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: