Week 101: Great Basin National Park

Plus exciting art news!

May 4-10, 2026

Hello, hello and welcome back to another update on our grand adVANture! We spent the week at Great Basin National Park near Baker, Nevada — and what a week it was.

The view from Mather Overlook at Great Basin National Park.

Before I jump into the weekly update I have two big pieces of art news to share:

Art News

Artist Residency at Cascade Siskiyou National Monument, Oregon

I’m honored and excited to be selected as this year’s artist-in-residence at Cascade Siskiyou National Monument. I’ll be there June 1-22 and can’t wait to get started!

I’ll be giving a public outreach program on June 12th and 13th in conjunction with the Project MARIPOSA Hike and Learn — stay tuned for more details! In the meantime, you can learn more about Project MARIPOSA here.

Wild Wonder Nature Journaling Conference

Save the date! I’m going to be an instructor at the annual online Wild Wonder Foundation’s Nature Journaling Conference, September 15-19, 2026. I’m so excited to be teaching along with some of my favorite art heroes and friends.

Here’s the lineup:

I’ve learned so much from the online Wild Wonder conferences I’ve attended — I haven’t missed a single one! I highly recommend signing up, especially for the live pass so that you can interact with the instructors and feel like you’re part of this inspiring international community. (The live pass includes access to the recorded sessions as well.) Find out more and signup with the early bird discount here.

Now back to the weekly update!

Great Basin National Park

When we first arrived at Great Basin National Park, Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive was only open to Mather Overlook, not to the Wheeler Peak Trailhead itself. We knew about this annual winter closure before we arrived, but we were hoping that it would open to the trailhead so we could see the Great Basin bristlecone pines without having to do a 12 mile day hike.

We had some rounds of rain, freezing rain, and snow so we didn’t have our hopes up…until Jason spied a park service pickup driving by our campsite with a barrier in the back. We quickly checked the park website, and the road was open to the trailhead! WOO HOO!

We planned to hike up and see the bristlecone pines the next day!

Hike to the Bristlecone Pines

On May 6th we stopped at the Mather Overlook to see where we were hiking — what a view, amiright? Remember this scene for later.

The view from Mather Overlook before hiking up to see the Great Basin Bristlecone pines!

Backing up a bit, I thought I’d share a blurb about Great Basin bristlecone pines from the park website:

Great Basin Bristlecone Pines (Pinus longaeva) are remarkable for being the oldest non-clonal species on the planet. These hardy trees, shaped by wind, snow, and rain survive thousands of years, overseeing the rise and fall of great empires, growing through ice-ages and catastrophic volcanic eruptions. But their ability to survive these harsh environments and adverse growing conditions is exactly their secret to great longevity.

The Great Basin bristlecone pines in the Wheeler Peak Grove where we were headed are estimated at being between 2,000-4,000 years old. There are dead trees that are still standing that are 5,000 years old. We learned from our time at Bryce Canyon that bristlecone pine needles can last up to 45 years. Wow! I couldn’t wait to see them. But first we had to stop at Stella Lake.

The trail to Stella Lake.

Stella Lake

The trail was free of snow until we got to Stella Lake — but that just made the view all the more stunning:

Doso Doyabi on the left and Wheeler Peak on the right.

The views were so amazing. I was in awe.

We stopped for a snack and soaked it all in.

I just HAD to do a quick pen + ink sketch to capture the feeling of being here, taking notes so that I could do a small watercolor study back at camp:

Just so beautiful and peaceful.

Teresa Lake

We stopped briefly at Teresa Lake to take in the beautiful view:

It’s hard to show the scale out here!

Then the snow started getting deeper and deeper!

Slipping and Sliding

After leaving Teresa Lake the hiking got harder. I stopped to put on my knee-high gaiters because I kept postholing in snow up to mid-thigh!

I was super glad to have waterproof hiking boots, hiking poles, and those gaiters, especially on one of the north facing slopes. It was a slip n’ slide and I’ll admit that I was a little nervous about falling and rolling down the side of the mountain.

I was also glad to have lots of layers! I wasn’t sure what to wear while hiking at 10,000 feet with temperatures in the 30s, but I finally settled on a sun hoody (I put the hood up!), windbreaker, vest, and I also brought along a winter jacket that I kept taking on and off. When we were hiking hard the sun hoody/windbreaker/vest combo was perfect.

