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| Shamu Lives! |
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| Today's Target from Northshore Summit |
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| At Northshore Summit |
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| "We'll be there sometime this afternoon." |
Due to the length of this exploratory hike into the realms of Sea World in the Lake Mead NRA, many photos have been posted. Enjoy!
Twelve hikers began their day at mile marker 20.5 on Northshore Road where they climbed up to the ridge on the Northshore Summit Trail. After surveying our target route in the distance, we hiked out the trail and dove down into the small wash. A left turn took us to a larger wash. Then a right turn put us on Callville Road; a high clearance dirt road.
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| The Northshore Summit Trail |
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| Down the Small Wash |
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| Down the Larger Wash |
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| Up Callville Road |
An option for this hike is to drive the dirt road up to the camel tracks landmark. This area is part of the Horse Spring Formation that is prominent in containing fossils. When we reached the camel tracks, we took our photos then proceeded up the wash bearing to the left at a colorful intersection. There were a few small dry falls to contend with as we squeezed up a few slots. Then the wash opened out and we began seeing spots of red rock popping up as we curved around. We could see the two peaks in the distance that are associated with the Sea World hikes.
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| Fossilized Tracks found throughout the Hike |
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| Sea World Wash |
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| Into the Red (Orange) Rock |
The red rock became abundant as we moved up the wash. There were many formations on either side. Suddenly, we found ourselves in a very nice small slot. At the end of this slot, there is a climb up that can be accomplished in a chimneying fashion. One hiker decided it was a good opportunity to practice a little spanning. (Photo below.) The rest of us used a helping hand. After the slot, we came to a wide junction. Taking the right fork, we continued up a little further then exited the wash for our overland section of the hike.
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| Slots in Sea World Wash |
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| Spanning |
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| Exiting the Main Slot |
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| Heading Toward Sea World II Peak |
In the distance, we could see the canyon between the two large Sea World peaks. We began heading straight for the break. Some of us found a very old game trail to follow. We could only tell it was game trail because there were no plants growing along the path. But, it proved to be very useful since it led us in and out all of the many arroyos in the easiest ways. Other hikers in the group circled around the mound on the right side of the game trail. There was so much land to cover that the distance was probably similar.
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| Starting Climb to Saddle between Peaks |
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| Interesting Outcrop on the Way |
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| Target in Sight |
We continued following very vague game trails all the way up to the saddle. We had to cross many shallow arroyos that emitted down from the peak to the left. The capable group of hikers arrived at the saddle within a couple of minutes of each other. Here, there was some discussion about the best route for climbing the peak on the left side. Although there is a slightly more gentle slope on the back side of the peak, the four hikers who wished to climb up decided to go up from the saddle where they would lose less elevation beforehand.
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| Everyone Arrives at the Saddle |
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| On the Saddle |
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| Four Peak Climbers and Their Adventure |
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| Circling the Base of the Peak |
The remaining hikers dropped down over the other side of the saddle to begin circling the peak's base. Circling the base proved to be very interesting. This route puts you in a desolate area neighboring the Muddy Mountains. There was evidence of a resident wild horse and/or burro but we didn't see any wildlife. We passed a very large cairn made from a natural outcrop near the base of the before intended route up to the peak. Too interested in the surrounding landscape, none of us really wanted to climb. So we continued circling and found the main wash to do so.
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| Passing Very Large Cairn |
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| Muddy Mountains rise Behind |
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| Different Bedrock |
This wash had some very interesting bedrock as seen in the photo to the left. We easily hiked it following a wild horse/burro trail. Eventually, the trail took us up to the small ridges where we were guided by a large pointy rock outcropping ahead of us. This was the north side of Shamu, the star of Sea World. From this side, it doesn't look like anything but it was today's high point and, also, where we would have our break and wait for the peakers. After about fifteen minutes, the peakers came barreling down from the ridge above guided by the large wash we sat above.
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| Sea Turtle Sighting |
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| Waiting for the Peak Climbers |
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| Starting Down |
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| Many Nice Clumps of Barrel Cacti |
Our hike resumed by dropping down that huge wash that flows beneath Shamu. After several minutes of rock negotiating and squeezing through more bedrock, we turned around to take a last look at Shamu. Fantastic! Now we got it! Yes. It looks like a breaching killer whale. (It would be nice to approach this anomaly from the south side.) So, we continued down the wash until it junctioned with a larger wash near the square peak that is the high point of Lovell / Anniversary Ridge. Here, we turned to the left and began heading into red rock again.
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| Descending the Wash |
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| Bedrock Portal |
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| Nearing the Red Rock Wash |
By this time of the day, we were all pretty spent but we still had to get back to the cars on Northshore Road. So we hiked down the wide wash enjoying the scenery, junctioned at the fork with our previous path, dropped down through the slot ... then tried our luck at going overland to shorten the trip back to the camel tracks. We found a short steep wash to drop down but others needed an easier way down. So, we backtracked and found one. Next, another attempt was made to cut the route short by going overland.
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| Hiking into the Red Rock |
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| Red Rock Meets Desert |
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| Sea World II Peak |
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| Junctioning with Sea World Wash |
With all the washes and steep embankments, this resulted in more energy output than necessary. When we finally reached the hill going back up to the Northshore Summit, most of us were struggling. It was a very good feeling when we started coming down off of the hill and into the parking lot! What a fantastic day of learning and seeing stuff that was always out of reach before! This whole area could be further explored ... but, maybe, in smaller pieces!
12.5 miles; 1950 feet elevation gain; 7.25 hours
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| Our "Short Cut" Routes back to the Cars |
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| Late Afternoon Desert Sun |
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| The Wave says Bye-Bye |
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| Shorter Route from the Camel Tracks |
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