Charleston by Devil's Thumb

Harlan W. Stockman
Sunday, July 03, 2005

Round Trip was ~ 14.3 miles, accumulated elevation gain ~5250'. We got to the summit in 3.5 hours, but we didn't stop much and kept a good pace. The shortcut by Devil's Thumb avoided the snow that was blocking parts of the trail, but contained some loose rock. Occasionally, handholds just came off in my hand, and footholds teetered down slope. At one point, I pushed a huge, loose boulder out of the "path". The first chute is marginally class 4, partly because the rock is crumbly and a fall to the west would yield a very long drop. A subsequent short stretch is either class 3 or 4 depending on your choice of route.

Meanwhile, it was 110F 20 miles away in downtown Vegas.

This was another knee test for me; I tore my left medial collateral ligament June 12. My orthopedist said, "don't do anything extreme" but he didn't define "extreme". My knee actually felt better the day after this hike. Ironically, when I got home, I injured a muscle in my shoulder as I pulled off my boots. I had to keep my leg fairly straight, so I overextended my shoulder to push the boot, which was tight on my foot. Oops.

Upper part of the GPS trace.	View NE from Trail Canyon.

	Doyle and his patented hiking handbag.	At Devil's Thumb, the first group prepares to ascend the cliffs.

The Thumb is at the top of the picture, roughly to the north.	Now we can see the top of the Thumb -- we're looking down on the top. This shot is from the end of the 1^st hairy pitch.

This is the 2^nd hairy pitch.		From here on, it's just a chug to the summit.

Mark looks happy	View east -- here's a key.	View NE as Richard and Doyle crest the ridge. Here's a key.

	View west. The north side of the summit is mainly snow-free.	Raven? I thought this was a crow, based on tail shape, but other pictures show a soaring pattern typical of ravens. Later I realized the birds were circling above a lone hawk.

People are always looking down on me.	Preparing to plunge-step and slide down the snow. Most snow was too sun-cupped to navigate.

Dr. Z descends the worst pitch.	Lah-di-dah, view west.	Branch comes down.

Now Mark. The object at upper right is my hat; I tried to use it to block the sun. At this point, I got out of the way so Branch could film Richard's descent.	Heading back north down the trail.	Standard view of Kyle Canyon.