Red Rocks, Nevada

We made it to Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area - our home for the next few weeks and one of the top climbing destinations in the U.S.!!

On the outskirts of Las Vegas, it is quite the interesting spread of people here. On one end of the spectrum you have the super wealthy people that drive through for the day and take pictures from their car window. (I saw this man sit in his car combing his hair for at least 5 minutes, only to get out and take a picture of his car instead of the view behind him.) Then you have the community of rock climbers who live out of their cars and cook dinner in the parking lot of the visitor's center - people like Adam and I. We are slowly getting used to the area though and getting our systems dialed - we found showers, the best places to sleep, and the best location with free WiFi.

As for the climbing...it has been awesome! The first afternoon we got here we climbed "Hop Route" a three pitch 5.7 trad route in Icebox Canyon.

Icebox Canyon as seen from Calico Hills.

The following day we climbed "Man's Best Friend" - a two pitch 5.7 sport climb in Calico Hills. It was another super fun, easy climb, which was great for getting used to the rock and getting some great views of the surrounding canyons. 

Me leading the first pitch of "Man's Best Friend" (photo by Adam).

View from "Man's Best Friend".

Yesterday, we hiked in to Pine Creek Canyon to climb Mescalito via the 5 pitch trad route, "Cat in the Hat". When we got to the base of the climb there was another couple getting ready to climb the route. They were super friendly, however, they were much slower climbers than us so we ended up spending a significant amount of time waiting for them to finish a pitch before we could continue on behind them. As a result, we didn't end up getting off the wall until 7:45 (we shared ropes to rappel, which saved some time) and we didn't get back to our car until 8:30. We were exhausted - we drove to the campground, cooked dinner, and instantly went to sleep. It was another really fun climb - a combination of crack climbing and juggy face climbing. We gained about 650' of elevation and could see all the way into downtown Las Vegas from the top.

Adam belaying me from the first pitch anchor.

Organizing the rack for the next pitch. (photo by Adam)

Me cleaning gear as I climb up the first pitch.

The only problem we have run into so far is the sun. It's been so sunny everyday (between 70-80 degrees) and there really isn't much shade in the desert - especially not while climbing. But if that's our only problem, I think we are doing pretty well. Besides, Adam came up with a great way to keep the sun off his neck and ears while climbing - he taped a bandana to the back of his climbing helmet. It's not only extremely functional in preventing sunburn, but it is also extremely fashionable.