Great Basin National Park: Nevada’s Alpine Paradise

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As you know, last year in June I went to Great Basin National Park in Nevada and fell in love.  Obviously, that meant we had to go back again this summer. 

If you saw my Bears Ears post, you’ll know we did the same thing the same weekend more than once two years in a row, well, this was the other thing.  And it was almost exactly the same as the year before.

National Park Pass + Other National Park Deals

• If you’re planning on visiting multiple parks (3 or more) on this trip or within the year, I would highly recommend getting a national park pass. It’s $80 and you can get it at the park entrance. It will pay for itself in about three parks. It’s so worth it and I buy one every year! They’re also great for gifts for the park lovers in your life.
• To help plan the best national park trip ever, this Ultimate National Park Planning Bundle is perfect! You get two ebooks and a planner, saving 50% by getting them as a bundle! If you want all the details, this is the bundle for you. Buy the Ultimate bundle here.
• This National Park Planner (one of the ebooks from the bundle above) is perfect if you just want some guidance in your planning. Buy the planner here.
• Get yourself a little National Park notebook to write all about your adventures while you’re on the road. These from Field Notes are all very cute! If you want one for all of the NPS sites (400+!) then this one is for you!
• Before your trip, get some national park apparel for your trip! Homage is donating 5% of sales from the national park collection to the National Parks Conservation Association this year. Buy national park shirts here.
• Consider reading some of these books set in national parks before your big trip, on your adventure, or once you get home to take you back to the parks until next time.
• Planning a big national park trip? Check out these other posts: National Park bucket list, Make the most of a National Park trip, National Park camping packing list, My favorite National Park hikes, More National Park hikes I love, Underrated National Parks.

We set out from Bullfrog in the evening after work and made our way over to Delta, Utah, the closest town with groceries to the park. 

We stayed at the same hotel, the Delta Inn I think and got groceries the next morning before heading into the park.  Delta doesn’t have tons to offer, but it’s a good stopping point if you’re coming from Utah late since there isn’t anything else until you get to Baker, which has even less than Delta.

Our first stop in the park the next day was the Upper Lehman Creek campground to claim a spot before it filled up. We had a great spot near the creek, two spots over from the one we had last year. 

The people in the spot next to us had the same tent as us!  We spent a couple hours at our site just hanging out, reading, and wandering around the campground area before heading down to the visitor center.

After that, we decided to go up to Stella Lake before it got dark.  The hike up didn’t seem horrible that night and the weather was really great.  Unlike the last trip up, there was no snow left along the trail.  We saw a few deer having dinner and, of course, I said hello and told them to enjoy.

We got to the lake and had it all to ourselves.  The sun was setting and I didn’t want to hike back in the dark because, well, I’m afraid of it, but we had enough time to relax and take some pictures.

This is also when I became a Fuji convert.  I’ve been using a Canon of some sort since high school, a Rebel T3i since I came to Utah, but tried an older Fuji at home a couple times. 

I really liked it then and tried using a Fuji XT2 and love it!  Taking the same picture on the Fuji and the Canon, then comparing them was like night and day.  The Canon still wasn’t bad, but there was no question I needed to make the switch.

It was starting to get a little cold and a little bit darker so we headed down and went back to camp to probably have sandwiches for dinner.  It got pretty cold at night, probably in the high 30s or low 40s, but I was nice and bundled up in my sleeping bag.  Every time I woke up I was worried about mountain lions because along with the dark, that’s what I worry about camping.

We tried to make breakfast in the morning but couldn’t get the camp stove we borrowed lit.  We resigned ourselves to our fate of breakfast at Kerouac’s in Baker.  Not that either of us was that upset over this since we were looking forward to eating there for weeks. 

We found out there was going to be a ranger talk on mountain lions in Great Basin that afternoon that we obviously had to go to, so right after breakfast, we went back up to Stella and Teresa Lakes.

The hike up this time felt way more difficult, which is silly because we did it the night before that and were fine.  There was a group of people at Stella Lake, so after a couple of pictures, we continued on to Teresa lake where we spent quite a bit of time just hanging out.

We skipped going up to the glacier this time since we went last year and wanted to make sure we had time to eat before the mountain lion talk.  We spent some time in the Bristlecones then headed back down.  We had some time to relax before the talk.  We actually got there late.

I love reading things about mountain lions, but they really freak me out.  Like, a lot.  I always worry about them when we’re camping and hiking.  I know I don’t need t, really, but I do.  I keep hoping the more I learn about them the less afraid I’ll be.  So far, no luck.  I did learn a lot at the talk, though!

