Hike Muddy Knife and Colorock Peak Muddy Mountains BLM, NV

Mar 07, 2021 — Muddy Knife and Colorock Peak are two pretty obscure peaks on the northern side of the Muddy Mountains. Both have views of the colorful Buffington Pocket sandstone below. Muddy Knife is a nice little peak that was put on my radar after Adam Walker completed and named it a few days prior, and Colorock Peak is named after the nearby Colorock Quarry. Accessing the trailhead requires mid-clearance, but only because there are a few dips. The road was in surprisingly good shape. We parked at a pull-out and headed along the road, leaving it for a different route leading through a wash to the south. A drainage came in on the right, prompting us to leave the road and continue southwest. We left this drainage and ascended a rocky and steep gully toward the cliffy base of Muddy Knife. Hugging the cliff face, we encountered some fun Class 3, picking our way up the limestone as we made it to just below the summit block. Continuing to wrap around the base of Muddy Knife, we found two options for ascending. One was to get to the ridge crest on Class 2 and continue up and over the short knife-edge (exposed Class 3) to the summit, or pull a Class 3 move up a short headwall and ascend on a Class 2 slope to the left of the knife edge, also leading to the summit.

We headed off the summit block and located a loose Class 2+ weakness in the cliff to the south, heading down to reach the ridgeline below. We followed the ridge all the way to Colorock Peak to the south, where we passed over a Class 2+ cliff band, but otherwise the hike was a nice slope. The summit seemed like it might give us some trouble due to the cliffs surrounding it, but a pleasant Class 2 chute got is through without issue. We took in the views of the Muddy Mountains to the south before heading north along the ridge. There were a couple of sections of steep Class 2 descending, as well as one rock outcrop to navigate around.