Black Mountain near Henderson, NV (W7N/CK-115)

While in Las Vegas, NV for a work convention I went activating each evening. On my final evening I chose Black Mountain, a distinct peak near Henderson, NV. (SOTA reference # W7N/CK-115)

Black Mountain has an established trail that starts from a small parking lot within a nice housing tract. I "Yelped" the trail for directions to the parking lot and some info about the hike. Trail reviews stated the last 1000 vertical feet consisted of waist high waterfall rocks to crawl just before reaching the summit. This section of the trail is not visible until you are there and not that bad. I did elect to get off the summit prior to sunset to avoid the slow crawl down since I was solo. It wasn't near as bad as expected, but if you do it at night I'd opt for a full moon to help with lighting to augment your headlamp.

I did this trail in the evening during winter. There is absolutely no shade for the entire duration of the hike and at the summit. If you do this summit during any warm weather I'd really suggest carrying ample water and bringing a hat and sunblock. This would apply at any time really on this trail.

The pictures I took were from my iPhone and not that great, but the views were absolutely amazing. I'll do this hike again for sure just for the exercise and ability to make great contacts. I signed the log and noted it's a busy peak so plan accordingly because it's not a large summit but there is room to set up. It's easy to activate this summit on 146.520 FM like I did but I did note that many in the LV area weren't that familiar with SOTA. Hopefully I changed that!

Solo hiking = selfies. The American flag at the top of this flag pole was pretty haggard, but the small Canadian flag seen here was fairly new.

Panoramic shot along the back side of the summit

Took this about 1/2 way down the hill, but from the summit it would be pretty unbelievable!

The rock burm and HF setup looking north toward the strip

The Black Mountain BM which is near another BM below

This one is near where the flag pole is mounted in the rock and just off to the side.

I'd highly reccommend this hike and activation if you are in the Las Vegas area and the weather is not too hot.