The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America having no connection to the ocean. It spans sections of western Wyoming, southern Idaho, much of northwest Utah, nearly all of Nevada, areas in southwest Oregon, both eastern and southern California and the north area of the Mexican state of Baja California.

This hydrographic region spans numerous physiographic divisions, biomes, ecoregions, and several desert areas.

Biomes include: Alpine communities; Montane communities; Pinyon-Juniper communities; Riparian communities; Salt deserts; Shadescale-dominated saline basins; Lahontan and Tonopah playas; Lahontan salt shrub basin; Lahontan sagebrush slopes; Lahontan uplands; upper Humboldt plain, Carbonate sagebrush valleys; central Nevada high valleys; central Nevada mid-slope wood and brushlands; Central Nevada bald mountains; and the Tonopah basin

In contrast, the Great Basin Desert is a smaller area defined by plant and animal communities, and which boundaries do approximate the hydrographic Great Basin area.

However, the Great Basin Desert excludes the southern panhandle of the Great Basin hydrographic area, the area of the endoheic region which extends southward into the Mojave Desert through the bottom of California and into Baja California.

. The great basin borders: Northern Basin and Range ecoregion (2G); Sierra Nevada ecoregion (1N); Wasatch and Uinta Mountains ecoregion (3G); Colorado Plateau ecoregion (2I); and Mojave Basin ecoregion (2K)

190,000 square miles,

The total Great Basin is more than 209,000 square miles.

Bear River, Humbolt river, Mojave river, Owens river, Sevier river

Amargosa river, American Fork, Chewaucan River

Endorheic desert and xeric shrublands

At this point, I am coming to the end of the Journey in Oregon, but not the end of the Journey in the Great Basin, as I still have to cross Nevada, Utah and enter Wyoming before I stop for this journey today.

So, I continue southeast on SH 140 in Nevada, yes, the state highway number stays the same, however, in Nevada, this highway is called the Highway to Denio.

Finally, after about five hours of driving, I arrive in Elko, Nevada, locate the w-mart and connect to the internet to begin uploading the photos and files that I have been working on for several days. Afterwards, I drive to the opposite side of the interstate and park in a dark parking lot in a shopping center.

After two days rest in Elko, and having WiFi access to the internet to connect to the midweek meetings, I leave out on Friday morning, take IH 80 east to cross the rest of Nevada.

After driving to Maine in search for a cool summer hiatus and not finding one, I leave there to drive to the Rocky Mountain where I know it is cooler. During this journey, I decide to use this westward drive to visit Great Basin national park in order to be able to drive to the top of Wheeler Peak.

Upon Arriving in the park, I drive up to Wheeler campsite and park in campsite number 22, set up camp and begin cooking my Repast. For a hot summer day, the temperature here is most pleasant.

The next morning, after breakfast, I pack out and drive to the Wheeler Peak overlook, stop and get out to photograph the mountain.

Up at five am and check out the sky for possible meteorites but the sunglow has already begun and most of the stars are already gone so I go back to sleep until eight. Upon getting up, I fix a cup of coffee and after packing out, head for the visitors center and get my Junior Ranger Night Explorer patch.

Next, I leave for Lassen Volcano Volcanic National Park and upon arriving at the north entrance find it to be closed, so instead of going around to the south entrance, I make my way east into Nevada to visit the Great Basin National Park.

The drive east is on US highway 50, which is a long lonely road, in fact, it has been dubbed with the name, The Loneliest Highway as the road signs indicate. Methinks this is the same highway that I traveled on in 1980 during my journey in Episode One, Volume Two when I left San Francisco heading east towards Texas.

This journey will most likely take parts of two days to cross this desert road.

US 50 is a major east–west route of the US highway system connecting Ocean City, Maryland to West Sacramento, California. The most famous section of US 50 is that through Nevada known as The Loneliest Highway (Road) in America.

US 50 traverses more than 3000 miles (4,800 km), and signs at each end give the length of US 50 as 3073 miles (4,946 km), however, a 2009 survey shows it to be slightly less. Prior to 1972, before US 50 west of Sacramento was replaced by interstate highways, US 50 connected the two coasts. Now, it officially ends in West Sacramento, CA.

US 50 traverses mostly rural desert areas in the western part of the continent. In the Midwest, it traverses mostly rural farm areas and a few large cities including: Kansas City, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; and Cincinnati, Ohio. In the eastern areas, it crosses the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia and then goes through Washington, D.C. Next, US 50 continues as a major throughway to Ocean City, Maryland.

Very few and far between are the towns on US 50, most being where the highway crosses a mountain range.

Located near Baker, Nevada close to the Nevada-Utah state line, this park is a great place to enjoy the diversity of the Great Basin. Included in the park are a forest of ancient bristlecone pines, one of the darkest of night skies on the continent for stargazing, guide tours of Lehman cave, camping above ten thousand feet, a twelve mile scenic drive up onto Wheeler Peak, hiking trails, fishing, and more.

Driving into the park, I arrive at the visitors center and find out that there are still openings in the cave tour that begins at nine this morning. I drive to the cave, get my ticket and wait for it to start.

Soon, the ranger takes the group to the entrance and the tour begins.

After the tour, I decide that since the top of the park above 2134 meters (7000 feet) is still closed for snow removal, I will not stay another night but begin my drive back to northern California. Too, the next time that I come, it will have to be later in the season to be able to drive to the campground on top of Wheeler Peak.

Driving out of the park, I arrive at a picnic area, stop to prepare something to eat and take a few more photos of the mountain and some deer.

Leaving the national park, I take US 50 west to return to northern California and cross over the same mountains that I traversed yesterday.

All too soon, the sun is in my eyes but this only makes for some interesting photos, however most do not come out good enough to use but I am able to crop one enough to make it presentable.

As the sun descends behind the mountain, I stop to take photos of the sunglow.

While fully engrossed in photographing the sunglow, methinks, tonight is the full moon. So, I turn around and see that the moon is still barely in moontouch. I take a few photos of the full moon, after which I turn back to the sunglow.