March 22, 2005 - I originally thought I had climbed via the Pack Trail, but re-reading the trail description, have decided that I took another route. This route is well marked, and ascends via the gully that parallels the Pack Trail. I'll try to post photos soon:
February 23, 2005 - Just visiting the area this week, and decided to climb Frenchman. Looked at aerial photos, this website, and scoped out the mountain. The next day, I climbed via the Pack Trail. No problem finding the trail from the 4x4 road. Green and white arrows point the way up the main gully all the way to the summit... would be hard to lose the trail. Class II+. I purposely went off-trail to climb some Class III pitches. From the summit, I continued south along the ridge all the way to the southern end of the mountain. Several knife edges with exposure made things interesting. I tore-up my hands on the sharp limestone rocks... bring gloves.
I don't understand why this mountain isn't overrun with hikers. I've climbed close to 100 mountains, and this may just be my favorite.
Route Climbed: East Face Date Climbed: January 22, 2005
Today my brother Butch and I set out to do the first two legs of the East Face route. We blasted through the first leg, the washes, in about an hour-fifteen. The second leg, to the bottom of the east face slot was our ultimate destination. No summit planned. The dilemna is that by the time you get to the slot, you have so much effort invested that it's difficult to turn back.....and we didn't. We hauled out onto the face and 3 hours after starting we were on top. This was my second and my brothers first trek up this route. The "Mc Gibbon Step" 150 vertical feet below the summit gave us each pause and we carefully and deliberately scaled this exposed step. The fall off the step might not kill you but the 1200 foot tumble to the bottom most certainly would! A great day that reenforced the lesson... "that which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." Frenchman's.......Viva la' Vegas!
Route Climbed: Summit Access Road Date Climbed: April 20, 2002
I had my bachelor party in Vegas back in 2002. In between all the debauchery, a few friends and I took the time to rent a Jeep and go off-roading in the desert. There were some great Jeep trails out there, strewn with old refrigerators and TVs that the rednecks had shot full of holes. We found the access road to Frenchman Mountain by chance and started driving up it. Looking down into the gully next to the road, we noticed the carcasses of a few cars smashed to pieces hundreds of feet below us. At this point we decided it would be a better option to proceed on foot. Turning the Jeep around and getting it back down turned out to be a harrowing experience due to loose rocks and gravel. I made sure to “direct” the driver from a safe distance. (We filmed everything, just to make sure we caught anything cool on tape.) We hiked up to the top of a ridge and the view of the trail down a valley and up to the summit came into view. Very nice. Two of my friends were in sandals and decided they didn’t want to do the rest of the climb, so my buddy Rob and I continued on. Up at the top, at the radio installation, there was a fantastic view of Vegas and a sheer drop on the other side. What a great day… I only expected to be partying all weekend and I happened to be able to bag a peak as well. We headed halfway back down to where our buddies were supposed to pick us up and we ended up being a couple of hours early. We took the time to heave an old washing machine off a cliff and caught the whole process on camera. Why a washing machine was up there… I have no clue. Must have been the ‘necks again. We saw some fighter planes buzzing around the mountains – must have been from the nearby base. Eventually we were picked up in the Jeep and headed back to the city of sin.
Route Climbed: Mormon Trail Date Climbed: July 6, 2002
Attempted to climb the mountain via the Mormon Trail in 105-degree heat, but turned back about 2/3rds of the way up. The trail became very difficult as was clearly going to get worse on the final portion. I think I'll go back to hiking the Jeep trail on the back side.
SusanM - Jul 24, 2005 7:57 pm
Date Climbed: March 27, 2005A nice hike.
