Announcement: Major production funding for Wild Nevada is made possible by the Nevada Commission on Tourism, who encourages everyone to explore the Silver State's hidden treasures.

MUSIC.

>> Dave: Hi, welcome to Wild Nevada.

I'm Dave Santina.

>> Chris: And I'm Chris Orr.

And we are in T&D's Country Store and Restaurant in Baker, NV.

And Baker is about 7 miles, as the crow flies, from the Utah border in the east part of Nevada.

And T&D's is a great place to get supplies and some good human fuel for what's going to be a great trip.

>> Dave: Yeah.

We're going to need it too because this is the gateway to Great Basin National Park and you can do a lot of different things there.

We're going to do some of them, as many as we can on this trip.

The national park was established in '86, but the story of Great Basin National Park goes way back to the 1920's.

MUSIC >> Chris: The cave's discovery dates to 1885 when local rancher Absalom Lehman stumbled across a natural opening to an underground labyrinth.

Later, in 1921, the Rhodes family, who managed the caves, offered local residents and hardy travelers trips into this underworld paradise - for a price.

A scant 80 folksúwisited that first year.

MUSIC >>Dave: Then in 1922, President Warren Harding signed a proclamation making the caves a national monument and paid admissions jump to 287 visitors!

Senator Key Pittman got into the act in 1924 when he tried to establish the Lehman Caves-Wheeler Peak Area National Park.

But, his bill failed to garner any support from his eastern colleagues and so this spectacular wilderness area languished as a tourist destination.

There was a second push to establish a national park in the 1950's, but it was met with resistance from mining and grazing interest.

But, the Wheeler Peak aficionados continued to lobby for a national park and in October of 1986, their persistence was rewarded when the Great Basin National Park was established.

MUSIC >> Chris: The best way to explore the park is by hiking.

If you want to experience true solitude in nature, Great Basin will deliver.

It has spectacular scenery, hiking trails, and back-country adventures that will knock your socks off.

A few years ago, we backpacked across the spine of the Park from Mount Washington to Johnson Lake.

Just as spectacular was a hike along the Alpine Lakes Loop Trail, which took us to Stella Lake and offered views of Wheeler Peak.

>> Dave: On another trip, we repelled into Indian Burial Cave just outside the park.

Once on the cave floor, we descended another 100 feet into a huge room.

>> Rob: Oh!

>> Dave: Oh, look at that!

>> Rob: That's the bottom of the cave.

>> Dave: (Laughs).

>> Chris: When you visit the Park, there are limited choices of where to stay.

The Park has four developed campgrounds.

Border Inn sits right on the Nevada-Utah border.

You can buy your gas in Utah and your beer in Nevada.

Or sleep in Utah and eat in Nevada.

Personally, we like to stay in Baker because it offers proximity to the park.

Though small, Baker does have a good motel and a restaurant with a surprisingly rich menu.

>> Dave: The town of Baker was founded in the 1890's and was named for George W. Baker, one of the earliest settlers in the region.

During the early 1900's, Baker was populated by colorful characters who enjoyed all-night dances and gambling.

Still, Baker remained a service town to local ranchers and area travelers.

>> Dave: Ranger Sarah >> Sarah: Hello.

How ya doin'?

>> Chris: We're starting our day with a hike.

We meet Ranger Sarah Remec at the Timber Creek Trail Head.

>> Dave: It's beautiful out here.

What have you got planned for us today?

>> Sarah: Well, we're going to head up the south-fork Baker Creek Trail up to Timber Creek.

>> Dave: Good.

>> Sarah: Are you guys ready?

>> Chris: Yeah!

>> Sarah: Okay >> Dave: Yeah.

I'm listening to that rolling water.

Is that, that's just powerful.

>> Sarah: Yeah.

>> Chris: There is definitely a lot of water.

(Laughs).

>> Chris: As we begin the hike, we cross a small footbridge.

But the water rushing beneath it is extremely strong.

Sarah tells us that the hard winter has caused excessive spring runoff throughout the park.

In fact, some places, like the Lexington Arch Trail, are closed due to washed out roads.

>> Dave: Whoo, muddy.

MUSIC >> Sarah: We actually had about 300% of our average precipitation this year.

