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| South Bowl of Fire View from Peak Saddle |
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| Anniversary Narrows |
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| Anniversary Narrows Peak (Left) |
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| Hiking Overland |
As one hiker related today, "This is one of the top 6 hikes that brings us out to the Lake Mead NRA!" This hike has almost everything in the way of terrain, beauty and interest. Nevertheless, it is being threatened by outside interests. When a new mining company bought the old Ore Car Mine and the surrounding land, access to the famed Anniversary Narrows became easier to begin with. As time went on, ... and it only takes one incident like this ..., someone decided it was a good idea to sue the mining company for damage to his/her car which he/she probably parked in the wrong place amid mining trucks and machinery all around.
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| Small Jaw Bone Found |
Yep. That old insurance company put a stop to the public being able to drive onto the mining property at all. Zilch. So, up went a gate. Public all up in arms. How could access to Anniversary Narrows be blocked? Unthinkable!
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| Ascent Crack seen from Approach Wash |
So, after months of the public not really believing this could happen, an eastern route to the narrows was reborn. And, although the eastern route still trespasses on private property, see no evil, hear no evil. Now ... the first time a hiker says "Boo" to the mining company's insurance company, we are dead in the water ... er ... desert. Behave yourselves out there, will ya?
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| Climbing Out of Wash |
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| The Group Climbs the Crack |
So, we drove out Northshore Road to mile marker 16 and turned left (away from Lake Mead) onto Anniversary Mine Road. Just after crossing the Callville Road and wide wash, we parked on the side where there is a small wash that junctions there. Our hike started out that small wash. When we got past several arroyos, we climbed out of the wash to the left and began an overland hike toward the ascent crack in the small range in front and to the left of our direction. Eventually, we had to drop down into a very deep wash still traveling toward that crack.
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| Smiling Faces Clinging to Crack Ascent (Wash Far Below) |
Our first break was at the bottom of the crack. The crack ascent is very steep but the rock is very "sticky" and facilitates the climb. Bring gloves!
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| Traversing the Red Rock above the South Bowl of Fire |
At the top of the crack, just past the large boulder wall on the right, the route turns to the right and crosses over to a saddle then drops down onto a plateau that lies above the South Bowl of Fire.
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| View of South and North Bowls of Fire |
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| Thumbs Up! |
It is interesting to meander around and see the different views offered down to the red rock. The large red "thumb" rises up around an outcropping. Stay relatively close to the edge of the plateau and when you arrive at a funnel descent, there is a faint trail that travels around the top of the funnel. Follow the trail around and up a small ridge. Next, drop into the adjacent wash and begin climbing. Anniversary Narrows Peak is ahead. The wash has 3 or 4 dry falls that can be negotiated on the left side. The trail leads up early before reaching these obstacles. Usually, there is a cairn at the top of the last dry fall to signal those hikers coming down from the peak.
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| Climbing the Rocky Wash Toward the Peak |
Next, climb the peak in front of you! Be careful and don't wander too far to the right where a cliff lies unforgiving. This is a steep climb but not too long.
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| Lake Mead seen in Background |
Anniversary Narrows Peak lies on Lovell Ridge. In fact, some hikers who've been around a little longer call this peak Lovell Peak. As you near the top, you can see all the way to Las Vegas on a clear day ... like today! Behind you, Lake Mead. And, to the right, Muddy Peak can be seen past the immediate peak.
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| Lovell Ridge (Near) & Lava Butte (Far) |
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| South Bowl from Anniversary Narrows Peak |
Today's strong group of hikers reached the summit and signed in with plenty of reserve energy. The view from there might be southern Nevada's best! 360 degrees of color and geology. We enjoyed our stay then prepared for the tricky descent down the knife edge ridge. (Okay, a wide knife.) A few hikers followed the ridge all the way down to the saddle. Others followed the usual route down the ridge, then the drop on the right, then the ridge and the trail on the left. One word of caution would be that the rock on the ridge is very "sticky" and will grab your shoes when you least expect it. Falling is NOT allowed!
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| Nineteen on Summit (Muddy Peak Beyond) |
We gathered on the saddle and got one last gorgeous view of the South Bowl then turned left to go down the other side on the long intermediary ridge. There is a clear trail here.
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| Tricky Descent down the Peak's Ridge |
To our left, we could see the walls of the wash close in where Anniversary Narrows was formed. We carefully followed the ridge trail from the slippery beginning to the much easier end.
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| Arriving at the Ridge Saddle |
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| Descending the Intermediary Ridge down to the Washes Below |
At the bottom of this ridge, we went left to find a wash that led us down into the deeper wash. Although many of the cairns in this deep wash have been removed, it will be referred to as Many Cairn Wash as it was named the first time the writer hiked it. Many Cairn Wash is fun to descend. As one hiker put it, "I feel like a pinball bouncing off the rocks right and left!" There is around a mile of the wash before you spill out into a large gravel wash then yet another large gravel wash. Your direction should always be "down." Finally, the wide gravel wash rounds a curve and drops down into Anniversary Narrows.
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| Anniversary Narrows in Distance |
The narrows seems to have washed out a little since last year at this time. Some of the drops are a little bigger. Some of the group hiked through with nary a glance.
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| Dropping into the Many Cairn Wash |
But, others hiked through with cameras at the ready. Taking photos at every turn. The light was interesting today as it is the dead of winter and was around noon.
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| Exit (Entrance) to Many Cairn Wash |
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| Wide Muddy Peak Wash |
As we exited the narrows, we saw a couple of hikers about to enter. We questioned them about signs, etc. To our relief, there have not been any additional signs or gates erected. This meant that we would not have to backtrack over the peak to reach our cars. Yes, this is the only option for this loop hike unless you take a wider loop out to the West End Wash. (See the West End Wash / Anniversary Narrows Loop entry on this website.) It should be noted that the prospect of turning around did not deter any of today's nineteen hikers from going on the hike. As mentioned before, it is very difficult to believe that this hike would be blocked off from the public.
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| Hiking Through Anniversary Narrows |
Not far from the narrows, we turned into a canyon wash on the left. We'll call this an "escape" wash! This is the beginning of the east route.
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| Winter Noon Light in Narrows |
The east route is too difficult for it to be called "family friendly" but, for regular hikers, it is a nice route. The wash begins easy enough but quickly begins a steep climb up through rock.
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| The Escape Canyon Wash |
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| Arrow Pointing to Trail to Narrows at Saddle |
The hefty climb ends on a saddle where a large arrow is made with rock as seen to the left. The arrow is pointing in the direction of the narrows. As we dropped down the following wash, we passed through the mining company's boundary. We quickly made our way across a graded area and down through the ridges and washes that came next. We did not see any No Trespassing signs on the eastern route. When we could, we connected with a deep wash at the bottom of the hill and followed it to a point where it was easy to climb out on the left side. From there we followed the ridge for a straight shot down to our cars. An option here is to follow the deep wash all the way out to the dirt road and turn left to get to the cars. Your choice! We were very happy to have been able to do this hike on such a beautiful day. Thank you to whom it may concern.
8 miles; 1800 feet elevation gain; 4.75 hours
Since writing this blog, further news has been written about access to the narrows in the Review-Journal. Go to the address below:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/water-environment/criminal-charge-filed-against-mine-owner-over-road-work-lake-mead
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| Descending Wash to Graded Area |
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| Hiking Through the Main Wash Out |
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| Overland Ridge back to Cars |
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