Fortification Hill - 1/4/20

From Fortification Hill to the Spring Mountains

Fortification Hill from HCV Approach

From Fortification Hill to Spirit Mountain (5639') - 57 Miles Away

Pit Stop at Kingman Wash

A record number of hikers showed up for the Fortification Hill hike on Saturday. Along with it came a record number of HCVs! And, boy Howdy, we needed them! The Kingman Wash Road is worse than ever as far as bumps and potholes are concerned. Otherwise, it was nothing that our HCVs couldn't handle ... slowly. Fortification Hill is very interesting geologically. Some tidbits of information that I have gleaned from the book, Geologic Tours in the Las Vegas Area (Expanded Edition with GPS Coordinates), Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Special Publication 16, University of Nevada, Reno, Mackay School of Earth Sciences, 2008, Bear Printing, Sparks, NV; pages 65-116, are found below.
    Fortification Hill is a remnant of extensive Miocene lava flows (about 6 million years old) that poured out over the area and are the youngest volcanic rocks in the Lake Mead region. Several volcanic centers and more than 100 individual lava flows have been identified on Fortification Hill.

Climbing the Ridge Trail

 The rocks now exposed in the large area between Frenchman Mountain and the Valley of Fire SP were moved apart by extensional forces 17 to 10 million years ago during the late Cenozoic Era. Seen in this area are rock layers that have been tilted, folded, and broken by faults as the region was pulled apart and entire mountains that have been displaced tens of miles westward along some of these faults.

View to Left of the End of Fortification Hill

One example is Frenchman Mountain, now occupying space directly east of Las Vegas. Rocks that make up Frenchman Mtn. have been correlated with identical rocks situated east of Lake Mead, strong evidence that the mountain journeyed from there to its present location. 

Steep Trail to Top

View Behind

Much volcanic activity also accompanied this period of crustal extension. Magma welled up and was expelled through vents and fissures in the Earth's crust to form lava flows and volcanoes. Features such as Lava Butte, Black Mesa and assumably Fortification Hill are evidence of this volcanism.

All of this loosely explains why Fortification Hill exists and when you climb up to the top of the hill's plateau, you can imagine how lava flows created it. And, we also know that the geologic faults of this large area northward to Valley of Fire slipped and slid and rearranged real estate so much so that we can roughly say that Frenchman Mountain is probably related to many features up and down the land that is now covered with and adjacent to Lake Mead. A geologist's explanation would be very informative but exceedingly complicated!

"The Rocks" Saddle Stop

So, twenty-four hardy hikers climbed into seven HCVs and headed out in convoy mode to Kingman Wash. (We looked like a ragtag jeep club!!) After two miles, a stop was made at the Kingman Wash "beach" bathroom from where the lake can no longer be seen.

Steeper after The Rocks Saddle

The next two miles brought us to the Trailhead. There is ample parking on the dirt roadside for many vehicles and we lined up. A few lined rocks lead hikers to the ridge trail and we started up, and up, and up! Our long line of twenty-four divided in two then three then four parts.

From Ascent to Highland Range (Crucial Bighorn Habitat)

The Third Class Climb

The front "runners" all rode in the same car; ran up the mountain, peaked out, ran down the mountain and left before any of the remaining hikers had finished their break on top. The second group of hikers followed Jerry and Cheryl up. The Thomases made sure that the second and third groupings found the correct 3rd class scramble up and the subsequent trail up to the plateau. I was in the third group and we climbed slowly but surely up, found the scramble and summited the plateau then took our time enjoying the beautiful plateau as the trail circled around offering amazing views of the surrounding mountains and colors then the lake and beyond. The fourth and looser group of hikers were being shepherded by the coordinator, Mike. He made sure that these hikers were taken care of and, eventually, some of them made it up to the peak.

Even Steeper between 3rd Class Climb and Plateau

The ridge trail is steep but, more significantly, it is relentless! There are only three very short "saddles" offered that give your legs a small rest. Therefore, it is best to tackle this hill individually.

Circling the Plateau

Thus, the four groups of hikers. We rested when we needed to but not too long so as our legs got cold. It was a good plan since the line of hikers was so long and there was no need for guidance.

Fortification Hill Peak from Trail - Basalt Rocks

Survey Marker on Peak

The last ridge trail "saddle" is where the big dark rocks are located as seen in the ninth photo of this entry. A rest is good here because the trail gets even steeper after this as it leads up to the base of the dark cliffs. Next, the trail circles around the cliffs to the right and ends at the location of the 3rd class scramble. Following the scramble, the trail leads around a small corner to the right then heads up a very steep passage to the plateau. Whew! Rest easy here and enjoy the relative flatness as the trail circles around the rim of the plateau leading to the high point peak holding a United States flag. The peak views are what this hike is all about as you may see in some of the photos of this entry.

Beautiful View from Peak (Lake Mead, Las Vegas and Spring Mountains)

Fortification Hill is normally very windy and it is wise to watch the weather report. Today's forecast included calm winds so the peak experienced relatively light but cool breezes. Still, the flag was very busy!

Hoover Dam and O'Callaghan - Tillman Bridge (Boulder City in Distance)

As seen in the photo above, we could also see the dam and bridge from the peak. We enjoyed our stay and wrote in the log book. Then group by group, we turned to start the descent.

Hikers at the Peak

Muddy Mountains, Bowls of Fire, Hamblin Mtn.
from Fortification Hill Peak

After rounding the plateau, we carefully and slowly descended the first steep section to the scramble. The scramble was easy-peasy down then we circled around to the ridge trail. As is our tradition, we descended the ridge trail until we reached the large cairn junction then we turned right to meet the wash trail at the bottom of a steep hill. The wash trail is much more relaxing to descend than the ridge and everyone (except that front group) was waiting at the bottom to drive out together. What a fun, fun day!

4 miles; 1460 feet elevation gain; 3 hours

Jerry down climbs the 3rd Class Wall

Jeannie follows down the Ridge Trail

Mike, Jeannie, Jerry and Cheryl descend the Wash Trail