The Great Basin

Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015. Suzanne, the doggies and I head out to western Utah near the Nevada border where we will spend the next three days camping and hiking in the Great Basin. The Great Basin is 209,162 square miles of land that covers western Utah, almost all of Nevada and small portions of California and Oregon. It is distinct in that all water and precipitation either evaporates or sinks down into the ground. None of it flows west into the Pacific ocean or south into the Gulf of Mexico. Most people would describe it as barren but Suzanne and I find it to be beautiful and full of life if you look closely.

After setting up camp I take a picture looking back east from where we came.

About 30 feet south of our camp I find this solitary tree to be picture worthy. The ground is white because of a high salt content. We are very close to the Bonneville Salt Flats.

It is Friday and Suzanne's birthday. She reminds me that it is also National Boss's Day. She wants to hike to a high rocky area we see to the north. Along the way we see lots of these succulents.

We come to a saddle were Suzanne and Dooley enjoy the view.

To me, even the black rocks and desert can be striking.

As we continue on our hike we come across this leg bone. It's probably from a mountain goat or a Big Horn Sheep that was dinner for a Mountain Lion.

Later in the afternoon we go exploring in my SUV. We want to drive west on the dirt road to see if there was a better area to set up a base camp. It doesn't take long before we see lots of runners. We ask this man what is going on. It turns out that we have stumbled into the annual Pony Express Trail 100. An ultra marathon through the Great Basin. I can't imagine running a hundred miles let alone through this shadeless unforgiving area.

Later that night the sunset was even more spectacular than this picture conveys.

The next morning back at camp Suzanne prepares fried potatoes and bacon for breakfast.

Later we head out for another hike with great views.

We spot this wild horse all alone. A herd is about a mile away. You can see scars on his back which probably means he was kicked out of the herd for picking a fight with the leader.

Clouds are moving in and the barometer on my GPS is falling which means a storm is approaching. Since we have about a hundred mile drive on a dirt road we pack up camp and head back. About 2 minutes after we reach a paved road the rain starts. All in all it was a very fun camping trip.