Hike South Gate Peak, North Gate Peak, Bitter Ridge High Point Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV

Feb 06, 2020 — I was happy to facilitate my unintentional yearly visit to Lake Mead’s Bowl of Fire area by coming in from Northshore Road. In addition to getting some colorful sandstone scenic time in from many different angles, this route summits Peak 2703, South Gate Peak, North Gate Peak, Peak 3340, Bitter Ridge High Point, and Peak 3491. With minimal information on these peaks, I attempted to be as efficient as possible with route-finding, and altered the attached map to show the best route I could come up with. This route visits an area farther north than the northern Bowl of Fire, mostly skipping the sandstone wonderland in order to reach obscure peaks up there.

I followed the official trail from the Northshore Summit Trail Parking Area, passing over a nice viewpoint of Bowl of Fire with some nice morning haze. The trail led into a minor drainage that spit me out onto a dirt road. In hindsight, I could have saved a few miles by driving in on this mostly sandy road, but the views made the extra work feel worth it. I followed the road north through a wide canyon, leaving it to head up a side slot that was calling my name. I continued through this slot as a fun little side-trip, but realized I was getting to be well past the first peak I wanted to smmit (Peak 2703). I back-tracked until I coud find a way out of the canyon (Class 2) and onto a slope above. Peak 2703 is surprisingly well-guarded from most sides, and I'd say the route up I took (Class 2+) on loose, sharp rock was fine. Later research of the area shows that coming from the south would have been far preferable, and I recommend you do that instead. The views from Peak 2703 into Bowl of Fire were really incredible and I took them in for a minute before my gaze fell on the cliffs preventing easy access to my next peak objective to the west, South Gate Peak. It's a pretty imposing-looking summit from here.

I dropped down off Peak 2703 the way I came and continued generally west through the desert and into the outskirts of Bowl of Fire. Rather than spending time getting lost in the maze of sandstone rock formations (which I recommend you do at some point, it's a super nice area), I continued through a wash leading directly toward South Gate Peak. A fairly long walk through open desert brought me to the base of the peak, and I started wrapping around to its north side, hoping to find a weakness. I started up too soon, not realizing a Class 2 option existed a bit farther south, pulling a Class 4 set of moves, the last of which being a bit exposed. I included this Class 4 mishap route in my attached map, as well as some photos at the very end of this trip report, but I don't recommend it unless you're interested in adding some spice (because it definitely was a fun section of Class 4) to this otherwise Class 2 day. Anyway, assuming you don't do the Class 4, continue wrapping around South Gate Peak until an obvious ramp becomes visible. This leads safely to the summit without anything more than some loose rock.

Back down from South Gate Peak, I traversed the desert forever to the base of North Gate Peak. These little peaks are deceptively far apart. I chose a slope to gain North Gate Peak, and then made the poor choice to side-hill down to the north. I'd recommend either just following the ridge or just dropping back down off the peak after the summit. Either way, more desert traversing to Peak 3340. I noted Peak 3491 to the right, its northern black steep, sheer slopes looking really scary. I wasn't sure I'd end up getting that one today, but decided to try from another angle later on. Nothing particularly difficult to note on the traverse from Peak 3340 to Bitter Ridge High Point. Overall, they're pretty forgettable except for the nice views toward Bowl of Fire.

After bagging Bitter Ridge High Point, I dropped down into a wash separating it from Peak 3340, heading generally south to start the long descent. I did some wash running to make the time go faster until I was at the base of Peak 3491. I noted a significant weakness in its east slope, a Class 2 break in this otherwise likely very difficult peak. The summit block was unclear, so I bagged a couple of them before heading back down to continue my long walk/run through the desert washes. I rejoined my route from earlier at the dirt road before I had entered the narrow slot canyon, and retraced my steps back on the official Northshore Summit Trail back to my car.