Click on any small image to see a larger picture. (Cliquez sur une petite image pour voir la grande image correspondante.) Order is essentially chronological. The large images here are reduced to ~1/5 the original # of pixels. If you want copies of the original images, please e-mail me.

Map with red GPS trace

Walking west to enter Fern Canyon (on north branch of Pine Creek).	Henry and Anya shoot on ahead, while we are distracted by…	…Don's impression of the star on a Christmas tree.
DSCN3660	DSCN3675	pano28_BrdgPt_3669and72
The group sits down for our first lecture.		It's steep.
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It's still steep.		It's damn steep.
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Not as steep. View S across canyon.
pano05_BrdgPt_3733-4	pano07_BrdgPt_3743-5	DSCN3748
RedRockettes.   (Click here for an even closer close-up.)	On top. View SW toward Potosi.
pano09_BrdgPt_3751and3	pano10_BrdgPt_3755-6	pano11_BrdgPt_3757-8
View NE. La Madre through Damsel at left of Bridge Point; Las Vegas on right.		Jim Carrey, he's not. Jim Carrey is more serious. He's not Cher, but he may be Sam Elliott.
pano12_BrdgPt_3766-8	pano14_BrdgPt_3772-3	DSCN3777
Heading down NE from Bridge Point, toward Frodo Peak.
pano15_BrdgPt_3778-9	pano16_BrdgPt_3781-2	pano17_BrdgPt_3787-8
DSCN3793	DSCN3798	DSCN3800
Anya steps on Don's hand.	Looking back (W) at traverse. Debbie and Mark are next on deck.	Copenhagen Mermaids, or Lorelei?
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		On Frodo Peak. Luba prepares for the 100M hurdles.
pano02_BrdgPt_3817-9	DSCN3821	pano19_BrdgPt_3832-3
RedRockettes on Frodo Pk., courtesy Branch Whitney.	View W at Bridge Mt.	View S over Rainbow Peak to Mt. Wilson.
Group_at_200_ft_wall	DSCN3830	DSCN3840
Mandatory view E of The Strip.		Back on the traverse.
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Traverse viewed from other side (looking E). Courtesy Branch. I am the human in orange shorts.	Anya doing a Russian dance (how do her clothes stay so clean?).	View NW toward North Peak.
Traverse	DSCN3858	pano21_BrdgPt_3862-3
DSCN3871	DSCN3874	pano22_BrdgPt_3879-80
Over the col, heading back down (S).
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pano27_BrdgPt_3905-6	DSCN3910	DSCN3913

In 2003, I gave the northern extent of our hike the whimsical name "Frodo Peak." I didn't realize that Branch Whitney (BW) had already planned to name it "Bridge Mountain Benchmark." I told him that the "X" on that point indicated a "spot elevation," and not a benchmark. I don't recall seeing any evidence of an optical survey, and given the remoteness of the peaklet, the elevation was probably estimated by photogrammetry. I sent him information on how the USGS marks benchmarks on maps (typically as a triangle). I told him I was unable to find any entry for that point as a benchmark in the USGS PID database. He then contacted my friend Nick, and asked him to get the benchmark information for that point, to which Nick responded, "there isn't any; there are just two PEAK benchmarks in all of Red Rock; on Mount Wilson and La Madre."  BW organized a trip back to the peak to search for the benchmark, which of course he didn't find, because there never was one.

Below at left is a fragment of the USGS 250000 topo map from 1954. The west side of the map ended just east of what is now recognized as "Bridge Mountain." There are no names assigned to peaks by the USGS, but a bechmark is indicated as a triangle (and text VABM) for what we now know as Mount Wilson. In 1954, the map showed a spot elevation for what is now called Bridge Point, but NOT for what BW called "Bridge Benchmark." At right is a composite map, actually made of USGS 24000 quads; this is how the scanned maps are now represented in most mapping software. Note that west of the pink line, the elevations are in meters (from La Madre Springs quad, 1984), and east of the line, elevations are in feet (from La Madre Mt quad 1974). Slight updates of these maps were later issued, mainly showing new roads, but the USGS never really finished the update process, issuing "provisional maps" from 1984 to 1996. On this second map, I've put in the locations of what are now called Bridge, Bridge Point, and "Bridge Benchmark." The "X" on "Bridge Benchmark," along with the italicised numbers, is clearly a spot elevation symbol (see the very last entry in "control and monuments" in the USGS online topomapsymbols.pdf guide), and does not have a metal monument (e.g. benchmark).

This map was made before the standardization of USGS symbols, but the horizontal control "monument" (here a benchmark) is still indicated as a triangle with text VABM

The diagonal "Bridge Mountain" text is analogous to "LaMadre Mountain" diagonal text which spans across about 8 miles of mountains in both "La Madre Mountain" and "La Madre Springs" USGS quads. In 1974, there weren't many accepted names for these peaks, and USGS just pointed up from the ground and asked locals for names. The hike to "The Arch" on the back of what is now called Bridge Mt was well-known, but few went on the the highpoint. Bridge Mt was seen as a vague massif back then. The label appears to the east of what is known today  as Bridge Mountain, possibly because the eastern quad (right of the pink line) was the first to be finished.

GPS FILES

Below are files in MapTech rxf and DeLorme text (draw) format, which may be uploaded to a GPS. To use these files, first upload them into a program like MapTech Terrain Navigator, or ExpertGPS (www.ExpertGPS.com, www.EasyGPS.com ), then use that program to upload the routes to your GPS (e.g., through the serial port). The initial route up the canyon wall is tricky; consider getting/purchasing directions at www.hikinglasvegas.com, and do not rely on a GPS alone.

PLEASE NOTE that all points are relative to the WGS84 datum, NOT NAD 27. If you choose to use these files, make sure you either do the conversion to your favorite datum, or use the WGS84 datum on your GPS and mapping software.

DISCLAIMER: Use these files at your own risk. The Dark Shadows stretch in Fern Canyon (upper Pine Creek), and steep slopes on the north side of the peak, block many satellite and make for nonsensical readings. A GPS does not give you the ability to fly or to suspend Newton's Laws and common sense, so don't try going up or down cliffs that are clearly beyond your ability or equipment. The route to Bridge Point is class 2/3 at best; a wrong turn makes it class 5, and the canyons are bad places to be spend the night. The tricky traverse en route to Frodo is Class 4. This hike would be miserably (perhaps fatally) hot in the late spring, summer or early fall. A GPS cannot see southern satellites through solid rock walls, so the GPS readings in deep east-west canyons may be grossly inaccurate, and the WAAS corrections will certainly be off.

Click here for simplified route in Maptech format

Click here for simplified route in DeLorme Topo draw format (also text)

Click here for full track of 12-21-03, as a large MapTech Route