Desert Escape

37 miles of hiking • 7000' elevation gain • 4 nights

Had a 6 day trip to the desert. Camped 4 nights, stayed in hotel first and last night. Rented a jeep so I could access the remote spots. Had some fun desert hiking every day!

1) Clark Mountain-highpoint of Mojave National Preserve.Visited plane crash site, but then failed to summit because I got sketched out on knife edge ridge. No trails, alone in the wilderness, figured I should play it safe. Drove to Kingman AZ and stayed in hotel. 4 mi, 1700 ft

2) Warm Spring Butte-highpoint of Warm Springs Wilderness, east of Golden Shores AZ. Very rough road in. My favorite hike of the trip- part of the motivation was the petroglyphs. Tons! Also fun desert rambling and scrambling and route finding.Saw burros, a herd of bighorn and A FOX! Wonderful warm comfy night in camp with bright moon and the occasional braying burro. 6 mi, 1800 ft.

3) Buffington Pockets. Drove back to Vegas and picked up my buddy at the airport. we then headed over to the Valley of Fire area, and took the "Bitter Springs Back Country Byway" to Buffington Pockets. The road was so gnarly, even in the high clearance jeep. But we had solitude. Very cool layered sandstone rock formations, fun slot canyon wanderings. However soon after we set up our tents in a very pretty spot, the winds came in and howled all night. We had to reinforce stakes with stacks of rocks and even put rocks inside the tent! At times my tent poles would push on my head as my tent was flattened on top of me. Very noisy, down to the 29 degrees. In the morning, despite the bright sun we had trouble warming up, so instead of going to nearby Valley of Fire, we decided to head south to Mojave. 3 miles 500 ft.

4) Hole in the Wall-Barber Peak and Ring loop. Mojave National Preserve. This loop hike, actually goes around the mountain. The best part is Banshee Canyon which has eroded holes in the tuff like the Honeycombs, some slot canyons, and the "ring sections" which are sturdy metal rings to assist climbing up two of the slots. Long drive, stayed at campground which was tolerable, but it was too cold to hang out after the sun went down.6 miles, 700 ft

5) Teutonia Peak-in Mojave National Preserve. This formation is on the shoulder of Cima Dome, and was (formerly) located in the densest stand of Joshua Trees. Unfortunately much of the JT forest burned last year. The landscape was bleak, with no new growth apparent yet on the desert floor. Fun scrambling on the top! 3.5 mi, 800 ft

6) Arizona Hot Spring. We drove to the area near Hoover Dam the night before, found a canyon wash to drive up, and stayed in Horsethief Canyon. Wonderful warm night under a full moon. Did not have to dive into our tents when the sun went down. Drank too much whiskey. We did manage to get to TH early as this is a very popular hike. Hiked down one canyon to Hotsprings, then visited the Colorado River and hiked up the adjacent canyon. The long trudge out in loose gravel was more challenging than we expected. Hangover did not help. 7 mi 750 ft

7) Anniversary Narrows. We stayed in a hotel the last night because my buddy had an early flight. I however had all day. Went to the Lake Mead NRA, east of Vegas, and visited this cool slot canyon off the North Shore Road. Fantastic! Added some fun side scrambles. 7.5 miles, 800 ft