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I will be in Vegas and will have Sunday the 18th to hike some peaks in the area. Looks like, with some advice from SPr's, I will looking at White Rock Springs Pk, Turtlehead, Devil Peak, Shenandoah and Moapa Peak. I know that Moapa is the only challenging one of the bunch, but if anyone who knows the area would like to show me around, that would be great. Or any helpful advice apart from what is on the SP pages would be nice as well.
Thanks, Troy

What sort of vehicle will you have? Have you considered Bridge? What sort of exertion/exposure are you willing to take?

Neophiteat48 wrote:I know that Moapa is the only challenging one of the bunch

Did his other climbing partners tell you that?

Standard rental car, low clearance. Exertion, I feel have pretty good stamina and alot of will power. Exposure, I guess I can't say untill I'm faced with it. I'm a newbie, so I'm not sure, easy class 3 is fine but the exposure part is another story. I'm very competitive, if that means anything.

A combination of a few Spr's advice and what has been posted on the route pages for those peaks, is how I came to the determination that Moapa was the lone challenging peak (nothing to do with MoapPK, fellow SPr)

The road in to Jack's Pockets (base of Moapa Peak) needs at least 7" of clearance. I'd drive there in my Outback, but most wouldn't.

Moapa Peak has little in the way of difficult class 3, but has one knife edge that is very tough on people with fear of exposure.

Bridge Mt is easier for some people, but has a fairly long and convoluted route on sandstone.

La Madre is more of a long hard day. If there is no significant snow on the south side, it has just one brief class 3, but a lot of places with bad footing on class 2.

Rainbow is a long slog, but is mostly class 2.

Juniper is rarely worse than Class 2.

I haven't updated this recently, but take a look:
http://hwstock.org/map/

MoapaPk wrote:The road in to Jack's Pockets (base of Moapa Peak) needs at least 7" of clearance. I'd drive there in my Outback, but most wouldn't.

Moapa Peak has little in the way of difficult class 3, but has one knife edge that is very tough on people with fear of exposure.

Bridge Mt is easier for some people, but has a fairly long and convoluted route on sandstone.

La Madre is more of a long hard day. If there is no significant snow on the south side, it has just one brief class 3, but a lot of places with bad footing on class 2.

Rainbow is a long slog, but is mostly class 2.

Juniper is rarely worse than Class 2.

I haven't updated this recently, but take a look:
http://hwstock.org/map/

I saw some of these peaks, but it was the long slog in that steered me away. It appears that White Rock and Turtlehead, then Devil and Shenandoah are pretty close together and possibly done in a long day (all 4)?

Neophiteat48 wrote:I saw some of these peaks, but it was the long slog in that steered me away. It appears that White Rock and Turtlehead, then Devil and Shenandoah are pretty close together and possibly done in a long day (all 4)?

Conceivable. You can get on the scenic loop, first hit Turtlehead for 2000' gain (I normally do it from the east, but that's about 1000' more), then drive to White Rock Springs for another 1300' gain with no trail (some slow class 3). I've never gone to Shenandoah which looks like an unimpressive lump. Devil is normally approached from the east (the road in is a bit rough, but 2wd, modest clearance) off i-15, and is 2100' of gain on highly unstable, enervating talus. A normal in-shape person would be massively tired after those three. The road travel time would be at least 3 hours, as the RR scenic loop is one-way and ~35-40mph, then you have to get to i-15 via the 215 or rte 160, then drive south to the gravel road out of Jean, and then back. The accumulated elevation gain would be ~5300', most off-trail and a bit rough.

MoapaPk wrote:

Neophiteat48 wrote:I saw some of these peaks, but it was the long slog in that steered me away. It appears that White Rock and Turtlehead, then Devil and Shenandoah are pretty close together and possibly done in a long day (all 4)?

Conceivable. You can get on the scenic loop, first hit Turtlehead for 2000' gain (I normally do it from the east, but that's about 1000' more), then drive to White Rock Springs for another 1300' gain with no trail (some slow class 3). I've never gone to Shenandoah which looks like an unimpressive lump. Devil is normally approached from the east (the road in is a bit rough, but 2wd, modest clearance) off i-15, and is 2100' of gain on highly unstable, enervating talus. A normal in-shape person would be massively tired after those three. The road travel time would be at least 3 hours, as the RR scenic loop is one-way and ~35-40mph, then you have to get to i-15 via the 215 or rte 160, then drive south to the gravel road out of Jean, and then back. The accumulated elevation gain would be ~5300', most off-trail and a bit rough.

I guess I'll take another look at Shenandoah, thought it looked better. But my main goal was find peaks close enogh together to bag a few of them and again, not to technical and some views. Maybe if there is some snow melt in the next 2 1/2 weeks some higher peaks will open up

bump

I’d start with Turtlehead as a good introduction to the area. It’s short and sweet and has great views for only moderate exertion. Then, depending on how you feel, there are several options. From the saddle below Turtlehead, you’d have a good head start on La Madre, but I’d plan on the rest of the day to do that one. Or you could go on down and do the loop hike around White Rock, which is easy and scenic. Or hike up the 4WD road and then take the short side trail off to North Peak, which also has great views, and would be an easier alternative to Bridge Mtn. It’s also fun to just scramble up any of the several canyons in Red Rocks.

brianhughes wrote:I’d start with Turtlehead as a good introduction to the area. It’s short and sweet and has great views for only moderate exertion. Then, depending on how you feel, there are several options. From the saddle below Turtlehead, you’d have a good head start on La Madre, but I’d plan on the rest of the day to do that one. Or you could go on down and do the loop hike around White Rock, which is easy and scenic. Or hike up the 4WD road and then take the short side trail off to North Peak, which also has great views, and would be an easier alternative to Bridge Mtn. It’s also fun to just scramble up any of the several canyons in Red Rocks.

Thanks for the info!

There are countless peaks you could bag during your stay, with plenty of options for reasonable 4+-peak combinations (loops and the like). Lake Mead, in particular, is a good place for that. The Shenandoah link-up you brought up sounds kinda weak to me ~ I've done all four of those peaks, and while worth doing individually, I can think of far better peak link-ups.

cp0915 wrote:There are countless peaks you could bag during your stay, with plenty of options for reasonable 4+-peak combinations (loops and the like). Lake Mead, in particular, is a good place for that. The Shenandoah link-up you brought up sounds kinda weak to me ~ I've done all four of those peaks, and while worth doing individually, I can think of far better peak link-ups.

What are your suggestions? And since I don't know the area at all, are the trail head etc well marked and are they easy class 3 or less? Thanks Troy

As BrianHughes suggested, the *sandstone* North Peak is class 2. From will Springs Parking lot, it is about 2700' gain, and requires about half a day. Juniper Peak is class 2+, maybe one stretch of easy class 3, but requires a bit of route-finding; as an up-and back from Juniper Canyon, it's a half-day trip with some difficult route-finding. If you have a GPS, then I can send you a track that would be moderately helpful. Kraft Peak out of Calico offers good views, and is class 2+ from the west saddle, and is a relatively short trip.

You can do Windy Peak from the Mountain Springs side, and that will be class 2+, half-day.

Summerlin Peak from the NE off Cliff Shadows is a thigh-burning, class 2+ half-day.

Two of these "half-day" peaks will burn you out.