Thanksgiving around Las Vegas

During the course of four days we would climb two major desert peaks. Yet we were not peak baggers. We enjoyed climbing the peaks, but we savored the entire experience. We do not live solely for the moment when we sign the register. I purposefully chose to climb Muddy Mountain and Mt. Wilson, peaks that are not on the Sierra Club's Desert Peaks list.

The group met at the Poway/Peñasquitos park and ride at 6:30 pm on Wednesday evening. We were joined there by Doug Hansen and Clay Perdue, who both stopped by to say "Hi" even though they were unable to join us on the trip due to last minute commitments.

We were a mixed group, ranging in age from 21 to 63, six men and three women. Half the participants were Americans, Patsy, R. J. Arnold, Carl van Herreweghe, Ed Pease and Nancy Harris, and the other half were Europeans, including two British, Paul Johnson and myself, one French, Annick Mutero, and one Swede, Nick. Nick was visiting from Stockholm for a couple of months and had only just learnt of the Sierra Club.

The nine of us and our gear were distributed between three vehicles, our Bronco II, R. J.'s Montero and Paul's Toyota truck. The occupants of the vehicles stayed in contact throughout the trip by means of 2 meter amateur VHF radios operating on the 2 meter band. Patsy (KM6EE), myself (KM6ED), and Nick drove in the Bronco, R.J. (KD6RMD), Carl, Ed and Annick in the Montero and Paul and Nancy (KC6FZN) in the Toyota. R.J. and I also had single side band CB radios in their vehicles but a comparison of the amateur and CB radios demonstrated the clear superiority of FM amateur radio over CB.

We arrived at the Muddy Mountains, 30 miles north-east of Las Vegas, our destination that night, at 1:30 am on Thursday morning. We pulled off on a dirt road and drove a little way before we stopped. Everyone spilled out of the vehicles into a cold and slightly breezy night, collected their sleeping gear and camped out under the stars.

Thursday morning we awoke at 7 am and ate a hurried breakfast before driving on into the heart of the Muddy Mountains. Our objective was to climb Muddy Mountain, a 5,432 ft desert peak. This trip is described in John Hart's Sierra Club Tote book, Hiking the Great Basin. Hart describes two routes to the peak. We made a loop trip by hiking both routes that Hart describes. We hiked up a rugged canyon on the east side of the peak and returned to the cars via a ridge on the north side of the peak that led down to Hidden Valley. Hidden Valley is an enclosed basin, several square miles in size that is rich in archeological remains, including pictographs and chipping sites.

We began the hike to Muddy Mountain at 8:30 am, heading south down a jeep road and somewhat out of our way until we were abreast of the peak. In this manner we avoided having to hike across the washes that cut the landscape close to the mountain. We were hoping to locate Anniversary Narrows, a slot in the eastern canyon that led to the peak but unfortunately we missed it, presumably because we entered the canyon above the constriction or followed the wrong canyon to the summit. We followed the canyon as it wound its way upward, stopping on the way to eat lunch out of the wind. We took the southernmost fork of the canyon as it opened up and followed this to a spur ridge on the south west side of the peak proper. We finally reached the summit of Muddy Mountain at 3 pm. There were very few names in the register, ours being only the second party to reach the summit this year.

The mountain dropped off precipitously on all sides except that which we had ascended. However, we were able to wind our way down a third class chute off the northern ridge of the mountain, being careful not to dislodge rocks onto those descending below. A series of pinnacles punctuated the ridge ahead but we were able to climb or bypass each of them with relative ease. We dropped down to a saddle on the west that led north down to Hidden Valley. Automobile access to Hidden Valley was prevented several years ago by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This is a beautiful area, a broad valley dotted with marbled sandstone outcroppings, striped with cream, red and yellow. Unfortunately, dusk fell as we were descending from the saddle into the valley. Between the dark, the wind and the cold, we were not of a mood to appreciate the Valley. We picked up the gradually improving thread of a jeep road that led out of the valley by way of a saddle on the east and followed this road back to our cars.

We were tired, cold and hungry as we drove along trying to find a spot sheltered from the wind. After several false starts we chose a mediocre campsite abreast of an 80 foot high sandstone outcropping that afforded at least some shelter from the wind. There was a flurry of activity as we set up tents, emptied food and equipment out of the cars, started boiling water on the stoves and got the campfire going. This was going to be our Thanksgiving dinner and we meant to eat well! The dinner was a semi- organized pot-luck. After a cup of steaming hot soup to ward off the cold, we ate turkey with stuffing, gravy, cranberries and yams accompanied by either Beaujolais nouveau, red wine or white Zinfandel. Dessert consisted of pumpkin and pecan pie with tea, coffee or hot chocolate.

We rolled into our sleeping bags at 11 pm and slept late, until 8 the next morning. Everyone was still feeling tired after our ordeal the day before (the drive, the hike and the all that food and wine!). We were finally ready to roll at 11 am. Not surprisingly, we passed by several better looking campsites on our way out of the Muddy Mountains.

Our hiking destination on Friday was the Valley of Fire, Nevada's first State Park. The sandstone here is predominantly brick red in colour, although we also hiked through areas that were cream coloured. We first dropped by the ranger station where we had hoped to pick up a 7.5 minute topographic map of the area. Unfortunately, there were no maps for sale. The ranger was kind enough to make two photocopies of the area for us. Like greedy children we studied the map, trying to decide how we could squeeze the maximum amount of exploration into the little time that we had available. With the ranger's help, we decided on a course of action and set out to the trailhead.

