Charleston Peak Winter Ascent and Backpack

This is a pretty hardcore adventure from Shin's Charleston Peak climb this past weekend. Here's his story:

Paul Kuroda, Daren, and I (Shin) started hiking around 7AM. Since Cathedral Parking Lot and South Loop Trailhead were closed, we had to hike from the west end of the fence that's about 100 yards west of  Cathedral parking lot.  (Note: It could be a long time until Cathedral Rock Picnic area reopens.)


Paul carried about a 60 lb backpack, Daren had  35 lbs in his backpack and I hauled about  40 lbs up the mountain. As we started the weather was great.  It was cloudy, but no wind. The forecast called for a 70% chance of snow.

Since Charleston over 14 additional inches of snowfall a couple weeks ago, most of the young alpines in the avalanch gully were under the snow. Also the snow flattend most of  the short trees and boulders. Thus most of the class 4-5 walls and brush were buried in snow. It was steep, but we kept hiking straight up.

It took us about 5.5 hours to our camp spot that was about 200 ft lower than the Meadows. We didn't camp at the Meadows, because we heard the wind howling up there. As we set up our tents, snow fell and it kept up until midnight.

The next morning Paul started around 5:30AM with Daren and I starting 30 minutes later. We caught up with Paul in 1.5 hours. It was a beautiful morning with just a slight breeze as we walked on the ridge line. Everything was beautiful and we stopped many times to take photos. Suddenly it changed when we got above Carpenter Canyon area. We were surrounded by clouds and strong winds pushed us around. Sometimes I couldn't see more than 100 ft ahead. Fortunately, the clouds broke as we came to the airplane crash site(from the 50's.).

It took us about 3.5 hours to stand on the highest peak in southern Nevada. Since very strong winds  kept blowing from the south, there was no snow on parts of the ridge line. The peak register box, weather station, solar panel and flag poll were snow free. My right hand was numb since I was taking lots of photos with my bare hand. Even though the wind chill made it feel like sub zero temperatures, we stayed at the peak for 20 minutes and enjoyed the view.

The first mile of the descent was the worst part. Strong winds blew in my face and my ear was hurting big time. My hands were numb even though I was wearing thick gloves. After we passed the Carpenter Canyon area, the wind got weaker and we took a break. I was a little exhausted, but we made it back to the camp site in less than 3 hours. We took a late lunch and packed up the tents. Following the route back to the cars took a little over 2 hours.

Note from Branch: Great job guys! This was a serious outing. Only those experienced with these type of conditions should attempt this. Also be aware of possible avalanche dangers.
Shin failed to write I was at the peak in shorts and a T-shirt!

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.