This was the first of three days in Valley of Fire State Park, NV. I was camped outside the park with two old pals I've known since 1985 when, out of school, we started at the same semiconductor company in Silicon Valley. Eric and Steve aren't as obsessed as I am about hiking and peakbagging, so in order to get in a bit of exercise before we headed to Valley of Fire, I was up early get in a hike to nearby Piute Point. Afterwards, we drove into the park where we spent the day exploring some new places I hadn't been to.
Piute Point / Piute Point HP
A bit to my surprise, Eric and Leroy were up early to join me on this one while Steve was still sleeping in his van nearby. We took the jeep just down the road a short distance and parked on
the northwest side of these two easy
summits. Our hike up these limestone features followed the NW Ridge for 1/3mi
to the first point and another half mile to the higher point. Some
bighorn sheep on the ridge spotted us shortly after we'd started out,
quickly sizing us up before taking
off for parts unknown - all before Leroy had even a chance to see them. We
sauntered up the easy ridgeline with the new morning sun shining brightly from
the east. We found nothing of much interest at 
the first summit, but
the higher one had a neat 
little arch not far from the summit that we
passed under (Leroy found his way over the arch). We spent about 50min to reach
the second summit and our turnaround point. 
Leroy gulped down
a healthy amount of water Eric had carried
up for him while we rested a bit at the summit. The two points are the
northernmost summits in the Muddy Mountains (not to be confused with the North
Muddy Mtns on the north side of Valley of Fire Hwy), overlooking the western
entrance to the park and the vast stretch of 
desert flatlands
outside the park
to the west. Our return route was slightly longer, taking a detour down a side
wash as a way to add something different to the route. We 
finished up
just after 8:30a, then drove back to get Steve and head to Valley of Fire.
Sitting Monkey / Jalapeno Tower / Boneyard Peak
It took some time before we were ready to head out, then more time in the park to unload trash and fill up on water at the RV dump station. After this we stopped at nearby Atalac Rock to check out
the petrogyphs found there.
The old stone steps that lead up to the petroglyph wall have been replaced by a
more 
modern steel staircase.
Sadly, there are a number of non-natives who have taken to scratching their
names and other crap on the same wall. It probably would have been better if
neither set of stairs had been built.
We next drove out towards White Domes where we parked at a junction with
a dirt road
no longer open to vehicle traffic. It was nearly 10:45a before had gotten
started on the hike - thank goodness for the earlier hike or I might have been
beside myself for such a late start. We headed north along the road, aiming for
Sitting Monkey, an informally named summit that appears in Purcell's
Rambles & Scrambles (as did the two summits we did earlier). We followed
the old road for about a mile (interestingly, though the road is washed out not
far from the southern start, judging from semi-recent tracks, it looks like one
can drive into the area from the north), then left it to head northwest
towards Sitting Monkey.
We found a south-facing, class 3 gully that led nicely up to the
shoulder on the east side of the summit. With only minor trouble, 
Leroy
was able to find 
his way up, sometimes finding better alternatives when
the path the humans were following looked too hard. From 
the shoulder,
the 
final pitch to
the summit is a little daunting, class 4 on the left where Steve and I went up,
class 3+ to the right where Eric and Leroy (with a little push) ascended. It was
just before noon when we reached the wide, 
open summit with
fine views in all directions. We spent about 15min there, leaving
a new register when we found
none. I was a bit concerned about Leroy getting back down to the east shoulder,
but he managed it with a deft jump that required no help from the rest of us.
Before returning back down the south-facing gully, we went down the north side
a short distance to investigate a bighorn skeleton that we'd spotted earlier.
The ram's horns
were still connected to the skull, with the jaw and other bones scattered about
nearby. How he came to his present location was a mystery, but a fall seems
most likely. These rocks can be dangerous even to the native inhabitants.
After descending back down the ascent gully, we continued southwest towards
Boneyard Peak, another Purcell summit, about a mile in that direction. An
interesting 40-foot tower caught my attention and I walked over to check it out,
wondering if it could be climbed from the north-facing arete that I was looking
at. It could, I found, roughly 
class 3-4 with 
a crux-y move
near 
the start where a 
rusty piton has been drilled/hammered
into the sandstone. There were more pitons and some 
rap chains
found higher up, and a register in a PVC tube found at 
the summit
describing it as 
Jalapeno Tower. The large notebook had two pages of
entries dating to 2007, though 
the last entry was already 7yrs old.
Steve 
joined me on this one, Eric and Leroy choosing to sit out. After
returning to the ground, we found Eric sitting with Leroy about 100yds
away next to a sandstone wall. He had made 
a petroglyph "discovery",
the first time he'd stumbled upon such a
scene without knowing about it beforehand - neat little find, though surely
the park personnel already know about it. He had also used the break as an
opportunity to smoke a bit of spliff he'd brought with him, so when it was time
to continue on to Boneyard, he decided to head back to the car in a more
relaxed fashion with Leroy.
In hindsight it was an excellent choice because the route Steve and I ended up
on would have been far too difficult for them. Our approach
from the northeast took us up 
a narrow canyon that had some
loose and scary 
class 4 scrambling at
its head that had me more than a little nervous. Steve managed this section
after watching me go up it, but it was not pretty nor reassuring. On easier
ground above, we continued around to the southeast side of the summit where
a natural courtyard is found. The only viable route up I could find
was 
class 3-4 with exposure. The sandstone was covered in marble-sized
nodules, many of which could break off with modest pressure. I gingerly went up
this, Steve following, until he got to 
the crux.
He was hampered by a bad leg that wouldn't allow him
to bend it easily nor put much pressure on it, and I watched as he made a few
flailing moves to overcome the crux. Concerned that he didn't have the sense to
know when to back off, I finally spoke up - "Steve, you're scaring the shit out
of me." He paused a moment before replying, "I'm stopping here," and I was happy
he took the not-so-subtle hint without protest. While he took his time
scrambling back down to the courtyard, I finished 
the route up to
the summit of Boneyard, left 
another register and returned
back to Steve in about 20min. His efforts had not gotten him to he summit, but
they had done a number on 
his pants which had been shredded beyond
saving during the less-than-graceful decent.
Rather than return northeast through the first class 4 crux section, we exited
the courtyard to the south, a safer class 3 route that featured a few
tunnels and some twisting, 
maze-like washes
before reaching more open ground to the
east - a far safer route. From there, we headed southeast though a wash system
towards White Domes, eventually reaching 
the park trail
that circles the domes. Once back in the parking lot, we found
Eric and Leroy (Eric had moved the vehicle there and explored the trail while
we were doing Boneyard) relaxing in the van. It was close to 4p by this time
as we called it a day and headed back out of the park.
After dinner that evening we enjoyed a campfire made possible with a small box
of wood Eric had brought with him from New Mexico. It was nice to have something
to warm our feet from the nighttime cold - better than huddling in the van
like we'd done the previous night...
Continued...