Hike Sugarloaf Mountain and Lost Man Peak Loop Lake Mead National Recreation Area, AZ

Almost 4 years ago (omg wtf how) I did a very similar loop to this one to Lone Palm and Lost Man Hot Springs, but it was before I was really into bagging peaks. My goal then was to check out the canyons on the east side of the Colorado River, just south of the Hoover Dam. This time I returned to the area using a comparable route, but to do the high points in the area. I was able to tack on Lone Palm Hot Spring since it was more or less on the way. This is a bigger endeavor than the previously mentioned trip report.

I started from the Kingman Wash parking lot and headed down the canyon to the west. Once in the wash, two options exist: keeping to the right leads to some fun Class 3 down climbing obstacles; heading left continues down a more casual wash walk. Both lead back to the same wash. Just before I reached some narrows within the wash, I headed north toward Sugarloaf Mountain. There was lots of Class 2 and even some fun Class 3 toward the top. The route I ended up taking required zome zig-zagging around the cliffy volcanic features up there. I believe you can trespass to get this peak from the east directly from the trailhead and reducing the elevation gain significantly, but I was happy with the scramble I ended up doing.

I dropped down Sugarloaf Mountain's southwest ridge and generally followed the largest slope/gully leading down. I didn't encounter anything more than Class 2+ and soon found myself back in the wash I had left earlier. I followed it down to a canyon that cliffed me out with a dryfall, known to local canyoneers as Secret Canyon. It requires a technical rappel, so I labeled it on the map as "dryfall". I backtracked and located a fairly obvious social trail leading out of the drainage and into the hills to the south. It has certainly become more heavily-trafficked in the past few years since my last visit, and I was pretty pissed to find spray-painted arrows on along the trail. Can whoever did that just go f**k off? Anyway, I followed the now very obvious hike to Lone Palm Hot Spring. There are a couple of spots where the social trail splits, but after a little wandering on the various options, you'll get to the spring. I didn't linger since the water was only lukewarm and I had a fair amount of route-finding on my agenda still. I headed up the canyon and noticed the 20+ sandbags that were previously holding back a pool of water had been removed since my last visit.

I continued along the south side of Lone Palm Canyon to avoid the brushy canyon floor, then found myself within the drainage on Class 2/3 boulder-hopping terrain. Soon, Lost Man Peak (Peak 1560) came into view to the south, but I had a smaller peak (River Bend Bridge View Peak) I wanted to get to first. My aim was to follow the ridge from River Bend Bridge View Peak to Lost Man Peak. I entered a side-drainage and continued to the base of River Bend Bridge View Peak. A loose drainage led to a sketchy Class 3 move to gain the summit ridge. I'm sure you can avoid this move if you want, instead ascending to the ridge between River Bend Bridge View Peak and Lost Man Peak and then backtracking along my descent route from River Bend Bridge View Peak, but I didn't know the terrain at the time. Anyway, I continued just to the right of the ridge crest leading to River Bend Bridge View Peak and came across a solid Class 3 move to gain the summit of River Bend Bridge View Peak. I continued southeast along the ridge to Lost Man Peak. Along the way, I encountered a very fun Class 3 20-foot section of extremely solid conglomerate rock. I wasn't excited for it at first glance, but it's rare to find splotches of scrambing like this in the predominantly loose Lake Mead terrain. Some more Class 2 led to the summit of Lost Man Peak. By the way, I named this peak as such because of its proximity to Lost Man Hot Spring.

After a few failed attempts to descend Lost Man Peak from the east (which I have removed from the attached map), I headed south along the steep-looking ridge and found a really pleasant Class 2 option to get down. I continued onward to Justice Peak (Peak 1678, named based on its proximity to "Liberty Bell Arch Peak") to the south. I found this peak to be pretty interesting. Just a note that on my ascent route I did multiple Class 3 moves, but was able to keep the route Class 2 on my descent. This is because the dark rock lacked any depth when viewed from below, but was much clearer looking down. The route I took up this peak did feel a bit maze-like. A few scrambly moves led to a grassy ramp along the primary ridgeline, but this ridge cliffed out at a scary-looking rock outcrop. I dropped to the right, losing 50+ feet of elevation, then ascended again within a drainage. I met back up with the primary ridge that I had just avoided, then continued toward the summit. I got to a spot where a few small caves provided a fun Class 3/4 option to the right of the ridge, but just to its left was a Class 2 alternative directly along the ridge (of course, I learned this on the way down). The summit views from Justice Peak were really nice, but it was getting dark and I made haste back the way I came and through the desert.

My last objective was Battleship High Point (Peak 1610), which required some Class 2 scrambling up colorful rock/dirt, then more Class 2 on boulders to the summit. I headed down it to the northeast and traversed the desert up up and around hills leading back to the trailhead.