| its eastern side numerous
transverse ridges and canyons lead upwards toward several glacier-carved basins
situated under the rugged crests of the mountains, which culminate at the
summit of Wheeler Peak (l3,063 feet), Nevada's second highest mountain. Wheeler Peak is spectacular. A tremendous cirque has been carved into its eastern flanks, framed on one side by its enormous 1,800-foot north wall. Cradled within the cirque is the only glacier in which may be more of an ice field than a true glacier) in the Great Basin Area and growing on its slopes are some of the older and finer stands of bristlecone pine trees to be found. Noted Sierra Club member and author, the late Welon Heald, described the Snake Range as " . . . snow-streaked peaks and ridges that resemble a piece of the Colorado Rockies dropped into arid Nevada by mistake." Of Wheeler Peak he wrote, "Bearing a remarkable resemblance to the east face of Longs Peak, it rivals that famed Colorado cirque in size and grandeur, and its glacier is much larger and more impressive. The enclosing walls rise in a horseshoe of great cliffs. 1,500 to 2,000 feet high with Wheeler Peak soaring at the head in an unbroken, almost perpendicular precipice." It is difficult to imagine a mountain in Nevada rivaling Longs Peak. Heald was the original proponent for the creation of a national park in the Snake Range, centering around the Wheeler Peak area and the existing Lehman Caves National Monument. He wrote many articles with descriptions and comparisons for that purpose, for various publications. The proposal for national park status gained momentum from several organizations, but it was not without its critics. The bill to create the Great Basin Range National Park was defeated in Congress in 1966. ----- Weldon F. Heald, "The Proposed Great Basin Range National Park," Sierra Club Bulletin, Vol. 41, December 1956, pp. 48, 52. |
The approach to Wheeler Peak is made
on State Highway 74. which leads westward from the small town of Baker to
Lehman Caves National Monument. From the monument, take a turnoff onto a paved
forest service road to its end at the Wheeler Peak Campground (10,000 feet) at
the Foot at the mountain. Wheeler Peak is hidden from the road most of the way
by intervening foothills and ridges, but can be clearly viewed from two lookout
points along the switchbacks of the road. Two trails of interest begin at the Wheeler Peak Campground. The summit of Wheeler Peak can be reached by taking the good, but steep five-mile Wheeler Peak Trail which ascends the north ridge, skirting along the top of the north wall to the summit. I once took this trail to the summit, arriving at the top in late morning. Wheeler Peak's summit is a historical site since it served as a heliograph point in the time before the telegraph. Messages were sent by a system of mirrors to neighboring stations on Troy Peak in Nevada and Mt. Nebo in Utah. On this
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JUNE 1978