Sometimes I go on a hike, or climb a mountain peak, for no other reason than to convince myself that I can make the journey. Then, I'm usually a lot smarter when I get home, so this type of trip is seldom repeated.
Frenchman Mountain is one of those trips. However, I made the mistake of convincing myself that if I climbed the mountain by a different route, it would be a totally different trip. True, but a dumb decision!
We first climbed Frenchman Mountain several years ago by starting from State Highway 147 (aka Lake Mead Boulevard) and then following a 4-wheel drive trail to the peak. The trail goes up the north side of the mountain and is used to service various communication towers located on the peak. A locked gate prohibits people from driving their personal 4-wheel vehicle up the trail, but it is possible to walk around the gate and hike up the trail to the top of the mountain. This seemed like it would be an easy enough hike because if a 4-wheel drive vehicle could make the trip, how difficult could it be for someone hiking the same road?
The trail was fairly level from the highway to the base of the mountain and then we started up a steep incline. When we reached a saddle in the trail, we were surprised that we had to descend a considerable distance before we could hike up to the main peak. We eventually made it to the top of the mountain and enjoyed the afternoon overlooking Las Vegas and the surrounding landscape, but it was a more challenging hike than anticipated. From the top of the mountain, looking to the north are additional mountain peaks, to the east is Rainbow Valley and Lake Mead, to the south is Henderson and Boulder City, and to the west is the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area.
A few years passed and we decided to free climb the west side of the mountain where there was no trail. This turned out to be a much harder hike with a number of Class III walls to scale. Unfortunately we did not have a camera with us on the second trip, so no pictures were taken. All of the below pictures were taken on the first trip. I will not quote what Kolohe had to say about the second hike, but to paraphrase her comments it was the worst hike that she has ever been on.
If you come to Las Vegas for a visit, we definitely will not be taking you on this hike!
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| Looking south from the saddle toward Frenchman Peak |
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| Looking north (back toward State Highway 147) from the saddle |
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| Looking back (north) at the saddle part way up the trail to Frenchman Peak |
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| Looking south toward Frenchman Peak |
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| Frenchman Peak |
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| View North |
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| View East |
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| View South |
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| View West |
BONUS PICTURES
A local news report stated "On sunny days, the water gives off a murky reddish hug, and at night, when the organisms are agitated by movement, they emit a neon blue glow." According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the red tide can sometimes be harmful to some fish, marine manuals, and fish, but most of the time the tides provide food and nutrients for plants and animals.
A representative from Scripps Institute of Oceanography stated "The phenomenon is caused when large numbers of dinoflagellates form a bloom. Dinoflagellates use bioluminescence as a predator avoidance behavior...The current red tide is due to aggregations of the dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedra." It is unknown how long the "red tide" will last, but previous "red tides" have lasted anywhere from one week to one month. It's too bad that I'm quarantined at home due to the Covid-19 Virus or I would go to California to see the waves.
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