So, we got a lot more snow and a lot more rainfall.

Um, and the snow melt is why our creeks are cold right now.

>> Chris: So, Sarah, what's the best time of year to see the wildflowers around here?

>> Sarah: Uh, definitely the Spring.

Uh, the wildflowers can start as early as April and last through June and July.

>> Dave: Is this more than normal or is this due to the water runoff?

>> Sarah: It is because of the water.

This is definitely more than normal.

We always have some wildflowers, we always have this much mix of wildflowers, the different types, but not usually this many in one area.

MUSIC >> Chris: Now, how many trails are actually in the Great Basin, hiking trails?

>> Sarah: You know, I don't know the exact number, but there's a lot.

Um, there's at least over 15.

And, then when you count our back-country trails, um, out in the back part of the park it's probably 20-25 trails.

>> Dave: Kind of a hiker's paradise.

>> Sarah: Yeah, and that's, it's undiscovered, too.

There's not a lot of, not a lot of people who utilize this park, so, um, you don't often run into very many people on the trails.

>> Chris: And, actually there's a lot of different trails for different abilities, right?

>> Sarah: Mm, hmm.

>> Chris: So, if you only want to do a mile or... >> Sarah: Yes.

>> Chris: a mile-and-a-half... >> Sarah: Yes, our shortest, um, hike is a half-mile hike and then up to, you know, 20, 30 miles, however far you wanna go.

>> Chris: So, you can really set it according to your level... >> Sarah: Right.

>> Chris: ... of how far you want to go into the park.

>> Sarah: Yes, you can hike at a lower elevation or you can hike all the up to 13,000 feet.

If you're a peak bagger, you can get up to the high peaks.

>> Chris: The park really has a lot to offer... >> Sarah: Mm, hmm.

>> Chris: ...for people who like to hike.

>> Sarah: Oh, yeah.

>> Dave: We'll let you decide how far we go today.

>> Chris: (Laughs).

>> Sarah: Okay.

>> Dave: Take pity on us, though.

>> Chris: (Laughs).

MUSIC >> Sarah: The fork in the road.

>> Chris: (Laughs).

>> Chris: Testing our creek-crossing skills.

>> Dave: (Laughs).

>> Sarah: Yeah.

>> Dave: The trail has become more like a small creek as we make our way across this meadow.

As we gain elevation, we expect to put the water behind us.

MUSIC >> Dave: For those who don't want to hike, take the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive.

This 12-mile drive takes you through ecological zones ranging from the sagebrush foothills to the subalpine forests as you go from about 7,000 feet elevation to more than 9,900 feet elevation.

And, along the way, there are a number of scenic overlooks where you can enjoy the views.

>> Chris: What kind of climate is Great Basin really classified as?

>> Sarah: Well, that's the neat thing about this park is 'cause we have about, I think, five or six different climatic zones from the desert sagebrush all the way up to the alpine zones where there is no vegetation.

>> Dave: It feels like we're changing zones now.

>> Sarah: Yeah, we are.

We're going up higher.

>> Chris: That's a good little incline there.

>> Sarah: Yeah.

>> Dave: I'm glad it's flattening out.

This is good.

>> Chris: This is very nice.

>> Dave: I'm ready for the rest.

>> Sarah: We're almost to the top.

>> Chris: About a mile into the hike, we crest a small rise which give us a great view of the area.

From here we can see the crown jewel of the North Snake Range- the 12,000-foot Mount Moriah.

But as Sarah points out we can also see many of the park's signature peaks.

>> Chris: Now, which peaks are we looking at?

>> Sarah: Well, this one here on the right is Jeff Davis Peak.

>> Dave: That's the softer, smoother top part.

>> Sarah: Uh, huh.

Yes.

>> Dave: Okay.

>> Sarah: And, then the one next to it is Wheeler Peak.

And, that's our highest peak in the park, it's a little bit over 13,000 feet.

>> Dave: And, then, what, there's a sharp one next to it on the left.

>> Sarah: Uh, huh.

That would be Baker preak, Baker Peak.

And, right below it is, uh, Baker Lake, and you can hike up to there, there's a trail.

It's about a six-mile hike.

