Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully | Mt. Charleston Wilderness | Spring Mountains, Nevada

Overview | Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully | Mt Charleston Wilderness, Nevada

This is a streamlined approach from Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop Trailhead parking area to connect with Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully, also known as Deer Creek North Fork Canyon and take that gully to within 1,000ft elevation (less than a half-mile) of the summit. The initial adventure reaches the summit approach gully at about 9,300ft, then on the return trip explores the large area of ridges and gullies between Camp Stimpson and the Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop Trailhead. This adds a unique detailed exploration of the large region between the Eastern Ridge of Seven-Mile Canyon and the lower Camp Stimpson gully. The 2nd adventure further streamlines the approach to Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully and then takes the gully to 10,000ft elevation. The return trip in this case is along the same path as the approach path and makes it all the way back to Deer Creek Road in less than two hours.

Non-Stop Spectacular Views

Expect non-stop spectacular views from the pristine alpine wilderness you are traversing throughout this entire adventure! Some of the landmarks you will see along the way include:

• The Sheep Range
• Gass Peak
• Mummy Mountain’s Summit
• Mummy’s Toe
• Mummy’s Knees
• Mummy’s Chin
• Mummy’s Nose
• Bristlecone Pine Ridge
• Fletcher Peak
• The La Madre Mountains
• Northern Las Vegas Valley

Adventure Route Summary

From the Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop Trailhead parking area on Deer Creek Road head up the Eastern ridgeline of Seven-Mile Canyon. Near the base of Mummy’s Nose cliff angle to the left along the East side of Mummy’s Nose. Angle downward to connect with the Deer Creek North Fork Canyon around 9,500ft elevation. In the 2nd exploration (top video) I streamlined the ascent route ending up at about 10,000ft. The return trip all the way back to Deer Creek Road took only 2 hours! In the initial exploration (bottom video) I reached the summit approach gully at 9,400ft elevation, then descended the approach gully to the upper edge of Camp Stimpson, then ascended the Western ridge along a trail, then navigate a series of ridges and gullies back to Deer Creek Road, finally to return to the original trailhead parking area. The final summit approach will be on a separate page.

Best Time of Year for This Adventure

This is a great adventure for the Summer and Fall months while the temperature in the Las Vegas Valley is between 85 and 115 degrees. Once the temperature drops below 80 degrees in the Las Vegas Valley (Fall – Spring Months) prepare for snow conditions in the higher elevations.

Directions to Start Point | Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully | Mt Charleston Wilderness, Nevada

To get to this point from Las Vegas head North on Hwy-95 taking a left at one of the last Hwy-95 exits in the Las Vegas area, Kyle Canyon exit. Continue up Kyle Canyon Road about 17 miles and a couple miles before Charleston Village take a right on Highway 158 toward Lee Canyon. You’ll wind around the hillside to the left and as the road briefly levels off before descending toward Lee Canyon. Pass the North Loop Trailhead, Deer Creek Picnic Area and the Camp Stimpson turnoff. The trailhead is a small parking area on the right just before the Desert View Overlook parking area. It’s the trailhead parking for the Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop Trailhead.

↓ Narrative Guide ↓

Narrative Guide | Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully | Mt Charleston Wilderness, Nevada

2nd Exploration of Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully (to 10,000ft)

Take the 9,400ft Streamlined Glide Path to the Summit Approach Gully

The first unique element of this adventure is determining the most streamlined elevation path to skirt the Eastern base of Mummy’s Nose cliffs between the Eastern ridge of Seven-Mile Canyon and the Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully. That elevation is between 9,300 and 9,400ft. A quick way to get onto this streamlined elevation glide path is to ascend the Eastern Ridge of Seven-Mile Canyon to a large limestone pillar at 9,200ft elevation. Then continue ascending the Eastern ridgeline for another 200ft elevation gain before departing the ridgeline and angling to the left along the base of Mummy’s Nose Eastern cliffs.

Sighting the Summit Approach Gully Below

As you skirt the base of Mummy’s Nose Eastern cliffs toward Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully, keep at or below 9,400ft elevation and above 9,300ft elevation while navigating along the most open route you can find between limestone formations and fallen trees. It’s not too hard, and all class 2 level of climbing (basically a walk, yet along steep, loose rock, pathless terrain). Note the gully below to your left. This is the Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully that begins at Deer Creek Road just below Camp Stimpson. Why not just take the gully from Camp Stimpson? You’d be traversing private property and a youth camp. That just doesn’t feel right. Besides, the streamlined route I’ve outlined from the Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop Trailhead is just as fast, if not faster, and is totally on public wilderness lands.

