Moapa Peak is a beautiful, but tough peak located at the southern end of the Mormon Mountains. We began with a group of eight - Tomasz, Jan, Bill S., Chris M., Fred, Harlan, Jorge and myself. It was a hot day (97 in Las Vegas) and since there is almost no shade on the entire hike, it felt even hotter.

One of our group succumbed to the heat and steepness of the hike, another turned back a stone's throw from the summit due to the exposure on the summit ridge, and our leader narrowly survived an attack by an agave! Other than that, it was a terrific hike.

Just before we started, Harlan told a story how he was contacted a while back about information on the Moapa Peak hike, so that a kiosk with information could be placed at the trailhead. It seemed a bizarre use of resources as the trailhead is quite remote. Then we noticed a stake where the the kiosk was to be placed!

From there, we headed through Jack's Pockets, an area with small hills, and headed up a wash. We enjoyed our only five minutes of shade in the deeper parts of the canyon before leaving the wash and making the steep climb up to a saddle.

After a short break, we headed up the ridge towards the imposing face of Moapa Peak. We ascended a short section of class 3 ledges on the way. There is a faint trail for a good part of the way, but it is easy to lose in places. Basically, the route follows the cliffs, then heads up to reach the summit ridgeline.

A short class 3 section

Then comes the fun part. We climbed the class 3 chute to get on the ridgeline and negotiated the knife-edge ridge for a quarter of a mile or so to reach the summit. It is quite narrow with significant drops on both sides in places. Jan got a bit spooked just short of the summit and Chris and Harlan did a fantastic job helping him (physically and psychologically) get back off the ridge.

We signed in and noted the usual familiar names in the logbook. We ate lunch enjoyed the tremendous views.

Descending the ridgeline

After carefully picking way along the knife-edge ridge again, we rejoined Jan and descended. Just before reaching the section of class 3 ledges, in a moment of distraction, I kicked an agave plant. In case you ever have the urge to kick an agave, I would not recommend it. I never saw the needle that lodged itself just above my ankle as it went in quite deep. We considered trying to extract it, but I decided on just taking ibuprofen and hiking out. It was painful at times on the rest of descent, but not too bad. By the time we reached the cars, it had worked its way deeper and there was no sign of it except for the swelling in the area. For those curious, it is still in my leg somewhere; the doctor prescribed antibiotics to fight infection and told me wait and see if it works its way out!

The closer we got to the car, the more spectacular the wildflowers were. Many of blooms that were closed when we passed in the morning, had opened in dazzling fashion - brilliant colors of all shades. We all enjoyed the flowers and so did the bees.

When we got back to the cars, it was quite hot. We piled into the cars and headed home, tired but happy.

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