Great Basin National Park, Again

The Saturn may be giving me a headache now, but her majesty never fails to look good amongst the forests and mountains.

Teresa Lake.

The twisted, knotted and enduring Bristlecone Pine (well, this one is dead).

The Glacier below Wheeler Peak (summit sits at 13,159 feet). 

Loved exploring the forest surrounding the Bristlecone Pine Grove.

Good morning Mule Deer. Keep on enjoying those beautiful Aspens.

For my third visit the Great Basin, I did some new exploring. The snow is finally melted enough to hike up to the Bristlecone Pine grove, where you can hike around and learn about these very resilient trees. They are one of the oldest living organisms on the planet. Some of the pines in this area are as old as 3,500 years. Given a very slow growth rate (they live in altitudes around 10,000 feet), they are very dense and can survive in very harsh conditions. Fascinating trees!

Great Basin National Park: 5 out of 5 stars
Still one of my favorite parks. Even in the summer, there's very few people (especially of the selfie stick, don't get out of the car breed). It's free to enter, you can backcountry camp wherever you want (and build a fire), and the stars are better than most other places in the country. Check it out!

Fun Fact: After forest fires (typically from lightning strikes) burn down the pines and elms, Aspens come in and thrive in the open environment. Once they grow large enough, they provide sufficient shade for pines and elms to seed and grow again, at which point they take over until the next fire comes to start the cycle again.