My Wife Jessica and I had planned to go to New Mexico and backpack. Due to the weather, we changed our sites to Great Basin National Park in Nevada.  The Photograph above is one of my favorite Photographs I have taken to date!  Jess came up with the composition!  The weather is notably better than most Mid-West and West States this specific week. We only lived around eight hours from Baker Nevada (Gateway Community to Great Basin National Park), as our home was Grand Canyon National Park. A place that Jess and I still consider home even though we have since relocated to the East Coast. In our time living minutes from the Grand Canyon, the countless number of memories I have are overwhelming. From the quiet snowfall before the sun is up to the thunderous evenings filled with rain and monsoons. The Navajo Taco sales that the community would put on. Or the countless opportunities for adventures the state of Arizona brings with it. Needless to say, yes, we love Arizona.

Although I do have to step away from Arizona to tell you the rest of this story. After I got out of work and Jess did the same, we had Dinner and got prepared for the next day. We planned to leave in the morning for Baker Nevada. Allowing us a nice evening of rest before we embarked on the open road. The next morning, we grabbed some McDonald’s at the Gateway town of Tusayan down the road and headed out.

I had booked a campsite at an RV Park in the gateway town of Baker, Nevada, the evening before Jess and I got on the trail. After driving down a long dusty road full of birds flying in front of our car.  We made it to Baker just in time for a beautiful sunset, and then we made our way into the dimly lit “Whispering Elms RV Park”. I called the woman who was managing the operation and paid with her. Once I had paid, we drove to the back of the park and set up camp. The next morning, before breaking trail, Jessica and I went to the “Stargazer Inn and Bristlecone General Store”. We found hot breakfast and many books as well as odds and ends for sale. We also met a gentleman who used to be a Superintendent at Great Basin National Park. We talked with him for quite some time and then headed into the park to begin our journey. Once on the trail, we were greeted with the sound of singing birds, green forest, and rushing water.

Jess and I walked until we were passed Tree Line. On the way, we were met with many views… some looking up towards Wheeler Peak (the second highest Mountain Peak in Nevada) as well as views out toward the lowland desert far, far below. Not long before we arrived at Johnson Lake and our home for the night, we crossed some historic mining cabins far back in the Mountains.  Once we came to these cabins, we explored them and came up with an emergency shelter plan if something happened with Lightning or the weather.