Fernande Sentimental

Fernande, 7667', (Red Rock, Las Vegas) Sentimental

I named Fernande after my mother (who died suddenly in 2002 at 83), back before the days of intense peakbagging, The peak was sufficiently remote and hard-to-reach, that I thought the register would gather few names. Fernande has only about 250' of prominence, but is the only summit in La Madre chain to have steep cliffs on both the south and north sides.

I've been here 4x by 3 routes. This time I came from the north, a scenic route that unfortunately requires going through a lot of brush, and a rather challenging 4x4 road for access; the entire route can be made class 2+ max, but you will want to stick to harder ridges to avoid brush and scree. Consider long pants and/or tough desert gaiters if you choose this route. The easiest route, for planning, is to ascend La Madre from Sandstone Quarry and descend 800' east to the base of Fernande, then go up the class 2+ ridge, and return by climbing back to La Madre; that is 5000' ascent day, but requires no 4x4. And third, one can climb from the east, using the col between East La Madre and Fernande; this route has some class 3+ and nasty brush, at least as I have gone. I'm pretty sure one can do that last route by staying closer to the south, with less brush, but perhaps class 4.

Pics by Harlan W S
Nov 01, 2021

the peak as seen when one looks west from Gottlieb. It has cliffs on both south and north sides.	Red is my most recent route, blue is a traverse from 2020, and magenta denotes previous trips from Sandstone Quarry off scenic loop.	Zoom out for context
Survey mark to delineate sections	a subtle agave roasting pit	Fernande from north, sun not quite over the mountains
Tabulate coral, view down growth axis	View back north, we are getting on rock	View E to East La Madre
E La Madre at L, start of Fernande slabs at R	Near the col. We'll take a rib at L.	View E over steep slabs
The previous register was left out in the sun, and had been destroyed by the UV.	View W to El Padre (L) and La Madre (R)	zoomed a bit
Turtlehead L center, Mt Wilson in sun, and Potosi is in far background R of center	View E over Vegas	Damsel/Pincushion
Charleston at L	Sports bra drawn in for modesty. I'm 67, give me a break.	Another view of slabs on descent
Rough rib, but better than talus	Tabulate coral 90 degree cut from previous	Why don't he write?
I would much rather be scratched than suffer the heat of long pants. But for cooler weather, maybe I'll use desert gaiters. It was 40F at top. The blackbrush is nasty.	Please folks, if you take the time to sign a register, take the time to put it back out of the sun. If you can't afford the time to put the register back correctly, don't bother signing. NEVER put any food or smelly items in a register; animals will tear it apart as a consequence.