My friend Mark and I bid farewell to Great Basin National Park in Nevada with our hike on the evening of Monday, July 5, to Lexington Arch. We set off to the arch at 4 p.m. and reached the overlook three hours later after driving about three-quarters of an hour to the trailhead and then making a rather easy but continuous climb of 1.7 miles. We reached the trailhead at 7,440 feet up a dirt road south of the guest ranch where we stayed. Then we hiked 830 feet to the overlook.

We had carefully planned the timing of our visit to the arch, but we hadn’t been able to learn what direction the overlook of the arch faced. Our first view of it disappointed us. The trail took us from the east, and our first view of the arch looked into the sun. We were not able to see through the arch to the sky beyond. Still, we did see bright sunlight streaming through the arch.

Lexington Arch from the Overlook

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The arch is the equivalent of six-stories of limestone on a hillside above Lexington Creek. Although I have seen and photographed many natural arches and bridges in the West, sandstone, not limestone, form almost all of them.

At the overlook, we noticed a much less obvious trail leading down toward the arch. Hoping that the trail would take us to the west side of the arch before the sun went down, we immediately set forth and went perhaps another half mile. We were in luck. There was the arch — mostly in shadows — but partly in the sun with the valley below in view through the arch.

Valley View

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Next, Mark and I took turns shooting each other standing under the arch itself.

Mark under Lexington Arch

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Me Under Lexington Arch

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Returning to the overlook, which has a bench as well as  view, we ate our picnic dinner of cold cuts. Finally, we hiked back down the trail to my SUV in the dark, reaching the guest ranch most before 10. Both of us have headlamps and needed them.

We had the arch to ourselves, not seeing another sole the entire evening. The hike was a fitting conclusion for our visit to Great Basin National Park, one of the most isolated national parks in the lower 48.