Wheeler Peak

Wheeler Peak

You’ll be hard-pressed to believe that this snowed covered mountain is located in the state of Nevada, better known for sin city of Las Vegas and scorching temperatures. Wheeler Peak is the tallest mountain in the Snake Range in Nevada. The summit elevation of 13,065 feet (3,982 m) makes it the second-highest peak in Nevada, just behind Boundary Peak. The mountain is located in Great Basin National Park and was named for George Wheeler, leader of the Wheeler Survey of the late 19th century. Wheeler Peak has an impressive headwall above a large glacial cirque, large moraines and an active rock glacier. The top of the mountain is covered by deep snow most of the year. The Wheeler/Jeff Davis cirque is absolutely towering, and Nevada’s only glacier rests at the base. Slightly below the cirque is a grove of bristlecone pine trees, the oldest living species on the planet. The Great Basin Bristlecone Pine has the longest life span of any conifer and is likely the oldest non-clonal tree on Earth. A stand of these pines on Wheeler Peak is known to contain several trees over 3,000 years old and was the site of the Prometheus tree, which was cut down and dated to be just under 5,000 years old.