Comparing Nevada and Eastern California by Air and Land

Cedar Breaks National Monument from the air

Cedar Breaks from the rim at 10,000 feet

This is the last in my series of summer travels posts. In this one, I wanted to show some of the aerial photos I took while flying from Flagstaff to Seattle and back in July and then to compare them to when I was actually on those places on the ground.

Reno and Lake Tahoe from the air

Carson Valley and the Sierras from the ground  (April '09)

Lake Tahoe from its shores

We did a trip down Highway 395 once in March of 2004 past Lake Tahoe, through the Owens Valley, across to Death Valley, and then back to Arizona. The mountains were snow covered and a storm was approaching. It was the 2nd time we went through Death Valley and it rained on us.

Mono Lake and the eastern front of the Sierras from the air

Approaching Mono Lake on U.S. Highway 395

On the shores of the alkaline Mono Lake

Death Valley, Owens Valley (beyond), and the Sierras from the air

Owens Valley from U.S. Highway 395

Inyo Mountains (near) and Sierra Nevadas beyond

Death Valley and 11,000 foot Telescope Peak above it (Mojave Desert beyond)

Death Valley and Telescope Peak above it in December 2003

We crossed Nevada and visited Great Basin National Park in August 2003. This is a beautiful park, containing 13,000 foot Wheeler Peak (the largest mountain in the Great Basin), limestone caves, alpine lakes, ancient bristlecone pines, and the last glacier of the Great Basin (and one of the southernmost left in North America).

13,000 foot Wheeler Peak and Great Basin National Park

Wheeler Peak from the ground

Climbing into the glacially carved canyons of Wheeler Peak
The only glacier left in the Great Basin sits deep in that crack