Black Mountain Peak (Boulder City, NV) - 2/26/17

Arch & Bighorn from top of Wash Climb

Black Mountain (Boulder City, NV)

Las Vegas & Spring Mountains (with an artistic flare!)

Starting up the River Mountains Trail

 Aside from a great hike in Boulder City, it was a "Bighorn Morning!" Eight hikers arrived at the River Mountains Trailhead parking lot on Highway 93 and made their way up the culvert to the official trail. The culvert is a short cut that is often used by the club and others to get to the trail that leads up between the red and black terrain. Today, there appeared to be flags and ribbons along the trail marking a race route. Although we kept our eyes open throughout the hike, we decided near the end that the race must have been the previous day. Today was free of those competitive heroes! (Although we did see one peewee biker in training. He was padded to the hilt and Dad was right behind him. He was doing really well!)

Spotting the Bighorns' Lair

 So, did I mention bighorns? Yes, as we approached the bottom of the switchbacks, we looked up to see a small herd of bighorns on the cliffs above and two or three down below on the hillside.

Climbing the Wash toward Saddle

 The cliff dwellers were either lounging or being lookouts. We thought we could see a few babies up there, too. We saw a couple of impressive cliff jumps, too.

Continuing Wash Climb to Trail

Trail to Black Mountain Overlook

 We took our time viewing the amazing and beautiful wildlife then decided as a group to ascend via the wash to the right instead of the switchbacks to the left. This is a great wash to climb. It isn't real difficult but it does have a few loose boulders that you should watch out for. The jackrabbits got in the lead and headed for the trail to the right above. We had planned to simply go to the saddle on the left but the trail is okay, too. As one of our club members says, "Who needs a stinking trail?!"

Bighorns' Lair from Above

 At the trail, we turned to see one of the bighorns standing lookout next to an arch in the black rock. See photo at the top of this entry.

Blurry but Interesting ("No, you aren't ready for the cliffs!")

 When we gathered again, we headed up the trail and stopped at a place where we were able to see the bighorns from above instead of from below. Wow! They were tucked in everywhere! And, yes, there were several babies!

Lake Mead from Overlook

Side Trip to the Caves

 Again, we took our time viewing. Then, we proceeded to the Overlook and paused for a water break. Next, we dropped down the other side of the overlook and hiked out the sheep trails along the ridge. Very soon, Chuck led us down the other side of the ridge to view two large caves that were there. Not permanently occupied but probably used on occasion. Back on the ridge, we followed one of the sheep trails toward the big black mountain in front of us. These sheep trails seem to have been used more by humans, lately. They aren't as precarious as they used to be.

Following the Sheep Trails along Ridge

 As we hiked along the inside of the ridge, we followed the rule to stay as high next to the top as we could.

Las Vegas from Sheep Trails

 When the intermediary saddle ridge ended, we faced a steep loose climb up to the next level. There are faint trails for this and we each made a choice. Sometimes it is good to spread out in these instances to avoid sending loose rock down on the person behind you.

Red Mountain from Sheep Trails

Ridge to Right / Drop to Left

 This climb led us up to a sharp rock ridge. There is an opening in this rock to climb through and follow a trail below the ridge (and, above a long sloped drop) to the next ridge opening. From there, another trail along the ridge takes you to another shorter loose climb and this ends in the small peak approach. At the top of the mountain, there are 360 degree views with Lake Mead on one side, and Las Vegas and Bootleg Canyon on the other side. We signed into the log book and sat for our break.

Black Mountain Peak Approach

 As we sat, helicopter after helicopter flew by above ... not a lot higher than our heads ... it seemed! These are tourist helicopters. We waved at them and wondered if they waved back!

Peak Break! (Watching Tourist Helicopters)

 The usual route for the return of this hike is to drop down into the canyon immediately to the left. Today, we were trying new stuff. Love it! So, we returned down the treacherous steep loose stuff and followed those sheep trails back to the first ridge past the overlook.

Drop off Peak to Geocache Stash

Steep Drop down to Sheep Trails Ridge

 This ridge has a nice sheep trail of its own and when we were all together again, we turned to follow it down. To our right was Arch Wash. That was our goal so we dropped down the ridge until the descent to the right into the wash was gentle and welcoming. Then, we followed the wash down to the large arch up on the right side. As we passed this area, we noted that the huge cairn that had been standing in the wash for years had been torn down. Perhaps some people become a wee bit self-righteous. This cairn may have been an artifact that should not have been touched. It was certainly a nice point of interest, if nothing else.

Using Sheep Trails to Return to Descent Ridge

 Anyways, two hikers climbed up to go through the arch and get their photo taken. The arch is still a nice destination.

Descent Ridge Sheep Trail

 We scrambled down through the wash below and came out at the Caldera bike trail. Turning left brought us around to a wash climb up to the Bootleg Washington Trail above.

Into Arch Wash

Arch Visit

 We gathered again at the Red/Black Saddle (see photo below!) then proceeded down the switchbacks of the River Mountains Trail. As we got lower, we saw that the bighorns were still on the cliffs and there were, at least, eight sheep on the slopes below grazing. We took our time viewing the sheep one last time before continuing our descent back down through the culvert. An absolutely great morning in Boulder City. Fun with a great group of hikers.

6 miles; 1800 feet elevation gain; 4.25 bighorn hours

Gathering at the Red / Black Saddle

Red and Black

Watching the Bighorns on the way Down