Day 25, August 12: Looping Back North

Day 25, August 12: Looping Back North

More Valley of Fire

After writing yesterday’s blog this morning, I broke camp and headed north, away from the furnace that is southern Nevada in August. The temperature was 97 degrees at 9 a.m. when I drove through the first town on the Valley of Fire loop, and it stayed consistently in the 90s for the first few hours of the trip.

The Sisters at Valley of Fire

When I stopped to refuel and load last night’s blog, I was shocked to get out of the car and feel a cooler breeze. It was probably still in the 80s, but the difference was immediately evident. Mountains began to appear on both sides of me, and the vegetation thickened. It is not lush in the high plains desert, but it is thick in places. The drive, like all of them have been, was beautiful, and I stopped the car repeatedly to try to capture what my eyes were drinking in.

I made it to Great Basin National Park by about 2:30 p.m. I stopped and asked the ranger at the information center if he had advice for camping and hiking. He suggested I take the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive and camp at the high campground there. It sits at just about 10,000. There are a couple short hikes that amount to about 5 miles I can combine from this high trailhead, and I intended to take them this afternoon.

First look at Great Basin N P

But by the time I had started up the road to the campground, it had begun to rain. It didn’t rain hard, but it was enough to hinder my scenic viewing; I hope to get some good pictures on the way down. It was still raining lightly when I arrived in camp, but by the time I picked out my campsite, read a little on the hikes I was going to take, and put on a sweat shirt, it had stopped enough to put up the tent. It’s amazing how a little timing goes a long way.

The rain dissipated by the time I had camp set up, but it was almost 4:30, so I decided to make my hike early in the morning. I’ve been puttering around the campsite, fixing a few things and looking over route information. It’s kind of nice to have a slow day after the busyness of the last few days.

So I’m sitting here by the fire, relaxing and preparing for an early night of it. Whoever camped here before left a big pile of wood, so starting the fire was easy and enjoyable. I plan to cook a small steak, read for a while, and turn in about 8 p.m.

I can’t believe I only have four more nights on the road after tonight. I’m afraid I won’t have a lot of time for relaxing until I get home now; I hope to get in a few more short hikes in the Wasatch Mountains and Wyoming, and I have a lot of miles to cover. This has been such an amazing adventure; I’m sure I’ll mourn the freedom next week when I’m back at work, but I’m fully cognizant of my good fortune in being able to take this time.