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| View from Paradise Peak (Virgin Peak & Mud Hills) |
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| Horse Spring Corral |
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| Paradise Ridge, Peak & Route |
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| Trail begins along Fence (Tramp Ridge in Background) |
This is a double hike; two short hikes providing two opposite views of the Gold Butte NM, high and low, in a wild and rough yet beautiful area. The hike's trailhead is located 13.7 miles down New Gold Butte Road from Whitney Pocket; where the pavedish road changes to dirt. To make things easier, the trailhead is on the right, exactly after a cattle guard. When you are parked here looking along the road in the direction you were going, Paradise Peak is over your right shoulder at a 4 o'clock direction. And, Horse Spring and Corral are at your 9 o'clock down past the colorful rock. From Las Vegas, it takes approximately 2 hours to get to this trailhead.
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| Trail crossing over Fence (Tramp Ridge in Background) |
Eight hikers in two HCVs, (a sedan would take more time), arrived here after making a short stop at the toilet placed at Whitney Pocket. All were in agreement that the ride was very long!
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| Small Points of Interest |
Regardless of the length of time it took us to get there, a beautiful adventure was in store. I had not pre-hiked either hikes but my research suggested that they were fairly straight forward.
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| Climbing the Steep Section |
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| Last Hiker Up to Curved Ridge |
Although it is always an excellent idea to watch out for cryptobiotic soil, we were able to cut out the damage pretty well by staying on burro trails, in washes and finding previously tromped terrain. Finding a trail that ran along a barbed wire fence, we started up. Eventually, we came to where the trail crossed the fence where the fence is broken down. Instead of continuing here, we decided to backtrack a few feet and follow a different trail that went up to the ridge to our left. This was our side trip along this shorter ridge then down a wash and into the canyon between our ridge and Paradise Ridge. The canyon is very nice and we enjoyed our break from the proposed route.
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| Climbing the Ridge Curve (Paradise Ridge in Foreground) |
Going down the canyon, we ran into the fence again and climbed up on the hillside to the left. Quickly, we reconnected with the track on my GPS and began the steepest section of the route climbing up to the crest of the trailing ridge.
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| Starting along the Main Ridge |
Once on Paradise Ridge, we began an easy climb up the trailing ridge and turned a soft corner onto the main ridge above. Still not really knowing what to expect, we began our climb.
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| Slope on Other Side above Valatier Wash |
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| Climbing the First False Peak |
Oh! Did someone mention that there were several (3 to be exact) false peaks before you reach the real Paradise Peak? Um. Must have missed that part! Anyway, up we went already getting fabulous views from our perches. The colorful East and West Mud Hills were a prominent feature as was Virgin Peak. Further to the east, Arizona sported the Grand Wash cutting down toward the south. On the other side, the steep slope down from Paradise Ridge to Valatier Wash and then to a high reaching Tramp Ridge was forbidding but not particularly dangerous. So, the first false peak, nicknamed Sitting Rocks, came and we thought we had reached the high point!
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| Second & Third False Peaks |
Nope. Aw. Well, the following saddle was easily negotiated and we continued. Yep. We could see two more peaks from here. Onward.
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| Mining Claim on Second False Peak |
On the second false peak, we came to an old mining claim cairn. In it, we found a tin can with a plastic covered something in it. We never found out what the "something" was since just touching the plastic caused it to fall into shreds. We stopped touching quickly!
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| The Last Climb |
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| Success! |
The next two saddles proved to be easy as well and, finally, we found ourselves climbing the actual peak! Yes, the view didn't change much from beginning to end but I would not have gotten the panoramas in this entry had we not persevered. And, fine panoramas, they are!
Since we had left one hiker down on the trailing ridge, we decided to take our photos then return to him. We hiked along the narrow ridge all the way down past the false peaks and around the ridge curve. After we picked up the last hiker, we continued carefully down the steep section and stopped in the canyon wash for our break.
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| Wide View from Summit of Paradise Peak |
After a nice break out of any errant breezes, we found the continuation of the trail that we had missed coming out. Shortly, we reached the fence crossover and returned along the visible trail along the fence.
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| Starting down the Curved Ridge Portion |
Near the trailhead, one carload decided to abandon the hike. Exploring out in the middle of nowhere isn't for everyone! The other carload was ready for more adventure!
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| Descending the Steep Section |
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| A Break in the Canyon |
At the trailhead, there is an old abandoned road that is lined with rocks. It appeared that, at one time, this roadway had been scraped and left the rocks pushed to the side. We needed to go on down Gold Butte Road a little further so we used this abandoned road as a trail. When the road came to a large wash, we turned left to go down the side of the wash. At Gold Butte Road, we crossed and found a burro trail to the right of a medium sized wash leading down into the confluence of several small washes and an old road that begins further to the right. Finding the burro trail was like finding a pot of gold!
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| Trail Approaches the Fence Crossing |
Knowing burros like water ... it didn't take a lot of thinking to know the trail would lead us directly to the spring! We didn't even worry when a couple of burro trails forked off. We followed our trail all the way down.
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| Starting along the Abandoned Road near Trailhead (& Tramp Ridge) |
When we got to the huge wash confluence, there were tire tracks coming from the old road. Everything appeared to be well cared for. All the fresh animal tracks that we had seen on our way down were going in the opposite direction so there were no animals around that we saw.
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| Finding a Perfect Burro Path to the Spring & Corral |
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| The Burro Path |
We followed the tracks around a corner and found the spring. There was quite a lot of water flowing in the spring. There was also a lot of algae and moss. We took a couple of photos but, wisely, did not stick our fingers in the water. Did you know that just touching spring water in a riparian environment can pollute it? So many animals depend on this water. BTW, we spotted a wildlife camera hidden in the trees here. Behave yourselves!
So, we turned around and headed to the corral. Wow! What a fancy corral! Built with wood and rocks with every cow comfort you can imagine!
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| Enjoying the Path |
We all enjoyed looking around at the bit of history. Up on the hill in the near distance, we saw a rock wall snaking its way down. Could this have been part of what helped the cowboys corral the livestock?
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| Nearing the Spring & Corral |
There is a way you can go inside the corral and feel like one of the cows! We took plenty of photos.
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| Horse Spring guarded by a Camera |
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| Well-fed Tree |
Finished with the corral and spring, we rounded the rock corner on the way out. A wash follows basically along the rock wall and, yes, burro hoof prints were seen here, too. We followed those wonderful beasts up the wash and finally up the hillside to the trailhead. This part of the double hike only took us one hour so it was a nice little finish to the day. Except, of course, a required stop at the Devil's Throat sinkhole! It was a long fun day ... an exhausting day with all the driving. Beautiful. Interesting. And, ... in the middle of nowhere!
5.5 miles; 1300 feet elevation gain; 3.75 hours; average moving speed 1.6 mph
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| The Old Elaborate Corral |
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| Starting up the Wash next to the Wall on the Return |
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| Following Burro Path in the Wash back to Trailhead |
A Short Visit to Devil's Throat
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| Devil's Throat |
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