Back to the Basin

Jacqueline and I were finally fitting in some time to get out to Great Basin. We wanted to make the trip before the big move in only a few weeks. We were anxious to sell one of our old vehicles before moving to Colorado, but we had not been very lucky yet. So we packed up the new vehicle, our Xterra, and made the 3 hour drive out to the Basin. There was a trail that we had not hiked yet near the visitor center, so we made that our first destination. We got a bit confused at first where the actual trailhead was because it lacked signs but eventually we stumbled onto a bridge and lots of signs to begin our trek. We were set now to follow the the stream up Pole Canyon, so we could relax and take a hike together. It was great to have some cooler temperatures and lots of greenery. We were even lucky enough to get some sprinkles. Jacqueline made sure to pull out her rain jacket immediately and I made sure to make fun of her becaurse getting a little moisture when it is in the high 70s is usually a relief. The jacket was quickly off. The map showed that when we got to Pole Canyon Spring, there was a dead end. As we continued to hike the three plus miles of meadow and forest hiking, we ran into a sign that pointed us to a connector trail with the Baker Creek Trail. We debated whether we wanted to take on this new endeavor and eventually a definite yes came out. We were hoping to see a spring before our departure, but never quite ran into it. Instead we were soon climbing. The hills looked high and Jacqueline wondered where this trail would take us. I pointed to the obvious saddle, but she denied my route choosing ability. Soon we were heading up to the saddle. We were able to get some awesome views of Wheeler Peak and the surrounding peaks. We looked at our map to decide what to do from there. Either we could head back the way we came or we could hike to the Baker Creek Trail and then be stuck with a long walk along the road. We decided to go with the new trail instead of the backtrack. We descended until we hit Baker Creek and from there it was only a short walk to the parking lot and a long walk down the road to our car. We were not lucky enough to see any marmots crossing, but we did get inaudibly yelled at by some early 20 something rednecks. We shrugged it off and enjoyed our walk that kept getting warmer and warmer as we lost elevation. I was happy we chose this because we got to see two neat sights. First we saw a cave. This was right near the car. We went to go check it out but there were resource management signs, so we let it be. I would love to go back with some people and spelunk it. The other sight was a rattler, which I spotted but Jacqueline did not. Once we got back in the car and drove, we saw the rattler once again crossing the road when we were driving. I guess he couldn't make up his mind. From there we headed up to Wheeler Peak Campground. This was going to be our third trip to the campground and our third different site. All the sites were within 50 feet of each other though. We were right near the meadow and there were plenty of deer there to enjoy the large grass. We did our usual of throwing some beers in the creek, although this time our access was not as good, so every time I got a beer, my feet got soaked. We made some dinner, played some cards, and then retreated to the Xterra. The sleeping was not as comfortable for me as the Ranger. I had to basically sleep sideways crowding Jacqueline to get my 6 ft. plus frame into there. I knew we would have to make adjustments next trip, but I got some good sleep. We woke up nice and early to begin another trip. We were the only souls parking at the Wheeler Peak parking lot, but our destination was not the 13,063 ft giant that towers over the park, but instead a smaller peak, Bald Mountain that is just a slight detour off the Wheeler Peak trail. Having climbed Wheeler twice, I had the route planned out in my head. We basically followed the trail through the aspens, to the meadows, past the lakes, up through the pine forest, until it plateaued out at a somewhat saddle. I say somewhat because going left would have meant another 1800 feet of climbing, but going right where we were going was a very gradual slope. We only needed to climb another 500 feet to stand on the summit. It was disappointing to have a radio tower up on top, but the views were great. We could see Mt. Moriah to the north and Wheeler Peak to the south. We enjoyed the view for a bit, but we had to go down and retreat back to the daily grind. We made sure to stop at Stella Lake and skip some rocks before making the drive back to Springdale. When I got home, I had two messages about my truck. That night two people showed up at the same time and bid on the ranger. I sold it to a kid on his way out to Colorado for college. It was hard to see it go but it was going to be a lot easier moving in a few weeks without an extra vehicle to deal with. I was still sad to see it go as I put a lot of miles and a lot of memories into that truck.