And, then next to it is Pyr, uh, False Pyramid Peak.

And, then there's a little snow-capped one to the left of it, and that's Pyramid Peak.

>> Chris: What's on the other side of the trail?

>> Sarah: Uh, let's go see.

It's another canyon just like the one we came from.

>> Chris: Now, what, what is this one called?

>> Sarah: This one is called Pole Canyon.

>> Chris: Now, can you hike down this way?

>> Sarah: Yeah, uh, huh.

It's about, uh, you can hike down here, it's all downhill, through the canyons about three-and-a-half miles.

And, then you can loop back your car and go back up three miles up the road, if you want to, or you can just, uh, hike as far as you want down and then come on back up.

>> Dave: The next time.

Next time we'll do it all.

>> Sarah: Alright.

>> Dave: This is a good point to turn around and head back down to the trail head.

>> Chris: Our next stop is the Grey Cliff pictograph site.

This is located just off the Baker Creek Trail road near the Grey Cliffs Primitive Campground.

MUSIC >> Dave: Looks like a cave.

>> Chris: So, actually, there's supposed to be a bunch of rock-art sites in the, in the park itself.

But, this one's on the map, so I figured it would be out.

And, there they are.

>> Dave: Yeah.

Pictographs!

>> Chris: And, actually, look, there's some down here, too.

>> Dave: Oh, there's some closer ones.

That's a familiar pictograph shape.

We've seen it before, that kind of 'V' shape.

>> Chris: Cylinoid, mm, hmm.

>> Dave: It's almost, yeah, almost like it's made out of two arrowheads.

>> Chris: Oh, and there's even some down here that are more faint.

>> Dave: Oh, yeah.

>> Chris: This pictograph site is just one of 17 known rock-art sites in the park.

Most pictographs are found on light-colored rock surfaces in protected areas such as caves, rock shelters or beneath over-hangings protecting them from the weather.

The two colors used to create pictographs here in the Park were shades of red, which is the most common, and black.

>> Dave: It's dark in there.

>> Chris: These really show up.

>> Dave: Look at how red they are.

>> Chris: Pop right out.

>> Dave: They're really preserved well.

>> Chris: Little pocket caves all along there.

>> Dave: This must've been a, a hangout.

>> Chris: It'd be a great place for a shelter.

>> Dave: Have a fire.

>> Chris: Yeah.

>> Dave: Probably.

>> Chris: Well, you have water.

>> Dave: Yeah.

And, it's a painting party.

>> Chris: (Laughs) Finger painting.

>> Dave: Finger painting party, yes.

>> Dave: The caves, while tempting to explore, are off limits.

As with all wilderness areas, respect these cultural sites so others can enjoy them.

MUSIC >> Dave: The sun bursts out once again as we arrive at the new visitor center.

Construction is still underway with its official dedication just a week away .

>> Chris: Hi, there!

>> Dave: We meet Cindy Nielson, the Park's superintendent, who introduces us to one of the features in the new visitor's center.

>> Cindy: So, I think this map right here is a good place to start and to understand what it is that we're talking about.

This whole shaded area is The Great Basin.

>> Dave: That's huge.

>> Cindy: So, this is the Great Basin Desert.

Watch this line and go over here to the map about plants and animals.

About bio-diversity.

This line north into Idaho, Oregon and most all of Nevada and a good piece of Utah is the Great Basin defined by the plants and animals that grow here.

So, that's kind of where the Great Basin is.

Why the Great Basin is is better understood over here.

And, this is about geology which effects topography and the flow of water.

And, that's the Great Basin story.

The crust stretched and is still stretching.

Very slowly.

This way.

>> Dave: Okay.

>> Cindy: So, that means the mountain ranges then... >> Dave: They're spreading apart.

>> Cindy: I'll tell you, I kind of think of it as stretch marks.

>> Dave: (Laughs).

>> Cindy: So, those, those valleys or those basins are the stretch marks as the crust stretches and the mountains are the peaks left behind.

>> Chris: That's a good way of looking at it.

>> Cindy: Enough about that, let's talk about water.

And, here you can see those north-south turning mountain ranges a little bit better, Dave.

>> Dave: Yeah.

