Wheeler Peak is an enormous mountain located near Nevada's eastern border with Utah, in the Great Basin National Park. The peak dominates the view for miles around, and rises almost 7,000 vertical feet above the surrounding valleys. It is less than 100 feet lower than Boundary Peak, Nevada's highest point of elevation, located way on the west side of the state. My father and I were spending a week exploring Nevada's interior, and a few days earlier we both made the hike up Mount Grant, the highpoint of Mineral County off to the west. Wheeler Peak had been on my "to do" list for a long time; I had originally planned to hike it in 2000 but forest fires in the area made hiking an untenable option.

My dad and I had spent the previous evening way up in Jackpot, on Nevada's northern border with Idaho. We made the long drive south along US-93 to Ely, then along US-6/50 east about 70 miles to the Great Basin National Park entrance. In order to acclimatize, we drove up the paved and scenic Wheeler Peak Road to the campgrounds at elevation 9,800 feet, arriving about 3 in the afternoon. The whole drive that afternoon had been in cloudy, rainy weather, and I was concerned that my hike the next morning might be affected by the weather. The monsoon weather pattern is typical this time of year, but this seemed to be just a bit more cloudy and rainy than usual. In any case, I'd have to take a calculated gamble, as always. When we arrived at our campsite, we had a steady rain accompanied with thunder. We quickly set up the tent- big enough to hold the both of us in lawn chairs, and we waited out the rain and drank a beer. About 4 p.m. the rain stopped, the clouds broke and the weather actually became fantastic!

We decided to make a short loop hike to a couple of glacial lakes. The hike went about 3 miles and got as high as 10,300 feet. It gave me a chance to check out the trail, too. Views up to the summit and the cliffs in the glacial cirque were astounding. It took about an hour to do the hike. We returned to the campsite about 5-ish, then spent the rest of the evening eating and relaxing. When darkness fell about 8:30, we both decided to get to bed- my dad in the bed of his truck, me in the tent. I slept well, but another storm blew through about midnight... giving me more cause for concern. I hoped whatever was stirring up the weather would go away, and let the monsoon do its own thing. At least the monsoon is predictable: cloudless in the morning, storms in the afternoon.

At 4:30 the next morning I awoke and got my hiking clothes on and my stuff together and started up the trail. I made good time, covering the initial mile and 500-feet of gain in about 20 minutes, going up the same route as on the lakes loop from yesterday. Just before the lakes the Wheeler Peak trail makes a hard right (north) and crosses through some trees then out into a large meadow that allowed for some magnificent views of the valleys far below and of the glacially sculpted Wheeler Peak to my south. The trail eventually bends and curves south again, reaching a broad saddle at about 10,800 feet elevation and 2 miles in. The trail up to this point was very well maintained and the gradient very pleasant. I was at this saddle lessthan an hour after beginning.

From the saddle the trail continues amid the sparser forest of limber pine and gnarled krumholz. The trail steepens and becomes significantly rockier, although still well-defined and well-maintained. Other than the elevation and steepness, it was easy. The summit of Wheeler is not visible for much of this portion. Instead, a foreground bump served as an immediate goal. The weather was holding steady- mostly cloudless but one bank of clouds nearby looking slightly threatening. I "achieved" the aforementioned bump at roughly 11,500 feet, once again viewing Wheeler's summit, now much closer. About this time I was passed up by a family of four. They were making good time, especially their older son. I actually hiked with them for about a half-hour.

The route reaches another "bump" at about 12,000 feet, where it levels just for a bit, before the final 1,000 vertical feet to the top. From below it looks pretty daunting but the trail, as rocky as it was, still makes for a good and obvious route to the top. I hadn't been above 12,000 feet in 2 years (I had been to 11,900 on 3 occasions however), and I could feel the effects of the thin air. But the summit wasn't far off and I made it to the top at about 7:15 a.m., roughly 2.5 hours and 4 miles after starting, with about 3,200 feet of gain. The weather held up great. The family of four had beat me there by about 10 minutes. We relaxed in a large stone windbreak. The views were amazing: sharp abrupt peaks forged by glaciers, steep cliffs, moraine fields, and 360-degree views across Nevada and Utah. I stayed for about 40 minutes, walking along the summit ridge to another large cairn overlooking the main cirque and campground below. The highpoint appears to be near the windbreak. A sign at the summit gives what I think is an inaccurate elevation... but so what. Three years to the day was the last time I'd been at or above 13,000 feet, and I was feeling great! The family of four started down while I stayed up top. I could see a bunch of Boy Scouts coming up, so I figured I'd get moving to beat the crowd.

I caught up to the family again, hiked with them for a bit, then parted ways at the saddle at 10,800, where I took an extended break to feed and water myself, whiz, and change into some drier clothes. The hike down went very quickly, and I was back to our campsite just before 10 a.m., surprising my dad who figured I'd be gone for another 2 hours at least. He was happy, though, as he was starting to feel sick from the elevation, and it was just as well to get going and down off the mountain as soon as possible. We did stop at the visitor's center and got a lunch. Driving back to Ely, we stopped at a peculiar 'town' called Major's Place, at the junctions of US-93 and US-6/50 in the middle of nowhere, west of Wheeler Peak. It's basically a bar that sells some gas - with a minimum purchase required and at a very high price. Definitely for emergencies. By this time (noonish), the storm clouds were amassing again, shrouding Wheeler in a mantle of white and grey. I was glad to be off the mountain.

After a day and night in Ely, we went back to Las Vegas via US-6 and NV-375, the so-called "Extraterrestrial Highway". NV-375 skirts Nellis Air Force Range and the famous Area-51, and the lone little town of Rachel makes good money by promoting aliens and UFOs. But the "A-Le-Inn" in Rachel does have some excellent burgers for such an out of the way locale. The walls are covered in photographs that purport to be UFOs. Most (to me) are clearly not UFOs - a lot are clouds, tricks of the light or too fuzzy or suspect to be taken seriously. Some people even confuse their own foggy breath with UFOs. A few others are interesting, we'll say. I imagine this place gets a few of the 'believers', but most people who show up here come for the grub, the isolation and the experience. I recommend it.