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| - Do you still have some equity in your house?
Are you in a happy marriage?
Do your kids do well at school and eat their veggies?
Is your paycheck ungarnished?
If the answers are yes then your life is pretty good, all happiness and contentment.
The antidote for your state of satisfaction is the hike to the summit of Frenchman Mountain.
It's the far mountain on the eastern edge of the valley, two peaks and you can point it out, when bragging, to anyone from pretty well any place in Vegas.
Situated on E. Lake Mead a couple of miles past Albertson's, it's easy to park and does not look too daunting as you park the car and look up the gravelly trail.
OK, now is where the "fun" starts. There is a very steep single track road that is full of loose rocks and gravel. You will climb 1400 feet in a little over a mile to a false summit.
You then drop down about 300 feet to the saddle between the two peaks and then the ascent to the summit, the true summit with the antenna , is another 700 feet of the most lung busting torturous trail that I have ever had the misfortune to hike. It's loose, steep, ugly, with very little vegetation BUT the satisfaction you will feel when you hit the summit and sign the register is enormous.
The views are unparalleled, you can see Lake Mead, Lake Las Vegas and the entire city to the west. Amazeballs.
The hike down is equally arduous and it takes extreme care not to slip/fall on the difficult and steep descent.
I don't hike with poles but I believe that they would be a large help on Frenchman.
There were many moments on the hike when I wished I were someplace else but after completing the hike they are now a distant memory.
If Santa brings me poles I may try it again!
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