>> Cindy: Um, hydrology, the study and science of water is what really defines the Great Basin itself, all 190,000 square miles of it.

And, when... >> Chris: So, when a person comes to visit Great Basin, what is the one thing you really hope they take away with them?

>> Cindy: I think the information that the park is just a small part and a representative sample of the entire Great Basin and there's lots of different ways to define, um, what the Great Basin is.

It's also the typical assemblage of plants and animals.

The idea that Wheeler Peak is an island in a sea of sagebrush covered with aspens, uh, white fir and even bristlecone pine, a very different species from what we find on the valley floors in Nevada and the rest of the Great Basin.

So, the park is really, uh, a sample, a representative piece and that goes along with our mission of using this as a jumping-off place, uh, using this center as a place to come and either learn more about the culture and natural history of the park or to begin your journey to do that on your own.

So, we really feel like we have a purpose to orient visitors, both state residents and national and international visitors, to the whole Great Basin.

>> Dave: The center also contains an area for traveling exhibits.

This current one was loaned by Idaho State's Museum of Natural History.

But, Cindy envisions a permanent exhibit on the Great Basin that will include a large tabletop sized topographic map and a series of natural history wall displays.

Located at the base of the park, this new visitors center will be a great addition to parks' facilities.,- MUSIC >> Chris: The Lehman Caves are the next stop on our trip.

We meet Roberta Moore who will guide us through this spectacular cavern.

>> Dave: Excited about seeing the caves.

I got my big flashlight, I'm ready.

>> Chris: So now, how did the cave get here?

>> Roberta: Well, before we talk about how the cave got here, why don't you let me show you the cave in its original state?

>> Dave: Okay.

>> Roberta: How it's been, well, any number of millions of years.

Some people say 300,000 to 5,000,000 years.

We used to say 1,000,000 to 19,000,000 years.

So, it's just a broad guess.

Are you ready?

>> Dave: Okay.

>> Roberta: All lights need to be off.

>> Dave: Okay.

>> Roberta: This is the cave in it's natural state.

>> Dave: (Laughs).

Okay.

Wow!

>> Roberta: So, we believe that basically starting about 600,000,000 years ago, all of this was under a warm shallow sea.

That sea was an intermittent sea lasting about 400,000,000 years.

And, of course, marine life living in the warm shallow sea would die.

And, as they died, their calcium-rich skeletal masses and shells would fall to the bottom of the sea and create layer upon oozy layer of what would turn into - what is this rock?

>> Chris: Limestone?

>> Roberta: Limestone.

>> Dave: Limestone.

>> Roberta: A very porous and easily dissolved rock.

MUSIC >> Chris: You know, it's kind of like something you'd find at Disneyland, but it's better because it's real.

>> Roberta: What I'd like to show you in this room is an interesting formation called helictites.

And, basically, the best way to describe them is if you look at this formation broken sometime maybe in the last 120 years, and you see this renewal at the bottom.

The renewal is called a 'soda straw', simply because it's hollow in the center and the walls are paper thin, and the droplet of solution at the bottom is as big a cave formation.

Well, just like any other pipe with highly mineralized water in it, it can clog.

So, one thing that can happen with the clog is that, say the bottom of my flashlight is a stalactite, solution coming down makes a clog here, it's a soda straw, basically, or a stalactite, solution coming through the center makes the clog, solution builds, suddenly it finds a weak spot in the side of the cave formation and it springs a leak and starts growing these slow-growing capillary cave formations, capillary-like cave formations that we call helictites.

MUSI >> Roberta: One thing that this cave is known for, it's known as, the reputation is that it's one of the most highly decorated caves in the United States, w ch means decorations are formations.

>> Chris: Wow!

MUSIC >> Chris: Now, why was it called the Wedding Chapel?

>> Roberta: Because between the early 1900's and 1965, about a half-dozen couples were married in this room.

Coming up from the floor would've sal-, served as an altar.

Bride and groom would've knelt here, minister or justice of the peace over here, and friends and family out here.

>> Dave: Roberta says that this is the Wedding Cake, which I guess is appropriate that it comes right after we exit the Wedding Chapel.

But, we can't eat this one, right?

>> Chris: Not a lot of wiggle room through here.

