Black Mountain - Henderson, NV

Black Mountain is a unique hike because the trailhead is literally right within suburbia.  Fortunately for Karen and I, it's also only a couple miles from our house.  Black Mountain is a prominent peak in Henderson and it's one you can see from anywhere in southern Las Vegas.  I see it every day on my commute and I figured it'd be nice to be able to say I'd been at the top.

I had heard mixed reviews of the "official" trailhead that most hikers use, so I just used Google Maps to find a side street in a neighborhood at the base of the mountain.  We were able to park without obstructing anyone's driveway so I figured we'd be okay.  From there I had already planned ahead and brought a map to figure out how to cover the .4 miles to get to the start of the trail.

The trail itself is very well marked the entire way up and only gets difficult toward the top.  There is some light climbing up large rocks toward the top of the mountain that is reminiscent of the harder parts of Turtlehead Peak.

The views from the top are panoramic and very good.  The city sprawls in front of you to the northwest and west.  In the distance you can see Potosi and the Spring Mountains.  Lake Mead and Boulder City are visible to the East.  The only drawback we found to the summit were the small black flies that were constantly swarming us.  Strangely, as soon as we left the summit, there were a non-factor, but on top they were brutal.  There is an American flag up there, and also a geodetic survey marker. 

Black Mountain is a fairly easy hike that starts virtually inside Henderson.  It has a lot of potential for unique hiking trips, i.e. sunrise/sunset hikes or bike/hike trips.  The well-marked trail would present few problems in the dark with headlamps and we are excited to see what the views will look like with a sunrise/sunset backdrop.

Link to GPX: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2cidzp22w00xzey/black%20mtn%20GPX.gpx

Turtlehead Peak - Red Rock, NV

Phil and I have actually climbed Turtlehead Peak 4 times.  We've made it to the top all but once.  It is a hike that we enjoy the challenge of time and again.  Some people say I'll never do that hike again or quit before reaching the final summit, but they are really missing out.  There are many different conditions you can do this Red Rock hike under, so more than once is highly recommended.  We have hiked it in the absolute heat of summer and in January.

The first time we went on this hike was in the spring or summer of 2006 with two guys Karen knew from school.  These weren't couch potato guys by any means and we tagged along not really knowing what we had gotten into.  When we got to the trail head they pointed several times to the actual top of Turtlehead and said that was where we were going, but neither of us really believed them.  Honestly, we were at the ridge just under the top of the head when we actually believed we were going to the peak they had first pointed out to us.  At this ridge was where we decided we weren't going any further.  We waited there for them.  Now, this may seem wimpy that we bailed early, but these guys were in much better shape than us and we had no idea what we got ourselves into.  For example, after doing the hardest climb Phil and I had ever been on, the four of us ran down several miles.  They were unfazed and we had a new goal- to get to the top of Turtlehead Peak, but maybe at a slower pace.  This may have been the start of our conquerer's bug, who knows?

The 2nd time we did Turtlehead Peak, we took some family with us.  I think we had a group of 5 people.  It was in March (2007), but it was actually a hot hike.  This time Phil and I knew that we would not stop early and we must go to the top.  I think that we left a few of our party back at the ridge on this hike.  My memory is fuzzy who didn't make it to the top, but I do know that Phil and I 100% made it to the top of Turtlehead this time and it was so worth it.  The views of Las Vegas are stunning.  You can actually make out many prominent casinos in the valley.  The sense of accomplishment was incomparable for us, this was truly one of the first hard peaks we had ever conquered.

The 3rd time we hiked Turtlehead was during the winter in January (2008.)  Karen had a day off from school unexpectedly and we did this hike with two other friends.  The most memorable part of this climb was the weather and the pictures that Phil took that day.  We started out and it was cool and stormy around Red Rock, but near the top of the hike it began to snow.  Talk about an awesome adventure.  Hiking Turtlehead with feather dustings of snow was a great treat.  And as always, the views were incredible.

The 4th time we hiked Turtlehead was in June, 2011.  We went back again because one of our friends had heard about the hike over and over again, but never got the opportunity to do it.  It was actually cooler than we expected since it was already June, but that still didn't stop someone from complaining about the heat on the hike.  So if you're sensitive to the heat of Las Vegas, don't do this hike from April till probably about September or October.  Phil and I were both impressed with how easy the hike felt for us this day compared to previous attempts and may do it again sometime, but maybe with a more aggressive approach, kind of like our friends who introduced us to Turtlehead Peak in the first place in 2006.

Here is a GPX from one of our trips to the top: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3gfn29ij0xkz0ms/Turtlehead%20GPX.gpx

And a sample elevation profile:

Ice Box Canyon - Red Rock, NV

Being one of the most popular and well-known hikes in Red Rock, we finally decided to try it out after living in Las Vegas for so long.  I think we put it off for awhile because it's a shorter hike, but now we consider it one of our favorites and can't wait to take visitors or just do it again ourselves.  It's popularity is evidenced by a very full parking lot in the middle of the day.  Good sign for us since we are such late starters and we didn't have to worry so much about the desert heat since so many others thought it was a fine time of day to hike.

The route starts off flat, somewhat boring, and without shade, but then you get to some more scrambling parts and that's when the fun started.  The scrambling was fun and we took our own route somewhat to get to the base of the waterfall.  Since it was June, the water wasn't flowing anymore.  It'd be nice to go back earlier in the season and see the actual waterfall.  We climbed up the last part to get to the base of where the water pools before falling down into the canyon.  A few people were climbing the walls of Ice Box Canyon, but we opted to sit next to the little puddle and enjoy a snack in the shade and cooler weather.

Getting down from our positions took much more maneuvering so that we didn't fall into the murky puddle.  That was fun.  Karen got into a bit of a pickle, but she made it out without falling into the dirty water.  We definitely took a picture of the route Phil took down, as it was somewhat dangerous and kind of crazy.  He decided to slide down the smooth rock that the water flows down in the earlier months of the year.  It looked like a good idea at the top, but he picked up a lot of speed and luckily landed on his feet with a running start.  Other onlookers thought he was nuts and looked about as worried as Karen as he flew down the smooth rock.  See the picture below.

Somehow, we got off track on our way back and ended up in thick desert brush trying to find our route.  We could obviously see the parking lot and weren't too worried about finding our way back, but Karen went on and on about rattle snakes in the brush.  We made it back to the parking lot with no such encounters and were happy with the hike.  It wasn't especially hard or long, but the cooler weather once in the canyon was a pleasant surprise and the making your own route, of course, always appeals to Phil.  We will definitely be doing this hike again, especially some time during the spring so we can catch the actual waterfall.

Precarious Climb Down

Yep, Phil slid down the middle of this.  It's steeper than it looks.

The GPX is not the best because we were in a canyon, but we will include it anyway.  

GPX Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/v6udsk9u3i4gwm5/Icebox%20GPX.gpx