Wheeler Peak summit hike

This is Wheeler Peak, located in Great Basin National park. With an elevation of 13,063ft, it is the second tallest mountain in Nevada.

Densely wooded trail is about a mile long and goes from the parking area to the summit trail.

Doesn't look so high... This will be easy.

I kept thinking the view was amazing, and couldn't believe how far I could see... I'd take five or ten steps and have the same thought again.

Tried to take a panoramic.

Trail gets a bit narrow... #mountaingoat.

Nice shot of the lake below.

Someone balanced rocks... I have no idea how people do this without gorilla glue.

Last of the trees. Getting to high up.

Keep in mind, this is the highest elevation I have ever been to. Home is about 1,200ft, so now, about 10x higher than that, I'm breathing like a 40 year old, obese, rhinoceros with emphysema.

And I still have to go higher.

The lakes are much smaller now.

SUMMIT! FUCK YES!

If you zoom in, you can see the wind farm I work at. For a sense of scale, each of those towers is 300 ft tall. And each blade coming off the hub is about 120 ft long.

Spring Valley nestled between the ranges.

In another post, I show hiking a valley to a glacier. This is that same valley from about 3,000 ft above.

Turkey tax... didn't see any cats.