from Hwy. 7 (just before Rox, Nevada which doesn't amount to much), you underpass the railroad a second time under a large steel bridge. Continue for another 5.0 miles from the bridge staying on the main road.

At a point 18.4 miles from Hwy. 7, you are roughly half-way up the Rox Quadrangle (NV, 7.5-Min) at a location labeled "Borrow Pit" on the map. Borrow Pit is a sand/gravel excavation below the road on the west side, has some decrepit wire protecting its upper lip, and is at the mouth of a readily visible wash that heads toward the east. Take the "unimproved road" (faint auto tracks) shown on the topographic map and leading east up the wash, and continue even though the tracks may occasionally be covered with a veneer of sand. If you don't have 4-WD, you will have to judge whether you might get stuck in sand; ordinary cars could have passed safely when we were there. Measuring from the Borrow Pit: at 2.0 miles the tracks leave the wash and are easily followed, at 4.8 miles there is a small dip where long and low cars might scrape bottom, and at 6.5 miles you are at the end of the road and at the "route-head". The entire unimproved road to the route-head is seen by combining the Rox and the Rox NE Quadrangles (both NV, 7.5-Min).

The following Map #1 shows the route-head and the climbing route taken for Mormon Peak. It reproduces a section of the Rox NE Quadrangle (NV, 7.5-Mm). While this is the critical quadrangle for climbing, its eastern edge bisects Mormon Peak, and the benchmark is depicted on the adjacent Moapa Peak NW Quadrangle (NV, 7.5-Mm) at a point about one millimeter from its western edge. It is recommended that the latter quadrangle map also be taken into the field since it covers the backbone of the Mormon Mountains and gives elevations for numerous high peaks. The following Map #2 shows the Mormon Peak area of the Moapa Peak NW Quadrangle.

The Mormon Peak route is rated Class 2, but it is quite strenuous and could easily require sunrise/sunset dedication during short winter days. The one way distance from vehicle to summit measures 4.0 miles on the map. The elevation gain is 3214-ft. A register was left on top.




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