MT. Charleston in Vegas info

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JDip
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MT. Charleston in Vegas info

Post by JDip »

So I'm out in Vegas (woo-hoo...note my lack of enthusiasm) visiting family and friends, and discovered MT. Charleston is quite the formidable hike/climb.
I went up the northern loop trail for a mile or so, but the friend who accompanied me was clearly, clearly not in shape to hike for hours. Not to mention they are from Las Vegas, which sits well under 3,000ft in elevation.
So I'm going for the summit in the next week or so and could use some beta on what the deal is up there.

Has anyone ever been up this mountain? I'm mainly looking for the differences between the Northern loop, and the Southern loop. A lot of websites that say one thing are opposite of what other websites say on the same thing (i.e trail exposure, average round trip times ect ect).

Any insight, opinions, or advice would be greatly, greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas to everyone!
I want to know the thoughts of God. All the rest are details. -Albert Einstein

It's not the height of the mountain that makes it great, it is the mountain itself. -J.D.
gasman
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Re: MT. Charleston in Vegas info

Post by gasman »

I have only done the Southern Loop, but the description on summitpost.org was very accurate. From what people have told me, the Northern Loop is steeper and has more exposure, and summitpost says the same thing. The Southern Loop was a very scenic hike and I would highly recommend it. I'm not sure what the snow conditions are there right now (if any), but the Northern Loop would be more treacherous than the Southern Loop if there was any significant snow. Have fun!
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JDip
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Re: MT. Charleston in Vegas info

Post by JDip »

Gasman, how long did it take you to reach the summit? Should I get a crack-ass-of-dawn type of start or would a 7am, 8am start be alright too?
-Thanks man
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Re: MT. Charleston in Vegas info

Post by gasman »

The South Loop Trail is around 16.5 miles round trip. I did it during the first week of June in 2010, which was apparently a record snow year for the area. There was still a lot of snow on the trail that year at the higher elevations and without snowshoes it slowed me down signifcantly. I would say under normal conditions without snow, you are looking at 8-10 hours round trip on average. But obviously it depends on individual fitness and conditions. A super early start probably isn't necessary since inclement afternoon weather really isn't an issue this time of year. I guess the only issue would be if you think it will take you longer than 9 hours to complete, you will be hiking in darkness for part of it. Just depends if you want to hike in the dark at the beginning or end of the day. SummitPost provides good directions for finding the South Loop trailhead if you decided to take that route. Let me know if you have any other questions.
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JDip
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Re: MT. Charleston in Vegas info

Post by JDip »

I drove to the TH really early and found that the southern loop is under construction and therefore closed. But there is a trail called the trail canyon trail that intersects with the Northern loop trail and shaves off a couple of hours. I couldn't believe how easy it was to breath up there!!!
Last edited by JDip on Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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nyker
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Re: MT. Charleston in Vegas info

Post by nyker »

How steep is that "hourglass gulley" that they refer to? Seems like it might be prone to avy risk with the right (wrong) snow conditions.
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JDip
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Re: MT. Charleston in Vegas info

Post by JDip »

nyker wrote:How steep is that "hourglass gulley" that they refer to? Seems like it might be prone to avy risk with the right (wrong) snow conditions.
There were some signs of avalanches having ripped through trees when I was making my way up but it hadn't snowed in a while so avy danger was not a concern.
I want to say the gully itself was at a fifty degree incline. It's not bad though. I ascended with only micro spikes.
I want to know the thoughts of God. All the rest are details. -Albert Einstein

It's not the height of the mountain that makes it great, it is the mountain itself. -J.D.
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