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I spent the night camped at the end of a rough BLM road on the west side of the Spring Mtns, just south of Mountain Springs Summit. The Jeep got its first pinstripping on the drive inm, and somehow I even managed to scratch the glass on one of the side windows. Adds character, I suppose. My wife was scheduled to join me again in Las Vegas on an 11a flight, so I figured I could get in a few easy summits before heading back to town to pick her up. Both of these are found in Purcell's Rambles & Scrambles though for some reason I didn't even bother to consult the text for my starting point. One can also start from the east side along Potosi Canyon Rd (far more vehicle-friendly), a higher TH but somewhat longer route. My TH was at a primitive camp area in the canyon between the two summits on the west side. I simply started from where I'd camped, heading south up a likely ridgeline to Claret Peak, about 6/10mi and 1,100ft up. The terrain is lightly forested with fairly easy cross-country, though somewhat steep. It took about 40min to reach the modest summit with neat views of Pas Rump to the southwest and Potosi to the southeast. There was a register from 2017 left as well, showing a few visits over the past year. I then followed another ridgeline down, heading northeast back into the original canyon, then up to Misty Mountain (no mist today), about 70min between the two summits. Misty had more cacti to dance around on the way up, but overall it has similar terrain to Claret. Misty Mtn had a register left by the same party in 2017 - seems these two summits are regularly climbed in conjunction. I dropped southwest off Misty, heading back down to the Jeep more or less directly, finishing before 8:30a for a 2.5hr outing.

I drove back to the Blue Diamond Hwy and then east towards Las Vegas, stopping for a much-needed car wash (can't be driving the wife around in a filthy beast) and some groceries. After picking her up we ended up at the Premium Outlets of Las Vegas because apparently the Vera Bradley shop there is a Must See. It's probably one of the last places I'd have guessed I'd find myself during one of my road trips, but them's the breaks. Besides, it's already 90F outside and I think I'm done with the hiking for today - time to let the feet rest up...

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