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Please click here for – Part Seven
Great Basin National Park
Our friends, The Teds, receive our “camped here for the night” InReach messages we send out from camp each night when on the road. We heard from them that Ted was feeling well enough to camp again, they were heading east, we were heading west, could they possibly intersect with us? Midday we located their campsite in Great Basin National Park’s Baker Creek Campground.
It was great to see our friends again, and even better to see them out camping with their Tiger.
After getting settled into a campsite just down from The Teds, Donna agreed to join the Lady and me on a short hike up to the first meadow on the South Fork Baker Creek. The fall foliage was beginning to really shine here as we climbed.
The abundant Mountain Mahogany were covered with their “fuzzy tail” seeds.
We reached the meadow and took a long break. We noticed up at the higher elevations that the aspen were at the peak of fall colors.
Interrupting their chatter, the girls allowed me to take a photo.
It was wonderful to share the evening with our friends. The temps were pleasant and the night clear.
The next day the Lady and I wanted to stretch our legs and go high in search of aspen in prime colors. We hiked up Timber Creek to the high meadow, descended South Fork Baker Creek, and added in the spur over into the main Baker Creek.
The high meadow, (at 9600 feet) just below Snake Divide is one of our favorite spots in Great Basin National Park, especially when it's all dressed up.
We love to relax at a spot we call “the boulders.”
When we visit this spot we usually find evidence that people have enjoyed this place for centuries. Here is an obsidian chip from tool making.
We circled the meadow before rejoining the trail down South Fork Baker Creek. There was wind and it was cold up here.
We reached the meadow we took Donna to the afternoon before.
The spur took us over the ridge and to Baker Creek. The trail was littered with colorful aspen leaves.
Lower down, in the mountain mahogany, we came upon turkeys.
We reentered aspen groves as we neared the campground.
We had quite a nice surprise when returned to our campsite. Across from us, and below The Teds, was a familiar van.
It was our friends Bill & Veronica. It was a wonderful coincidence that we all happened to be here at the same time. We were heading west toward home and Bill & Veronica were starting a trip that was taking them east.
Donna & Ted, Veronica & Bill, and Julie – the Lady.
We also met Sarah, a newly retired school teacher from Moab, out with her brand new All Terrain Camper.
This impromptu get together of really nice people made for a wonderful afternoon and evening with stories and laughter and good times. Thank you and hugs to all!
We all parted company in the morning, although we were joining The Teds again. Due to Ted needing breaks from riding in the vehicle, they travel at a different pace. They headed west early in the day. The Bills headed east. We took our time and visited a few additional sites in the Park.
We revisited two sites we had found about a dozen years ago. Entry into the caves is strictly prohibited. I wanted to rephotograph the pictographs and apply DStretch to the new images.
These benefited with the use of DStretch.
The dark entrance to the second cave.
The weather was changing dramatically. Rain, wind, and snow was forecast to hit the Great Basin later in the day.
We reconnected with The Teds in the late afternoon. They were settled into the campsite in the middle of Nevada we had used the first night of this trip. Dark clouds moved in from the southwest, rain began to fall, and we took refuge in our respective campers. In rained all night and did not give us a break in the morning. Breakfast was inside. New snow topped the peaks all around us. It was time to end the trip and return home.
So, this is the story of how we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. We did it just right, just right indeed. And we plan to keep celebrating anniversaries like this long into the future.
Thanks for following along.