Homepage of Vladimir Dinets-West part 16

Ruby Mountains, Nevada.

Part 16. The Great Basin.

As you move west from the Colorado Plateau or the Rocky Mountains, you have to cross the Great Basin - a few hundred miles of sage deserts and dry mountains, the most desolate part of the United States outside Alaska. There is only one small national park there, and most tourists try to pass it as fast as possible.

Ruby Mountains, Nevada, October.

Some remote areas are almost never visited by people.

Ruby Mountains, March.

Borders of the Great Basin are difficult to define.
Areas of similar habitat are scattered throughout
the West. Gunnison Valley, Colorado.

There are many interesting things to see in the sagebrush country, but, except for jackrabbits, coyotes, hawks and kangaroo rats, they are not common on paved highways. Sage grouse are probably the most interesting.

Sagebrush-covered Gunnison Valley in the heart
of the Rocky Mountains has a lot of Great Basin
species, including a smaller, endemic sage grouse.

Confusion Range, Utah.

Ruby Mountains, December.
There are over 50 mountain ridges in the Great Basin.

Mahogany Mountains, Oregon.

Sunrise view of Alvord Basin from Steens Mt., Oregon

View from Hart Mt., Oregon

One of my favorite places in Great Basin is Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge, Oregon, and Steens Mountain close by. It has some of the best views, and lots of wildlife - from pronghorn to tiny endemic fish in hot springs.

Desert sunset, Oregon

Hart Mt. Escarpment, Oregon

Warner Lakes near Hart Mt., Oregon

Porcupine,
Hart Mt., Oregon.
porqupine

Porcupine, Newberry
Caldera, Oregon.

If you spend many nights driving along dirt roads in Hart Mountain Refuge or other remote part of Great Basin, sooner or later you'll encounter some of the cutest desert creatures: kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis), pygmy rabbits (Sylvilagus idahoensis), kangaroo mice (Microdipodomys) and rats (Dipodomys), badgers (Taxidea taxus), porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum), even river otters (Lontra canadensis) in appropriate habitat. The best time is just after sunset, then around midnight and again just before dawn. The first hour after sunset is also the time to look for snakes and other reptiles on paved roads during warm summer nights, or for amphibians after rain.

American badger,
Steens Mt., Oregon

Kangaroo rat D. ordii,
Sheldon NWR, Nevada.

River otter, Newberry
Caldera, Oregon

Porcupine, Newberry
Caldera, Oregon.
otter

River otter, Newberry
Caldera, Oregon

Pyramid Lake and Island, Nevada.

Some of Great Basin's lakes are very interesting, such as Pyramid Lake in Nevada. It is fed by Truckee River from Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, this river is now almost used up for irrigation.

Truckee River in May, Nevada.

Chui-ui (Chasmistes cujus),
Pyramid Lake.

Tahoe sucker (Catostomus tahoensis), Pyramid Lake.

Water shortages are endangering the unique fishes of the lake, such as endemic chui-ui, and the World's largest trout, which spawn in the river. The fish stocks are, in turn, critical for survival of North America's largest pelican colony, as well as of local Paiute Indians.

Lahontan trout (Onchorhynchus
clarki henshavi), Pyramid Lake.

Pelican tracks, Pyramid Lake.

Pelicans, Pyramid Lake.
birds

Pelicans, Pyramid Lake.

Morning in Hells Canyon, Idaho.

canyon

Yellowstone Canyon, Wyoming.

From the North, the Great Basin is bordered by a vast nameless country of lava plateaus, deep canyons and densely forested hills. Sandwiched between Rocky Mountains to the East and the Cascades to the West, this area stretches all the way into Canada, where its beautiful northernmost part is called The Okanogan. Most of this country belongs to Columbia River Basin.

plateau

Columbia Plateau, Washington.

Morning in Hells Canyon, Idaho.

canyon

Snake Canyon, Idaho.

Part of The 1000 Springs, Idaho.

Some interesting places of this area are almost completely unknown to outsiders, such as The 1000 Springs - a chain of huge waterfalls and smaller springs bursting out of Columbia Canyon cliffs.

Frozen springs, The 1000 Springs.

The Okanogan,
British Columbia.

Crooked River
Canyon, Oregon.

Hells Canyon,
Oregon/Idaho.

Yellowstone
Canyon, Wyoming.

Columbia River Gorge.

Columbia, the largest river of the West, flows into the Pacific Ocean, crossing the Cascades through Columbia River Gorge.

Columbia River Gorge.

Columbia River, Oregon/Washington border.

The gorge has been converted into a chain of reservoirs, but still looks spectacular.

Columbia River, Oregon/Washington border.

Traveling in the USA, you often run into surprises. This life-size reconstruction of the Stonehenge is in Columbia River Gorge, on the Washington side.


	Western columbines: larger photos - Aquilegia coerulea (above), A. chrysantha; upper row: A. formosa, A. jonesii, A. triternata, mid. row: A. chrysantha, A. flavescens, bottom row: A. saximontana, A. pubescens.

20' (6 m) long white sturgeon,
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon.

Freshwater fauna of the West is far less diverse than in the East. Still, the most impressive inhabitant of this area is white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus). The only place where these shy giants still survive in good numbers is lower Columbia River.

Eye of a giant white sturgeon,
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon.

Coyote (Canis latrans), Timpahute Range, Nevada.

Part 17. The Pacific Northwest
Back to Part 15

Home