Great Basin National Park - USA Roadtrip 2006

As part of our US Tour 2006, the Active Brits possie spent a few nights in Great Basin National Park, our primary aim to ascend the awe inspiring Wheeler Peak which stands at 13,063ft.

Great Basin is an area of outstanding natural beauty and well worth a visit for anyone who is planning to travel nearby i.e. Zion National Park or Grand Canyon National Park. We stayed at Wheeler Peak Campsite which is the highest listed camping area in the park at an elevation of about 9,980ft. There are no shops within walking distance of the campsite so you have to take in your own food (and dont feed the wildlife). The nearest grocery store is in Baker together with an unmanned petrol station that accepts credit cards. However, there is a water supply in the campsite and there are a number of taps dotted around. But BEWARE the water is turned off during off-peak periods. There are also compost toilets but there is NO electricity supply so you need to make sure that you have lights/torches etc. when you go at night! Although the odour isnt foul, we found the odd jostick or two helps to combat the smell :o)

The temperature at night in Great Basin can drop dramatically (with temperatures almost reaching freezing point) we decided it would be advantageous to make a fire rather than pass out with hypothermia (and by eck did we make a rip roaring fire).. The general rule at Great Basin is that you can collect 'dead' wood that has fallen from trees but you are NOT allowed to break off branches. This makes for a great afternoon expedition into the wilderness and is a great park management tool to reduce the natural fires in susceptible areas.. Collect what you want, get yourself a few beers, pull up a few seats and illuminate the night sky, you wont regret it, its one hell of a soulful wilderness experience.

On the morning of the hike we woke up to Psychs singing (which is a very rare thing seeing as though he is normally so miserable at that time of day). After a half frozen breakfast we set off for the summit of Wheeler Peak from the campsite, the one thing on our side was the weather, it was absolutely perfect, the sun was shining bright and there was not a cloud in the sky.

The trail head started at just over 10,000ft and there was about a 5 mile hike ahead of us to the summit of Wheeler Peak. The start was a fairly gentle slope that traversed the SE side of the ridge before reaching the treeline at 11,000ft. The remaining section of the trek took us up 2000ft of exposed terrain littered with large boulders and scree deposits towards a majestic yet somewhat evil looking summit a couple of kms in the distance. Although the weather conditions were favourable, we were constantly checking our surroundings, aware of the peaks 'cloud building' capability and the severe risk of mid morning thunderstorms. We had all decided that we would take a break every 500ft that we ascended in order for everyone to catch up with each other.

The hike seemed to get worse every time I had a sip of water. I just couldnt develop a constant rhythm. Normally the water assists my recovery but this was so strange. After every mouthfull i found myself breathing rapidly in order to try and regain my pace. It was the first time i'd experienced at first hand the implications of altitude and wow ... freaking unbelievable..

We stopped at 12,500ft and then had a final push to the top, walking past ice and snow that had settled on the rocks. My lungs were burning, my head was starting to ache a bit and my legs were turning to jelly. All 5 Active Brits members on this US tour of duty made it to the summit, myself, psychs, weeman, Rico.... and, ohhhh yes, i forgot to introduce Peanuts, the active brits mascot.. Peanuts seemed to be more alert than anyone else but heh, it had been in a rucksack having a free ride for the last three hours!

The views from the top were breathtaking you could see the desert valley floor at roughly 8,000ft below and the weather was holding on for us too. We stayed at the top for about 50 minutes taking photos and relaxing, after all it is not often that Brits get the chance to be at 13,063ft. Sean noticed that the mountain was forming its own cloud rather rapidly and we decided that we had to leave. We went back the way we came and arrived at the tree line again.

Instead of going back to the campsite, we carried on towards Bald Mountain that stands at 11,562ft this was a hike just shy of 600ft. However, by this stage I had vomited and had a bad headache and really wasn’t feeling too good! Psychs must have been dosed up on about 8 Ibuprofen, 16 cubes of sugar and a full load of madness because he stormed off up to the summit like a demon on acid. Rico tried to follow and was doing really well but he too started to lag behind.

Anyway, we all reached the summit of Bald Mountain and could see the rain over Wheeler Peak so it was lucky that we left when we did. We were in the sun again and it was hot so the only thing to do was to sunbathe. We were lounging around at 11,562ft in the sun and there was not a single sound - it was bliss.

There was no trail down from where we were so we had to make our own way back down. We filled in the book at the bottom and just about stepped onto the road when a guy on a mountain bike asked us if we had filled out the book at the top! ‘What book and where was it’ – DOH Psychs run up and fill it in for us mate. We couldn’t believe that we hadn’t seen that at the top – oh well we all have the memories and photographs of it. So if you go to the summit look out for the book and fill it in for us..!!!

The guide books say that the time it takes to hike Wheeler Peak is about 8 hours. We managed to do both Wheeler and Bald Mountain in about 7 hours including the time for the breaks etc. Remember to take plenty of water and food with you and make sure that you eat and drink regularly. The weather can also change in a few minutes so check the forecast. We saw people hiking up in jeans, T-shirts and trainers and they must have got caught in the rain! This is serious day hike, so remember that you are out in there middle of nowhere and if you get caught out because you were wearing stupid clothing then thats your own fault. Caryy waterproofs and keep spare clothes in your rucsack... you never know when you just might need them... most of all.. go wild and have fun....

Cheers... Ollyzontal (full certified member of the active brits possie)