After the hauntingly strange and sleepless night in Wells, Nevada, we departed for our next destination - Baker, NV - a small town only a few miles from the The Great Basin National Park...population, 65. Having a nice collection of "post impression art" along the road leading to Baker made the drive even more enjoyable. As we arrived, the only other camper pulled out and we had the entire campground to ourselves - it seemed like the entire town was just ours to enjoy. Making it even better, the visitor's center for the park was just across the road which just added to the nice experience we had while off exploring Baker, Nevada and the Great Basin National Park. Entrance to the park is free but there is a fee to tour Lehman Caves. If you only have one day to visit the Great basin NP, the must do trip would be to make the drive to the end of the park (allow 4 hours) along Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive and hike the Bristlecone Pine Groves; and, if you have time and energy, continue on to hike the Glacier Peak Trail - but no need to hike all the way to see the glacier, you will be disappointed in its size. When the trail tops the boulder field, you will be at the base of the glacier and Wheeler Peak. The views are incredible and simply being around living trees over 3,000 years old somehow brings about a sense of hope for all living things...I even hugged a 3,200 year old tree which gave me a tingly sensation and a sense of rejuvenated youth and adventure. So, I guess you can now call me a "tree hugger"...hardee, harr, harr. There is an abundant of wildlife and most often seen are turkeys, mule deer and marmots and as we made the hike to Glacier Peak, you coudn't help but smell the freshly sprayed scent of a skunk but it never graced our presence, merely our nose and eyes - at one point my eyes watered and burnt so much I couldn't see to move across the unsteady rocks of the boulder field. Every step was made as if I was in slow motion, seemingly to allow the bitter scent of the skunk seep deeper into my clothes, flesh and nasal passage. I placed each foot on the most steady rock, regained my balance and wiped eyes, repeatedly until I cleared the raw, stinging smell of peaved pole cat. After finding fresh air and making my recovery, I could enjoy one of the prettiest vista's in Nevada...the meadow, in full bloom was blanketed beneath the lush, sub-alpine forest which was layered against the deep-green bristlecone pines - the charcoal-colored peak was lined by the deepest blue sky and the whitest of clouds just started to build behind the massive mountain. There are lots of beautiful scenery throughout the park and if you hike at a steady pace, there would be time to make a couple of short hikes off on one of the adjoining spurs. The Tresea Lake and Stella Lake Trails are very pretty paths that lead you through sub-alpine forests to lakes so small they should be called Tresea and Stella Puddles. Though there was disappointment to the size of the lakes, the walk was beautiful, gentle and as peaceful as a sleeping baby. For the most part, the trails are primitative but relatively easy; most have gnarley roots and loose rock with some twisting, while climbing turns; there is also an elevation gain of 600 feet on the Bristlecone Trail and 1,100 feet elevation gain on the Glacier Peak Trail and other trails vary greatly between 80 ft and 3,000 ft elevation. The Great Basin is a region that has significiant geographical, cultural, historical, natural and scenic features. Tribes of the Shoshone and Piautes still live here today and though the days of prospecting for gold, silver and copper have deminished, there is still evidence of their existence tucked away in the landscape. During the "boom" years, small settlements of Greek, Serbs, Italians, Basques, and Scandinavians grew and though the "boom period" is long gone, their culture and natural heritage is still an important component in the area - the one that stood out the most for me was the fact there are only 65 people in this town and five, full-service liquor bars... you gotta love the Scandinavians for their appreciation of a fine cocktail. One unique geological attribute about Great Basin National Park is that there is no outlet to the sea; the rivers and streams are collected in the many shallow lakes and marshes and the water evaporates in the dry desert air. The visit to Great Basin NP not only had one of the most scenic vistas ever, with it's high desert against the western landscape, but also it had an amazing night-time enchantment with the star-lit sky that glowed beyond belief and a view of the Milky Way seemed to never end. Though our time in Baker had come to an end, our appreciation of the area's beauty will continue to exist in our memories, through our pictures and with our writings.