Hike Muddy Mountains Traverse Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV

Nov 09, 2020 — A couple of years ago I hiked Muddy Peak and Muddy Benchmark using a lesser-traveled route to make the hike into a really nice loop.  I enjoyed the Muddy Peak Class 3 scramble most of all. I recommend checking out that route out if you haven't been to the Muddies before, but for a more adventurous trip that traverses all the high points of the Muddies, this is the way to go, though it does add an exposed Class 4 ridgeline traverse on surprisingly solid rock. I loved this route and found it to be among the best in the desert.

I was left with some FOMO on my first visit to the Muddies since I didn't hike the two lesser peaks to the south of Muddy Benchmark and Muddy Peak: Peak 5354, and Luxor Peak. Revisiting the area and attempting a massive loop would be the best way to get them, I figured. I couldn't find any information about the traverse from Muddy Peak to Luxor Peak aside from one person mentioning it looked "unfriendly". The rest of the route seemed doable, though. My friends Matt and Chris were visiting, so I suggested we attempt this route, unsure if we'd be able to complete the loop, and they agreed.

I highly recommend doing this route clockwise as we did. It makes scary stuff into up-climbs rather than down and also allows for a bail point after doing the majority of the loop, so if the traverse ends up being too much for you, you can back down and only skip Luxor Peak rather than have to miss the rest of the traverse. More on the sketchy stuff later.

We decided to start from the Anniversary Narrows trailhead. 2WD can get to the trailhead, but it requires a short section of driving over a sandy wash where you could get stuck. As of 2019 the trailhead is open, but it was closed for some time since it crossed over private property, requiring the use of an alternative route. The slot is fairly short and non-technical, except for some boulders you need to climb over.

Once through the narrows, continue left at a junction within the wash and follow this for many miles north. While this section is a bit long, the wash has some nice rock features and fun dryfall obstacles, so it's not as bad as it seems on a map. We continued north through a narrow section with some Class 3 moves and then ascended the slopes on the right to gain the south ridge of Peak 5354. The route continued as Class 2 to the summit, where the views toward Muddy Peak and the ridgeline to Luxor looked quite intimidating. We headed north along the ridge to Muddy Benchmark, where we encountered a few sections of Class 2/3 down climbing, and a Class 2 chute to gain a sub-peak about halfway along the ridge. We also did an exposed Class 3 down climb halfway between the sub-peak and Muddy Benchmark that could have been avoided by traversing a small cliff and dropping down on the left when the cliff petered out. This option was only visible after we already made the move.

From Muddy Benchmark we continued north and located the somewhat cryptic route that I vaguely remembered (since I had come up from the opposite direction on my previous ascent). It requires wrapping around the north slopes of the false summit of Muddy Benchmark by locating an easy Class 3 down climb (marked with a cairn) from the cliffs and following a wide, sloping ledge. A couple more easy Class 2/3 down climbs lead to a series of small arches that mark the route if coming from the opposite direction. From here, Class 2 leads down to the saddle with Muddy Peak.

A well-traveled social trail continues from the saddle up to the Muddy Peak north ridge. The north ridge has a few fun Class 3 climbs, some of which can be avoided by staying to the right. We soon found ourselves at the base of Muddy Peak's classic Class 3 scramble, a sustained Class 3 chute with good holds and mostly solid rock. A somewhat exposed Class 2/3 move leads out of the chute and onto the final short Class 2/3 scramble to the summit.

We scoped the route south from Muddy Peak, skeptical of a potential route because of scary-looking cliffy terrain. Surprisingly, a social trail complete with cairns marked a Class 2 fairly safe route to the left of the cliffs. We were thrilled, but knew the hard stuff was still to come. I assume these cairns mark an alternative to gain Muddy Peak rather than the north ridge, but I'm not sure. After the Class 2 descent to the saddle of Muddy Peak and Luxor Peak, we noted a possible bail option to the right leading d own into Lovell Wash, but it looked steep and loose and we really hoped the ridge to Luxor Peak would go. Almost immediately after leaving the saddle, we were faced with a Class 3+ set of moves with some light exposure to continue along the ridge. This set of moves might be avoidable if you drop down off the ridge and re-ascend on the right, but if you're not feeling good about this move, I highly recommend not continuing. It only gets more scary from here.

We continued along the ridge, playing on the occasional Class 2/3 section of ridgeline. I felt a pit in my stomach when we approached a particularly scary-looking spire not dissimilar in appearance to Muddy Peak. From far away, it looked impossible, similarly to how Muddy Peak appears at first glance. I was getting antsy, knowing how rugged these limestone ridges can become, having regularly encountered surprise cliffs on other peaks in the area. However, once we reached the base of this spire along the ridgeline, we noted a chute on the right. It required a Class 2 side-hill to reach its base, then a long Class 2/3 scramble up the chute that resembled that of Muddy Peak's ascent chute. It led to a Class 3 crux move higher up, and ultimately to a safe spot on top. I was surprised and thrilled at how nicely the ridge was going so far. But then the pit in my stomach returned. A short Class 2 descent led to the base of what appeared to be a 20-foot narrow cliff with a sheer drop on the right. We approached and inspected it. Chris climbed up, convinced it would go. It did. He scouted ahead before Matt and I climbed the 20-foot cliff, confident the route would continue farther. Matt and I headed up. This cliff is certainly the crux of the day. It's an incredibly fun Class 4 climb on surprisingly solid rock. The route finding gods were watching over us and provided an incredibly fun scramble. Somehow this route was working. I seriously can't believe how good it was.

At the top of the crux, we were faced with a short Class 2 down climb and then a severe almost-knife-edge that lasted about 50 feet across, ending with outstanding views back along the ridgeline. The knife edge included a scary step-across, a short up-scramble, and bad drops on either side. If the rock wasn't a solid as it was, I certainly wouldn't have done it. Once past the knife edge, we took in the views and continued to Luxor Peak on easy terrain. I couldn't shut up about how much fun the route was. In hindsight, it WAS fun. But I think a lot of the fun came from the fact that we attempted a random traverse without any information and it ended up possibly being my favorite desert scramble.

We dropped down from Luxor Peak and were cliffed-out a few hundred feet from the wash below. We side-hilled for a long time with some Class 2 mixed in until the cliff band broke and we could descend. I added a possibly better route option in pink to the attached map, but I don't know if it will actually go. Just suggesting maybe try that way instead for a more direct route. From the wash below, we traversed over a small hill and dropped into Lovell Wash. We followed the wash back into Anniversary Narrows, completing the loop.