I worked four hours on Friday morning and we packed everything into the Trooper and headed southwest toward Baker, Nevada, which is at the base of Wheeler Peak and near the entrance to Great Basin National Park. Because we wanted to stay in the Wheeler Peak Campground, which is at 9,886 feet and at the end of a narrow, winding paved road, we took the tent rather than our pop-up trailer. This was our first tent trip this year.

We had been to Great Basin National Park before. In fact, I had visited and camped at the Park before it was a park, back in the early 1980s. Anne and I camped there sometime in the mid-90s and hiked the Alpine Lake Loop and up to the Bristlecone pines.

Trails

In the ‘80s I had hiked up to Wheeler Peak itself, at over 13,000 feet. The hike to the Bristlecone and around the lakes is very pleasant and pretty. The hike to the peak is more exposed and is steep and crosses loose rock and barren topography. But the views to the east and west are spectacular, as one might expect.

Campgrounds

There are four campgrounds (Wheeler Peak, Upper and Lower Lehman Creek, and Baker Creek) within the Park that have facilities, as well as six other smaller campgrounds (along the Snake Creek road) that are considered primitive. The six primitive campgrounds do no have water.

Wheeler Peak Campground
The Wheeler Peak campground is in an aspen and spruce forest and is a very attractive site. There are 35 sites, modern pit toilets, plenty of water spigots scattered along the paved road, and picnic tables and fire pits (surrounded by concrete) at each site. The sites, in most cases, are spread out and provide a considerable amount of privacy.

By the time we arrived it was after 3:00 p.m. our time (2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (Nevada is on Pacific Time)) and there were not many sites still available. Perhaps six to eight sites. But we did get a nice site (Number 14) that was large enough to accommodate our Kirkhams Springbar tent and our new canopy.

As we had approached the Park from the east we could see the gray thunder heads building around Wheeler Peak. By the time we arrived in the campground it began to rain. Fortunately it wasn't hard, and it soon stopped. We set up the canopy first, providing a dry space to work from if necessary. Then we set up the tent and sleeping equipment. About the time we had everything set up it began to rain again. Again it was only a light rain with very little wind.

We read under the canopy and throughout the remainder of the afternoon the showers came and went. We delayed preparing dinner because it was raining, and once it stopped we opened up the old three burner Coleman stove (converted to propane use) and Anne began to prepare our meal. Of course it began to rain some, and we had to complete the chore wearing our rain coats.

It continued to rain throughout the meal and so we ate under the eight foot square canopy on our little roll up table. That wasn't very convenient, because our collapsible camp chairs are slung sort of low. But we could load up our plates and then sit back and eat by holding the plate in one hand and the fork in another. We had tostadas that night.

Because it was raining we decided to let the dirty dishes sit until morning. We collected them and placed them in the back of the Trooper to prevent roaming critters from checking them out in the night. We sat shivering under the canopy, with the wind picking up and blowing some of the rain underneath. By seven we decided that it would be warmer in the tent and called it a night.

We settled in and eventually dozed off, only to be awaken from time to time when the wind and rain blew hard against the tent.

We had put up the awning on the tent, so that, if necessary, we could enter and exit without rain getting into the doorway. Because of where we had to place the tent, in a slight depression, the awning poles were raised up enough so that water collected on the awning. During the day I had tipped the awning from time to time to remove the water. But at night I wasn't about to crawl out of my warm sleeping bag to do that. So the water collected throughout the night.

Also, by morning, the corner of my sleeping bag nearest my head was beginning to get wet, and actually soaked up quite a bit of water. The seam for the rubberized floor was right along there, and I suspect the dry sleeping bag acted like a wick. When we took down the tent we found that some water had puddled in that area underneath. Either there is a leak in the seam or capillary action sucked it through the porous points where the stitches hold the two pieces of fabric together. I really didn't notice it until just before we got out of bed the next morning.

And if it weren't for the need to use the rest room, we probably wouldn't have gotten out when we did. Although it wasn't raining on Saturday morning, the wind was blowing pretty hard and kept the air chilled. We had intended to hike up to the Bristlecone pine and around the Alpine Loop, but the wind was so hard that we decided that that would not be too much fun. So after eating a couple of granola bars we drove back down the mountain to the Visitor Center and took the cave tour at Lehman Cave.

Lehman Cave

We were in time for the 9:00 a.m. tour, lead by a young female Ranger named Danielle. We took the 90 minute tour. I had been to the cave once or twice before, back in the early ‘80s. It's a very interesting living cave, which means it is still wet and growing. There are the usual features, like stalactite and stalagmites, but what this cave is known for are its shield formations. Very eerie and interesting. There were about 25 people on the tour.

Baker Creek / Lower and Upper Lehman Creek Campgrounds

After the tour we drove up into the Baker Creek Campground to check it out. It is at 7,530 feet and is in the pinyon/juniper forest typical of the Great Basin, the Intermountain West, and the Basin and Range province. It would be a nice campground for the fall or spring, but could get quite hot during the summer months.

We also stopped at the Lower and Upper Lehman Creek Campgrounds on the way back up the mountain. They are at 7,300 and 7,752 feet in elevation respectively, and are very similar to the Baker Creek Campground. All three have water, modern pit toilets, picnic tables and fire pits. At this time the Baker Creek Campground did not allow wood fires due to the fire danger, but the other three campgrounds did allow fires. And unlike many larger and more heavily visited Parks, you can collect downed wood to use in your campfire. The fee for all four of these campgrounds is $10.00 per night. There is a campground host in each.

Wheeler Peak Campground

The Wheeler Peak campground was generally quite, but there were a few young ones who felt that they had to shout and talk loudly all through the day. There was a bit of an echo through the campground and that seemed to keep them entertained, much to our chagrin. It seems that the parents of these kids should work a little harder to explain the etiquette of life in a campground. Fortunately, on Friday evening, the rain quieted them enough so that we could fall to sleep.

When we got back to camp on Saturday, around Noon, we ate some lunch and decided that the wind was just too much. It would be hard to sit and relax with it blowing all around us. Besides, at the Visitor Center, the weather posting indicated that there might be more thunder showers on Saturday afternoon and evening. We weren't looking forward to another wet night and really didn't want to put away all of our equipment while it was wet. There's nothing quite as exciting as getting home from a trip and having to set up a tent and tarps and other equipment to let it dry, and then having to put it away once again. So we packed up everything, cleaned off the mud and debris as best we could, and by 3:00 p.m. we hit the road.

Baker Archaeological Site

(See our Baker Archaeological Site Personal Notes.)

Little Sahara Desert

We drove back toward Sandy along Highway 6 through Delta, and then up toward Santaquin, passing along the Little Sahara Desert, a BLM area set aside for dune buggies and ATVs. It does remind one of photos of the Sahara Desert. We got home sometime around 7:00 p.m.

Critters

While driving up and down the mountain we saw several mule deer. Out along the highway toward Delta we spotted a lone pronghorn. There were the usual chipmunks and ground squirrels and a few small birds. After we passed through the town of Eureka, Utah, the highway was littered with the smashed carcasses of large black Mormon crickets. Live crickets were scattered all over the side of the road, hopping all over. They looked to be almost two inches long.