Conquest of the Castle Mountains!

More 2018 Adventures

Las Vegas, NV → Castle Mountains NM → St. George, UT
283.0 mi (455.4 km)

It’s my birthday, everyone!

It’s been a while since I had a bloggable adventure on my birthday, but this year, I turned 25 and wanted to do something extra special! I was ready to check off my last National Monument in California! To get there, I caught an overnight bus to Las Vegas, headed south through Searchlight, and found myself at the start of a long dirt road leading past the historic Walking Box Ranch!

I thought I’d had enough of scary places once I’d returned from the East Coast, but once I set foot on the ranch, a different kind of eerie settled over me. It was well maintained but looked freshly abandoned, the desert quiet interrupted by a creaky gate swinging back and forth in the morning breezes. Several black widow spiders had set up comfortable residence in an otherwise immaculately clean bathroom!

This was once part of the 400,000 acre estate of film stars, Clara Bow and Rex Bell. They named it for the “walking box” cameras that had been a major part of their lives and careers and hosted tons of other stars for desert retreats. It was a working cattle ranch until the 1980s, but now it’s run by the Bureau of Land Management as a historic site!

I headed down the well grated dirt road until I came to the sign for Castle Mountains National Monument! Just as it would be my final California park, it also turned out to be California’s newest NPS-run national park unit! President Obama set it up via the Antiquities Act on February 12, 2016, and luckily, it has survived the subsequent president’s repeal attempts!

My quest today, in this new and remote national monument, was to climb Hart’s Peak, named for turn-of-the-century prospector, James Hart! Though only 5,543 feet tall, a far cry from any of the Three Saints, this would turn out to be one of my most dangerous hikes!

For starters, this park is way out in the desert and doesn’t have a comprehensive trail system in place. There are a few old mining roads, since there is still an active gold mine in the area, but beyond that, navigation would have to be by reading the land!

Though still desert, this area was abundant with life! Yuccas! Joshua trees! Junipers! There was scarcely a patch of open ground, so when the old road curved in the wrong direction, I had to figure out another way to get to Hart Peak.

Luckily, desert rains leave very distinctive signatures, and just as the road curved away, I spotted a wash! When navigating to a mountain, washes are great for a couple of reasons: you know they’re flowing down from the highest point, and there aren’t as many plants to battle as you travel across the desert.

I was very lucky to have come here in mid June, because the summer heat hadn’t quite started yet. It was actually really pleasant, sunny, and in the mid 80s. I met a garter snake and a couple of jackrabbits along the way, enjoying this late spring morning as well. I was very much hoping to avoid meeting the animals that ate them.

After about an hour, I reached the base of Hart Peak! The guides online described it as having a Class 2 climb on one side, but I couldn’t tell which side they meant! All I could do was turn from the wash and head up the steep slope.

At first, it wasn’t so bad. The slope was steep and grassy, but manageable. The rock formations were a treat for the eyes, while the juniper berries were a treat for the tongue. Not all birthdays come with cakes, you know!

Far off in the distance, I spotted the jagged Castle Peaks, which are actually not a part of this monument at all. The Castle Mountains are one range, while the Castle Peaks are a whole different one. To be honest, the Peaks looked like the more imposing castle to conquer!

Then the slope turned to scree, and the scree turned to rock! Before I knew it, I was halfway up a brush-covered cliff! And what’s the one thing you never want to do when you’re halfway up a cliff? Look down…

I had to sit for a few minutes. My heart was racing, not from the air, but with the terror of the situation! I hit a dead end on my climb up, I was miles from water or cell phone reception, and I was having a hard time spotting any kind of handholds. Turning back seemed like the most responsible thing to do. Making this birthday my last would be a shame!

I started to turn back, but strangely enough, the thought of going back down now seemed much scarier than continuing my skyward climb! As I started to retrace my steps, a new path opened up, and I found a handhold, then another one! I’d deal with the fear later, because now, I was back on my way to the top, where sweeping views and a register dating back to the 50s were waiting for me!

From above, the Castle Mountains seemed to be little more than hills, but I felt like I had just tackled something truly mighty! I hopped up and down in celebration! I had beaten Hart Peak! This was my Hart beat!

After a few minutes, I realized I would eventually have to go back down, and my Hart skipped a beat! Would I be able to navigate downward as readily as I’d climbed up? Would the butterflies in my stomach settle down long enough to concentrate? I didn’t have to find an answer to that question, because as soon as I looked over the other side of the mountain, I realized I’d climbed up the wrong side! The south side of the mountain was a gentle slope! Releasing my butterflies back into the wild, I tromped down the mountain and back to the road!

After a hike like that, it was time to celebrate, and when you’re on the border of Nevada, where else do you head for a celebration but Las Vegas! I’d already gambled with my life today, but I was in the mood for a big birthday dinner!

I skipped the Strip, because it was super busy, and headed instead to El Cortez, the longest continuously running hotel and casino in Las Vegas! Built in 1941, it was originally thought to be too far from downtown, but wound up being so profitable that mobsters like Bugsy Siegel bought the property in 1945 for $600,000 (over $8 million today). Here, at Siegel’s 1941 restaurant, is where I planned to enjoy my birthday dinner!