W7N/CK-182 Frenchman Mountain North West

I activated this peak on my way down from Frenchman Mountain. From the parking area, take the road up to the top of the second climb. From here you will have to go cross country up to the summit.

Face of the mountain from the col.

On the way up I angled up, following a faint use trail. After gaining a bit of elevation I went straight up to the flat area on the summit ridge. In this flat area I found a cairn and a more heavily used use trail. I followed the use trail along the ridge up to the summit.

Almost at the summit.

There are a few knife-edge like sections leading up to the summit, but nothing terrible. The climb up to the flat area is a class 2/3, depending on your route. On the summit I set up under the tripod and got on the air. The conditions were bad on Frenchman Mountain, and they were even worse up here. I struggled to get my four contacts. I managed one on 40, none on 30, and then got W0MNA and W0ERI on 20. After changing frequencies to avoid a QSO, I finally got two more. There was really deep QSB, and no propagation.

Looking over to Lake Mead.

After I got the last contact I packed up and headed down, glad that I had gotten the points for the summit. I followed the herd path back to the flat area on the ridge, then noticed the cairn was marking a different path down. I decided to take this path, which descended directly to the col with a lot of small switchbacks. It was still steep, but probably better than the way I had gone up. I would recommend this route for up and down.

Some encouragement on the way up.

The road was still steep, but I made good time back to the trailhead and car, passing someone else who was on his way up.

Trailhead: Pullout off of NV 147, at the base of the access road.
Website: SOTA Site.
Maps: AA6XA SOTA Hikes map.
Route: Take the road to the col at the top of the second climb. Go up the ridge to the summit, following faint use trails.
Red Tape: None.

Canyon at the bottom of the second climb.