[Gimpilator]

White Rock Hills Peak - 6462' I started this morning at the White Rock trailhead in Red Rock Canyon. I was hoping to combine White Rock Hills Peak with White Rock Spring Peak. These two are usually done separately. I ascended the canyon between the peaks which was brushy and unpleasant. There were some large boulders to maneuver.

White Rock Hills Peak

Wilson, Rainbow, Bridge

Bridge

brushy canyon

I skipped the saddle and started traversing toward the peak as soon as it looked possible. This whole group is white sandstone with widespread cliff formations and fissures. I underestimated the difficulty and time it would require for both peaks. I should have brought more water.

White Rock Hills Peak

summit is behind

rugged

The north ridge was slow going with a lot of detours to avoid cliffs, zigzagging on ledges, and class 3 moves but rarely sustained. There are numerous cairns along the route, presumably from the local 52 peak club. In any case, they always indicate the easiest way and that saved me a lot of time. I was surprised to make a long traverse along the east side, to finish on the southeast ridge.

peaks and canyons to the south

summit boulder 20 feet high, class 3

Damsel and Turtlehead

looking back at the summit

White Rock Spring Peak - 6000' This peak looks formidable from the south. I traversed under the toe of a west ridge and then ended on the north slopes which were steep and loose. Spur of the moment, I decided to descend the long east ridge back to the car, hoping it would be better than the brushy canyon. It certainly was, and there was a boot path part of the way and fun boulder hopping at the end.

White Rock Spring Peak

peak #1 seen from peak #2

a view of both peaks together

Turtlehead and Calico group

Peak 7313 "Pa's Rump" This peak is not officially named and somebody apparently doesn't like the nickname, because they blacked it out in the register. It's located between Las Vegas Valley and Pahrump Valley. The summit views are much better than anything I had hoped for.

false summit and summit above

a lesser peak to the southwest, viewed from the false summit

Pa's Rump from false summit

From the north side, it's a tricky looking ordeal, but the Potosi Spring road makes for good south side access. There are a number of ways to do the peak starting from that side. I opted for a sort of direct southeast rib, which leads to a key bypass through cliffs. This might be the most direct route on the mountain, but it's necessary to pass over a substantial false summit.

Potosi

Charleston group

Charleston group zoom

Kingston on the left and Clark on the right

Potosi Spring valley

Kingston zoom

Clark zoom

Virgin Mountain background left, Muddy Mountains in shadow, Frenchman Mountain in sunlight, and Vegas Strip foreground

Nopah Range shadowed and Telescope far distant

Misty Mountain - 6457' There were two more peaks on my itinerary, but with the fading light, I knew there was only barely enough time for one more. If it wasn't for the recent daylight savings change, I would have had an extra hour to work with. I had been limited by the 6am opening of the gate at Red Rock. Just as I was beginning on the southeast side of the mountain, the sky turned pink above me. Sunset. Lovely!

Potosi sunset

With no moon, it got dark fast and I pulled out my headlamp. I always keep one battery removed because I have learned not to trust the lock off. The separate battery was nowhere to be found. With 400 vertical remaining, I knew it was going to be close, so I tried to hurry. I found some great fossils, but it was too dark to see them very well.

flash

Pa's Rump

I made it to top, quickly signed the register and then headed back down, careful about the loose rocks, cactus, and yucca spears. Just barely made it to the old road remnant before pitch-black darkness.

[awilsondc]

Those panos!!! That sunset!!!