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Apr 30, 2019 — Although not a traverse of the entire range, this route hits some high points in the La Madre Mountains Wilderness: La Madre Mountain, El Padre Mountain, Burnt Peak, and El Bastardo. Overall, the ridgeline is a bit uneventful, but the views down toward Red Rocks and Las Vegas are pretty incredible.
I was able to get my car out to the La Madre Mountains Wilderness sign without a hassle. The left turn for the dirt road to the trailhead is located here (36.26003, -115.48967). I parked in a pullout and started up the dirt road, leaving it shortly to the east in order to follow the ridge leading to La Madre Mountain. Forested and not heavy on annoying brush, the ridgeline went pretty quickly with some Class 2 limestone ramps toward the top. There's an optional Class 3 ridge to gain La Madre's summit, but an easier option exists just left of the ridge. There's an incredibly cooling-looking limestone slab on La Madre's north face - maybe I'll come back one day to scramble it, if it's possible. If you go up the slab, let me know how it is!
I reluctantly left the La Madre Mountain's gorgeous summit views to head southwest along the ridge to El Padre Peak. It's a steep downhill to a notch between the two, then a steep slope back up to gain the summit. A forested ridge leads from El Padre to Burnt Peak, and then onward to El Bastardo. There are some short Class 2+ sections, and Class 3 obstacles that can be easily avoided along the ridge. From the summit of El Bastardo, I headed down its north ridge and bushwhacked back to the dirt road. I encountered only a couple of short sections of denser brush, but it's overall just an easygoing slope on the descent.
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