Having failed to reach Mt. Charleston peak twice in 2004, I was determined to reach it this year. This would be my first solo attempt since my hiking partner and friend, Ken, had knee surgery and cannot hike this summer. I had hoped to use the easier South Loop Trail, but a call to the Visitor Center confirmed that it was closed due to avalanche damage. Last year, I almost reached the peak, but was turned back by the threat of darkness forcing a night on the trail. My wife, Mary, got a light weight (Petzl brand) headlamp for me for Christmas so darkness would not be as great a threat. Additionally, Tom Hawley, a Las Vegas media personality and avid hiker (think Kilamanjaro), suggested that I start the trail an hour before sunrise and try a slower, steadier pace to reduce longer rest periods.
I woke at 3am and had a good breakfast and left home at 3:30 with sufficient food and water and my camera. I arrived on Echo Avenue and drove past road barricades saying "Local Traffic Only. I was aware of serious avalanche damage along this road during the past winter. I had difficulty finding the Trail Canyon trailhead. This trail goes uphill for 2 miles to the junction with the North Loop Trail which goes 6 miles further to the peak. I soon located a temporary trailhead that was marked and tightly fenced with orange vinyl fencing. The sign said to use this to avoid construction of a new reservior. I turned on my light and started up the trail at 4:15am.
The head lamp provided adequate blue light to see the trail and even look far enough ahead. After about a quarter mile, the temporary trail joined the original path and began the almost completely uphill two mile hike. I was able to do this at the recommended slower pace and reached the junction with only a couple stops at 6:15am. I had turned off the light about half way up. I took a brief rest and continued on the North Loop Trail. It wasn't too long that I could see the peak. There was still snow, but just enough to make it interesting.
Before pausing for a snack, I wanted to continue on to Cave Spring, a spot along the trail where there is a water trough. The water in the trough is very clear and I would not hesitate to drink it in a pinch though others have said it should be filtered. There was fresh water running into the trough through hoses as I passed. I had thought of cacheing a liter of water near here for the return trip, but I decided not to because I was hoping to learn that the South Loop Trail was open. I hoped to return on the South trail even though it meant a half-mile walk on the road back to my van.
Another hiker
passes me. We say hello. I'm glad to see him since I'm not too fond of
hiking alone anyway. He's younger and hiking much faster than I, so I
watch him go knowing I'll most likely see him again. I recall that a few weeks ago, on my 60th birthday on Hawaii's big island as I was at the trailhead to the Kiluela Volcano crater, a young guy suggested I use the rim trail since this one required a 450 ft. ascent. I had now done triple that and was not tired. The North Loop Trail
plays a nasty trick at this point. A curve turns you around and you lose
sight of the peak for a long time. Even worse, when you see it again, it
looks farther away than before. There was now enough sunlight that gnats
were becoming a nuisance. I quickly learned that if I didn't stop, they
were no bother. Birds began cawing with an incessant noise. Perhaps
the gnats attracted the birds. The wonderful smell of pine compensated for
any perceived nuisances. There are no bad vistas up here either! The
trail has leveled out some and the hiking is easier. There a few fallen trees
across the trail. These present no lasting problem. The only
decision is whether to climb over them or go under. There's still much
elevation to conquer.
I enter an area where the trees begin thinning out and the only remaining ones are the Bristlecone Pines. Some are thousands of years old! Fire, wind, smow and lightning do not seem to bother them much. Many thrive even though the bark has been stripped from their twisted limbs. I enter some steep switchbacks into a projection called Devil's Thumb. There a pile of snow on the trail. As I go by, I scrape my hand over it and eat some of the clean snow underneath - an unexpected snack!
The area around Devil's Thumb has some dramatic drop-offs! Pets and children would not be good here. The trail itself is secure and remains several steps from the abyss. I come to a tree across the trail too large to climb over. Though I could step over the low end, a slip here could prove fatal, so I opt to go around it at the top using hands as well as feet.
I keep hiking, mostly up, expecting to get on the slope of the peak. There would still be a lot of altitude gained before this was to be. I notice it is getting very cloudy below me. Not dark storm clouds, just the harmless white ones. A dozen years ago, I encountered these biking down the Haleakula volcano in Maui. I remembered that they never get thick enough where you can't see in front of you. The hiker who passed me earlier is coming down. He tells me what I want to hear. I'm almost there and there were two others he met at the top who had come up the South Loop Trail and I should surely be able to go down that way.
The cold fog keeps growing and pushing up as I enter the final switchbacks to the peak. It felt like being in a walk-in refrigerator. I found it euphoric even though I would get no pictures of the valleys below because of it. I take a final rest about 50 feet from the crest knowing I'm a minute away from a year-long goal.
As I approach the crest, a flock of quail and I mutually startle each other.The top is a much smaller piece of real estate than I imagined. There's some weather equipment, the flag, a mounted ammo box to hold the log book and a USGS marker. I'm alone on the peak so there's no one to take my picture by the flag. It's only 12:30pm!
The North Loop ends to the right of the object in the above photo and the South Loop begins on the left. I soon begin heading down the South Loop and get out of the fog near the airplane debris.
I see another hiker coming up the trail using a pair of metallic walking poles. I ask about the trail down and he assures me it's okay - "just a few new things to step over" He tells me he hikes up here a few times a week this time of year and moves on. I am soon down into the Bristlecones and I begin the meadow portion of the trail. I hiked this last year and know it's fairly level and loaded with wildflowers.
There were wildflowers in July all along the trails, but they seem to thrive in this meadow. I keep going. The meadow seems very much longer than I remember it and I fear I missed the junction down to Kyle Canyon. After reaching the peak so early, perhaps I tended to underestimate the return trip. I finally come to the junction at 3:30pm and after a rest stop, I begin to descend the 4 miles of constant switchbacks. There are signs of avalanche damage along the way and a few more trees to climb over than last summer.
The switchbacks end and I walk the ledge at the base of a high cliff. At a point where the trail crosses the wash, it dead ends into a 150 foot avalanche chute loaded with fallen trees and snow. This must be one of the few new things to climb over. To get over all these dead trees required lots of climbing which led me downstream from the normal crossing. I finally got across with only one fall in the snow and a few scratches. I managed to climb up the wall of the chute, but could see no trail. I reasoned that as long as I am going downhill, I will be heading towards the campground and picnic area. I knew the picnic area was destroyed by the avalanche, so I was quite sure I was heading in the right direction. Had I come to a cliff, I would have really been puzzled. But I finally saw the picnic area and walked through it and the campground unfortunately failing to take photos of all the fallen trees - many that were still blooming!
I still had a half mile walk to my van - much of it uphill. As I entered Echo Avenue, I could see a huge stack of dead trees jammed between homes. I was exhausted after hiking for 15 hours, glad to be in the van heading home.
"Foot"note:
After arriving back home, I had dinner and went to bed. About 2 am, I woke up and felt dizzy. I passed out and fell in my bathroom and wound up breaking my leg near the ankle. No more hiking for me this season!
New "Foot"note:
It's March 18, 2006 and I am watching snow fallon the peak from my desk. I may eat some of that snow this summer since my leg has healed.