We stopped for a quick break after we got out of the worst section and I heard someone call “Sideoats!?! Lisa??! Is that you??” and here it was my Instagram friend Laura (@lalamcg2010) and her husband Liam. She had seen the van in the parking lot and recognized it, plus she saw me heading off up the trail. We’d never met in real life before but it felt like I’d known her forever. What a small world, right?

Scenes from the hike out to the Wheeler Peak grove of the Great Basin bristlecone pines.

It was neat to see the desert down below while hiking in snow!

Bristlecones at Last!

Then we rounded a corner — and there were the Great Basin bristlecone pines at last.

It was such a humbling experience walking among these ancient trees.

I thought about how they’re such tough survivors — I want to be a bristlecone pine when I grow up!

There weren’t as many footprints here, and we were guessing that we were among maybe 10 people to hike out and see the bristlecones that day.

We had a laugh at this bench — and had a snack on a boulder instead!

I also sat on a rock to do a quick sketch. I can’t wait to have more time to try and paint one and capture that feeling of awe.

As I was sketching I wondered what trees would say if they could talk.

I felt so grateful we got to hike up here.

In the Junior Ranger booklet — more on that below — it said that we could (gently) touch the tree bark.

Some of the older trees have shed their bark.

I carefully put my palm on a tree, closed my eyes, and breathed in and out. A feeling of profound peace came over me, and I wished that everyone could experience something like this, if only for a few moments.

Photo by Jason.

We also got to see Wheeler Cirque Rock Glacier, the only glacier in Nevada and one of the southernmost glaciers in the United States. If you scroll back up to the photo from Mather Overlook it’s the same glacial view! So cool.

Wheeler Cirque Rock Glacier, photo by Jason.

Sunlight glowing through the bristlecones.

We weren’t sure about hiking out any further with the snow hiding obstacles underneath — plus the sun was starting to go behind Wheeler Peak — so we decided to play it safe and save it for next time.

Then we double-timed it back to the van!

Luckily the north-facing sketchy section was starting to freeze up again and it made the going so much easier. I even stopped for a quick picture:

This half-mile section was a slip n’ slide earlier in the day!

We stopped again at Stella Lake to catch a bit of alpenglow on the peaks:

The robins were calling goodnight as we kept hiking in the fading light.

I eventually had to break out my headlamp as we made our way back to the van.

I’ll treasure these memories forever.

What an unforgettable day.

Hiking Baker Creek Loop

We wanted to get one more hike in before leaving Great Basin, but we were still recovering from the hard 8-mile hike to see the bristlecones. So we decided to do the easy/moderately rated Baker Creek Loop to see what we could see.

It was a great hike! Since this post is so long already I’ll just share a few favorite photos — but first, on our way to the trailhead we met the owners of AEONrv #127 — so cool. It’s like being in a club — and making instant friends. (Find out more about our AEONrv here and as always, please let me know if you have any questions.)

The aspen trees were just starting to leaf out and we got to see lots of flowers, including foothills death camas, manzanita, and balsamroot!

The trail starts along Baker Creek, then winds up through sagebrush until it meets up with the creek again.

We kept smelling elk but didn’t spot any. We did see a herd of deer that we kept chasing down the trail:

Another awesome hike at Great Basin National Park in the books.

I’m a Great Basin Junior Ranger + Night Explorer!

I haven’t become a Junior Ranger for a long time, but I just HAD to do it here at Great Basin because I fell in love with the park and wanted to learn more.

The view from the Great Basin Visitor Center.

It’s the best feeling taking the Junior Ranger oath — I always get a little teary.

I can’t wait to make it back to Great Basin someday when Lehman Caves are open — they were closed for lighting renovations when we were there, but opened up shortly after, darn. And I can’t wait to hike out and see the glacier — plus spend more time with the bristlecone pines!

Let me know if you’ve been to Great Basin — I’d love to hear about your experiences.

Thanks for following along, and catch you next week! — Lisa, Jason, & Henry-the-Van

One last peaceful photo from our hike to the bristlecone pines.