On Saturday, Dave, Dana and I hiked Fire Mountain in Arizona, which is only 55 miles from Las Vegas. The first time I hiked this peak was 2006. My curiosity was aroused a few weeks before when I saw this peak from Nelson's Landing. See photo to the left. It towered over the Colorado River and was a very eye catching peak.
We followed the same route on Saturday as the one I found back in 2006. There's a long summit ridge traverse with lots of airy moves; however, this can be avoided by dropping off of the ridge to the west. The final climb to the summit looks scary, but is only class 2!
This is a seldom climbed peak with only one ascent, besides us, since 2006! The drive to the trailhead requires a 4 WD vehicle with good clearance, which is one of the reasons this peak is rarely climbed. That's too bad since this is one of the better desert peaks.
We found a very fast descent route by following a solid bottom drainage down the steep slope. The drainage dropped us into the main wash which we took back to the car.
Notes: There's sign in book at the summit. Many pages are left in the book; the container is of poor quality and should be replaced. I will update the write up for this hike today, including the descent route we took.
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