We stopped along the way at a picnic area to eat lunch. It was already noon. We ate turkey, cranberry and cheese sandwiches whilst sitting on a slab of red rock close by the cars. We started our three and a half hour hike by walking east into the midst of a gigantic boulder field. Richly red-coloured cliffs towered above us as we entered a narrow canyon. The ranger had warned us that it was easy to be tempted off our chosen path in this enchanted landscape. He was right! All too soon we found ourselves hundreds of feet above the ground. We had succumbed to the siren voices of canyons whispering to be climbed as we passed. The view was incredible. A sea of red rock swelled beneath us and erupted into plumes of fire. In the near distance a white sandstone cap, Silica Dome, rose above the red, a beacon beckoning us onward. We returned to the desert floor and wound our way eastward through a series of narrow defiles. After a while, we had filed through so many slot canyons that they had begun to lose some of their magic. However, this was Las Vegas country; we had to play the slots for all they were worth! We worked our way east to below Silica Dome before heading north to complete the ascent. Astride the white sandstone cap we looked out over an expanse of red sandstone to the deep blue waters of Lake Mead.

We walked back down a closed jeep road back to our cars and headed off toward Las Vegas. An hour later we were driving around the parking lot of the Luxor, advising one another of parking possibilities over the radio. What a zoo! We ate a buffet dinner at the Luxor before heading out of Las Vegas toward Red Rock Canyon. A BLM ranger at Red Rock Canyon had described an unsigned campground accessible only by 4WD that was unlikely to be full. No kidding. Even with directions, we were unable to locate this jeep road in the dark. We ended up down a jeep road just outside the wilderness boundary, camping under the stars.

We awoke at 4:30 am on Saturday morning, ate breakfast and headed off at 5:45 am. This was to be our toughest dayhike, climbing 7,070 foot high Mt. Wilson. Mt. Wilson dominates the Red Rock Canyon escarpment, its eastern face a sheer wall of sandstone, some 4,000 feet high. We set up a short car shuttle and began hiking at a primitive campground close to the highway. We hiked into the mouth of Oak Creek Canyon, passing what would have been a beautiful campsite close to the canyon entrance. A carpet of red sand amidst juniper trees. What an incredible canyon. Easily one of the most impressive I have seen. The canyon floor was wide open and the rock was colored with gorgeous mix of cream, pink, lavender and red. We worked our way up canyon, choosing first one fork then the other until we reached the rim. From there we could see the peak, some distance back in the direction from which we had come. But this was no accident of navigation. The side canyons present formidable barriers of sheer sandstone. Our route, though long, was the easy way up. We arrived at the summit at 1 pm. Nick pulled out his stove and prepared his customary lunchtime bowl of soup.

The view from the summit seemed all encompassing. The Luxor, the huge black pyramid, stood out in Las Vegas. Muddy Mountain, the Calico Hills, the Red Rock escarpment, snow-capped Mt. Charleston. Words cannot describe it. Fortunately, I shot 80 frames of Kodachrome on this trip, which was probably the per person average. The register showed this peak to be more popular than Muddy Mountain, even though it was a more strenuous hike. Mt. Wilson was evidently a favourite of the Las Vegas chapter of the Sierra Club, as their entries were the most prevalent in the register. Reluctantly, we started down. We descended a different canyon from that which we had chosen for our ascent. This, First Canyon, was narrower and more overgrown. Progress was slower and darkness descended upon us before we reached the canyon mouth. Someone from afar would have seen nine points of light threading their way down canyon. Like Snow White's dwarfs (plus a couple extra), we were on our way home. At the canyon mouth, we crossed the stream and met a jeep road headed back toward the cars.

The three drivers squoze into the Toyota and went to pick up the other two cars. We returned to the approximate location of the previous night’s camp but this time we meant to camp in style. We deserved it! We set up the tents, started a campfire and got the stove going. We ate Thanksgiving dinner all over again. Everything except yams. We had so much food! We sat around the campfire, telling stories until late into the night.

Sunday morning, we awoke at 8 am, ate another leisurely breakfast (leftover black forest gateau with rich dark coffee), broke camp and drove to the Red Rock ranger station. After strolling around the exhibits, buying maps and books (and, of course, using the restrooms) we were off again, this time to the sandstone quarry on the western edge of the Calico Hills, a rib of yellow, red and lavender sandstone. Seven of us began hiking at the sandstone quarry. We left Nancy sleeping in the Toyota whilst Ed wandered off to seek some peace and quiet to read his book. We traversed the Calico Hills heading in a southerly direction, following a canyon up to a hidden lake. Along the way, we passed by some rock climbers performing incredible feats of gymnastics on an overhanging wall. Chalk up, crank, lockoff and relax. The red sandstone wall was covered with patches of white. The gymnastic chalk highlighted the good holds.

We ate lunch, another turkey sandwich lunch, on a ledge above the lake. R.J. pulled out a box of chocolates for dessert and passed them around for everyone to share. What were a few calories after all of our exertions? We headed for a break on the southern side of the wall and worked our way down to a wash. Following the wash back to the cars we passed a series of climbing parties and witnessed one spectacular fall off an overhanging face. The five rock climbers in our party, Patsy and I, Annick, Carl and Nick, were drooling with envy. The Santee boulders, Mt. Woodson and Stonewall Peak; we would trade them all for the Calico Hills. We arrived back at the cars at 2:30 pm, met Ed and woke up Nancy, who still wasn't feeling well.

We set off back to San Diego at 3 pm. The traffic was horrendous. We stopped for dinner in Barstow, eating at a Mexican restaurant on the recommendation of Jeff, N6XXO, another radio amateur who answered our request for help in finding a decent restaurant in Barstow. We arrived back at the Peñasquitos Park and Ride at 12:30 am on Monday morning.

What a trip!