This was my third October park trip in a row. I flew to Las VEgas, rented a car, and drove through snow a good share of the way up the Great Basin Highway to Baker. I stayed at the Silverjack Lodge in Baker run by Terry Marasco. This is a great place, with good food and a most interesting owner. I highly recommend it.
Great Basin Park has Lehman caves, which I saw the first day, then I hiked up towards Baker Lake, getting up around 10,500 feet in a couple of feet of snow. The lakes were frozen, but the cirque covered in snow was really pretty. Only downside was that the road up to Wheeler Peak was closed. I walked part of it, then took a day hike most of the way between the lower and upper road. I need to go back there and see the bristlecone pines. Also would like to see the night sky from there. I am told that the camping outside the park to the north is very remote. Definitely worth considering!
Boreal B[l]og 