WalksWithBlackflies - Feb 23, 2005 8:18 pm
Route Climbed: Date Climbed: February 22, 2005March 22, 2005 - I originally thought I had climbed via the Pack Trail, but re-reading the trail description, have decided that I took another route. This route is well marked, and ascends via the gully that parallels the Pack Trail. I'll try to post photos soon:
February 23, 2005 - Just visiting the area this week, and decided to climb Frenchman. Looked at aerial photos, this website, and scoped out the mountain. The next day, I climbed via the Pack Trail. No problem finding the trail from the 4x4 road. Green and white arrows point the way up the main gully all the way to the summit... would be hard to lose the trail. Class II+. I purposely went off-trail to climb some Class III pitches. From the summit, I continued south along the ridge all the way to the southern end of the mountain. Several knife edges with exposure made things interesting. I tore-up my hands on the sharp limestone rocks... bring gloves.
I don't understand why this mountain isn't overrun with hikers. I've climbed close to 100 mountains, and this may just be my favorite.
PTMcG - Jan 25, 2005 10:31 pm
Route Climbed: East Face Date Climbed: January 22, 2005Today my brother Butch and I set out to do the first two legs of the East Face route. We blasted through the first leg, the washes, in about an hour-fifteen. The second leg, to the bottom of the east face slot was our ultimate destination. No summit planned. The dilemna is that by the time you get to the slot, you have so much effort invested that it's difficult to turn back.....and we didn't. We hauled out onto the face and 3 hours after starting we were on top. This was my second and my brothers first trek up this route. The "Mc Gibbon Step" 150 vertical feet below the summit gave us each pause and we carefully and deliberately scaled this exposed step. The fall off the step might not kill you but the 1200 foot tumble to the bottom most certainly would! A great day that reenforced the lesson... "that which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger." Frenchman's.......Viva la' Vegas!
Bill Jirousek - Sep 2, 2004 10:59 am
Route Climbed: Summit Access Road Date Climbed: April 20, 2002I had my bachelor party in Vegas back in 2002. In between all the debauchery, a few friends and I took the time to rent a Jeep and go off-roading in the desert. There were some great Jeep trails out there, strewn with old refrigerators and TVs that the rednecks had shot full of holes. We found the access road to Frenchman Mountain by chance and started driving up it. Looking down into the gully next to the road, we noticed the carcasses of a few cars smashed to pieces hundreds of feet below us. At this point we decided it would be a better option to proceed on foot. Turning the Jeep around and getting it back down turned out to be a harrowing experience due to loose rocks and gravel. I made sure to “direct” the driver from a safe distance. (We filmed everything, just to make sure we caught anything cool on tape.) We hiked up to the top of a ridge and the view of the trail down a valley and up to the summit came into view. Very nice. Two of my friends were in sandals and decided they didn’t want to do the rest of the climb, so my buddy Rob and I continued on. Up at the top, at the radio installation, there was a fantastic view of Vegas and a sheer drop on the other side. What a great day… I only expected to be partying all weekend and I happened to be able to bag a peak as well. We headed halfway back down to where our buddies were supposed to pick us up and we ended up being a couple of hours early. We took the time to heave an old washing machine off a cliff and caught the whole process on camera. Why a washing machine was up there… I have no clue. Must have been the ‘necks again. We saw some fighter planes buzzing around the mountains – must have been from the nearby base. Eventually we were picked up in the Jeep and headed back to the city of sin.
cp0915 - Feb 18, 2004 10:09 am
Date Climbed: Aug 2003Miserably hot in the summer but the summit view was worth it.
Glenn Campbell - Jul 6, 2002 9:37 pm
Route Climbed: Pack Trail Date Climbed: 1993Reached the summit sometime this year (not sure of date), via the Pack Trail. Lost the trail after the mining camp and had to scramble to the top.
Glenn Campbell - Jul 6, 2002 8:06 pm
Route Climbed: Mormon Trail Date Climbed: July 6, 2002Attempted to climb the mountain via the Mormon Trail in 105-degree heat, but turned back about 2/3rds of the way up. The trail became very difficult as was clearly going to get worse on the final portion. I think I'll go back to hiking the Jeep trail on the back side.
Glenn Campbell - May 18, 2002 3:57 pm
Route Climbed: Access Road Date Climbed: March 2002My second summit.