Great Basin National Park
Southwest Road Trip 2022 | Our Time in Great Basin National Park | Hiking Mt. Wheeler | Stella Lake | October 2022
After leaving Cathedral Gorge, we started the drive North on US-93 to Great Basin National Park. The scenery around us was exactly how we imagined it would look like — a long, mostly empty highway running up between mountain ranges. It reminded us significantly of Southern Arizona. As we drove, we discussed what to do in Great Basin. Charlotte wasn’t allowed on any trails so it was out of the question for us both to hike, but I knew that hiking Mt. Wheeler, the highest peak in the park/mountain range, was something Curtis would want to do. Being the amazing wife that I am, I offered to stay at the campsite with Charlotte and do all the setting up so he could do the hike. Having Charlotte was really just a convenient excuse though, since I knew I wasn’t ready for a hike like this.
We went East on US-50, up and over the mountain pass, then went South towards Baker and followed signs up to the national park. We first stopped to get stamps and make sure everything was ok for camping and hiking, then made the drive up to 10,000 feet. As we drove, we entered the aspen zone and once again found ourselves surrounded by golden aspens, and once again thankful for the ability to travel during the fall!
The campground we had chosen was the one at the highest elevation (and our highest for the trip at over 10,000 ft), right next to the trailhead for Mt. Wheeler and several other hikes. Since it was already 2 in the afternoon, we hurried to get things together for Curtis to start his hike. With that, I’ll let him tell you all about his experience!
Curtis: I have many hiking goals, and many of those goals are closer to fantasy, but in addition to trying to reach 300 300 meter prominence peaks by the time I’m 40 (which Wheeler would absolutely count towards that) being able to climb the 57 Ultras of the Contiguous US is one of my top lists. So when the opportunity presents itself, I’ll probably throw caution to the wind and take it.
But it had been a while since I’ve hiked above 12,000 feet. In fact, our last hike that high had been to the summit of Mauna Kea, and we had taken 4 days to acclimate by hiking Mauna Loa, itself a 13k foot peak (or at least it was – maybe this eruption cycle is ‘The Big One’). And after our embarrassing breathlessness while walking around Great Sand Dunes – at only 8,000 feet – needless to say, I was apprehensive that I would be able to make it to the summit. But we had spent almost a week by this point sleeping at elevations up to 9,000 feet, the weather seemed like it would be clear, and Jess had given me the green light to go on my own. Sure, it was already past noon and the air temperature was flirting below freezing, but I wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to climb another Ultra.
I packed my new-used 65L Osprey bag – which was probably overkill, but the only thing I have – with 3 liters of water, some snacks, and some additional layers, made sure Jess had everything she needed to set up camp, and started my hike. I followed the road out of the campground and onto the Alpine Lakes trail. The promise of lake views and the ancient bristlecone pines (Prometheus – one of the oldest trees ever documented – was near here) was tempting, but I knew that time would be short this late in the day, so I opted to let Jess have that experience. Instead I took frequent pictures of the Aspens, Wheeler, and a flock of turkeys that I crossed paths with..
I made good time, reaching the saddle at 3 miles in just over an hour – which in hindsight is ridiculous. Granted, the incline wasn’t as great as it was later in the hike, and I was still below 11k feet, but a normal pace for me is 2 mph. I might reach 3 mph on flats or downhills, but since I haven’t done any strenuous hikes in a while, this pace was far too aggressive and I paid for it once I started up the main ridge.
The ridge is very wide, but very exposed as it comes out of the trees around 11k feet, and full of switchbacks. I passed plenty of people coming down and took frequent breaks to admire the Spring and Snake Valleys to the West and East respectively. By about 12k feet I was beat. I didn’t have the symptoms of altitude sickness, nor did my legs hurt, I was just out of breath, heart pounding, like I had been doing hard cardio. And so I slowed WAY down. For almost a mile I would take 100 steps followed by 50 slow breaths. 100 steps, 50 breaths. I knew I could make it, but I clearly needed to work on my cardio. Fortunately, aside from being marginally out of shape, the hike went as perfectly as I could hope. Once at the top I rested for a while; rehydrating and eating everything I could get while hiding from the perpetual wind.
The hike down was uneventful, quick by necessity, and cold. Without the cardio keeping me warm I could really feel the wind chill. By the time I reached the saddle the sun was dipping below the horizon, and, because the trail is on the East side of the ridge, it got dark fast. But I managed to cover the last 2 miles without needing to pull out a flashlight, only getting scared by a herd of Mule Deer once.
And then I was back at camp, having hiked 9.7 miles and claimed my 10th Ultra. You can see my AllTrails recording and my struggle with cardio here.
Jess: While Curtis was gone, I put up the tent and filled it with our sleeping essentials, walked Charlotte around the campground a few times, admired the views, read, and stalked Curtis’ progress on Google Maps. Thankfully we both had cell service and were able to communicate while he was gone. He made it back just after 6, and we made soup then hunkered down in the tent to stay warm. It was a cold night, but not as bad as our night on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon!
The next morning, Curtis offered to pack up our things and let me go for a hike on my own. I decided to just hike up to Stella Lake, which was about 2 miles round trip. I admit I was nervous with it being so early in the morning, I really didn’t want to run into any wildlife on my own (which would be very on-brand for me: see exhibit A/exhibit B). But besides being easily spooked by noises in the woods, I enjoyed the trail up to Stella Lake — especially the golden aspens! I was a little winded, and looking up at where Curtis had hiked made me even more impressed that he had done it in such a short amount of time. I made it to the lake, took a moment to enjoy it and take some pictures, then made my way back to the trailhead. I could have done a loop trail that would have taken me to another lake, but one was enough for today, and I didn’t want to keep Curtis and Charlotte waiting.
Overall, we loved visiting Great Basin National Park and wouldn’t mind returning someday and maybe being able to hike together, after all there’s quite a bit more to the park than just Wheeler — though I don’t know how we could top visiting in the fall!
