Escape to Great Basin, Marley’s Favorite Mountain on Earth

Earlier this summer, like many times before, we hit the road with the car loaded up with camping gear, dog, and plenty of food and water for a long weekend, escaping from the scorching never-ending triple digit Las Vegas heat.

Where did we go?

We went to Great Basin National Park, or in Marley’s words, her favorite mountain on Earth.

We have this thing with taking photos with National Park signs.

We’ve been visiting Great Basin almost every year since she was 7 months old.

yes, that’s deer in the meadow behind Daddy holding baby Marley, the meadow just a few feet from our tent.

Situated in the Northeast corner of Nevada, just off Highway 50 is home to some of the oldest trees on Earth, the Bristlecone Pine.

This tree is older than the pyramids.

At the base of the mountain you’ll find the famous Lehman Caves.

We’ve been exploring the caves

and hiking the trails at Great Basin since before the kids could walk or talk.

Along with the Bristlecone Pine Forest, trails vary from wheelchair accessible boardwalks criss-crossing over the river and through the forest, a three mile loop past two alpine lakes,

or for those who wish to hike to the top of the second highest point in Nevada, feel free to head on up to Wheeler Peak

daddy at the top of Wheeler Peek

It somewhat scares me to write this post about Great Basin.

Why, you ask? Because now everyone will know why it’s so GREAT, and more and more campers will start visiting this park.

What makes this place my favorite national park to visit, is not just the fact that we are camping in absolute serene beauty at 10,000 feet, not the fact that we are at one of North America’s best star gazing spots, not even the fact that there are no mosquitos, the dear and wild turkeys greet us as we sip our morning coffee, and the sounds of the mountain brook whisper by as the winds breeze through the majestic Aspen Pines. .

What makes this park different from all other national parks we’ve spent time at, is we aren’t crammed in like sardines on top of our neighbors, unlike at Crater Lake where we could literally hear the camper snoring just a few feet over.

Zion,