A Tour of Mt. Wilson

Today (10-30) Davis, Kenny, Adam, Mike and I did a tour of Mt. Wilson, the highest peak in Red Rock Canyon, which is just 20 miles west of Las Vegas, NV. We hiked up First Creek about halfway and then followed the route to the Hidden Bowl.The route through First Creek is in great shape. It's well cairned and clean. And finally it's easy to find the "brush free" wash. In the past hikers have missed the wash and have had to hike through a very brushy wash. The only caveat is while on the trail leading into the canyon don't be lured by cairns off to the south. Those cairns lead to technical climbs.

The Hidden Bowl leading to the summit is steep. You gain over 1,600 feet in less than 0.75 of a mile! It's a thigh burner. Once up and less than 0.25 of a mile from the true summit, there's a great spot to eat lunch and take in the views. From the summit we headed over to the South Summit, which I think, is much better than the real summit.

We descended via the Hidden Bowl and then traversed over to White Rock Pinnacle, one of the airiest peaks in all of Red Rock Canyon. It's 400 feet down on the north side and over 1,000 feet down on the south side. There's no room for a mistake here!

We then descended White Pinnacle Gully and to our surprise it is very well cairned and clean. We got back to the cars around 4 pm. It was a fun day, though we were all tired at the end of the hike.

Notes: South Summit needs a new container for the sign-in book. White Pinnacle Peak needs a sign-in book and a container.