Trip report
Feb 8, 2020 — Pahrump Point ended up being a really nice route that somehow manages to work around the many cliffs and canyons riddling the face of the peak. A not insignificant distance of old road led us to the mouth of a canyon that drains from just north of Pahrump Point. We followed this rocky drainage, boulders making the going fairly slow, but with the occassional social trail on either side of the canyon creating small sections of respite from the Class 2.
Looking up, it was hard to discern which of the sheer cliffs above was Pahrump Point, and the poor lighting made it even more so. We continued on, reaching a major fork in the canyon and taking the right fork. A social trail continued up out of the drainage and onto a loose slope. This slope led to the crest of Pahrump Point's southwest ridge. The route-finding was straightforward from here, but we thought it was interesting nonetheless. Cairns marked a route leading to the left of some rock outcroppings, and then we found ourselves at the base of Pahrump Point, a sheer cliff separating us from the summit. The route continued at the base of the cliff up to a small Class 2 gully. This gully topped out just south of Pahrump Point, where some more Class 2/2+ fun stuff brought us up to the gorgeous final ridgeline leading to the summit.
I think there's some confusion as to which peak is higher, Pahrump Point or the provisionally named Rumppah Point to the north. We toyed with the idea of attempting a traverse from Pahrump Point to the other peak, but the ridge looked pretty scary. If anyone has done it, I'd be curious to know how it went.