White Pine County High Point Trip Report
Wheeler Peak
Date: July 4, 2000
Author: Ron Tagliapietra
At Great Basin National Park, follow the signs to the farthest campground on the paved road: Wheeler
Peak Campground. This campground is nestled beneath the summit, and the access road offers several
stunning views of the peak and its cirque, which contains a Bristlecone Pine forest and the last remaining
glacier in Nevada. You can hike from the day-use area at the campground or from a signed parking area
about a half mile before the campground at the highest point on the road. The route from the campground
saves 0.3 miles but has extra elevation gain. From the road summit (our chosen route), hike a fairly level
mile to the junction with the route from the campground. Continue another mile up a long switch back to
the obvious gap. The final 2 miles ascends the long ridge.
When you summit, you will find 2 stone
windbreaks. The higher one had the BM. You can find BMs with arrows pointing to one another across
the windbreak area, which will help you identify the spot where the BM once was. The adjacent lower
wind shelter has a mailbox with the register. The far end of the summit ridge looks higher to some people
but won't when you get there. However, it offers a nice view down the steep face and into the cirque.
Besides a county HP, this 8-mile round trip hike also gets you Nevada's second highest peak and a NP HP.