BOU AVENUE
Frenchman Mountain

---

Kelly Bou and I had a leisurely morning in Las Vegas, Nevada on 7 October 2009.  We enjoyed a fantastic breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris Resort & Casino before strolling through a few of the other hotels on the Strip.  While Kelly stayed to do some more shopping in the afternoon, I headed to the east side of the city to hike up Frenchman Mountain.  I took the usual route, a rough service road that runs from Lake Mead Boulevard all the way up to the double summits.  Where the road goes over a pass separating two outliers, I took a side trip up the western outlier before dropping back to the road and resuming my ascent.  Buildings and antennas surrounded by fencing crowd the tops of both summits, but I still managed to physically stand on the natural high points of each one without actually trespassing.  After having a quick bite to eat, I hiked out the road and was back at my car after a round-trip time of less than 4 hours.  Kelly and I finished up our vacation that night with a tasty dinner at Gaylord India Restaurant in the Rio before seeing the always entertaining Penn & Teller.

	Sonny climbs up the service road.
	The road goes over the distant pass.  The western outlier is the bump on the right.
	Frenchman Mountain has historically been a dumping ground for garbage, old cars and the occasional dead body!
	This is looking back down the road that Sonny has come up.  The peak at distant left is Sunrise Mountain.
	The north (true) summit is visible from the pass.  Note the truck on the road.
	Here is a view to the north from near the top of the western outlier.  Lake Mead Boulevard can be seen at bottom while at center is Nellis Air Force Base.
	A weird wooden tripod and a telephone pole occupy the top of the western outlier.
	Sonny stands atop the western outlier.
	Las Vegas is spread out to the west.  On the horizon are the Spring Mountains.
	Lake Mead is visible to the southeast from the western outlier.  The dome at right is known as Lava Butte.  The dark block across the lake is Fortification Hill.
	The double summits can both be seen from the western outlier.
	Here is a barrel cactus on the slopes below the western outlier.
	This is looking back at the pass and the western outlier (left) from the road below the main summit.
	The south ridge of Frenchman Mountain invites further exploration.
	Sonny stands on the 1220-metre south summit of Frenchman Mountain.
	This is the north summit as seen from the south summit.
	Sonny stands on the 1224-metre north summit of Frenchman Mountain.
	Here is another look at the western outlier (left) from the north summit.
	The Las Vegas Strip can be seen in this view from the north summit.
	Sunrise Mountain is the next mountain to the north.