'Wheeler Peak' - Great Basin NP - Nevada

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4x4      oil on canvas      nfs

Here is the first piece of a popular vista here at Great Basin NP... a view of Wheeler Peak Basin featuring the highest mountain in the area.. Wheeler Peak.. over 13,000'. The trail to the top is all high elevation... t starts at 10,000' from a little parking area along the drive to the end-of-the-road Wheeler campground. Once known for it's glacier.. now there is just a smidgeon of snow. The creeks formed by the melting glacier and seasonal snowpack provides a lush well-watered oasis in the dry high desert of Nevada. Better come visit before it becomes a shadow of it's former self.

The mountain mahogany [usually just a large bush] are tree sized here.. and the mormon tea [usually just a small shrub] are the largest I have ever seen.. mammoth. The feeling here is like witnessing the remnants of an once-lush bygone era.. still strong and magnificent.





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