[John Morrow]

Down into the warm still air of the lower Colorado River Corridor, basing out of Katherine Landing in Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Katherine Landing is just a glorified trailer park, but offers some shade, free showers, and free wifi.

Dead Mountains Wilderness, NV
Black Mountains by Oatman, AZ and adjacent to Warm Springs Wilderness
Cottonwood Cove area of Lake Mead National Recreation Area
Lave Butte, Lake Mead North Shore

December 11: a loop connecting a couple summits, a narrow canyon, and a broad canyon with notable petroglyphs.

DeadMtnsPictureCanyon

Key notes: the powerline road off US93 is a bladed gravel road OK for standard clearance (hardest part is hwy berm).
I could have went further along the powerlines before parking
After crosscountry southward I entered a nice easy canyon leading to an easy indistinct west rib of the first summit: Peak 3448'. Class 2 scrambling over to Peak 3467'. Descending the east ridge of 3467' to a north trending rib with excellent scrambling led down to a nice waterpolished granitic canyon and on to Picture Canyon with no more than Class 2 downclimbs of scenic dryfalls.

gray day

up a side canyon

Spirit Mtn in rain

easy scrambling

above Picture Canyon

Descend thatta way

hmm, water polished canyon

into the canyon

descent route scramble

awesome wash bottom

dikes and seams

narrows

fun spot

power of water

smooth travel

Picture Canyon

wide dryfall

turning back upstream

spring

petroglyph sample, Grapevine Style

petroglyph sample 2

petroglyph sample 3

petroglyph sample 4

great sunset, heading out

Peak 3448 look back

Dec. 12: Boundary Cone, Peak 3360' and Peak 2880' scrambles.

Down to Oatman AZ for a Courtney Purcell classic plus a couple more aesthetic looking mountains.

Notes: Boundary Cone is almost continuous Class 2 and 3 and really really fun. With no beta on Peak 3360' I liked the looks of a steep rock gully to gain the knife-edgy and really fun and scenic SE Ridge, Class 3 with maybe a touch of Cl 4. The east slope made a nice easy Class 2 descent. The least unpleasant route up Peak 2880 (surrounded by continuous talus) looked to be a loose and unmemorable W/NW Ridge.

BoundaryCone+2

just east of Boundary Cone

South side Boundary Cone

those later

Up to the saddle

great scrambling

and lots of it

more

fun exposed piece

Peaks 3360 and 2880 next

Mt Nutt Wilderness

Class 5.0 descent variation

the easier way

key notch low on ridge

great country

key gully to notch

Boundary Cone rises

knife edge

fantastic Class 3 route

SE Ridge just great

more of it

look back again

love this place

the easy east slope descent

3380 and route on skyline

descending 2280, really loose

hugged the left edge of slope

parting

Dec. 13: Lake Mead NRA, Copper Mountains East and West.

These are well known local scrambles in the Cottonwood Cove area above Lake Mojave. They can be kept at Class 2 with visible route finding. I chose some more solid looking ribs to get more scrambling in.

SW Buttress of West Copper W Ridge Copper right saddle wash return of polished rock

Notes: the SW Buttress I chose to gain the summit ridge of the west peak got very steep and exposed (Class 4), Thus, getting my heart pumping mostly because I always suspect holds to be loose. I varied the east peak by going over to a nice solid low angle western rib to the south ridge, visible in the pics. A Class 4 variation stays right on the very south ridge crest. It can be avoided on the west, and goes over an arch that is not visible until returning the west slope Class 2 route. From near the central saddle, descend (or ascend) the eastern of the two main gullies/washes. It has very nice solid waterpolished wash bottom.

lower left to upper right highpoint

aesthetic scramble

gets steep

steeper yet

fun inside corner

profile of buttress descending right edge

The center right ridge

interesting topography

heading to the west ridge scramble

wash between the 2 Copper Peaks

easier scramble, good rock

Ireteba Peaks

Spirit and Newberry Mountains to south

scrambling on the south ridge now

summit scramble was great Class 2

climbed over this initially

looking back at summit

cholla garden

take this one out of the eastern of the two saddles between the peaks

easy descent

almost down

Dec. 14: Lake Mead NRA, the ubiquitous Lava Butte.

Lava Butte is a short pleasant trip up a cone shaped hill, distinctive and visible from many locales along the North Shore of Lake Mead. Any variety of routes up a north/northwest side from a high clearance powerline road off NV-147, Lake Mead Boulevard. I chose a fun and solid rib, a left one of two separated by a pale white gully. An example of one of my several short casual easy days.

Lava Butte NW Ridge (take rib left of gully)

surprisingly great scrambling just too short

it's a walk after this pitch

almost to the easier ground

Frenchman

Sunrise Mtn in there somewhere

wrinkled earth

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“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”-Mary Oliver

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”
― MLK Jr.