Las Vegas Trip December 2019

Hi
I will be in North Las Vegas for a business meeting in early December.
As I plan to travel on the Saturday from the UK, Sunday will be free all day, and possibly the following Wednesday too.
Browsing the W7N/CK list, there are many SOTA summits to choose from.

Is W7N/CK-001, Charleston Peak a bad idea for a single day outing in December? From AE7AP’s notes, it looks like a loop of around 8.5 miles, so within my distance capability - not sure about terrain or level of difficulty with this though.

I will have HF with me and a 45w amp, link dipole and a 6m pole, plus roll up 2m 5/8th, and a garmin in reach in case things get out of hand.

Any suggestions welcome on alternative summits.

Some thing smash and grab for Wednesday would also be useful if anybody has advice please?

Thanks!

73

Tim
G4YTD

I activated Lone Mountain W7N/CK-227 last year on the North West edge of Las Vegas. Not very adventurous but easy to get to and plenty of parking close by. Nice views looking back to LV.

73
Roger

Thanks Roger - a contender for Wednesdays activation before heading home.
Like the look of the WX!
73
Tim

1 Like

When I was there I didn’t try Charleston. There could be snow on top in December.
There are a bunch of relatively easy summits around the edges of the city. The ones I did were generally nice, with varying difficulty. I was there in June though, so it will probably be much more pleasant hiking weather for you. I only had my kx3 and mag loop antenna, and my 2-3 watts had no trouble getting contacts.

And when I was there some idiot had put up a repeater with an input on 146.52, so be careful that any 2m contacts are actually simplex. Hopefully its been moved to a new frequency by now.

2 Likes

Priceless. Says it all…

Is W7N/CK-001, Charleston Peak a bad idea for a single day outing in December? From AE7AP’s notes, it looks like a loop of around 8.5 miles, so within my distance capability - not sure about terrain or level of difficulty with this though.

I believe that’s 8.5 miles one way. I hiked Charleston Peak several years ago in July via the South Loop and it was about 16 miles round trip. I believe the North Loop is similar, with the added excitement of some fairly narrow and exposed trail sections.

Charleston Peak is a truly massive mountain - not only is it almost 12k’ in elevation, but it has more than 8000’ of prominence. I believe it gets a fairly large amount of snow, though I do not know when it starts. There’s a ski area on the north side of it that claims to open “early December”. There’s also a fair distance that is above treeline and would be exposed to the weather.

Looking through the past several years of trip reports on peakbagger, there’s mentions of very snowy November climbs and almost snow free December climbs. So, who knows! I guess just bring a lot of gear and decide whether or not to hike it at the last minute. Hopefully someone local can weigh in here and offer better advice.

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Thanks for the advice Jeff,
Charleston looks like it may be a step too far with jet lag, but will check out the local conditions on the day.
Thanks for your summit list, will have a browse through and pick out some entertainment form there.
73
Tim
G4YTD

Thanks Chris
The pictures look very impressive and one for the bucket list.
I will have gear with me for challenging terrain, but not taking any chances.
As advised, assess on the day and see where it takes me.
Thanks for the advice
73
Tim
G4YTD

Tim,

Another site would be Mountain Spring Benchmark, W7N/CK-050, located west of Las Vegas with a drive through Red Rock Canyon. The hike is an easy 3.5 km with a 332 meter elevation gain to 2024 meters on the summit. You will need a mast for a wire or a vertical as there are no trees on top. You will be able to make 2 meter simplex contacts back to the Las Vegas area. APRS2SOTA will work for spotting.

The drive through Red Rock Canyon is nice. You will pass by a turn off overlook where I operated Field Day in 2018 from my Jeep. See 2018 ARRL Field Day

Scott WA9STI
Los Angeles

Mt. Charleston is 8.5 miles each way (I changed the summit article title to clarify this). I think it is similar difficulty (a long hike on a good trail with lots of vertical) from either the south or the north ridges. I have done it both ways & even via an overnight loop (many years ago). Both trails are very nice & beautiful & the loop trip should be doable as a summer or fall day trip. I wouldn’t be too keen on doing it in the winter with snow. The short days & likelihood for snow would be troublesome - at least for me.

73,
Rob - AE7AP

Hi Scott
Thanks for the recommendation, looks like one day will not be enough to cram all the great looking summits in!
I will have my KX2 and a link dipole with me, so hopeful that the station will be heard from 6000’.
73
Tim
G4YTD

Thanks Rob
Noted.
Mt Charleston is going to be too much for this trip.
I am visiting a new supplier for work, so this could be a regular trip, will make sure my next one is on the longer days - gives me time to research a little more before the attempt.
Thanks for all the guidance, appreciate it.
73
Tim
G4YTD

That looks like a great solo field day.

I’m guessing there will be snow or ice on Charleston. I had snow and some ice on much lower summits early this year.