I left the hotel early on the morning of 6 October 2009 and drove for about an hour to the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort on the north side of Charleston Peak.  As I got out of my car, I was a little shocked by the frosty temperature which was more reminiscent of the Canadian Rockies than Las Vegas.  Trying to generate some warmth, I quickly hiked up the slope underneath the westernmost chairlift.  Near the top, I headed left along a road which dead-ends at a small waterfall.  The waterfall was partially frozen on this day, and I carefully scrambled over the ice into the drainage above.  Despite a lot of deadfall choking the drainage, I managed to follow bits of trail and even walked atop some of the bigger downed logs to avoid the nasty undergrowth.  Further on, I entered an obvious gully leading straight up to the skyline ridge.  The gully is deceptively long because of foreshortening, and I took more time than I thought I would to gain the ridge crest.  Once there, I paused briefly to savour some warmth from the bright sun before hiking along the North Loop Trail toward Charleston Peak's north ridge.  While it would have been stupidly easy to follow this trail all the way to the summit (the trail switchbacks up the east face of the summit block), I relished the very slight challenge presented by the Devil's Thumb Shortcut which entails an awkward and exposed scramble up a short cliff band.  Beyond this crux, I encountered no serious difficulties along the north ridge and reached the summit about 4.5 hours after leaving my car.

The weather was surprisingly calm at the summit, and I spent nearly an hour there taking photographs and reading the summit register.  While I was at the summit, a hiker came up via the North Loop Trail.  I tried to chat him up, but he was not particularly forthcoming though I did learn that he was originally from Chicago and was working temporarily in Las Vegas.  With nothing else to talk about, I left the guy alone at the summit and began descending the North Loop Trail.  I did this to avoid the potentially tricky down-climb at the crux of the Devil's Thumb Shortcut route.  Further down the east face of the summit block, I ran into the aloof hiker's partner who looked like he was labouring really badly.  Figuring that he did not have too many breaths to spare for a conversation, I quickly acknowledged him and continued descending the trail.  By this point, I was already thinking about Mummy Mountain and quickened my pace.

	The base area of the ski resort already has snow.
	Here is a view of the road and the drainage beyond.
	This is the partially frozen waterfall.
	There are lots of these prickly thistles in the drainage.
	The drainage leads to this gully which grants access to the ridge.
	Sonny scrambles up the gully.
	This is the summit block of Charleston Peak.
	Hiking the North Loop Trail is a treat.
	Sonny pauses to look back at the ski resort (bottom right) and the rest of Lee Canyon.  At center are a cluster of peaks known collectively as The Sisters.
	The Devil's Thumb Shortcut (red) is shown along Charleston Peak's north ridge.
	Here is a close-up of some tree bark.
	Sonny stops to admire the view of Charleston Peak and its north ridge.
	This is the pinnacle known as the Devil's Thumb.  The shortcut begins at the gap to the left.
	This is looking up at the start of the Devil's Thumb Shortcut.  The crux is at dead center.
	The remainder of the north ridge is an easy plod.
	This is the final section of the north ridge before the summit.
	Sonny hikes up the last few metres to the summit.
	A helicopter crashed near the summit of Charleston Peak only 9 days earlier.  Miraculously, all three people aboard the helicopter survived.
	This is the sign at the summit of Charleston Peak.
	Sonny stands on the 3623-metre summit of Charleston Peak.  Mummy Peak dominates the view to the northeast.
	A colourful sticker adorns the metal pole supporting the summit register canister (ammo box).
	Las Vegas can be seen to the east.  Some of the hotels on the Strip are visible as well as Frenchman Mountain (distant center) and Lake Mead.  At far right is La Madre Mountain.
	In this southward view, the South Loop Trail follows the connecting ridge to Griffith Peak which is at far left.
	The town of Pahrump is visible to the west.
	MacFarland Peak is at center in this view to the north.  To its left is Bonanza Peak followed by Willow Peak and Wheeler Peak.
	This is looking across the lower east face of Charleston Peak's summit block.  The North Loop Trail begins its switchbacks to the summit here.
	The North Loop Trail hugs the base of the cliffs below the north ridge.  The Devil's Thumb is barely visible on the end of the ridge at far right.

I was well aware that Dinah Kruze and Bob Spirko had climbed nearby Mummy Mountain earlier in the year, but because I had been anticipating a long day just to ascend Charleston Peak, I did not entertain thoughts of tagging a second peak until I started descending the North Loop Trail.  I had plenty of energy left, but I was not sure if I had enough daylight especially after squandering about an hour at the summit of Charleston Peak.  Another problem was that I was somewhat uncertain about the route up Mummy Mountain.  I did not bring any route descriptions with me, and my memory of the details in Bob's trip report was sketchy at best.  Even my GPS was virtually useless since I was unable to upload any maps of the area prior to this trip.  Still, I had a good look at Mummy Mountain from the summit of Charleston Peak, and I could roughly guess where Dinah and Bob went up.

I followed the North Loop Trail past where I had emerged from the gully and continued for quite a distance to a point where I could see an obvious scree slope giving access to the connecting ridge to Mummy Mountain.  Rather than lose more elevation to reach the bottom of this scree slope, I decided to leave the trail and traverse across some steep and bushy terrain that was probably more trouble than it was worth.  Getting up to the connecting ridge was by far the worst slog of the day, and it took me nearly 50 minutes to gain about 100 metres of elevation here.  Thankfully, the connecting ridge offers much more solid footing, and I soon picked up a good trail leading all the way to the crux--a chute that breaches the cliff bands guarding the summit plateau.  By the time I realized that the chute was the most enjoyable part of the ascent, I was already through to the top and only a few short steps from the summit.