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Mystery Mountain
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| Our elusive goal - North Sister |
South Sister sub-peak, 9,950 feet 20 April 2009 5 lateral miles, 6 1/4 hours length10 mph winds, sunny, 60 degrees F2 climbers: Stephen Dale, Stephen
It became clear that we weren't going to make it to The Sisters, which
remained a mile north of us with no apparent means of crossing the gap...
This has to be one of the most frustrating climbs we've ever had, but at the same time one of the most beautiful.
Its really too bad I can't tell you which peak we were on, but in all honesty we have no clue. The big idea was to climb
a trio of three peaks collectively known as The Sisters, which stand over 10,000 feet tall in the Spring Mountains just north
of Las Vegas. We launched our quest at 10:15 in the morning, complete with a hand-held video camera and a hat-mounted camera
for each of us in order to capture our adventure on tape.
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| Stephen on the steep grade climbing the first ridge |
This particular climb was challenging in several respects.
First, because we didn't have sufficient maps and directions. We were using a poor set of general directions that seemed
good enough when we downloaded and printed them, but they turned out to be severely lacking in detail once on site. Secondly,
because there was no trail of any kind. We were entirely on our own to find a route up the mountain. That's a lot of fun
and makes for a really neat climb, but the risks are greater and you have to rely more on compass and navigation. And finally,
our packs were too heavy once we added in our camera gear. We weren't outrageously heavy, but we were both 4-6 pounds
above average on a very difficult grade.
So up we went, making our best guess as to which ridge
to take. The one we chose began in a westward direction and we took it with the intent of reaching altitude, then finding
a connecting gap to The Sisters or traversing a gully between ridges. We attacked a steep, 45-50 degree grade and eventually
gained the top of the ridge only to find that after two hours of climbing, it still hadn't offered us any opportunity
to turn north toward The Sisters.
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| Stephen Dale at the overlook where we took our first break |
We did, however, find a gorgeous overlook around
the 9200 foot level where we took our first break and enjoyed a spectacular view (#4 in the above illustration). To the northeast
we could clearly see the heights of The Sisters in the distance. To the southeast was Mummy Mountain and a massive snow-blanketed
ridge. At this point I glanced - for the hundredth time - at my brand new Tissot T-Touch
timepiece, which was still new enough to impress me all over again every time I looked at it. The Tissot is not only one of
the finest of the Swiss watches, it is a mountain climber's best friend because it tracks altitude, barometric pressure
and has a built-in compass. All those gadgets, which are quite useful for climbers, are wrapped in a classic package from
a well-respected company and I'm crazy about my new watch. Hee hee. For the movie buffs among us, this is the watch that
Angelina Jolie used when playing the role of Lara Croft in the original Tomb Raider film.
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| My way cool Tissot with the unreachable Sisters in the background |
By this time we were not only a mile south of The Sisters,
we were also a mile west because we never found a suitable point at which we could cross onto a northbound ridge. So we again
decided to stop and re-assess our situation (#5 on the illustration) and figure out where we were headed. Our turnaround time
was 2:30 pm so it became clear that we weren't going to make it to The Sisters, which remained a mile north of us with
no apparent means of crossing the gap in the ridge. So instead, we decided to stay on our present course and make for the
highest peak we could find before we turned into pumpkins and had to come down.
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| Stephen at the summit of Mystery Mountain |
We found a very nice summit peak at 9,950 feet and carefully
marked the spot on our Magellan GPS system in order to be able to relocate our position after returning from the climb. The
summit offered a clear view to the south and west. We could study the north side of Mummy Mountain and look at several major
peaks over a hundred miles away across the California border. The view was really incredible. So we sat down and ate lunch,
relaxed in the warm sun and tried to figure out where we'd gone wrong.
After lunch we made our way back down,
crossing several major snow fields along the way. It was really fun to walk through the snow patches, some of which were over
four feet deep. The snow remained only on the north side of the mountains and formed a perfect line along the tops of each
ridge. It was really interesting to study the landscape, the snow patterns, and see a different type of desert mountain that
we'd never been on before.
And we reached a really cool peak, too... its a shame
that it had no name. As it turned out, we had stopped just one peak short of the ridge junction that leads to Mount McFarland
to the north and The Sisters to the west. But next time we'll know to trust our vision and GPS more than bad directions.
We've already decided to go back... and next time we won't miss.
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| What a view! Stephen Dale along the main ridge to nowhere |
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| Only 10,000 feet high in the mountains can you enjoy four feet of snow in shirt sleeves |
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