We learned there are around 200 mountain lions in Great Basin National Park alone.  The biggest one caught in the state was found in the park area.  We got to see a mountain lion pelt, which was a little creepy, and I want to say we got to see a skull but I honestly can’t remember. 

We saw pictures of them around the park, too.  Let me just say, none of this helped me sleep.  At all.  Oh, and there was a sighting of one down the Baker Creek Road area a day or two before.

The next morning it was time to head home after one last breakfast at Kerouac’s.  It was an uneventful drive that felt like it took forever.  I’m already ready to go back next year, which I’d love to do in the fall to see it with the leaves changing. 

It looks like a wonderful place to see that.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do the long tour of Lehman Cave this year, but maybe next time.

What to bring to Great Basin

Hiking poles – These will be helpful on longer hikes that are on the steeper side.  They’ll be good if you have bad knees for when you’re going downhill and will give you something to lean on going up the hills.

Snacks – These are more important for long hikes, but you never know when you’ll get hungry!  I like EPIC bars (kind of like beef jerky but different), Sahale nut mix things, and Moon Cheese.  There’s always the good old Clif Bars and trail mix, too.

Water bottle – It’ll be hot and humid and you’ll need to stay hydrated.  A Hydro Flask will keep your water ice cold all day long.

Sunscreen – If you plan on being outside, you’ll want sunscreen.  I like the Neutrogena a lot, but if you’ll be visiting a beach soon, you’ll want a reef-safe sunscreen.

Hat – You’ll want some kind of hat to keep the sun out of your eyes.  A baseball hat should be fine but a bucket hat or sun hat could help keep the sun off your neck.

Sunglasses – This is a must, especially with the strong desert sun.  Sunglasses are best paired with a hat on those really bright days.

Light Jacket – Because you just never know.  Weather can change quickly depending on where you are and especially higher on the mountain.  I usually use my rain jacket for this.

Headlamp – I tend to carry my headlamp around all the time when we’re hiking.  This isn’t the exact one I have, but it’s similar and if I needed to replace mine, I’d probably get this one.

Cozy Sweatshirt – I have a few different Patagonia sweatshirts and love them all.  They’re great for layering in cold weather.  I have two Re-tools, a Better Sweater, and a Synchilla.  Sometimes you can find them on sale on REI or Backcountry.  I also like to keep an eye out for them on Poshmark (use code REDAROUNDWORLD for $10 off your first purchase) and Mercari (you can save $10 with that link as well!)  I’ve found some really good deals on both.

For Camping

Tent – I love the REI Passage 2 tent for one or two people.  It’s small and fairly light.  If you need a four-person tent, I’d go with this one, the REI Half Dome.  You can check out my tent here.

Sleeping pad – Gotta make the tent comfy!  The one I have isn’t available anymore but this one is similar.  It’s self-inflating and just needs a little help filling all the way.  Buy the sleeping pad here.

Sleeping Bag – I have the Nemo Viola 35 and love it because it’s not as restrictive as the mummy bags.  It has ventilation slits for those warmer nights.  Check out my sleeping bag here.

Puffy quilt – If you’re a really warm sleeper and visiting in the summer, a puffy quilt might be a better option.  I prefer this for hotter nights.  Check out the Rumpl camp quilts here.

Pillow – If you’re just driving, I’d just bring a regular pillow, but if you’re flying then renting a car, you might want a smaller pillow.  This is a good non-inflatible option.  Here is a good inflatable option.

Camp chairs – If you plan on doing a lot of camping outside of this trip, and backpacking especially, the REI Flexlite chairs are great choices.  Check out the camp chairs here.

Lantern – I love having a lantern for in the tent at night, reading in the dark, or going to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  The LuminAID is my favorite and you can charge your phone on it.  Buy the LuminAID lantern here.

Tips for visiting Great Basin National Park:

• If you plan to stay in a hotel in Baker, definitely book that ahead of time.
• Camping in the park is first come, first serve.  You shouldn’t have issues finding a spot, maybe it’s tougher around holidays, though.  Wheeler Peak Campground doesn’t open until Late May, around Memorial Day weekend.
• Wheeler Peak and Upper Lehman Creek campgrounds fill up first, but there are still plenty of other options.
• Even in the summer, it can get pretty cold at night, so prepare for that especially if you’re camping.
• There is no park entrance fee.
• The longer cave tour should definitely be booked in advance.  We haven’t had any luck just showing up for that one.  The shorter one should also be booked ahead if you really want to see Lehman Cave.  Even this one can fill up or you might only find one open spot at a time

Have you been to Great Basin?  What did you do there?  Do you want to go?