Hiking and Nature Club

Hiking Itinerary:
The exact order of hikes will be dependent on our success in acquiring cave tickets. Thus, we will have a little more fluid of an itinerary than usual. The hikes we will certainly include are:
(1) Wheeler Peak Summit Trail, with optional offshoots. This is the second highest point in Nevada and the highest point in Great Basin NP. The primary trail is 8.5 miles with 2900 feet of elevation gain and reaches a top elevation right around 13000 ft. There will be optional offshoots to (a) Baker Peak, Jefferson Davis Peak (now Doso Doyabi), which both involve some scrambling along a ridgeline and 1000-2500 ft of additional elevation gain, and (b) Stella and Teresa Lakes, which is a relatively flat offshoot at the end that gives a slightly different return route on the way back but adds 2.1 miles (could park in a place where it adds only half a mile but cannot guarantee that parking. Here is a link for the primary route: Wheeler Peak Summit Trail, Nevada - 1,117 Reviews, Map | AllTrails
(2) Baker and Johnson Lake Loop, This trail hits two mountain lakes and walks along the divide of the Snake Mountains. The Loop is 12.4 miles with 3700 ft of elevation gain. For the adventurous, we can walk along part of the highland Ridge above Johnson Lake. Here is the Alltrials link for the primary loop: Baker Creek, Johnson Lake, and Timber Creek Loop, Nevada - 150 Reviews, Map | AllTrails
(3) If we are able to get a cave tour Saturday or Sunday morning first thing, we'll do Wheeler Peak Saturday or Sunday afternoon and then be able to do Notch Peak on our way home Monday , with the option of also visiting U Dig Fossils in Delta afterwards. Notch Peak is 7.3 miles with 2600 ft of elevation gain. Here is the Alltrails page for this hike: Notch Peak Trail, Utah - 287 Reviews, Map | AllTrails. If we are not able to get tickets for Saturday or Sunday morning, our other hike will likely be Snake Creek Divide to Mt. Washington, which will be about 13 miles with 3200 ft of elevation gain.

Caving:
We will try and get tickets for a cave tour. They are released 30 days ahead of time and there are only 20 tickets per tour. Our hope is to get tickets for a tour for Saturday morning, with the hope of getting the Introduction to Wild Caving tour at 8:30 a.m. This tour is 3.5 hours and involves some climbing, crawling, and scrambling. This tour costs $40. Because of limited availability and because some people may want less of a caving experience, there is also the Parachute Shield Tour, which is offered several times a day, is a walking cave tour that covers 1 mile and costs $12. Lehman Caves Tours - Great Basin National Park (U.S. National Park Service). When signing up, please indicate if you want to go caving and, if so, which tours you would be interested in attending, including whether you would attend the Parachute tour if the Intro to Wild Caving Tour is FULL.

U DIG Fossils (optional):
If we are able to do the caving Saturday or Sunday morning such that we can do Notch Peak Monday late morning, we will have an optional stop at U DIG Fossils before heading home. We will plan to do the 2-hour quarry access, which runs $44 a person ($37.40 for military and 70+ or if we get 15 people or more signed up for this). The site offers both Fossil Digging and Rockhounding options. Here is a link to their about us page: About | U Dig Fossils When signing up, please indicate if you would like to participate in the rockhound, assuming it can happen Monday afternoon.

Dispersed Camping:
There are several dispersed sites just outside of the Park. Some have minimal facilities, other have none at all. Thus, it is important that you bring supplies for all days of the trip, especially as Great Basin is rather remote. Here are a few possible options:

iOverlander | Sacramento Pass Recreation Area
iOverlander | Sacramento Pass National Forrest
iOverlander | Great Basin BLM
iOverlander | Baker Wild Camping
The exact location of camp will be emailed out on the Friday of the trip.

Supplies:
As mentioned above, this trip is in a remote area with limited options for resupplying. You are responsible for bringing all gear and food to sustain you for the entire trip.

Attendee Cap:
There will be 18 spots offered on this trip initially, with 3 organizers, 11 spots for people who have been on a prior trip and 4 spots set aside for people new to my trips. The attendee cap may go up to as many as 24 depending on responses to and interest in the caving options and willingness to do a secondary cave tour rather than the Intro to Wild Caving tour.

Cancelation Policy/Fee:
Because our trips are popular and almost always have waitlists, a $40 cancellation fee will apply if you cancel after July 25, 2025. This date is a little earlier than normal because of the need to reserve cave tickets 30 days in advance of the trip; thus the need to have a set group of attendees earlier. The fee also applies if you arrive late or leave early and miss any non-optional portion of the trip. The fee applies to any and all cancelations, regardless of your reason. The fee will be due not later than September 30, 2025, and must be paid in cash or check. These fees are our group's only source of revenue to cover meetup dues expenses and to cover our yearly holiday party.

Spreadsheet:
Once the trip is full, I will send out an email with a link to the spreadsheet. If I do not already have your email, please send me a message with it. The spreadsheet will only take a few minutes to complete but having everyone's information and preferences in one place is very helpful to my ability to organize the trip.