Journal entry – 21 September 2015, Mon – Great Basin hiking Mt Wheeler – Animals and Altitudes

Journal entries are just that – the digital copy of my hand-written entries in my journal. If you aren’t interested in the daily details of our adventure, feel free to skip on to the next “regular” post.

We sleep till nearly 7, missing the sunrise. Over breakfast we watch a jackrabbit (they’re fast!) and a flock of five turkeys wander through our campsite. We gear up and hop on the motorcycle to head back to the trailhead. Along the way 3 pronghorn run across the road in front of us and through the field.

Today we’re going to summit the mountain – highest in the Snake Mountain Range. From the town of Baker (5,317 ft) to the top of Wheeler Peak (13,063) we will be gaining 7,746 feet – 3,177 of which will be on foot. We’re pretty sure that’s a dual personal record – the highest we’ve been and the greatest elevation gain in a single day.

We start at the same trail head as yesterday but quickly venture on to a new trail. It soon leads us out of the trees – the trail is a gravel path, or a rocky path through the giant pile of rocks that comprise the mountain. The further we go the steeper the trail grows – challenge increased by loose gravel underfoot.

    

Ahead we see ravens, must be more than 100. Eventually we end up hiking above them. While at a sitting break a flock of smaller birds whip by us. A few moments later two birds chase a larger one away, they sound like a jet flying by – they’re moving so fast and pushing the air around so quickly!

Along the trail are stone walls – crescent wind blocks. Patches of plants sprout between the rocks. Eventually we spot clumps of snow. I throw a snowball at Ashley. 🙂

  

Within feet of the summit we stop to take in the view. Craggy rock outcroppings and stacks jut out from the mountainside with the valley below and more mountains beyond as a backdrop.

  

Continuing on to the summit we find two more stone shelters. The first has a mailbox, with flag up, that is filled with notebooks and hikers’ sign-ins. Unexpected and fun to read. We add our visit to the list.

  

We move on to the highest point for lunch, enjoying the view. I find signal and send out a quick photo email from the top of the mountain.

    

Finished eating we walk across the ridge to look down into the valley we visited yesterday – overlooking Rock Glacier from above.

      

Time to head down, we resume hiking – taking care how we place our feet. Good thing there aren’t bears in the area as we’re breathing too hard to talk much and watching our feet too intently to look around often. It’s wierd without our bear spray or signs warning of imminent danger. Good, but something we have to readjust to.

      

Back on the motorcycle we head down the mountains. On the way I recall the Million Dollar Homepage and wonder if we can do something similar with the RV. While stopping for gas I look it up to refresh my memory. I mention it to Ash at home and she likes the idea. Worth a try, at least!

Fish for supper, with spinach and squash. Pretty tasty! We’re both tired – hiking, elevation change, and sun have worn us out. As it darkens we head back to the picnic table to stargaze more before heading to bed.