"6.2.23~3 miles, 900’ gain. I was working and my girls Autumn & Olivia invited me to take a break and hike with them to see the full Strawberry Moonrise. We climbed Strawberry Moon View (which I named for the occasion a few years ago) and went up and over Henderson Benchmark. Shortly after starting the hike I declared it was probably snake o’clock…seconds later one appeared. Eeeek. Warm, rugged and lovely hike with my Queens. " — paula.raimondi • Jun 2, 2023

"Steep but nice new road. Had to scramble under a gate. Lots of "No Trespassing" signs. I enjoyed this little peak but not sure if i want to do this again. Whats the penalty for trespassing?" — derek-puraVida • May 22, 2023

"3.25.23~ Henderson Benchmark XXX XL 10k. 6.6 miles, 1,150’ gain in 1:40hrs. There to Here (home) Extreme Cross Country hike/scramble/trail run/road run. From the Bottom of the Mtn gate to the summit in :27min. W/Jimmy " — paula.raimondi • Mar 25, 2023

"7.31.22~Henderson Benchmark, 5.3 miles, 1,150’ gain in 1:32hrs. Up the paved Mtn road, down the opposite side. I worked the Sunday lunch rush and kept passing by this Mtn. I was craving a lung burning charge up a steep hill as I don’t get to do it much these days. On the way up an older man in a hoopty truck made his way up to me to tell me I was trespassing. He said copper wire thieves could target these towers. I assured him I meant no harm and would turn around soon. He drove on up to the facility and I, up and over the Mtn. I made the mistake of taking the faster and more direct class 3 cliffs descent through the bee hive and got attacked this time. (Fool me twice, shame on me…I’m an idiot) Three bees made their way into my sports bra stinging my left boob! Awkward. The hive is mid climb so I had to swat them away while trying not to fall scrambling down. Luckily they didn’t chase me far. I plucked the stingers out of my skin and jogged trail and road down to the bottom of horizon ridge for the finish. It was hot and sweaty but the cloud cover made it tolerable. Stopping at a children's splash pad refreshed me mid trek. Back to work I went to feed the HenderTucky dinner rush. " — paula.raimondi • Jul 31, 2022

"7.1.22~Happy July. Workout b4 work. 3 miles, 1,200’ gain in :52 min. Up in :33, down in :15, the rest was jogging to and from bottom gate from the lot. 100 deg, 10am start with breezes helped cool the intense radiant heat from the volcanic rock. Up and down the maintenance road. I went past the summit junk to the true summit. " — paula.raimondi • Jul 1, 2022

"I've had this one on my "geez, I need to get that" list forever. Finally got up early one morning, put on running clothes, and went and got it (with about 20oz of water). It was getting warm already, it was steep, tons of signs told me I shouldn't be where I was... but I made it! Made it to the benchmark, and made it back down. One other person walking that morning (who I think was actually a City of Henderson employee), and then on the way down passed some people in a truck going up to service one of the towers. They didn't seem to care. I was nervous, because I'm a goody two-shoes like that, but... Just get 'er done early in the morning, and don't touch anything. The road was very steep up, and on the way down it was so steep that we had to take care to find areas where there was no loose gravel so we wouldn't slide on the asphalt. A good workout, for sure. " — psychikingjes • Jun 2, 2022

"4.28.22~Henderson Benchmark. 3.7 miles, 1,200’ gain, CW Loop in 1:03hrs. I went up from the NW using the Mtn road, dropped & scrambled over the Mtn, jogged Down the Canyon West of the summit back to my car. On the scramble section I avoid the (C3) cliff band not because of the down climb but because it has a giant beehive (won’t make that mistake twice :@)" — paula.raimondi • Apr 28, 2022

"4.20.2022~Henderson Benchmark (again) Up, (NW side) Over (SE side) & Around, CCW Loop . 7 miles, 1,400’ gain in 2:06hrs. Jimmy took the day off work for our 22 year wedding anniversary and I thought he would like this workout. Let’s just say, he was in a good mood prior to this adventure, not so much during :@) We power hiked up to the top and dropped off the nose of the Summit over to the other side, scrambled down to some trails, then ran the road back to the car. A bighorn sheep waited on top by the summit tower junk. I love this workout mountain. FUN! " — paula.raimondi • Apr 20, 2022

"4.10.22~Henderson Benchmark w/kids. 3 miles, 1,200’, 1:09hrs. Strength day for Jr’s H.S. Cross Country training. I wore an 18 lb weighted vest. Olivia & Summer went halfway which was awesome too. Actually, getting them all to do this was a small miracle. Teens & Tweens are grumpy! Jr., Autumn & I did the Summit. My 1st time doing the Summit from this side. I Ran 5 miles with Jimmy prior. " — paula.raimondi • Apr 10, 2022

"6.23.2021~2.5 miles, 850’ gain. It was a warm late morning but there was cloud cover and breezes so I took advantage of the conditions to do this peak that I can see from my living room. Unfortunately, as soon as I started hiking, the sun came out and the entire ascent was very hot. Doh! I took the ridge from the south in order to avoid the summit towers, buildings & junk and land directly onto the Highpoint. A Gendarme guards the final section of the ridge. I went around it to the east on the way up and the radiant heat coming off the rocks nearly overwhelmed me. I decided to down climb a class 3+ section of this gendarme on the descent but encounter a swarm of bees mid climb. I couldn’t retreat as it was overhung so I hustled through them without incident. Glad they didn’t decide to gang up and chase me. Great views! The clouds had mercy and came back for the last half of the hike. " — paula.raimondi • Jun 23, 2021