Although not high, peaks south of Las Vegas sport some great desert scenery. Among the easiest and accessible (no SUV required) is Spirit Mountain, a mountain sacred to the Native Americans of the region. From Trails.com, I took the trip description from the book Afoot & Afield.

The trailhead is on Christmas Tree Pass, east of Searchlight. The instructions: hike to a saddle and drop down to a drainage below the west slopes of the mountain. From there pick up a trail that cuts through a mid-slope "pass" before ascending to the ridge south of the summit. The trail more or less follows the ridge to the top.

After reaching the saddle, I angled across slopes to avoid losing elevation. Even so, I ended up 40 m below the trailhead. After crossing the drainage, I climbed the slope and looked for the trail. (On the descent, I realized it would be easier to stay in the drainage since it leads to the trail.)

Once I got on the trail, routefinding was a forgone problem. I followed the trail through the pass, up the ridge and to the summit. Although there were no nearby peaks, I was granted good views of Lake Mohave, especially from the lower east summit.

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