My brother, Mark, has always been more athletic than I have. Not surprisingly, when I invited him on a hike, he quickly jumped in, not knowing what to expect. I picked a loop of three small peaks near his house in Henderson, NV, from one of my main sources of desert adventures: Stav Basis’ blog. From Stav’s description, it looked like something suitable for new hikers, but I quickly realized that it was a bit more challenging than advertised. The hike was extremely steep, and the terrain got progressively more loose and unstable as we went. The route is a loop, eventually descending a steep ridge into a deep drainage. The terrain here is so sketchy that I pulled out two 30-foot nylon runners I use for protection in a pinch. Thankfully, we eventually found ourselves safe on the desert floor after a long 15 minutes of anxiety. All things considered, Mark did fantastic. I credit his lifelong athleticism, which allowed him to soldier on and not panic during the descent. I’m looking forward to more hikes with Mark. I hope he is looking forward to more hikes with me after this one 🙂
Elevation Profile
