My second day in Vegas found me hiking another continuously steep desert hike, this time at Lone Mountain. A couple of years ago, when I lived up at the foot of the mountain, I used to trek the half-mile from base to peak quite often. At that time, the apartment and housing construction boom around the mountain was still ongoing, with many unfinished projects nearing completion. Rarely ever did I see anyone use the trail on the mountain. The trailhead is poorly marked. Some maps mark it as Lone Mountain Park, though a sign at the base simply calls it property of the city of Las Vegas. Now, however, there are many nearby residents, and I counted four other people on the trail while Rei and I were there, which is more than the total number of people I've ever seen on it before after having hiked up it dozens of times.

One mile, one-half out and back, and a six hundred foot vertical rise make it pretty compact but steep. Even more steep than Turtlehead Peak, which we did the day before. Actually, it was fifty percent steeper! At Turtlehead, there is a one foot vertical rise for every 6.6 feet of trail. On Lone Mountain, the incline is one vertical foot for every 4.4 feet of trail. It really works yer legs.

Three-dimensional topographic satellite images. Nice.

The trailhead, on the northwest side of the mountain. The hiking trail is pretty easy to find amongst the many off-road vehicle trails, as it cuts up the steep hillside to the mountain ridge. It can be accessed from the north end of the paved road, Vegas Vista Trail, just south of the large gravel pit.

With the newly laid 215 freeway passing right by, it's hard to believe this area used to be pretty out of the way. For some reason, people thought it would be OK to dumb their garbage here. Even more unfortunate than that, though, is the fact that some of this shit is not old..... People still dump stuff. Big stuff. Couches. Mattresses. Washing machines. Stupid people.

Just a few minutes into the hike and you can look back and see how high you've already climbed. The first part of the trail, from trailhead to the ridge, is probably the most difficult since it's rocky and uneven. The gravel pit can be seen in the background, just north of 215.

Once you reach the ridge, there's a nice view of the north end of the Las Vegas valley. There's also a concrete bench. I'm not really sure why anybody thought to put a bench up there when you can just as easily sit on the ground, especially when the bench turns into a hotseat under the Vegas summer sun. That little green sign has a notice about African honey bees.

Yay cactus! I believe this one is a California Barrel Cactus.

From the area of the bench, looking south towards the peak.

Also from the area of the park bench, you can look down at the new neighborhoods. Sometimes the road construction doesn't quite keep up with the houses..... but what's this about? This is Helena Ave between Jensen and Durango. Looks more like a dashed line than a road.

It's all uphill..... whew.

From the peak, looking south. The peak of the mountain is kind of midway along the ridge, with several steep rocky hills making up the south slope. As we were sitting at the top, a black man wandered up from the south side. Knowing how steep and rugged that part of the mountain is, I was very surprised to see him. He was very tired and out of breath, and had no clue that there was a trail down the other side.

Karsten, moi, on the peak. The Las Vegas strip can be seen in the distance.

Rei on the peak of Lone Mountain, with the Las Vegas strip in the distance.