(Laughs).

>> Roberta: Or, for hats.

>> Chris: Wow, look at that!

>> Roberta: This, this beautiful room is called the Music Room because basically until the early 1960's, rangers used to come in and play what we call the Pipe Organ.

You can see the Pipe Organ right up here.

>> Chris: Oh, yeah.

Now, how would you play the Pipe Organ?

>> Roberta: With a, well, there's been many different stories, one story is that it's a steel mallet, some say a rubber mallet, a small hammer of sorts, and they would play music and just, "bong, bong, bong", play whatever tune.

But, unfortunately, as you can see here, we broke it.

>> Dave: Oh.

>> Roberta: So, we no longer do that.

>> Dave: No.

MUSIC >> Roberta: How we believe shields happen is that back here in the, the rock or the wall there is a crack, and, um, hydrostatic pressure pushes solution up under hot, well, high pressure and on each side of the crack it develops a lip of calcite which continues to grow into these two plates facing each other.

You can see the medial crack up here where it's broken away, between the two plates.

The pedestals underneath are from a very porous bottom plate seeping down and creating, for a lack of a better description, a column.

MUSIC >> Dave: This is what they call the King's Bathtub down here.

It's, uh, a pool of water.

>> Roberta: And, on the other side of this, what I call the Bus Stile, is the Queen's Bathtub, which is down considerably.

>> Chris: Oh, yeah.

So, you got the King and the Queen.

>> Voice: Explain what this is again.

>> Roberta: ...bacon, in a drapery, staining in the drapery created by possibly, um, iron oxides or mineralization, or fluvic or humic substance which means the tannins from the plants above us.

Beautiful though isn't it?,- >> Dave: It really looks like bacon.

>> Roberta: (Laughs).

MUSIC >> Roberta: This is called the Lake Room or Como Lake historically, named after the lake in, in Italy.

And, this lake, this is the first time I've seen water in it since 1997.

MUSIC >> Dave: Whoa.

That was fun, (laughs).

>> Chris: Thank you so much Roberta, that was wonderful.

>> Dave: What a great time.

We'll be back.

>> Roberta: Good.

MUSIC >> Chris: One of the most overlooked areas near Great Basin Park is the modest Baker Fremont Indian Archeological Site.

The site was excavated in the 1990's.

Today, it offers a solid self-guided tour.

MUSIC >> Chris: The Fremont were contemporaries of the Anasazi.

One of the surprising elements of this site is that the layout of the village suggests a complex and planned community.

The village consisted of adobe structures and pit houses.

More than 15 of these were excavated .

MUSIC >> Dave: Early studies of the Fremont showed a culture of small subsistence villages.

Because of this, archeologists considered them the 'hicks' of the early people.

But the Baker site has illustrated that the Fremont may have been just as complex as the Anasazi neighbors.

MUSIC >> Dave: The adobe outlines that we see today were actually built in 2002.

The actual structures and foundations were re-buried to protect the cultural features and preserve them for future study.

MUSIC >> Chris: We've had a fabulous trip here at Great Basin National Park, had a lot of fun.

>> Dave: Yeah, and what we did was just a fraction of the things that can be dome here in the park.

>> Chris: Very small fraction.

>> Dave: A very small fraction.

>> Chris: (Laughs).

>> Dave: We've been here three times now and we have done backpacking and camping, uh... >> Chris: Caving.

>> Dave: Caving and, uh... >> Chris: Hiking.

(Laughs).

>> Dave: ... hiking and, and we have witnessed quick weather changes like what we're having today where it's suddenly raining and... >> Chris: We've seen a very small area... >> Dave: This is just the smallest area of the park.

So when you come and enjoy it yourself, you'll find a totally different adventure and see things we've never seen.

>> Chris: Now if you want more information about this or any of our trips to Great Basin, you can visit us online at knpb.org.

We also have other trips there, and you can send us an email and tell us about some of your travels.

>> Dave: Yeah, and until our next Wild Nevada adventure, you get out there and enjoy this beautiful state for yourself.

MUSIC.

Announcement: Major production funding for Wild Nevada is made possible by the Nevada Commission on Tourism, who encourages everyone to explore the Silver State's hidden treasures.