After our stop at Gateway Arch, our next park on the docket was Great Basin in Nevada. It very much feels like it's in the middle of nowhere! Basically you are just driving along in the desert and then there's a big chunk of upthrust mountains amidst the sagebrush and scrub oak. Most of the park is in the lowlands, but since it was July we knew we wanted to spend our time up higher where it was cooler. We headed up to Wheeler Peak hoping to snag a FCFS campsite (we had reservations at another one as a backup).
And fortunately we were able to get an incredibly gorgeous campsite. Seriously one of the most beautiful campsites we've stayed at, and I can't imagine how beautiful this is once the aspen turn gold in the fall. It was pretty scary heading up though because the altitude changes are SO abrupt that our car's computer didn't change the fuel mixture quickly enough, and the car totally died at about 9500 feet. Oh my gosh it was so scary! I was driving and suddenly there was just...nothing. It was like a nightmare. Thankfully when we turned the car off and then on again the computer caught up, but man, it seemed like we were going to have a very unpleasant interlude there (no cell service and a crazy insane road literally hugging the edge of a mountain with a sheer drop to the valley, not a place you want a tow truck).
But we got settled and did a lightning fast camp setup and then headed back down the road for our tour at Lehman Caves!
The caves are what first inspired protecting the park itself, and have been hosting tours since 1885. They are well worth a visit! Really gorgeous spectacular marble formations.
And one of the coolest endings to a cave tour that we've done--the ranger slammed the door at the base of the exit tunnel leading out of the cave but while you're still in the tunnel with a closed door between you and the outside, and it basically made an enormous sonic boom so strong that you could feel it reverberating in your bones (we asked him to do it again).
Then back to our campsite, where all of us were very excited to go to bed after a night in the car.
The next morning I think Nathan, Neil, and I all woke up somewhere between 4-5 am so we went for a walk while we waited for everyone else to wake up. So gorgeous! A couple things to note if you plan a trip here: there is no potable water anywhere in the park other than the Lehman Caves visitor center and the Wheeler Peak campground is at 10,000 feet of elevation. And we felt it!
I think I melted a hole in my puffer jacket while this was being taken. Whoops.
Breakfast burritos!
Then we set off on our planned hike for the day--the Bristlecone/Glacier/Alpine Lakes loop.
Another reason the park was established is to protect the population of bristlecone pine, which are some of the oldest living things on earth! Most of these trees are between two and three thousand years old.
And they are seriously so spectacularly beautiful.
After going through the main bristlecone grove, we headed up towards the glacier. This was the first of many times that the realities of climate change became very apparent. Most of what is left here is just the rock deposited by the former glacier, which has mostly melted away.
On our way up the kids found a super fun place to glissade down. Over and over. Finally we tore them away and started climbing up the Rock Glacier itself, which was basically an insanely enormously tall and long pile of rocks that were happy to slide away under your feet if they were small OR trap and break your legs if they were larger.
See that little "trail" going off to the left behind Neil? That was basically the last of the trail we saw for about a mile. The park service notes that it is "not well marked." Understatement. It went under a snowbank and we never saw it emerge!
Eventually we made it to the top (the kids were way before us) and we enjoyed our snacks after chuckling over how the altitude was affecting every packaged snack.
Man those rocks were seriously so killer to climb over. And over and over. (It's probably a 45 minute trek from the signpost alerting you to the rock glacier to the top. Supposedly there is a sign marking the end of the trail but we never found it.)
On our way down I was REALLY not looking forward to the scramble back, so when the kids suggested glissading down, it seemed like a great idea! And it was seriously SO fun. We probably were able to go a good half mile and we have some incredible videos.
The scale is hard to see here--but that chunk of snowfield in the left of the picture is about half a mile long and was what we glissaded down. It was pretty steep!
When we turned off for the first of the lakes on the side loop, we were all pretty darn worn out from the hike up the glacier and the glissade back down, plus we were at about 11,500 feet of elevation and really feeling it, especially the people who were not being diligent about drinking their water.
So we chilled at the first lake for a little and then decided to backtrack on our original path and switch up our plans for the next day. We had planned to summit Wheeler Peak, which you can see in this photo, but hiking in its cirque all day had showed us that it was totally exposed to the sun for the entirety of the ridge approach to the summit at 13,167. We've summited higher peaks, but some of the kids were really not doing well with the altitude and the sudden change from sea level to 11.5k in 24 hours, so we decided that we would have to save Wheeler Peak for another day and would spend the next day exploring the lakes. The AllTrails reviews also helped with that decision.
When we got back to camp we drank all of the Diet Coke/Mt. Dew in our cooler and then some of us passed out in the hammock. And Nathan built a fire!
My mom drove up to join us that night and it was fun to have her there for our hike the next day!
At this point it was hot enough that we were pretty darn thrilled that we weren't hiking above the treeline. We brought hammocks and camping chairs with us (which despite being backpacking versions still felt VERY heavy hiking at around 12k feet!).
But honestly...spending a day reading and swimming in the mountains...hard to beat.
Before I go any further, let me point out that this is a lake entirely fed by snowmelt and it was SO DARN COLD. Like cold plunge temperature cold. Probably about 34 degrees. Full body headache.
But so incredibly gorgeous!!! This water was unbelievably clear. I think it was about waist deep on my here when I took this photo. This is at Stella Lake.
Neil, Abigail, Matty, and I all accepted the "swim in the mountain lake" challenge. It was awesome!!
We probably spent a couple hours here (Abigail and Matty had brought swimsuits, Neil and I had not, so I was grateful for the chance to let my clothes mostly dry before we started hiking again).
Then it was on to Teresa Lake!
This lake wasn't as clear as Stella, but it was a beautiful shade of turquoise thanks to the glacial flour. Pretty dreamy.
Played a few rounds of cards back at camp...
...enjoyed the sunset and the very nonchalant deer.
And then the next morning we said goodbye to my mom, packed up the car, and headed for California!
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