Great Basin National Park

At the end of July, 2015, we visited Great Basin National Park in east-central Nevada, near the Utah border. The park derives its name from the Great Basin, the dry and mountainous region between the Sierra Nevada and the Wasatch Mountains. It is notable for its groves of ancient bristlecone pines, the oldest known nonclonal organisms, and for the Lehman Caves at the base of 13,063-foot (3,982 m) Wheeler Peak. The peak is also home to Wheeler Peak Glacier, the last alpine glacier surviving from the last glacial period and might itself disappear in as little as 20 years.

Jeff Davis Peak (12,771 ft) and Wheeler Peak (13,063 ft) from the Mather Overlook, Great Basin National Park, Nevada

Jeff Davis Peak, Solomon's Arrow and Wheeler Peak from the Wheeler Peak Overlook, Great Basin National Park, Nevada. The corrie contains Nevada's only glacier, mostly buried by rocks but slowly moving.

Solomon's Arrow (12,630 ft) from the Bristlecone Pine Grove at around 10,000 ft elevation in the Great Basin National Park, Nevada. It is also known as "The Stoned Finger", "Lil's Delight" and, paradoxically, "Nameless Tower".

Solomon's Arrow and Wheeler Peak from the Wheeler Peak Overlook, Great Basin National Park, Nevada. The corrie contains Nevada's only glacier, mostly buried by rocks but slowly moving.

Jeff Davis Peak and Wheeler Peak from the Mather Overlook, Great Basin National Park, Nevada. The plaque commemorates Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service.

Mt. Moriah (12,072 ft) from the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive, Great Basin National Park, Nevada.

The Sawtooth Range, Utah about 45 miles away from Lehman Cave, Nevada.

Notch Peak, Utah (9,654 ft) about 45 miles away from Lehman Cave. At 2,200 feet, its northwest face is the second highest vertical drop in the USA, after El Capitan in Yosemite.