Great Basin

Great Basin NP
Nevada

The tallest trees in the world, the largest trees in the world, and now the oldest trees in the world. Our final stop is Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada, just a few kilometers from Utah. We make a late afternoon drive to the summit trailheads near the top of Mount Wheeler (3,988 m = 13,083 feet). The journey takes us through several communities, from the sagebrush and grasses that surround the Snake Mountains (brownish area at bottom of photograph below) through the piñon-juniper and mountain-mahogany woodlands, mixed-conifer forest, and subalpine forest (greenish bands in photograph) that give way to the alpine zone above 3,000 m (the whitish-brown area at the top of the mountain). Because of its more southerly latitude, treeline on Mount Wheeler is substantially higher than at Mount Rainier (about 1,200 m higher). Mount Wheeler has remnants of one of the southernmost glaciers in North America.

Image of Mountain
Mount Wheeler from the East during a Hazy Sunrise, Great Basin NP, Nevada
Photograph by Mark Eberle, August 2000

The trail to the bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) grove starts from our campground at about 3,000 m and climbs to about 3,170 m, which is noticeable after spending a week at sea level. The hike is worth it, though, because it is the only way to see the ancient bristlecone pines (photographs below). The oldest known bristlecone pine in what is now Great Basin National Park was dated at over 4,900 years in 1964. Unfortunately, this was before the park was established, and the tree was cut down to determine its age! The subalpine forest also includes limber pine (Pinus flexilis), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii), and common juniper (Juniperus communis). The forests and woodlands of mountains in the Great Basin share several species with the southern Rocky Mountains. In the lower montane forest are two species of conifers found throughout much of the western United States: ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) also is abundant.

Image of Bristlecones
Image of Cone
Bristlecone Pine Grove and Bristlecone Pine (top)
Bristlecone Pine Branch with Female Cone (bottom)
Mount Wheeler, Great Basin NP, Nevada
Photographs by Mark Eberle, August 2000, July 2004,
and August 1998

Separation line

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