Just got snowed on in June.
What up, guys? Kristin here coming at you from
Great Basin National Park in Nevada. We've got 48 hours here, and I'm picking the best
hikes to do, the best things to do. So, if you're going to be in the area, these are
the absolute best things that you can do with that time, including a glacier, one of the
most amazing sweeping views of the Great Basin in Nevada, and a little bit of extra fun stuff
as well. So, let's get in the car and get to hiking.
The first stop, Great Basin National Park. I'm really stoked to see this. I don't think
there's gonna be very many people there. Yes.
What do we have here? What is that? legs?
That is the Great Basin. So beautiful.
About to start a little hike, just some lakes. There's
not a lot of trails in this park, but I think what they do have is gonna be pretty impressive.
I've come to our first little lake
here. This is Stella Lake. There's two on this trail and a surprise at the end, but
I'm not gonna ruin for you yet. It's really pretty. There's tiny little brine shrimp in
here, and apparently, a lot of species up on this mountain that can't exist down in
the valley below because it's such a desert down there. But we're at 10,000 feet in elevation
here, which is 3,200 meters, I think.
The altitude is a bitch, which makes this hike a little bit harder than it would
be at a sea level, but the views are really amazing.
Dr. G, how do you feel about Teresa Lake?
Dr. G: I feel great.
Kristin: You feel great. Anything you wanna add? The mic is yours.
Dr. G: I feel great. I'm ready for the next.
Kristin: Wow, the Great Basin. Fun facts. The Great Basin is most of the state of Nevada.
And I don't really know why it has that name.
Because it's a great basin? Science is fun, kids.
A little hard to believe there's still snow on this trail when it's 90 down in the Basin.
Woo slushy. Oh, God. This will be fun to come back down.
I just don't know how many chins I have from that angle. It's fine, though. Let's make
it better. This is super cool. We're in, like, an amphitheater of granite right now and that
right there is the last glacier in Nevada. Oh, oh, kids, you want a little more science
time?
I've been doing a little reading, and it turns out that Nevada is the most mountainous state
in the lower 48. That is a pleasing rhyme, is it not? So, there's apparently 300 mountain
ranges here in Nevada. I thought it was all desert before I started really looking into
it. Nevada also has a higher percentage of public land than any other state, including
Alaska, and I didn't know that either. What other stat was mind-blowing?
Dr. G: Hot springs.
Oh, it has more hot springs than any other state, too.
Dr. G: More mountains and more hot springs.
More mountains and more hot springs. That's really true.
Dr. G: Any state.
So, we're at almost 11,000 feet right now. And are we really going up there tomorrow?
Dr. G: Tomorrow.
It's that one, you're sure?
Dr. G: It's up there.
Also, not a bad view.
All these really cool rocks. It looks like chimney's teeth
Wow. It's amazing.
Are you scared?
Dr. G: Very.
Kristin: Do you think we can do that?
Dr. G: Yeah. I don't think we can climb it.
Just up that sheer rock face. No, I don't think so either. I'm getting straight-up
hailed on right now. Look at this. Oh, my goodness. This is ice.
Okay. So, now we're
in the little bristlecone pine interpretive trail. And these trees, I didn't know are
the oldest living organisms on earth at 5,000 years old at least. That's what the interpretive
sign says. So...
Hey, Garrett, what does that remind you of?
What does it remind you of?
This is cool, though. Look at this tree. These trees apparently are really slow-growing and
the way that they are able to thrive here is occupying a space at a super-high elevation
where other trees can't grow very well. So, I don't know how many places in the world
they grow, but this is really Great Basin's claim to fame. And I'm really honestly super
impressed.
They're, like, squishy, big round trees and their resin is really interesting, super interesting.
There's a birthday. How old is it? 1230 BC. My God.
Well, that's kind of the day one
loop that I think most people here do in preparation for Wheeler Peak. So, we're gonna hang out,
though, and hopefully catch a sunset and maybe some stars through these trees later, if it
clears up. Now we wait for the sunset and the stars, meaning we basically do most of
it again. So, I'll see you in a couple of hours.
A few hours have passed and it looks ominous as fuck up there. Not very positive for a
clear sky tonight, but then over here...well, yeah, it looks ominous everywhere, but the
weather has been moving through quickly. So, I don't know what's gonna happen in the next
few hours. First, salad.
Okay. Well, that escalated quickly. Now, it's raining. Yeah.
Still, it's terrible behind me, but I hope it passes.
Look okay?
It's good as it's gonna look?
Dr. G: It looks much better.
All right.
Dr. G: Take a look. It's not dark.
Kristin: Well, whatever. Let's give it a try. Well, that's pretty.
All right. Start so many
videos like this. Come on, come on. Okay. I know this is shaky, but I'm hiking. So,
we are trying to get...wow. I need to pay attention. So, we, for the third time are
trying to get to maybe a view of the basin to catch the sunset. I got it a little bit
through those trees, but maybe up here we'll get lucky, and then we're just gonna hang
out until it's dark enough to photograph the stars. I cannot even breathe right now. Oh,
my God. Wow. Oh, wow. Oh, God. Wow. We did it.
Dr. G: We did it. It was like a sprint uphill.
Yeah. It's not easy sprinting uphill in at 11,000 feet. This is amazing, though.
It was worth it. Now, we're gonna hang out with our new/very old friends, the bristlecone
pines until the stars come out. I think we got a clear sky.
Dr. G: It became much more.
Yeah. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
Well, don't you love a story with
a happy ending? I have my retainers in. It's midnight, we just got back. We had an amazing
sunset, we had awesome star shots. Actually, it's not over yet because tomorrow is the
big hike, and I'm very tired. I will see you then.
Morning, everybody. So, after a nice, long sleep in, today, we're gonna climb Wheeler
Peak. So, it's a 3,000-foot gain over, like, 3 miles. It'll be a little steep, but hopefully,
yesterday helped us get acclimated a little bit. So, we'll see how it goes.
There she is.
If you find yourself on this road, especially at night, be really careful. We've encountered
what, like, eight deer... At least...
Dr. G: Eight or more.
Kristin: Eight or more, like, dozens of jackrabbits and a fox. So, enjoy the wildlife, but go
really slowly. It's super windy and narrow, so it's just not one to be speeding down.
Oh, God, we gotta climb that.
Dr. G: Then it's gonna be a long way down.
Kristin: Yeah. With no cloud cover today.
I am excited for the farmer tan. Yes.
It's really hot. Yesterday would have been a little hairy. Obviously, there was hail on us, like,
2,000 feet lower, but we're a mile in and I thought I'd be acclimated. And I'm fucking
exhausted and I have major tit sweat. But if this is the first video on my channel you're watching,
welcome. You know what to expect now.
I feel like this tree is watching and judging me.
Okay. Got a serious homestretch in front of us, and then a camping wind shelter
here. And the views on all sides are amazing. The wind is really strong. All I have to do
is stand up and get practically blown over, but I see the end, and I am stoked about it.
So, that's our end destination, probably
another 1,000 feet to go.
We climbed all the way up there today and back, and back.
Dr. G: And back.
Kristin: And back.
Dr. G: Now we got to get down for food.
Kristin: Yeah. Food.
Dr. G: The race to food!