Hike Murphys, Polytick, Anniversary Narrows Peaks Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV

Dec 18, 2022 — Lake Mead's northern shore has some absolutely gorgeous peaks, and this loop introduces some of the best colors and rock variety I've experienced out here. The peaks on this hike surround a region known as the Bowl of Fire, a sandstone wonderland that is pretty popular. However, this is only the western portion of Bowl of Fire, and you can check out a loop of the more expansive northern Bowl of Fire here. You can get a lot of enjoyment out of just hiking around the lower sandstone delights, but this route tacks on Murphys Peak, Polytick Peak, Anniversary Narrows Peak (west and east), and Peak 2474. I'd hiked most of this loop years ago (February 2019), but wanted to return with Petey to explore portions of the area that I didn't get to back then, hence this updated trip report.

We set out along the standard Bowl of Fire Trail. About a half mile in we passed some trucks along a lesser dirt road, driven here to cut off about a mile round-trip. The trail continued through the desert and down into a major drainage at the southern end of the Bowl of Fire. It was here we decided to first head up to Murphys Peak, a minor summit just to the west. We took a Class 2 gully leading to its southern ridgeline, where fun scrambling led to the summit. A couple of Class 3 moves on solid rock kept the ridgeline interesting. The views toward the surrounding Bowl of Fire below were excellent and we could trace our route to come for all the remaining peaks.

Our next summit would be Polytick Peak to the west, but Murphys Peak has extremely steep faces on all other sides except the way we came up, so we backtracked down the eastern gully and wrapped around to Murphys Peak's northern slopes rather than risk a more direct and dangerous descent. After wrapping around the slopes, we noted significant cliffs formed by sandstone formations to the north. It's a fun time locating a viable weakness to get through the cliffs. We had to do this again later on our way back along the loop in a different portion of the cliff complex. For the ascent we took a wash leading up a slope and onto the eastern ridge of Polytick Peak. With some fun zig-zagging around various colorful sandstone features, we made our way to the final Class 2 slope below the summit of Polytick Peak. The peak looks like a lumpy orange blob with a massive sheet of concrete plopped on top. A short Class 3 dihedral led up this concrete-looking feature to gain the summit.

Next up was Anniversary Narrows Peak to the north, a ridgeline comprised of two summits. The peak was named after the popular nearby slot canyon Anniversary Narrows, the head of which can be seen from the peak's summit. We'd first go for the western summit. After a loose Class 2 descent on the north side of Polytick Peak, we hiked along easier terrain to the base of a gully that looked like it might lead to the summit. However, the ridgeline above was slanted to the point where it formed a sheer cliff. Despite this visual cue that the route we intened might not go, we ascended the gully to its head where we were very much cliffed-out. Instead we located a Class 2+ weakness (map updated to reflect the proper route) that led up to the slanted fault, leaving the gully well before it reached the ridgeline. This weakness led to some Class 3 scrambling on very fun, extremely solid slabs of rock and ultimately the summit ridge of Anniversary Narrows Peak West. After a short ridge walk, Class 2+ got us to the summit. Petey had just gotten back from a bodybuilding convention, so like always we complained (jokingly, I think, though maybe not, actually probably not) about all this cardio wrecking our gym gains. The struggle is real.

Anniversary Narrows Peak (the eastern one) was the fourth peak on our agenda. We backtracked to the gully we ascended initially and then rather than make the same mistake as before, decided to just ascend directly out of the gully rather than continue to its head. Fun Class 2/3 boulder-hopping got us out of the gully and up to the ridgeline. A couple of Class 3 sections on solid rock with no exposure led along the ridge to the summit. The register on this peak is overflowing, whereas the previous three peaks get basically no attention. I wonder why this one is a destination hike and how it became as such?

We descended the southern Class 2 slope of Anniversary Narrows Peak, which seems to be the standard route for reaching the peak since there were a few scatter cairns marking the way, to the top of the previously mentioned sandstone cliffs. Now we'd have to find a descent back into the Bowl of Fire. After navigating around some more gorgeous sandstone features, we located a wide passageway that led north and safely down through the cliffs using a sandy slope. From here we followed a major wash as it wrapped through the Bowl of Fire. This wash ultimately would lead back to where we'd left it earlier in the day for Murphys Peak, but first we wanted to take a quick jaunt up to Peak 2474.

Peak 2474's western ridge is a pleasant Class 2/2+ slope with sticky limestone, and follows a similar vibe to Polytick Peak, a sandstone blob topped with a concrete layer. The sunset views toward both the northern and western Bowl of Fire sprawls were delightful.