Hike Fire Cliffs High Point and Northshore Peaklets Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV

Nov 28, 2020 — This nice loop visits some lesser-visited peaklets in Lake Mead's northshore area before heading out to the Fire Cliffs High Point and east side of the Bowl of Fire. I've been to Bowl of Fire many times, but somehow managed to avoid getting the high point of the bright red landscape. Additionally, a couple of days ago was my 30th birthday, where I summitted 30 peaks as a goal. Included in that endeavor were a few of the peaks in this loop as little out-and-backs, but I wanted to contrive a loop to hike them in a more creative way. Hence this silly, fun outing. A highlight was that Yossi, a friend who I've been talking to forever but haven't met in person, made his way out to Vegas and we were thrilled to finally get a hike going. I was impressed with this flatlander's hiking and flexibility with route-finding and planning and we had a great, giggly time. More soon, friend!

Our first objective was Panko Peak, which Yossi named and I quite enjoyed. Sources online have this peak mislabeled, claiming they "took the trail" (there's definitely no trail), and I don't actually know who or how many people have gotten to its summit. We found no summit cairn, but surely someone has been here in the past. Anyway, we started out from the Northshore Parking Lot and headed west into a drainage that paralleled Northshore Road. We continued choosing drainages to ascend, climbed up a couple of Class 3 obstacles, and found ourselves at the base of Panko Peak's east slope. After trying a couple of horrible route ideas, we located a pleasant slickrock funnel at a saddle on the right that led to higher ground, followed by some Class 2+ and a nice ridgeline to the summit. I believe the first hump is the high point. The one farther along the ridge required some sketchy Class 3/4 with exposure and ultimately clocked lower than the first. So I'd say don't even go for it. Once we backtracked and descended the funnel, we headed north from the saddle down into a cozy canyon. Class 2 boulder-hopping was the only obstacle and we soon made it into a drainage system and bisected a dirt road many use to access the area.

Once on the dirt road, we headed north and located a drainage on the left we would use to access Peak 2421. Minor brush led to big, sticky, limestone boulders as we ascended the peak's east slopes. We ended up at the base of its slabby summit ridge, and continued on the easier-looking Class 2 slabs to the summit. We then headed north along Peak 2421's ridge toward Baby Hammerhead. The views along this ridge were impressive, lots of peaklets visible in all directions and Bowl of Fire a lovely sight in the distance. Baby Hammerhead is a peak I named a couple of days ago. It's a minor summit, but was interesting enough to warrant a name, I thought. The slopes are riddled with cryptobiotic soil, so please be careful not to step on it. Class 2 boulders led to a concrete-looking Class 2+ slab. The slab led to an interesting Class 3 knife-edge. You can likely avoid the slab and knife-edge by approaching the peak from the north and making a Class 3/4 move, but the fun of this peak is the route I described.

We backtracked to the base of Baby Hammerhead and began the long walk to the north toward the Fire Cliffs. Our goal was to ascend major drainage/canyon to the north and hopefully it would lead to the higher ground where the Bowl of Fire resides. From there we'd be able to get to Fire Cliffs High Point. Our route to the the mouth of this drainage/canyon required some drainage navigating and minor obstacles, and somehow went by faster than we thought it would. The canyon started off great, lots of Class 2/3 boulder-hopping obstacles nestled between the tall sandstone walls. A measly couple hundred feet from the head of the canyon we encountered an impassable dryfall. We backtracked and looked for another way out of the canyon on its west side, fortunately locating one - not all was lost! This option required a short, stiff Class 3 move to get over a big boulder, and then we found ourselves in a sandy wash in the heart of the Fire Cliffs. Lots of mess-ups later and we found a viable route to higher ground. I've removed all the nonsense from my attached map. The route out of the sandy wash led to the left through a crack, over a chockstone, and then to easy ground. We did it, but we also found a cairn so clearly we weren't the first. A bit of fun navigating through the colorful washes and rock formations led through a big drainage and up to the flat area surrounding Fire Cliffs High Point. We weren't sure which of the numerous pinnacles were the high point, but Paula Raimondi (a local legend) had the answer for us. The route required a Class 3 move up a crack, a wide and somewhat exposed ledge, and then a Class 3 move on a rounded sandstone slab. the views were nice, but I recommend heading through a tight slot to the left of the Fire Hills High Point to get to a gorgous balcony on the rim of the Fire Cliffs to get the best view.

From the Fire Cliffs, we headed through the Bowl of Fire, avoiding most of its maze-like featured by staying farther north and continued along the standard route used to access Bowl of Fire. This led us to a major drainage that went south, where we'd continue up to the left to a peak I called Lego Peak. Its large limestone blocks were the inspiration, and I didn't want to just give it a numbered name, so sue me. The route we took navigated around many of these boulders and ended with a Class 2+ dihedral move on sharp concrete-like rock. We continued east along the slopes and found ourselves on easy slopes/ridges leading to the Northshore Hill Trail. We followed the trail back to the car.