Eagle from the west
Looking through Bob’s trip reports for something easy and fun between the Owens Valley and Red Rocks, I stumbled upon Eagle Mountain, a solitary desert peak east of Death Valley. Eagle rises 1800 feet from the usually-dry Amargosa “river”; like many basin-and-range desert peaks, the sloping valley floor and absence of vegetation make it difficult to appreciate its size. The rock on the route turned out to be surprisingly solid and amazingly grippy, making it an enjoyable, moderate scramble. Eagle is also surprisingly popular for a short peak in the middle of nowhere — I saw a number of familiar names in the register besides the usual desert rats. At 2-3 hours car-to-car, it’s a good way to break up the interminable drive across Nevada.
Sadly, the thunderstorms I saw on my way down had blasted Red Rocks, making the sandstone unclimbable
