Ascender November 2008

Please contact the membership director if you have questions about your membership.

Please make your check payable to the Las Vegas Mountaineers Club and mail to: P.O. Box 36026, Las Vegas, NV 89133-6026.
Single membership is $30 per year, $85 for three years. Family annual membership is $40, $110 for three years. Please mail all renewals prior to the end of the month to ensure uninterrupted notification of your Ascender password.

To the following members, please note that your membership will expire this month:

Kristin Wehle
Susan Malcher
Curren Baugh
Randy Czaplicki
Ame Hidalgo
Patrick Fogarty
James & Rena Andereggen
Mike Canter
Paul Lemon
Ken Blumberg
Sarah Johnston
Michael Shackleford
Lori Curry
Jorge Ayala
Howard & Dawna Herndon
Greg & Robin Rudowsky
Aaron Branham

To All Members:
Please send any address, phone number and e-mail changes to Chris Ransel.

LVMC CHRISTMAS PARTY - FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5th

Bring a side dish and your holiday cheer! The Club will provide ham and turkey and soft drinks, but you may bring your drink of choice. The party is at 6:30 pm at the Brewsters' house.

Be there or be square!

MT. TRUMBULL AND MT. LOGAN

October 21-22, 2008
Report and Photos by Joel Brewster

Question: What would possess three LVMC members to drive to a very remote area of of northwest Arizona to climb one easy peak and one trivially easy peak?

Answer: The quest to climb all 50 of the "LVMC Classic Peaks," of course.

Harlan, Luba, and I set out on a Tuesday for a quick overnight trip to a beautiful seldom-visited area. We drove to St. George, UT, and after gassing up headed out on a long dirt road (about 60 miles) to our planned campsite. I had heard bad things about this road, but since there had been no rain recently, the road was in great shape. We had no issues with the road whatsoever and made it to the Mt. Trumbull trailhead in about 3.5 hours from Las Vegas (I was expecting 4.5-5 hours).

Since it was so late in the year, sunset was early. We set up camp, ate some dinner, had some good conversation and turned in very early. I think I was asleep by 6:45 pm, probably a record for me!

The next morning, we were all well-rested and ready to head up Mt. Trumbull early. It was a brisk morning as we started before 7:00. Harlan and I had done Trumbull before in the spring when there was significant snow cover, and we found the trail much easier to follow when we could actually see it! Fall foliage made for a pleasant backdrop along the trail. We made good time and reached the summit in just over an hour.

It was quite windy on the summit and the views are quite obscured as the peak is tree-covered, so we didn't hang out for long before heading down.

Once back at the car, we packed up and headed for Mount Logan. It required a seven-mile drive on a questionable road to reach the trailhead. Again, we found the road to be better than expected. When Harlan and I were there in spring, we opted not to do Logan because the road was muddy mess, but as is true with all the roads in this area; dry, they are great, wet, they are impassable.

Once at the trailhead, it was only a 10-minute walk through a wooded area to the summit. Challenging it was not, but the views were quite spectacular. There is a dramatic sandstone area called Hell's Hole that you can look directly down upon fron the summit and the views are completely unobscured in every direction.

For me it was #35 of the 50 LVMC peaks and for Luba it was #42. For Harlan, it was #50, his final peak! We forgot to bring champagne, but Harlan became only the fourth LVMC member to finish all 50. Congratulations Harlan!

We made it back to Vegas by mid-afternoon, just about 28 hours after we left.

Harlan's (in)famous pose on Mt. Logan, as he completes the LVMC Classic Peak list

JOSHUA TREE

November 7-10, 2008
Report by "Snafu" Mueller, Photos by Steve Nguyen

On November 7th a group of Las Vegans, plus a couple of Californians, converged on Joshua Tree National Park. It was an LVMC club trip, and the goal was to climb.

We camped at Indian Cove Campground. We had reserved the campsites months before. Of the 13 signed up [limit was 8], 5 folks backed out at the last minute. So including myself, we had 9 people in 3 campsites. Most arrived Friday night, with a pair showing up Saturday morning.

Saturday we hiked from camp to Pixie Wall. Richard B. led the way. It took a little while since we got lost on the approach thanks to "Wrong Way" Richard. Wrong Way, Doug H. and Snafu set up top-ropes for the group. The weather was hot and sunny. We were glistening in our t-shirts. After several hours we went to camp for lunch. Then off we went to the Short Wall, for some more vertical adventuring.

An evening of munching grub and drinking barley pops and snafufu drinks around the fire followed. Several coyotes sang songs for us in the early morning.

We got rolling early. Shelly B. donated a tub of homemade muffins. The muffins were devoured quickly. Fred L. was packed up with his tidy whiteys flagged from his pack. That didn't surprise me as much as not being able to see the racing stripes.

We went to Atlantis Wall and set ropes up before any other group showed. We climbed untill noon, and then attempted another area, but got shut down by high winds.
After that, the group split up. Several went back home to jobs and stuff like that, while a few of us returned to Indian Cove and climbed at Feudal Wall.

We camped another evening, and Monday we went back to Short Wall and played some more.

No pictures were taken of anyone climbing or belaying without their helmets, including the coordinator.

Scroll down for details of LVMC's CHRISTMAS PARTY

MT. TRUMBULL AND MT. LOGAN

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GENERAL MEETINGS

The Las Vegas Mountaineers monthly meeting this month
is on THURSDAY, November 20th at Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, between Eastern and Maryland Parkway. We will be meeting in the Jewel Box Theater. Meeting time is 7:00 p.m.