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| Hiking | 4.30 Miles |
2,160 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.30 Miles | 2 Hrs 35 Mns | | 1.66 mph |
| 2,160 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Unexpectedly spent another day in Vegas. Only this time we were on the east side of the valley. I scoped HAZ for trail sites in the area and decided on Frenchman Mountain. My previous hikes in Vegas had been pleasant walks and this trail looked to have some teeth. Got to the TH around 6am. As described, this TH is just off of Lake Mead Blvd in front of a gated off dirt road. (Side note: There seems to be a serious homeless problem in Las Vegas. The number of cars parked along side the road heading to Red Rock Canyon and today to Frenchman Mt. TH is hard not to notice. Probably passed about 30 cars each day going to RRC and about 15 cars on the dirt shoulder going to Frenchman Mt.).
Hiking Frenchman Mountain isn’t overly enjoyable. It’s a road with minimal views as you are hiking. However, it’s a great workout with a very steep grade for much of the hike. Kind of like Thompson Peak without the pavement. This road had enough use that there were periodic worn tracks going up that provided a semi- rock free tread. This made the ascent more doable. Hit the first shelf at about .5 miles and saw the short decline before the next major ascent. Initially, I thought this was the descent that Linda was referring to, and I thought “that’s not bad at all!” It wasn’t until I was doing the switchbacks and saw that my elevation was only at 800ft that I began to question the peak in front of me. There was no way I was going to net 2000ft with that peak just above me. Sure enough, I hit the next saddle and saw the “minor dip” that Linda was talking about.  Not a fun descent to the valley below and it gave me a foreshadowing of what was in-store for me on the return trip. As I was hiking up this last major climb I was thinking of the warnings they provide at the Grand Canyon…..what goes down, must come up. Only I was thinking to myself….what goes up, must come down  . I had already determined, from that brief descent, that I much preferred the uphill portion of the hike. Made it to the top, but only went to the first tower. It appeared to be higher of the two. The drop-off to the east was extreme. Funny. You have no idea what the other side of the mountain looks like until you get to the top and look over the rock ledge. Great views from the top. I had Las Vegas at my feet. Only spent about 5 minutes on top before attempting my descent. It took more time for me to go down, than up. Hiking poles would have been nice. Ironically, I avoided the rock-free tracks and tried to find the embedded rocks or more commonly the larger rock sections. Probably being overly cautious, but at my age…. A few slips, but no falls.
Nice hike, though the “trail” doesn’t do much for me. Weather was great. Upper 40’s. Windy at times, but not too bad. Met two locals hiking up to first saddle, but otherwise had the trail to myself. |
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