LaMadre From NW (near Vegas, NV)

pics by Harlan W. S.
Oct 16, 2008

This trailless route starts at near 6000’, and is low on talus and brush (I wore shorts). This route would be deathly hot in summer. The terrain is confusing; either be very good with a map and compass, or use a GPS.

This is not the approach described on the www.hikinglasvegas.com site as of Oct 16, 2008; this route is substantially shorter with less accumulated elevation gain, and much less talus. It may be the approach described by Andy Zdon in Desert Summits, except the correspondence would require Zdon to have an odd definition of “Harris Springs Road”.

The best way to describe the approach is with the co-ords for the two crucial turns. First, one takes rte 157 (Kyle Canyon Road) SW from us 95. Then at 36.28022, -115.45100 (WGS84), turn left off rte 157 onto a good dirt road (bladed). At 36.26206, -115.48622 (WGS84), turn left again onto a rough dirt road, and travel up this road for about 2.5 miles to a turn-around. The road goes a little farther, but you REALLY want to stop at the spot with the turn-around. I got my 2003 Subaru Outback up here, without bottoming out; but there are some quite rough stretches where it will pay to drive slowly and avoid some really big rocks. Have a big prybar in your car for levering rocks out of the way. Mostly, this road needs high clearance. There is one dip across a dry steam where 4WD may be beneficial, especially on the way back; but HC, 2WD and a powerful engine may do as well.

A GPS (gpx) file that you may use at your own risk is here. Save it with a gpx extension; your brain-dead browser may try to rename it xml.

This 100k map shows the area.	24k topo with GPS track.	Near point 7044, this view is NW to the Charleston-Mummy Range.
At point 7044, this view is up ridge. At L is the landslide scar, described on p38 of Tingley.	View E at pt 7044; The leftmost peak is East LaMadre, and the next point R is pt 7667.	As we climb the ridge, the sharpness of pt 7667 becomes more apparent.
The top of the landslide scar is at L. We go up the rocky ridge at R.	View back to Mummy.
	View back NW over the rocky ridge.	View down E over top of slide.
At summit, view SW over El Padre.	Last entries in register.
View down S at Turtlehead.	View E over Summerlin Range.	Starting down, view NW to Mummy.
View down rough quasi-knife edge.	View down the slide, with scar and debris field at bottom.	At same point, view E.
Rose coral fossil.	Tingley, J.V. et al. (2001) Geologic Tours in the Las Vegas Area (Expanded Edition). Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Special Publication 16. ISBN-1-888035-07-2.