Mt. Charleston Hiking Tips

Big Falls

Now is the time to head up to Mt. Charleston (only 35 miles west of Las Vegas, NV) to escape the Las Vegas heat and do some hiking. Big Falls, a 100 foot waterfall, is flowing big time, but it will not last. Unfortunately, it's hard to find. Most people mistakenly hike to Mary Jane Falls, which is almost dry now. I have a great description of how to hike to Big Falls. Just go to my home page. You will immediately be taken to a page where you can download the PDF file of the hike. It's free!

Hiking Tips:

• Start the hike off slowly (first 15 minutes) to get use to the elevation. 
• Always bring a wind breaker. It can be very windy at the peaks
• Bring an extra layer if hiking to a peak
• Once the Monsoon Season starts, always bring a rain jacket
• Never where approach shoes (Vasque Screes) in Mt. Charleston. The limestone rock will destroy the sole very fast. I recommend Vasque Breeze hiking boots. 
• Carry more water and drink often. Your body needs more water at higher elevations.
• If you are prone to blisters, bring spyroflex or moleskin. You can buy spyroflex at REI. The hikes are much longer (in miles) than hikes in Red Rock.
• If you are doing a long hike, bring an extra pair of socks and change at the peak
• If your feet are burning and you cross a stream, soak your feet in the stream to relieve the burning

Charleston Peak via Big Falls

If you ever wanted to hike Charleston Peak via Big Falls, this is the time to try. Kathy and I just did the route on 8/7/2009. We must have built 50 cairns to help others follow the route. I also took new photos and will rewrite the route for the Members Only section of my web site. The route we took is the safest route I have done through Big Falls. There's a minimal of loose rock, which is amazing considering the terrain.

I got altitude sickness on the hike, because I did not drink enough water. Yesterday was unseasonably cool and I was not thirsty. I estimated I only drank 15 ounces of water. No wonder I got altitude sickness. Here's the point: drink! You have to keep hydrated for peak performance. Now I will admit there's times when I don't drink much and it has no effect on me. Yesterday it caught up with me and I had to suffer the consequences.

Normally we descend the North Loop Trail, but this time we descended the Big Falls route. I would not have done this with a group. The rock is too loose. The downclimbs were actually easy and we made good time descending the gully. Once out of the gully we had some problems following the route even though we had made plenty of cairns. We were never lost, but it did slow us down. Bottom line is I DON'T recommend this route as a descent route. It's much harder than the trail, very hard to follow (even with cairns), and it took almost as long as hiking the trail. The upside is it's not as boring as the trail.

Charleston Peak via Big Falls

On Saturday (8-1), 10 hikers followed one of the best routes to Charleston Peak (11,918 feet ) that being the Big Falls route. I found this route years ago and it has been a favorite of many hardcore hikers. The route begins at the Mary Jane/Big Falls trailhead. The trail was outlined by logs as it entered a minor drainage making it easier to follow. Since there's not a main trail, several paths have been created causing harm to plants and eroding the land. I am not sure why there has never been an established trail to the best waterfall in all of Mt. Charleston???

At Big Falls we scrambled up the falls on the left side. Big Falls is just a trickle now since it depends on snow melt. Above Big Falls we crossed the water that feeds the falls and then we ascended a steep, but short slope to an awesome camping spot hidden in the forest. We then dropped into a drainage and followed it to just before it ends where a year round snow bank lies. Imagine that a year round snow bank only 30 miles from Las Vegas! The route travels through a forest as it nears Airplane Gully, a gully full of airplane debris from the crash that everyone sees along the South Loop Trail.

For the most part we stayed in the gully only climbing out to the left when we encountered a class 5 wall. This is the safest way to do this route. In year's past we have climbed straight up only to find very loose rock, which is very dangerous with a large group.

Once we hit the South Loop Trail at the plane crash site, it was easy going to the summit. The first group of hikers made it to the peak in less than four hours. Not a bad time, but not a great time. Shin's GPS recorded a little over four miles from TH to the summit. That sounds about right.

We saw several groups at the summit as we waited well over 30 minutes for the last ones in our group to make it to the highest point in southern Nevada. The sky was cloudless, a nice change from thunderstorms last weekend. We followed the North Loop Trail back to the trailhead.

Notes: This is a very hard route to follow. Getting off route guarantees a lot of loose rock.
The plane crash occurred in 1955. You can read more about it here.

Big Falls

Today (5-15), Kathy and I hiked to Big Falls in Mt. Charleston. As you can see in the photo it is flowing big time. Water was flowing about halfway down the canyon making for some spectacular scenery.

There's snow near the waterfall and with the water crashing down it's the perfect setting. Hurry this won't last forever.
Stats:
Hike: Big Falls
Distance: 3 miles - up and back
Time: 2+ hours
Class: 2

Big Falls

Big Falls is still flowing. Part of the trail was washed out by floods early this year. We set cairns to make it easier to follow the trail through this part. There are two caves above Big Falls. We hiked to the lower cave, but the upper cave required class 4 and 5 moves to reach.
Be cautious of stinging nettles. See photo to the right. If you brush up against them, they inject a cocktail of irritants. Though not dangerous, you will feel a sting for some time after coming in contact with the nettles.
It looks like the Monsoon season has started.