Mummy Mountain, Mount Charleston Wilderness

Charleston Peak was still capped with snow, and I didn't have any reliable and recent information for how deep it was. I wanted to climb the highest mountain in southern Nevada, but as I pulled on my boots they barely fit over my feet. They must have shrunk after getting wet on Boundary Peak and then drying out in my car while in Death Valley. With just the trail runners left to fall back on, I figured snow routes would be out of the question.

I took a long time getting ready before starting up Trail Canyon. Maybe I was working on convincing myself to take it slow and enjoy the more leisurely last trip of the long weekend. When I finally started moving on, I was doing well at maintaining a slow and steady pace. The nearly 100 degree temperature and the two gallons of water I packed may have slowed me down more than any mental resolutions.

Sweating and moving slowly up the canyon I stayed under shade as much as possible and made several breaks to cool my back. However, when I came to the trail junction with the North Loop Trail, a breeze and plenty of shade called for a long rest. I was about to move off along Cockscomb Ridge to hunt for a campsite, when a day hiking couple descended the trail and we struck up a conversation. They were from Las Vegas, but I introduced them to a few spots in their own state that they weren't aware of, like Great Basin National Park. Two guys came up the trail and joined the conversation after hearing me mention Peru. One of them had just returned from the Machu Picchu trek.

By the time I had broken away, nearly an hour had passed, but Cockscomb Ridge quickly returned my attention to the natural beauty around me. I was working away from the huge cliffs of Mummy Mountain, but below me, the east side of the ridge dropped off in steep cliffs, and the large gendarmes that give the ridge its name loomed ahead. I passed an excellent camp site, with afternoon shade and level ground, but continued on. I wanted to see if there would be a scramble route to the top of the cockscomb.

I followed several use-trail below the base of the two large gendarmes, but didn't see an obvious way to advance upward. Finally I double backed and tried to climb a small chute with some loose rock. I got some 15 feet up, before I decided that the moves were getting more committing and that a fall would be very nasty. Defeated, but still in good humor, I down climbed to my backpack and returned to the camp site I'd noticed earlier.

From this one spot I could see Charleston Peak, the Cockscomb gendarmes, and portions of Mummy's cliffs. Twenty mile and hour gusts swept across the ridge and kept the temperatures and bugs down. I took extra precautions anchoring my tarp, backing up the stakes with rocks and guying out extra points. Unfortunately, the sun quickly dipped below a ridge and with no clouds, there would be no spectacular sunset tonight. Also, for the first night of the trip, there was obvious light pollution.

Regardless, I slept better than any of the previous nights. Maybe I was acclimated to the altitude, or just tired enough now. For the third morning in a row, I watched the moon rise over the first red light of dawn and then started in on my breakfast. An unhurried hour later I was retracing my steps along Cockscomb Ridge and then pressing new ones into the dust of the North Loop Trail. A few deer had been this way before me, but since the packs of yesterday's day hikers.

Slow and steady I climbed the switchbacks, looking for the last one to hook under Mummy's cliffs. There I found the track of other boots headed up the loose dirt and stones to the ridge above. Even in my trail runners, the climbing was much easier than on Boundary's loose slopes. In a surprisingly short time, I found myself cresting the ridge and then turning right and following it uphill.

A beaten down trail, a couple cairns and a few guesses up a short scramble brought me to the cliff wall. The formation looked impressive, but it had several weaknesses. I found a chute that looked like easy climbing, and worked my way up. A few easy rock climbing moves and I had surmounted the cliffs. Between me and the summit was a gentle slope dotted with snow and gnarled pines.

I found a little blank space in the summit register and wished my fellow climbers a happy 4th of July. Then I sat in the shade and napped for a few minutes. Charleston and Griffith Peaks beckoned across the canyon. I hope to return another day and see the view from the other side of the canyon.