Overview | Mummy Mountain NW Cliffs | Mt. Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
With its spacious wide-open atmosphere and its majestic
bristlecone pine forests,
Mummy Mountain is the most beautiful summit in the
Mt. Charleston Wilderness. But the cliffs just below the summit have their own pristine beauty. They are largely untouched and unvisited, offering peaceful solitude, spectacular views and huge unique ancient
bristlecone pine trees seemingly growing out of the tall solid rock cliffs. Some of the ledges can be narrow and a bit challenging. Others are wide enough to pitch a tent or enjoy a unique restful incredible view. Much of the area at the base of
Mummy Mountain’s summit cliffs gives you the impression of being the first person to ever stand in that place.
The Mummy Mountain Summit Cliff Ledge
Cliff ledge areas that you can easily navigate as a hiker can abruptly end with class 5 climbing beyond, so it’s important to know and stay within your limits. My limit is mostly stretches I can walk along with a few scrambles, but none with any major exposure.
Views from the Mummy Mountain NW Cliffs
Views from the Northwestern cliffs include the
South ridge of Kyle Canyon,
Charleston Peak,
Lee Peak and the
North ridge of Kyle Canyon from Lee Peak to Mummy Mountain. In the distance you can see the
Pahrump Valley and faintly
Telescope Peak on the far side of
Death Valley. Directly below is
Lee Canyon, the
Lee Canyon ski area,
Bristlecone Pine Trail,
Bonanza Trail and that trail’s ridge including
McFarland Peak and continuing on to
Bonanza Peak. There are many more points of interest, but these are the main ones I can identify at this time.
Directions to Start Point | Mummy Mountain NW Cliffs | Mt. Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
Driving to the trailhead at
Trail Canyon is pretty easy, up
Hwy 95 North from
Las Vegas, take a left at the
Kyle Canyon exit, continue about 20 miles up
Kyle Canyon to
Charleston Village, pass a fire station continuing straight where the road bends to the left. You’ll arrive at a parking area (same parking used for
Mary Jane Falls). In all, it’s less than 40 miles from the
Las Vegas Strip.
↓ Narrative Guide ↓
Narrative Guide | Mummy Mountain NW Cliffs | Mt. Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada
Trail Canyon Trailhead to Cave Springs
From the
Trail Canyon Trailhead, head up
Trail Canyon Trail. The ascent is steep and relentless up to the junction of the
Trail Canyon Trail, the
North Loop Trail and
Cockscomb Ridge Trail, about 2 miles from your starting point. It’s another mile up the
North Loop Trail to
Cave Springs. There is a hollowed out log water basin along the trail fed by a trickle of water piped down from
Cave Springs. The log basin is dry for much of the year but seems to be full from late Spring to the end of the Summer.
Navigating Mummy Mountain’s “Horrifying Half” Avalanche Slope
Continue up the
North Loop Trail for another mile or so to the huge skeleton of a bristlecone pine tree marked with an
“M” and an arrow pointing up the avalanche slope to the right. I call this slope
“The Horrifying Half” because it is composed of loose rock with a pretty dramatic incline that rises nearly 1000ft in about a half mile. In the video I give my strategy for navigating the rocky surface without slipping and sliding. Basically, stick to the larger rocks to the right on the way up. Look for impressions or “steps”. The larger rocks are more stable. On the way down go with sections of deep small gravel rock. You’ll easily slide to a halt with each step and can keep up a fairly good pace. Both ascending and descending AVOID sections of hard dirt covered with a thin layer of fine rock. These can easily become like a skating rink an you’re sure to slip, slide and fall!
Kyle Canyon’s North Ridge Summit
At the summit of
The Horrifying Half you are on the
North Ridge of Kyle Canyon. The views include
Kyle Canyon from
Griffith Peak to
Charleston Peak on one side and
Lee Canyon on the other side. The
bristlecone pines are huge, artistic and beautiful from this point onward. Incidentally, if you were to take a left on this ridge you could continue along the ridge all the way to
Lee Peak. I’ve documented this stretch on the
4 Peak Circuit page of this site.
Reaching Mummy Mountain’s Summit Cliffs and Summit Approach
If you’re heading up to
Mummy Mountain, take a right at the top of the ridge and continue on the ridge top cliffs for about 1/4th mile. Then jog to the left briefly and then take a right at the edge of the ridge up toward the
Western cliffs of Mummy Mountain. A trail will appear at this point. Head left along the base of the majestic cliffs which are just below
Mummy Mountain’s summit.
In another 1/4th mile you will see a narrow V-shaped opening in the cliffs leading up to
Mummy Mountain’s summit and requiring only about 10 minutes of light scrambling…some class 3.
Mummy Mountain’s NW Summit Cliff Ledge
On this day I continued past the V-shaped opening and on along the base of the summit cliffs. There is a ledge at the base of the cliffs. Cliffs above and cliffs below. The ledge is fairly wide except for a few narrow sections. It’s a pretty easy walk for about 1/4 to 1/2 mile. The views are spectacular and the area mostly untouched and untraveled. Eventually you will reach a place where the ledge ends and the only way to precede forward is via class 5 cliff climbing on rock surface with many stretches of fine gravel. I stopped before reaching the class 5 section. However, that half mile of ledge was an incredibly magical stretch between the stark cliffs, the majestic
bristlecone pine trees seemingly growing out of solid rock and the spectacular views!
