Rain Rain Go Away

SHOOT THE WEATHERMAN

The only thing that can ruin a trip is bad company and bad weather. Since I am flying solo on this trip the only thing that can work against me is mother nature - and she is. I awoke at 4:30 am to temperatures hovering in the mid-30's. I slept like a champ, all wrapped-up in a blanket and sleeping on a soft mattress in the back of the Pilot. Honestly, the best night sleep in the history of camping. Why have I never thought of this before? The goal for today is to climb Wheeler Peak, Nevada's second highest peak at just a hair over 13,000 ft. Last night the mountain looked pretty overcast, but I was hoping for everything to clear-up by morning and offer me a break of time to make a summit bid.

So much for wishful thinking. Wheeler was engulfed in clouds this morning and I was under dressed to tackle it in what seemed to be blizzard conditions. So I decided to head lower in the park to see what else I could tackle. I ended up taking the 3 mile Alpine Lake Loop trail before getting caught in a snow storm at Stella Lake.




Great Basin NP was #28 on my list of parks leaving only 28 to go (there are 56 total Scenic National Parks in the US States). I would rank this as one of the most remote parks in the lower 48 and one that I would leave off my recommendation list. It has a wealth of beauty and is rich in history, but lacks the awe inspiring beauty that other National Parks offer. I may be biased since it was overcast and I didn't take the tour of the caves, but I was just not moved by my visit.

After my hike of the Alpine Lakes I headed back down the mountain and made my way East towards Salt Lake. It rained for most of the drive before turning into a torrential down pour around 2:00 pm. I decided to take refuge in the Provo Public Library and catch-up on some work and post on the blog. The plan for tonight is to hit-up the local Chick-fil-A (there are none in NV so I eat at every one I see) before heading North towards Jackson, WY. The forecast says rain for the next 5 days in all of the mountain states so there is no avoiding it. All I can do is hunker down and pray for a few breaks.

Until tomorrow.