Connecting with the Summit Approach Gully

Continuing along the base of the Mummy’s Nose cliffs at 9,400ft, that approach gully below to your left is rising, and you’ll meet it at the 9,400ft elevation point. Why not a higher elevation glide path? The terrain is far steeper along the base of the cliffs, and you eventually run into an out-jutting cliff which requires you to descend to the 9,400ft level in order to enter the approach gully. 9,400ft is the optimum glide path.

Terrain in the Gully and a Brief Initial Bypass Route

Once in Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully, begin to ascend the gully. There are the usual boulders and brush barriers common to most mountain gullies, and a stream is flowing deep below the surface. That year-round flowing stream emerges further down, just above Camp Stimpson. The stream feeds the plants growing in the gully. Yet, despite the plants, the gully is mostly wide-open and easy to traverse. I did have to angle above the gully to the left for a bit in order to get around a particularly brushy and boulder-packed stretch not far above the 9,400ft level. This little bypass was pretty easy and open enough. Have long pants because the brush is filled with tiny evil thorns capable of delivering death by a thousand cuts!

Interesting Forested Slope to Your Left

You’ll soon descend again into the gully, at times scrambling over boulders. Nothing difficult. Most often there are easy steps upward. Where it looks as though there are two parallel gully paths: One to the right and one to the left, I found sticking to the path on the right worked well. Occasionally I crossed over to the path on the left. It wasn’t too hard to cross between, but you do want to stay to the right when possible. However, look up the slope to the left above the gully. It’s gradual, beautifully forested, very interesting for a future adventure. It could be an alternate route to the summit of Mummy’s Chin, but I don’t trust that I might not end up blocked by a vertical cliff further up. Stay in the gully for now, explore the beautiful, interesting slope to the left later.

The Impassible Dry Fall: Locating the Bypass Route

Around the 9,800ft point in the gully there is an impassible barrier dry fall (unless you’re a skilled, well equipped rock climber). Note the two interesting caves at the base of the dry fall. I did not explore, they looked a bit tight! No worries about the dry fall barrier, note that before you get to that barrier there’s a gradual but steep work-around bypass slope to your right. The slope rounds some limestone cliffs to your right…the same cliffs that form the impassible dry fall. You’re going to take the slope around and above those cliffs. It’s not too far. You’ll know when you reach the point where you can enter the gully again above that impassible dry fall.

The Gully Above the Dry Fall Up to My Turn-Around Point

Now, continue up the gully above the dry fall. Note: I placed a cairn at the point where you re-enter the gully so you can find that point on the return trip and take that dry fall bypass route. Continuing up the gully, at about the 10,000ft point I hit my turn-around point. It was not an easy thing to stick to the turn-around point because the gully ahead was a wide-open, smooth, gradual ascent! But I’d eaten up valuable time discovering the dry fall and locating a bypass route, so I was out of time! Will return and continue to streamline the route between the Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop Trailhead, Mummy’s Chin and Mummy’s Forehead.

Potential Terrain on the Final Summit Approach

My reading of the final summit approach above the 10,000ft level in the gully is that, even though it looked wide-open and gradual at first (see the video cover for that video), and was only 1,000ft elevation and less than a half-mile from the summit, there must be a very steep stretch ahead. Think about it: 1,000ft elevation gain in less than a half-mile! And it begins with a gradual incline. You’re bound to hit a 45+ degree slope somewhere ahead! Watch for my Mummy’s Chin and Forehead Final Summit Approach page, hopefully coming not far from today.

The Return Descent

A note about the return descent to the Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop Trailhead: It took less than 2 hours, which shows how streamlined the route is getting! For the return descent, I took the same route as the approach, however, during the approach I skirted the Mummy’s Nose cliffs at about 9,200ft. On the return I discovered 9,400ft is an even faster glide path.

Initial Exploration of Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully (to 9,400ft)

Note that I refer to a trailhead and a road. The road is unmarked and only lasts about 500 feet. Beyond that this adventure is totally pathless wilderness until near the end of your return trip!

Trailhead to the Eastern Ridgeline

From the trailhead parking area, cross Deer Creek Road and head up the unmarked Forest Road 092A for about 500 feet along the base of the ridge to your left (The Seven-Mile Canyon Eastern ridge). In about 500ft the road will divide. Road 092 will branch off to the left; 092A will continue straight. At this fork in the road begin to angle up the ridge to your left, watching for the main ascent gully. You may need to poke around a bit to find that gully, but you’ll know when you’re in it. The gully is a nice, wide gradual ascent to the ridgeline summit.

Eastern Ridgeline to the Limestone Pillar

Once on the ridgeline summit continue upward. The area is wide open and beautiful. Watch for ever-expanding views of the wilderness ahead toward the cliffs of Mummy’s Nose and the wilderness behind toward the Sheep Range. These will be your basic guiding reference points for the initial approach and the final return trip. Continue up the ridgeline, topping a few beautiful limestone high points along the way, until you reach a tall narrow limestone pillar near the base of the Mummy’s Nose cliffs.

