Mt. Charleston hike

Mount Charleston,South Loop Trail
Southern Nevada, October, 2003

Please excuse this account as I may be missing information but I am relying on my 47 year old brain to remember the details of this hike which I did on
Sunday, October 13, 2003. It is January 31, 2005 today.

This hike was to be my first major hike. Since I rediscovered our great outdoors as I moved into the middle aged years I have gone on several small
hikes and trained diligently in the gym so I felt I was ready for one of those hikes that the guidebooks call “strenuous”. I learned many things on this
hike. First of all I was not at all well enough prepared. Gym time doesn’t train your nearly as well as actual hiking or biking does. Second of all, don’t
discount the effect that altitude has on your performance. I am hear in lowly Rochester, NY at around 650 feet and I thought I wouldn’t have any
problems hiking to 11,000 feet. After all, I had been to the North Rim (by car) of the Grand Canyon without any problems. Third, final and best lesson
is your head. If you head is on straight and you tell yourself you are going to do it then that is the biggest plus on your side of the ledger. And now on
to the details.

I am a frequent visitor to Las Vegas, usually three or four times per year. I love the desert and the mountains around Las Vegas and wanted to do a
significant hike to test out my new slim and trained self. Mount Charleston was the obvious choice. With an elevation of 11,513 with a 17 mile round
trip hike via the South Loop Trail this certainly seemed like a challenge even for an experienced hiker. I bought a book, (Hikes in Las Vegas) and I
liked how the author described it once you got to the top.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. I was going to be there in October and while probably not the best time
of the year it still wasn’t too bad. Mount Charleston is also about 45 minutes from Las Vegas so you can easily base yourself in Sin City and still do
your back to nature thing.

I got up early but later than I actually wanted to and go to the trail head around 8 AM. This is actually before the gate was manned for the day so I didn’
t have to pay the fee. The trail head is very easily marked as is the trail itself. You could hike this trail in the dark as long as you had a headlamp or
flashlight and watched the few places where there is some exposure to the heights. I started the trail with a skip in my step that soon went away. The
trail starts first through a very pretty grove of Aspen trees and then does some moderate inclines until it reaches the switchbacks. I say moderate
inclines now but at the time I was sweating bullets and stopping about every hundred yards to catch my breath.

Finally I reached the switchbacks. They seemed to go forever. I am reluctant to admit it but I actually had to stop for a few seconds at the end of each
switchback to catch my breath. I tried hiking very slowly to see if that helped and it did but still I had to stop many, many times. I only stopped for a few
seconds but stop I did. It was beautiful day and I remember thinking that I was almost to the saddle which was about half way and I thought I was doing
pretty good. Actually I was only up a third of the way on the switchbacks. But despite the pain, the sweat and the fact that my cheapo convertible
hiking pants with the elastic waist kept pushing down I made it to the saddle after about two hours that seemed like eight. (picture).

Here is some video of my various conditions during the hike up to the saddle. You may find it amusing.

When I got to the saddle which is about 10,000 feet of altitude I started feeling the chill a bit. I had brought gloves and a hat which I put on. I sat down
and tried to eat some trail mix and snickers bars but I didn’t stay long as I didn’t really know how long the hike was going to take me and I didn’t want
to be still stuck on the trail at dark. After leaving the trail junction I started walking and immediately came upon some mule deer. First one in the
middle of the trail and then five or six more followed. They stood in the trail probably 30 feet from me and looked at me as to say, “Who are you and
what the heck are you doing here?”. Here is a video of my encounter with the deer (70 MB file so be patient). I took some pictures and finally yelled at
them to move along which they did. As I walked I again tried to eat some of my Snickers bars but found that I would be so out of breath while trying to
eat I had to choose between eating and breathing. I naturally chose breathing.

The trail here proceeds through a sort of meadow for a few miles with a fairly gentle up grade. As you move along the trail the Bristle cone pine trees
become more and more grizzled. The weather continued to be beautiful with sun and a few clouds. As I was moving (laboring) along the
temperatures seem comfortable too. I would guess it was in the 40’s. Again, even though the grade was moderate I had to stop many, many times to
each my breath for a few seconds. I still had only seen one older gentlemen on the trail towards the beginning and no one after the first mile. I did
pass some water bottles that someone had left close to the tree line so they wouldn’t have to carry these to the top.

After about 3 ½ hours into the hike I passed above the tree line onto what looked like a Martian landscape. Now since I have hiked above the tree
lines many times since I know that pretty much all of them look this way but this was my first time and I was impressed. The trail continues at a
moderate slope until about ½ mile before the summit. At this point there are the remains of a plane that crashed in ?????. I looked at the 1,000 feet
of vertical gain in the remaining ½ mile and wanted to lighten the load so I left my day pack by the wreckage and only took my video and still camera.
Thus I started the final push. Well, I don’t know if push is the correct term. Perhaps at this point it is shuffle, crawl, scratch and claw. I literally stopped
for a few seconds every 25 feet or so as I continued up the trail. But, and here is where having the will comes in, I knew I wasn’t going to quit. If I had
to literally crawl up the mountain I was going to reach the summit. About 100 yards short of the summit I was shuffling up the mountain and notice
another lean and fit climber moving quickly up the trail. Not wanting to appear like the loser I was I pretended that I was stopping on purpose to video
tape the amazing scenery. I smile every time I think about that. After pain and sorrow (well perhaps just pain) I finally arrived at the summit!

At the summit there was the gentlemen that passed me and one other couple. There were great 360º views. It was worth all of the pain for the views
but really for the sense of accomplishment that I felt. I so enjoyed this feeling that I am sure it hooked me on these climbs as long as I am physically
able to do them. Since I have met many 60 and 70 year olds on hikes since then I hope it is a long time for me to also continue to enjoy these
treasures.

It took 4 hours to go up and 3 hours to go down. My downward trip was relatively uneventful and that spring in my step that lasted oh, say 100 yards at
the beginning was back! Two things did happen on the trip down. First of all about ½ mile from the end I tripped and sort of flipped over propelled by
my day pack. I wasn’t hurt but it did also spill my video camera but it survived with a couple more scratches and nicks. I found out the next day that
because my toes were smashing forward in my boots on the way down my right big toe was totally black and blue under the nail and it took many
months for it to get back to normal. It never really hurt it just looked bad. I made it back to the car around 3:30 PM and then drove back to the hotel.
When I got to the hotel I could barely walk. I must have looked interesting hobbling back into the hotel. A long hot shower and a nap never felt so good.

Some observations from my first big adventure:

*Train, train and then train some more. Make sure at least 25% of your training is done in the field preferably with vertical gain and loss. Training on a
mountain bike also is good and breaks up the routine.

*Don’t underestimate the effects of altitude. Unless you live in any area that enables you to train in it there isn’t a lot your can do about it. Some
people are certainly more affected than others. Be in shape and drink and eat a lot while hiking.

*Use trekking poles. Your non-hiking friends may think you are a geek but other than boots I have found these to be the number one most useful tool I
have on hikes. Since using these I have never had another problem with my toes smashing into my boots on downhill grades.

*Take a lot of pictures and don’t wait a couple of years like I did to write an account of your hike. All hikers love to read about other people’s journeys.
I learn something every time I read about someone else hiking.

*Make sure you equipment and clothing is comfortable and fits well. As I mentioned in this report my pants had some sort of draw string that didn’t
work at all. I pulled my pants up about as many times as I stopped on the hike up (a lot!).

*Final lesson and my biggest life lesson to date: you can accomplish much more than you ever thought you could. The only thing holding you back is
you mind. Get past that and you’ve entered a new phase in your life.

Pictures from this hike.