BOU AVENUE
Hamblin Mountain
Back in Las Vegas, Nevada for a week-long vacation, Kelly Bou and I visited nearby Pinto Valley Wilderness (Lake Mead National Recreation Area) on 24 January 2011.  Looking for an easy hike to do, I chose to climb Hamblin Mountain as described by Jim Boone.  Despite having studied Boone's trip report as well as having uploaded his waypoints to my GPS, I still made a route-finding error partway through our ascent.  Fortunately, the terrain is not overly complex, and Kelly and I ended up climbing over a minor outlier before rejoining the normal route to the summit.  A register and several survey markers adorn the true summit of Hamblin Mountain, but strangely, the map in my GPS (Garmin's Topo USA 2008, version 4.00) designates a lower peak to the west as the official summit.  While Kelly was content to rest on the true summit, I expended a little extra effort to tag the lower peak.  We followed the normal route in its entirety on our uneventful return trip.
The summit of Hamblin Mountain is not visible here. Kelly enters Cottonwood Wash near the beginning of the hike.
Feels odd hiking in January. Kelly emerges from a narrow section of the wash.
I made my route-finding error near here. Some sheep graze on a ridge near Cottonwood Spring.
Others had obviously come this way too. Despite being off-route, Kelly finds travel to be still easy.
We regained the normal route at the saddle just above and to the left of Kelly in the photo. This is the view of Hamblin Mountain (upper right) from the outlier.
Wouldn't be hard to get lost down there. Pinto Ridge is visible at centre on the horizon in this view east of the outlier.
Nice bum! Back on the normal route, Kelly scrambles up a break in the cliffs.
There are a few rocky knobs to get around near the top. Kelly approaches the true summit of Hamblin Mountain.
We saw a lot of these. A side-blotched lizard basks in the warm sunshine.
In the summit register, somebody claims to have run up here from the trailhead in 18 minutes! Kelly sits atop the 1003-metre true summit of Hamblin Mountain.  Lake Mead dominates the view to the southwest.
On the USGS topo map, the true summit is correctly designated as the official summit. Hamblin Mountain West at left is only slightly lower than the true summit of Hamblin Mountain.  At right is the lower peak which is designated as the official summit on Garmin's Topo USA 2008.
Can you spot Kelly at the top? This is looking back at the true summit from the lower peak to the west.
Our first summit of 2011! Kelly and Sonny stand together on the true summit of Hamblin Mountain.
Another must-do summit near Las Vegas. To the northwest is Gass Peak.
The long approach for Muddy Peak makes it unsuitable for the short days of January. Muddy Peak (furthest right) is visible to the north.  The Bowl of Fire (red rocks) is also visible.
There is a technical climbing route in the red rocks at far left called Psycho Snail (5.10b). Here is a closer look at some of the cliffs in the Bowl of Fire.
A couple more peaks with long approaches. Pyramid Peak and Booth Pinnacle can be seen to the east.  On the far horizon is Jumbo Peak.
Lake Mead is the largest reservoir in the United States. Here is a closer look at Lake Mead.
There are some fears that Lake Mead could dry up in about 10 years. This is a more comprehensive view to the south.
Although the route is easy enough to follow, a GPS is useful to have here. Kelly hikes out along the normal route.
That ain't snow on the ground! Kelly continues down the wash.
Last obstacle of the day. Kelly scrambles down the pour-over near Cottonwood Spring.
Going via the outlier necessitated some elevation loss, but it also saved some distance. This is the route as viewed in Google Earth.
A very pleasant outing!

Total Distance:  13.0 kilometres
Round-Trip Time:  5 hours 42 minutes
Total Elevation Gain:  614 metres

GPX Data