Nevada's High Point - "Boundary Peak"

Nevada's High Point is Boundary Peak at 13,147 feet (4,007 m) and located in the Boundary Wilderness Area about 5 hours west of Las Vegas. Boundary Peak actually shares a mountain range with Montgomery Peak which just happens to be in California. This was our 44th high point and the last one of our 2010 summer trip (sadly!). The trailhead for Boundary Peak is well away from the main road. While it was relatively easy to find the Trail Canyon road access, it was not properly paved and our rental car took a beating along the rocky road. The further in we went, we started to think we were lost as the trailhead didn't seem anywhere in sight. The road became sand-like dirt and big rocks on the road meant I had to keep getting out to remove rocks from the path which was annoying. Use your gut (and stay left) as you drive on the road and you'll get to the trailhead (in particular just stay left when you come to an obvious t-junction which looks like a mining area). It's pretty far in from the main road though. It was nearly dark around 8pm when we arrived to the end of the road which was the trailhead. There was another car there and a few people camping out when we arrived. We quickly set up tent in the grassy area right at the trailhead, got ready for the next mornings' hike and got ready to sleep in our tent. The next morning, Friday 3oth July, we woke up early and got ready for the hike while the other campers slept nearby. We were on the trail by 7am, hiking through the trees before coming out into a small valley. We kept coming across cows in the fields which was a little different! In front of us, we could see a high peak which looked golden as the sun rose and the light hit the mountain. It was quite serene and beautiful to be hiking in the wilderness on what was turning out to be a nice warm sunny day. We stopped for breakfast at the bottom of the ridge before starting the more serious ascent. I was already tired! Boundary Peak is notorious for serious scree (aka very loose rocks). I didn't think it was any worse than Borah Peak, but Mark thought while Borah Peak had steeper scree, the distance up Boundary Peak was just longer which made it more tedious. It was pretty bad as it meant lots of sliding back as we hiked forward. A long series of switchbacks up the gully finally got us to the ridge where we were greeted with some hop scotching across the rocky ridge - some areas I thought just as challenging as chickenout ridge, but then again there were many trails across this section and I think I just made it difficult for myself by picking the most complicated one! Finally we made out way to the high point just after 11am. The high point was marked with a USGS marker which was great, along with a metal box where we wrote our names and celebrated our 44th high point! The sky was a beautiful blue which made the climb well worth it, and we were able to look across to California and Montgomery Peak. We contemplated heading across to summit it before deciding we were ready to head to Vegas for some R&R to round out our trip. After a few photos, we started our descent which includes a lot of slipping and sliding again on the scree. 3 hours later and at 3.30pm we were back at the trailhead. We packed up out tent and drove to Las Vegas for some well deserved rest and some casino buffets! 3 more highpoints conquered in two weeks! 44 down, 6 to go!