Mar 30, 2019 — The Arrow Canyon Range is a nice-looking desert clump of peaks north of Las Vegas, and I've had the traverse from Arrow Canyon Range High Point to Arrow Peak on my radar because it was recommended very highly. I thought I'd just descend the way I came, but changed my mind. As you can see from my map, continuing on added significant time to the route, but avoided going back along the Class 3 traverse. Choose your own advneture, I guess.
It seems standard to park along the powerline road (seen as the mostly straigh line in my map on the west side), by going north on the Great Basin Highway and taking an awful gravel road. I didn't think my car would make it, so I parked on the side of the main road, choosing to traverse through the desert. I won't say I crossed a fence, but my map might imply that I did. It's up to you - I don't know what's private property and what's not. Anyway, after heading through the desert, I passed the powerline road and continued to a major drainage just south of Arrow Canyon Range High Point. The drainage goes at Class 2, leading to a saddle where I then followed the ridge heading north to the summit. I'd say maybe Class 2+, with lots of loose rock. The summit of Arrow Canyon Range High Point had nice views of the desert, but wasn't a particularly interesting summit in my opinion. The ridgeline to Arrow Peak did look interesting though, so I continued on. The limestone of the traverse is really solid and I pulled a few Class 3+ moves that I might not have were I less confident the rock would break. It made the traverse particularly fun, especially because I'd been playing on breakable sandstone for the last few days. The Class 3 sections are either avoidable by keeping to the east, but really Arrow Peak is only worth doing because the scramble is enjoyable, and though I wouldn't call it a classic desert scramble, I had a good time.
From the summit of Arrow Peak, I decided to explore to the north, hoping I could find a route down sooner rather than later. I probably should have just returned the way I came, but whatever. The descent route I chose went at Class 2+, and I avoided the ridge crest toward the end because it looked sketchy, though I'm not sure if it actually was. I stuck to the eastern slope instead, which brought me to a saddle that then led down a Class 2 gully to the desert floor. I worked out to the powerline road and trail-ran it back.
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