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Great Basin National Park, Nevada's only national park is set in eastern Nevada in a physiographic region called the Great Basin. The Great Basin is an area of more than one hundred and sixty mountain ranges running north to south, separated by desert valleys in which most of the rivers never reach the ocean. They flow into the valleys or "basins" and evaporate. The Great Basin Park was established in 1986 to preserve this unique representative area of the Great Basin region. This was the location of our next backpacking trip.

The park does not require backcountry permits, but we stopped in to talk to a ranger about trail and weather conditions. We also filled out a voluntary backcountry registration form. We then drove to the trailhead and set out on the Baker Creek Trail towards our camp at Baker Lake. The trail took us gently through a forested creek bed lined with evergreens and beautiful groves of Aspens in their golden fall color. Our route steadily gained altitude, but wasn't as bad as we expected thanks to the smooth, gradual switchbacks of the trail. Views of the desert valley floor and surrounding treeless peaks were spectacular. After six miles on the trail we arrived at Baker Lake. The lake was set against sheer cliffs and surrounded by an open evergreen forest, which presented some nice camping options. The water level of the lake was very low, forming three separate lakes. We set up base camp above the 10,000' mark. As a result the weather was very windy, cloudy and cool. We secured camp in case of storms and retired to our warm sleeping bags.

We knew it got cold that night, but didn't realize how cold until we discovered ice in our water bucket. The sun came up and warmed things a bit, but the wind and air remained very cool. We ate breakfast and then set out on a trail-less route to an ancient Bristlecone Pine Grove. With the help of cairns, we followed the trail east and up to Johnson Pass From the pass we followed an 11,000' plus ridge for about two miles south to the grove. There were 360 degree views of the surrounding desert and mountain ranges from the ridge. The grove of Bristlecone Pines was awesome. These trees are among the oldest living things on the planet, reaching ages of several thousand years. These gnarled and weathered trees that have survived the elements for so long gave the area an ominous, almost eerie feeling. We spent the better part of the afternoon admiring the pines. Our hike then took us down and north of the ridge into the Johnson Lake Basin. The route was very steep at times, up and down. We hiked through more golden Aspens and fine stands of evergreens. When we finally made it to the basin we came upon a log cabin settlement that must have been home to the workers of Johnson Mines. We then hiked up to Johnson Pass via a very steep trail and followed cairns back in to camp at Baker Lake. After a fulfilling day hike and a satisfying meal, we called it a night.

The next day we woke to another sunny, cool morning. We packed and headed back to the truck via the Baker Creek Trail. We stopped frequently to take in views of the beautiful Aspens, colorful rocks and impressive mountain peaks along the way. We didn't encounter any humans in the three days we were there and recommend this remote park to anyone seeking solitude in a spectacular alpine setting. Our next trip will take us into Sequoia National Park in California.

See You in the Outback!

Kevin and Steve