Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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36.09920°N / 116.1399°W |
Route Type:
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Hike / Scramble |
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Time Required:
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Half a day |
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Difficulty:
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Class 2 |
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Approach
See main page.Route Description
From the wilderness boundary just off of highway 178, follow the obvious, but fading, dirt road for about 2 miles to the mouth of a canyon. You’ll know when you’re at the mouth of the canyon because it’ll look like the mouth of a canyon, but also because there will (should) be a large cardboard cut-out of a bride and groom (riddled with bullet holes, of course) standing right where the road ends. No idea why it’s there.Head into the gradually-steepening canyon, hopping over and across talus and boulders as necessary for about another mile and a half or so. Along the way, keep your eyes peeled for forks in the canyon. When the first fork is encountered, go to the left. When the second fork is encountered, go to the right. If there’s any question about the route, look for cairns – they tend to be plentiful (if sporadically-placed, at times).
After the second fork, you’ll eventually reach a steep dry waterfall barring your progress (you will come to a couple of other dry waterfalls along the way, but this one is much steeper and obvious than the others). Just before (but also just after) the dry waterfall, you may notice a number of faint use trails heading south up a steep scree slope to the right. Head up the scree slope.
Once the top of the scree slope is gained, you will see that you are on a ridge and still many hundreds of feet below the summit. Head east up the ridge toward obvious higher ground.
By following cairns, you will come to a notch on the left, or north, side of the ridge. Further upward progress is blocked by cliffs. Pass through the notch then traverse on another 50 feet or so to another notch. Passing through this second notch will dump you off into a steep, loose, scree-filled chute. Head up the chute.
*(MoapaPk added: "the two upper "notches" are really defined by small rock (~10') protuberances on the left side, as one ascends...the loose chute is the most dangerous part ("dangerous" as in "getting a rock knocked on your head").")
The chute will eventually narrow (down to about 4-5 feet wide) and exit out onto a higher portion of the ridge you were on before the first notch. From the top of the chute, hang a left and head east higher up the ridge until you reach the obvious crest of the summit ridge above.
Once the summit ridge is gained, head north (to the left) along the narrow summit ridge to the summit, which is a hundred yards or so up. The summit ridge has some exposure in places and a rather precipitous feel, not unlike the summit ridge on Moapa Peak, though not quite as narrow or cool.
To descend, retrace your steps.
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