Golden Eagle 4-12-07

Windy Day

The weather earlier in the day was very windy. Dust storms were limiting visibility to about 100 feet around 10:30AM. Just after noon the clouds started rising above the valley. Gass Peak had a dusting of snow down to about 4500 feet. It was gone within 2 hours or so though. This was very unseasonable for Las Vegas. I almost didn’t go on this hike, but the weather had improved by evening. Though still windy. I had to repair a tree when I got home from work before I left for the mountain.

The Hike

I scrambled up the North side of Golden Eagle. The scrambling is very good with lots of third class and even some 4th class opportunities presented themselves. Instead of taking the gully that leads you to the saddle between Golden Eagle and its lower neighboring ridge to the North, I scrambled around on the NE side to the smaller summit. From here I hiked shortly down to the saddle and up to the summit. It was very windy at the summit. This was some of the best scrambling I have done all year.



The summit provided great views of Las Vegas and nearby Lone Mountain. Usually by late afternoon it is so hazy around Las Vegas. With the storms and weather that had gone on today though the air was nice and crisp. To the north the Sheep Mountains were in the clouds and Gass Peak had a shadow of clouds over the summit.

To make up time on the way down sierragator and I hiked down the East side of the summit

Images

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