Juniper Peak was our first summit on our Las Vegas vacation. Although it's not among the highest peaks in Red Rock Canyon and only an easy scramble (class 2), it was interesting and challenging enough with our lack of knowledge of the area. Moreover, since we had never climbed a desert peak before, – our experience being largely limited to the Canadian Rockies near Calgary – we marveled in seeing lizards and cactus as well as different geology. Credit goes to Jim Boone's web site for helping me identify flora and fauna and Anya Jingle's web page for inspiring us to try the mountain.

We tried climbing Juniper Peak the previous day but since we didn't have a good route description we missed the turnoff. When we reached a chimney (later we learned it was Gunsight Notch) that looked risky without helmets, we turned back.

By our next attempt we sorted out where we went wrong. We reached Juniper Canyon from Pine Creek Trail. Keeping right we found the turn off for Juniper Peak and ascended rock slabs. Here lizards scurried everywhere. So many, that I saw two collide!

We followed the cairns and trails to the summit with little difficulty. Occasionally we lost sight of the route but by backtracking several metres we were always able to get on track.

Even though Juniper Peak is dwarfed by nearby peaks, the view was superb given that all of it was new to us. Given it's proximity to Las Vegas and rugged, fascinating terrain, I can see why Red Rock Canyon is a popular area for climbing.