Red Rocks part 1

My trip to Vegas was pretty spontaneous. In the midst of this spontaneity I completely forgot how popular Thanksgiving is for travelling rock climbers. Our first day out climbing I found a crag pretty close to the road (very close, actually) that might be a good warm up to the longer "trad" climbs I'd like to check out. Unfortunately we did not get much of an alpine start and by the time we arrived at the crags they were swamped with what Zach so affectionately refers to as "Larries."


We managed to get up a couple moderate pitches (both classic) before bailing on the busy scene. In a last ditch effort to climb something I dragged Zach up some boulder problems and then called it a night.



Day two did not see us getting up much earlier but at least we were prepared for the crowds. Or at least we thought so. After much deliberation and scoping of pullouts we settled on First Creek Canyon, specifically the Mysterious Amphitheatre. What this rad little cliff lacks in width it more than makes up for in length. While we only managed the until then average of two pitches per day they were both surprisingly long, clocking in at 170' and 180'. So basically we doubled our climbing output, not bad.


On the hike out we ran into a handful of wild burros. I knew these guys were out there but had never seen them before.


Beyond the climbing I've been enjoying my stay at Zach's humble abode, a one bedroom cottage situated on an impressive half acre somewhere in the Las Vegas sprawl. After several less than satisfying experiences camping in this area it's a relief to have an alternative. Rusty is Zach's Heeler puppy, just another friend with a dog, seems to be in the air this year. While cute, Rusty is unusually suspicious and skittish, after three days he still refuses to get near me. Hopefully with time and exposure to more people he'll lose his fear.


Taking it pretty easy today, if James shows up soon we might get some cragging in. I'm a little tired from yesterday, I guess if I was a real hardman I'd be back on the wall today. Who needs to be a hardman though, I'll settle for Rock Warrior...