Limestone Pillar to the Ridgeline Descent Point

At the pillar, begin to angle to the left along the Eastern base of Mummy’s Nose cliffs. Note that you have a few intervening ridgelines and gullies to cross along the way. Just find that sweet spot: Not too high where the terrain is real steep; Not too low where the gullies are deep. You’ll find that spot…it’s pretty obvious when you’re up there. The third of fourth gully you cross is pretty significant. It’s the site of a pre-2,000 air crash. You’ll see parts of the plane scattered in the gully. Cross the air crash gully and continue along below the base of Mummy’s Nose Eastern cliffs. Notice far below there is a nice wide gully heading upward toward the area of Mummy’s Forehead. This is the main Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully.

Descent to Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully

Now angle toward Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully choosing a route that involves the least altitude loss. The terrain is fairly easy, and if you gauge your route well, you’ll arrive in the gully at about the same altitude you were at when you began to angle toward the gully. You’ll notice that had you continued high along the base of the cliff line to your right the terrain would have been far steeper and eventually blocked by a cliff. You want to be in the approach gully. It’s a much friendlier terrain.

Descending the Approach Gully to Upper Camp Stimpson

On this day, when I reached the approach gully I turned around and headed down the gully, wanting to check out the terrain in the lower gully near the Camp Stimpson area and Deer Creek Road. Along the way down I made a few discoveries. I where the gullies I’d crossed above descended into the main gully I as now in. The largest was the air crash gully. I could have headed up that gully and fairly easily ended up at the base of the Mummy’s Nose cliffs above. I also discovered, lower in the main gully that there was a year-round flowing spring that must have been beneath me during my descent in the gully, only to emerge further down. Finally, there were signs that I was approaching the upper area of Camp Stimpson near the base of the gully. This terrain was familiar from an earlier adventure.

Upper Camp Stimpson to Deer Creek Road

At the upper end of Camp Stimpson there begins a very nice trail at the base of the West ridge (to your left) and the East ridge (to your right). Not wanting to traverse Camp Stimpson’s property, I headed up the trail ascending the West ridge to the left. That trail switch-backed to the summit of the ridge, then descended into the gully below to the West. I could see in the distance the Eastern ridgeline of Seven-Mile Canyon, though, at the time I thought I had arrived in Seven-Mile Canyon! Actually, there are a few intervening ridges and gullies between Camp Stimpson canyon and Seven-Mile Canyon. Now it was a matter of navigating these ridges and gullies in the direction toward Deer Creek Road. Some of the intervening canyons and gullies are very steep, and I came across one class 3 limestone dry fall descent…surprisingly the most difficult stretch the entire day! Finally, I arrived at a large gully where there was a trail marked by a sign “Emergency Evacuation Route” to the parking lot used as a staging area for Search and Rescue operations. That trail eventually branched to the right and to the left. It appeared the right branch headed to the large Camp Stimpson parking area on Deer Creek Road. That parking area is large enough to accommodate an emergency evacuation helicopter and a Search and Rescue mobile headquarters van. So, the gully I was in appeared to be the main emergency evacuation route in the area for search and rescue teams. Had I taken the right branch in that trail, I’d have easily ended up at the Camp Stimpson parking area. Instead, I took the left branch hoping to angle toward Deer Creek Road closer to the Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop Trailhead parking. Actually, the left branch trail soon disappeared and I found myself in a huge dry lakebed below a high ridge. Sounds above on that high ridge indicated that this was Deer Creek Road. I ascended the high ridge to arrive on Deer Creek Road. Now it was a matter of taking a left on Deer  Creek Road and heading back to the Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop Trailhead. Turned out to be between a quarter and a half-mile down Deer Creek Road.

Learnings from This Adventure

The learning from this adventure is that there is a huge triangular region of ridges and gullies between the Camp Stimpson and Seven-Mile Canyon. You’re better off to stay high along the Easter base of the Mummy’s Nose cliffs and finally return to Deer Creek Road on the Eastern Ridgeline of Seven-Mile Canyon. So, from the point I arrived in the Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully, I’d have been better off to retrace my steps all the way back to the Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop Trailhead parking area. However, I did get to explore that huge swath of land between Camp Stimpson and Seven-Mile Canyon. Note that there is some private property in that region near Deer Creek Road, so it’s not the best area for wilderness exploration. Stick to the high ridgelines and you’ll be okay! The big pay-off was discovering a streamlined approach from Deer Creek Catch Pen Loop Trailhead to the 9,500ft elevation of Mummy’s Forehead Summit Approach Gully that is all pristine wilderness, no private property, easy class 2 climbing (basically a walk).