Discover the Great Basin

Travel writing from the Cold Deserts of North America

The arid cold deserts of western North America are often spare landscapes, whose small towns are often inhabited by eccentrics, individualists and wayward believers. The Great Basin describes a region of North America in many different ways.

It describes a geographic region of basin and range, a biological region of grass and scrub, and a historical region of related desert tribes. Follow me as I explore America's Great Basin, and nearby areas such as the Sierra Range in California and Nevada.

Learning
Lake Chewaucan

Finding dragonflies and obsidian in Oregon's ancient Lake Chewaucan Lakebed.
Malheur and the
Golden Age

Observations from Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge after the Bundy occupation.
Road Notes from
John Day River

Tips on a minimalist road trip from the desert canyon roads of Oregon's interior.
The Good Lizard of
Coalpits Wash

Is travel during a global recession thoughtless? Is a dad who wanders aimlessly, a bad dad?
Creatures
Roam Glen Canyon

This place contains creatures that exist nowhere else. What about the creatures that might?
A Gulch in the
Escalante Desert

Notes on a road trip in the Escalante Desert, including a cast of characters along the way.
the End of the
Loneliest Road

Notes on the ATVs, sand-dunes and biological diversity in the Nevada desert.
The White
Mountains

Pondering the age of species among the ancient Bristlecone pines of the White Mountains.
Magicians and
Summer Lake

Notes on the reasons why we write travel, from the magical desert outpost of Summer Lake.
Rachel, Nevada
and Area 51

Notes from Rachel, Nevada, where UFOlogistcs converge to talk about their theories on Area 51.
The Alvord
Desert

Exploring the Alvord Desert after finding native stone tools in the Owyhee Basin.
Mono Lake, an Economy of Ecology

Notes on Mono Lake as an allegory for both economy and ecology.
Smith Rock and the
Oregon High Desert

Notes on Central Oregon and the famed Monkey-Face on Smith Rock.
Living Beneath El Capitan

What is it like to live in Yosemite Valley? An interview with a local resident.
Tuolomne
Meadows

Notes from the Tuolomne Meadows in Yosemite National Park on travel writing and journalism.
The Owyhee
River Puzzle

What do you do when you find an undiscovered native site? I decide to find out.
Zion Canyon and the Theology of Sin

Zion Canyon, a perfect place to ponder Mormonism and the politics of sexuality.
The Mars Crew in Owens Valley

Owen's Valley with the Mars Research crew during the search for extraterrestrial life.