After a decent night of sleep, awaking at times to notice my right hip still bothering me, Seish says, "Jesse, you awake? It's 6:00." I opened my eyes and replied reluctantly. The first glimpse out of the tent revealed that the sun was had just eased above the horizon. Wow, early sunset I thought. But then I remembered we were on the far eastern edge of our time zone. Only 50 miles east it's 7 am. Plus, our position of 10,000 feet above the 50 some miles of unimpeded valley to our east let the sun come up as if the ocean were our horizon.

We had planned to hike to the top of Wheeler peak today, Nevada's highest peak at 13,063 feet. When I told Seish that the highest peak in NM is also named Wheeler peak, he joked, "Are all the highest peaks named Wheeler?" It got me wondering If the two peaks have the same name sake. This will have to be investigated later on a late night "I'm bored" Google search. Honestly, from the way I felt during the night, I doubted that I would be able to hike to the peak and had resigned myself to only hiking to the ridge so I could see the view of Nevada's many parallel mountain ranges to the west.

After a quick breakfast of boiled egg from last night with dried fruit and a bagel with jam, we set out towards the peak. My hip felt better after the morning's preps, and our spirits were high under a flawless blue sky. About 1 mile into our hike we saw Marc approaching us with a smile and a wave. We met Marc the previous evening as a bright eyed adventurous looking guy, probably our age looking for some info. Immediately he seemed a kindred soul. He was travelling from Portland Oregon to Ohio by himself and had decided to climb Wheeler peak the same morning we did. Marc said when he first saw the peak from the west as he was approaching on highway 50 he exclaimed to himself, "I don't you what you are, but I'm going to be on top of you tomorrow morning!". When we offered to join forces, he told us that he was planning on seeing the sunrise at the top, requiring a wake-up time of 3am - OUCH. Seish and I were not feeling that ambitious and told bid him good luck. I wasn't sure if we would see him again as he was heading to bead early that night and he had planned to take a different route down.

So it was a pleasant surprise to see him approaching us on the trail this morning. We stopped and chatted for a good 30 minutes. He told us of the glorious sunrise from the peak and we wandered into tales of all our travels. The more I talked with him, the more I liked him. He recounted a story about asking a ranger for information on the peak in which the ranger accused him of being a peak-bagger. His response was, "hold it right there" - obviously offended at such an accusation - "I'm not a peak bagger, I just like watching the sunrise from a mountain top". I thought to myself, "right on". He didn't climb mountains to stick another peak in his brag-bag, he was just hooked on the experience of nature's magic penetrating his soul. We gave him a little more detail on our travels plans, to each point he replied with an excited, "ohhhh", "wowwww!". In exchange for some tips, Seish gave him one of our coveted fresh figs. Marc seemed unusually greatful - it was his first time eating a fresh fig. He said it feld like a warm hug. We exchanged emails and bid each other happy journeys. I think the elation of meeting a kindred soul stuck with us the rest of the day.

Another interesting encounter was a couple that we met farther up the trail. The man was 85 years old and still making climbs of 13000 feet mountain - wow! The theme was repeating - respect and amazement at the achievements of old life - Joseph, Bristlecone, and now this man. He was happy that we were doing this while we were young, because the first time he hiked a mountain he was 65. This to me is also inspiring - the desire and ability to try new experiences even the age of 65. As I admire this man, I hope that I can achieve the same at his age.

Leaving tree line made the hike feel more alpine and extreme along with the wind charging up the western slopes. A little treasure appeared, A falcon rose, stumbling through the turbulence on the ridge to gracefully rise to a smooth float on the wind. The ease with which the falcon rose was an inspiration. I was very happy that I was feeling good enough to actually climb the peak. The last section was the steepest, a good 45 degrees. Stepping finally to the top, the mountainous veil was pulled away to reveal the grand couloir on the south side of Wheeler and the rest of the park descending to the plains far south.

The most creative register holder was sitting prominently in one of the circular rock wind shelters: A US Postmaster General certified metal mailbox with the flag up. The register was a great fat book full of peoples little stories about their ascent, political views, and a common wish for Great Basin NP to remain fairly undeveloped - I strongly agree. Seish signed his first peak register then we stepped as close as we dare to the edge of the couloir that frames the campsite. The view down through thousands of feet of loosely stacked cliffs and spires gave Seish as he said, a little "clinch".

After a great lunch of avocado, cheese and salami on a bagel, I pulled out my hiking poles to protect my knees and we started the descent. Still above tree line we decided to add our own mark on the mountain - a sort of miniature stone-henge to give other hiker something to smile at before the tough ascent. After making it back to the lakes in the basin below, we decided to clean up a little with a quick, brisk swim. I think we gave some kids a little laugh as we ran tip-toed naked into the lake. It was not as cold as I would have figured, but not really welcoming a long bath. It was still invigorating and refreshing. Sunbathing was required to give the more hidden parts a little sun. It was a familiar, yet all to rare feeling of relaxing in the sunshine of a magical place.

Dinner was our group's classic: Tasty Bites and couscous - YUM. A warm front had come in, as the night air was not nearly as cold as the previous night. Even so, Seish, the offical fire-master of the trip lit another fire to keep us warm until bed. We ate early and went to bed early to get a good nights sleep for tomorrows drive.

-jesse