Nevada - Great Basin National Park
We crossed the state line from Utah to Nevada. Here we saw Wendover Will. This neon cowboy was built to attract people into town from the highway to go to the local casinos. We did not go to any Casinos, but we did fond a liquor store. It is difficult to purchase liquor in Utah, so these border communities have nice big liquor stores!
Wendover Will at night (from the internet, we were not there at night)
After stocking-up on our liquor supplies, we found another scenic drive on US Alt 93 that will take us to our next destination, Great Basin National Park. As with our other roads, this was mostly empty of any traffic. We saw wild horses and many fantastic views. It is a 4 hour drive, but worth it.
Wild Horses
We arrived at the Great Basin Visitor Center before they closed at 5:00pm and were able top talk to a ranger for ideas on things to see and do. The ranger recommended that we do the scenic drive through the park to Wheeler Peak Parking lot. We would not have any time to do any hikes today, but we had time to drive up into the park to see the views. We stopped at Mather Overlook, Wheeler Peak Overlook and ended at Wheeler Peak Parking lot. There is a campground up here as well. We drove around the campground to check it out. This is a stunning place to stay. We will definitely come back here just to camp!
We got to our Motel. The Border Inn Motel on the border of Utah and Nevada. It is a Motel/casino/gas-station/RV-park and restaurant! There was only one hotel in Baker (at the Park Entrance) and it was full. This Motel was only 6 miles from the entrance. The next closest lodging was 60 miles away in Ely. We wanted to be close so we would not waste too much time driving back and forth.
Border Inn Motel & Casino with a cafe, grocery store and gas station.
There was not much to do at the Motel except gamble and we did not want to hang in the room. We got dinner in the restaurant in the casino. The food wasn’t terrible but the drinks were cheap. Later, I found that the area behind our room was an empty gravel lot facing the mountains. I pulled out our chairs and tables that we packed for the trip and set up an area for evening cocktails as we watched the sun set. The view was pretty amazing.
The ranger had recommended that we go to the Baker Archeological Site to view the night sky. But we had noticed that there were roads behind the hotel going into the dessert. We opted to drive out there and park the car to watch the stars. The viewing was pretty good, but we are spoiled with our night sky we get in northern Michigan.
Night sky behind our motel.
The next morning, we got up to hike the Bristlecone Trail. We drove up the scenic road to Wheeler Peak Parking lot, parked the car and started the hike. This 2.4 mile (round trip) trail starts at 10,000 ft and continues up another 500 feet.
This trail is only 2.4 miles round trip, but goes up an additional 500 ft. We could definitely feel the effects of the higher elevation. I was gasping for air after the first .2 mile! (ha ha, I’m not kidding). There was still snow on the trail. I was glad to have my hiking stick. It really helped on the snow and uneven boulders on the trail.
Finally made it to the top. There is an interpretive trail at the top that provided information on the the bristlecone trees. The bristlecone trees are extremely old. They use core samples to determine age and compare them to other trees in the area. The one I saw was over 3200 years old and still alive!
3200 year old bristlecone tree behind me.
The views were amazing. Such a beautiful park. It is one of the least visited parks. Glad we made it here. We were back at the motel by 1:00 and decided to pack up and continue our adventure. Hwy 50 is another scenic road that will take us back to Utah to our next National Park. The open sky views here are amazing, photos do not do them justice. I had never seen dust devils before, but we saw at least three during our drive. Some were a perfect column moving along the dessert. We drove past Sevier Lake, which is another salt lake . The water was low and you could see the salty shoreline from the distance.
