[Fletcher]

I was thrilled when Josh Henderson invited me down to the desert to join him for some peaks during his Southwest road trip. I flew in to Vegas on Saturday the 4th, Josh picked me up at the airport and we hit the road. First up was Moapa. I was really stoked for this one because the road was too rough for me to make it to the trailhead when I was in the area last year. After camping at the trailhead the night before, we started hiking at 7:30 on Sunday morning. The weather was perfect.

Moapa

We hiked across Jacks Pocket with the impressive south face of Moapa beckoning us upwards. We entered a wash southwest of the summit that gained us 1000 feet up steepening terrain. After a few fun scramble steps, we gained Moapa's broad west ridge at 5200 ft.

entering the wash

hiking up the wash

a fun cairn

wildlife sighting

We then traversed below mellow terrain that intersect the massive cliffs of Moapa's south face, eventually gaining the east ridge at 6250. From there, we enjoyed the famous knife edge ridge finish to the summit at 6471' and expansive desert views.

expanding views

a scramble step

Moapa finish

awesome

summit

nearing the summit '

Temps were pleasant for a lengthy summit stay. I enjoyed seeing many friends in the register, including a note that Jake left for me nearly 4 years ago, when I was first initially planning on doing this peak.

DPS register

Jake and Steven

Adam, Matt, and Josh

Jake and Beth

our register entry

Mormon

Virgin

stoked

With a long drive to Phoenix ahead of us, we reluctantly began our descent. The knife edge was as fun on the way down as it was on the way up.

Josh on the knife edge

scramble step

interesting geology

back in the wash

Virgin Peak and desert flora

looking back

Moapa was awesome, but we were just getting started in the desert ~8 miles ~3600 ft of gain

[raising3hikers]

Cool note found in the register! Nice that you and Josh were able to meet up for some desert pks.

[ree]

Nevada has some awesome places to hike and scramble, and few crowds.

[Gimpilator]

Great to see that note again from Jake. Amazing what you guys accomplished in 3 days.