at sunset.

Snake Valley.

Mather Overlook contains a model of the Great Basin...

...and great views of Wheeler Peak and one of the last of the Great Basin glaciers.

The sun goes down and the wildlife emerge. Lots of jackrabbits like this one reside at Mather Overlook.

We weren't the only ones at Wheeler Peak Overlook...

...this guy was busy doing aerobics!

We particularly enjoyed hiking Bristlecone Loop, a 2.4-mile round-trip trail. The trail leads to a grove of bristlecone pine trees that have lived here for over 5,000 years!

This trail is rated moderate in difficulty. It is very rocky in some areas, and it has a 600-foot elevation gain in just 1.2 miles, with a starting elevation of 10,000 feet.

We were pooped, but glad we got to view some of the oldest trees on earth.

Hiking the Alpine Lakes Trail rewarded us with views of Stella and Teresa, lakes created by glaciers and fed now by seasonal snow melt.

Teresa Lake.

Me enjoying a dip in Teresa Lake.

Stella Lake.

View of a glacier and Wheeler Peak from Stella Lake.

Were these Aspen arborglyphs created by lonely, bored Basque sheep herders from the mid-1800s? Or are they modern graffiti carvings?

I was entertained at Stella Lake by this little critter.

Hiking among the conifers along the first mile of the Osceola Ditch Trail. After gold was discovered in nearby Osceola, the mining company decided to build an 18-mile ditch to divert water from Lehman Creek to the Osceola mining district.

Remnants of the Osceola Ditch. Construction of the ditch was costly ($100K+ by completion in 1890). It did not provide the anticipated return on investment. Hence, the ditch was abandoned in 1902.

One night we attended a wonderful (and FREE) astronomy program offered at the Lehman Cave Visitor Center amphitheater. I learned there are two types of telescopes: refractor (use of lenses) and reflector (use of mirrors). Looking through the Park’s telescopes, I viewed several celestial bodies. And the Park’s skies are so dark, I could see the Milky Way with my naked eye!

The Milky Way!

Wanting to continue their own stargazing after completion of the astronomy program at 10 p.m., my parents decided to head out to Mather Overlook. Me and my gal pal, Mademoiselle Rochelle went along, too, but for a different reason. At a 9,000+ foot elevation and a quarter mile off Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive on which few others were traveling, the Lookout provided perfect conditions for my parents to check out the cosmos--and for me and Rochelle to enjoy some muskrat love. But our romantic evening was cut short when my parents returned early and we all learned that the Jeep would not start back up! Thank goodness, Dad has a jump starter. We made it back to the campground safely, so I said a prayer of thanks. But the Jeep would not restart the next day. So, after another jumpstart, we trekked an hour back to Ely to purchase a new battery at Napa Auto Parts. Inside was like Cabella’s, with the store owner displaying all his trophy animal heads. After Dad installed the new battery, we decided to tour the town, especially since we were unable to do so enroute to Great Basin.