7/8/2021 – Peak 5 of the Las Vegas Six Pack of Peaks Challenge
Mummy Mountain (11,542’), 8.72 miles and 3,796 feet in total elevation gain
What was supose to be a solo hike to complete my 5th peak of the Las Vegas Six Pack of Peaks Challenge ended up being an awesome day on the trail with arguably the two beautiful ladies in Las Vegas. Thank you both Jen Jen and Lana for joining me today. Your company made the whole day and summit worthwhile.
The three of us arrived at the trailhead just before 5:30am and began our hike to Mummy Mountain, or should I say, to “Mummy’s Tummy”. The temps at this time were pretty mild. Probably in the low 70’s to start. Our trailhead for this hike was the Trail Canyon Trailhead. The same one I used to complete Mount Charleston and Griffith Peak.
The first two miles went by fairly quickly, climbing right around 1,590’ to a saddle. I was on tired legs from my previous hikes this week, so I appreciated the ladies slowing down for me. 😉 😉 At the saddle our trail met up with the Charleston Peak Trail North Loop which begins near the Mahogany Grove Group Campground. There is also another route to Mummy Mountain from that direction. The Mummy Springs Trails which meets up with the Charleston Peak Trail North Loop with about 1.3 miles to go to the saddle. That route is definitely a little longer than the one we chose. We took a short break here to fuel up before continuing on.
Our next leg took us another 1.5 miles and 1,070’ in additional elevation gain. This was the point where we turned up the final .7 miles and 1215’ in elevation gain. We took another long break and refueled again to make sure we would have plenty of energy to make the final climb.
This part of the climb can really be divided into two sections. First a steep almost half mile climb up a scree field. I had read plenty of write-ups about this part of the hike, but to be honest it was easier than I had thought it would be. Maybe because I just psyched myself out by reading too much about it. Anyway, this part of the hike reminded me of the scree field in Falling Rock Canyon which is near Ice House Canyon on the way to Cucamonga Peak in SoCal.
After making it up the steep scree field we took another short break before continuing on for the second part of this final ascent. Better known as “The Chute”. A steep class 2/3 rock scramble through a boulder crevice and some loose rock to the summit. Just like the scree field, this portion was not nearly as difficult as I had anticipated. It was also shorter than I pictured in my head. Jen had pictures of it from other hikers, but the pictures made it look longer, more difficult, and intimidating than it really was.
We had the trail up to the summit to ourselves. Not a sole in site. Although there were two younger hikers that arrived at the summit shortly after we did and then they headed straight back down. We spent some time there. Taking pictures, eating, resting and talking. It was a great experience for all three of us. We were all three Mummy Mountain Virgins and we popped our cherry together. J
Going down felt like a pleasant little stroll. Except of course the steep descent on the scree field. We just took our time and ran into several hikers on our descent. Most were just doing a short hike to the saddle and others were heading up to camp in various places. The temps at the lower elevations did rise a bit. Probably up in the high 80’s to low 90’s when we finished which was far better than the 110+ degrees in Las Vegas. We had a perfect day and I had perfect company to share this adventure with.
Thank you again Jen Jen and Lana for sharing the trail and this experience with me. I hope you both have “hiker’s amnesia” when I return to complete my 6th Peak of the Las Vegas Six Pack of Peaks Challenge, Mount Wilson. I really need a support crew to lead me up that mountain. ;P ;P
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