LVMC Gateway-Pincushion Traverse (near Las Vegas)

LVMC 4 Peak Gateway-Pincushion Traverse (near Las Vegas)

Ably led by Joel B. We had 12 people! I had set a handline on the Pinnacle crux 8 days before; NOTE we TOOK DOWN the handline before we left. Congrats to all people who persevered through this long day with knee issues, recent injuries and surgeries, etc. My GPS gave over 5300' accumulated elevation gain.

Name confusion: Ed F. put a register on the peak before 1998, and named it "Damsel." He later found that someone else had already named it Pincushion, and recommended folks use the older name. But by then it was already on "Hiking Las Vegas" website as Damsel. Some started calling the northern peak "Damsel" and the southern, "Pincushion." The "Northern" peak is NW of the "Southern" peak, and some people called them the "West" and "East" peaks. Some call Damsel "Manta Ray," a name I had jokingly used to describe the view from Summerlin Peak.

Pics by Harlan W S, Joel B & Rich H
March 16, 2022

We started at Kraft Mt. Parking a bit after 7 AM, went clockwise by Gateway Canyon and Turtlehead, descended to Brownstone near pictographs.	Context.	Turtlehead ahead.
Erica ahead as we cross into Brownstone, Pincushion Ridge at L.	View back on folks descending by pictographs	On Gateway, El Padre and La Madre to NW.
Joey	East La Madre in back	South/East Damsel/ Pincushion ahead.
Red Rock sandstone peaks to SW	Barb tops out on North/West Damsel.
Courtesy Rich H. Harder way up South/East Damsel.	Susie tops same peak.
The Pinnacle to SE
		Photo courtesy Joel. On crux of Pinnacle, previously-set handline.
Erica followed me up!	Erica on top! She got to see how to tie a hasty harness and do a rap on a Munter.	Looking down (N) at people below.
More people below!		View NW back at Pincushion Range. The southern descent is NASTY.