Juniper Peak Loop - 11/4/14

Juniper Peak

Ornament Hanging at Juniper Peak

 Sixteen club hikers had quite an adventure Tuesday! By all accounts, the hike was one for the history books! That explains the happy smiles and the perplexed grins on the faces of the hikers in the photos. Even after this long and grueling hike, photos, GPS tracks and stories were sent to the blogger late in the day to ensure an entry for the club. Thanks must be given to all those who participated in the hike and those who sent stuff in. Mike OC was the coordinator and added the summit photo. Steve Allen and Jerry Thomas helped out with the GPS track. Jerry also helped with the narrative. And, last but not least, Susan Murphy supplied the photos.

Ascending Out of the Wash

 Getting photos of this adventure must have been quite a task but, Susan's good humor captured the fun splendidly.

Considerable Climb that Turned Out to be the Wrong Way

 The hike began from the Pine Creek Trailhead off of Red Rock Canyon NCA's scenic loop. Jerry takes it from there.

Cairns Anyone?

 Sixteen intrepid hikers showed up for an exciting adventure today.  The weather was perfect and we set out up the south fork of Pine Creek.  This route may be familiar to some hikers because it is the same route taken to Terrace Canyon.  We made our way up Pine Creek always taking the left fork until we reached the spot where we climb up on a ramp up to the northwest side of the Juniper Peak ridge.

Finally ... Cairns!

  It was beautiful on this side of the ridge where few people go. 

Hmmm. Interesting!

 We followed the cairns upward until we reached a point where the route was not clear under a small cliff.  Groups of hikers fanned out in all directions looking for the route through the small cliff area.

Hiking Along the Cliff Walls

Finally someone spotted a string of cairns leading off towards the northeast.  We regrouped and followed the cairns up and around the cliffs only to find … more cliffs!  We were still following cairns so we knew we were going generally in the correct direction but there were just not enough cairns to make the way clear.

Found It!!!

  After another search the route was again found and we took off almost directly towards the Juniper Peak ridgeline. 

What a Rush! Sixteen Hikers on Juniper Peak

  We topped the ridge south of Juniper Peak and made our way along the ridge northward toward the peak.

Southern View from Juniper Peak

 After a snack break we all started down the standard route through Juniper Canyon.  One of the group actually found a shortcut which avoids the large talus field which will have to be explored more thoroughly some day.  It was a difficult hike but well worth the effort. ~ Jerry


And, Mike also chimed in:
Not too many photos taken today. Twas not an easy day. Everyone is fine.

 

Vitals: 16 folks, 7.25 miles, 2500’ elevation gain, 6 hours. ~ MOC

 

(Spoken like a responsible coordinator.)

Las Vegas Strip from Juniper Peak Descent

Descending Through Juniper Canyon