Red Rocks, NV



Sunrise near Black Velvet Canyon in Red Rocks.



Landscape around Red Rocks.



Nov. 27^th: Las Vegas aka Sin City

Pat and I woke up quite early (5:00am) to drive towards the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Neither one of us had a good sleep. Pat, who drove last night, decided to stop along the highway in a pullout for the night. I woke up about half a dozen times from semi trucks blasting by and shaking the van with the wind they created (that’s how close to the road we were). We reached the Grand Canyon by 11:00am and walked for 2 hours along the South Rim and a trail that dipped into the canyon. We didn’t take the time to go all the way down. Its massive size would have taken us a good part of the day and we wanted to make it to Vegas for the night. We made it to Las Vegas after dinner and had a chance to spend one night in a fast paced lifestyle for a change. Was it ever a change to the way we have been living during the trip! As we drove over a pass that dropped into the city, the sky was lit by as many lights as I’ve ever seen. Once in the city, we searched for the main strip where all the action happens. We decided to look at prices to stay in a hotel. All we were looking for was a cheap place with a bed. We didn’t care if it was a small room with a single bed to share. It would still beat sleeping in the van anytime. We ended up getting more than we gambled for. But it took some hotel shopping to find. The first place we looked into seemed pretty cheap. They’re price was 40$/night without parking. We kept shopping and found an even nicer looking hotel/casino for 35$/night with parking. Pat had gone inside to inquire about the price and said there were plenty of “old people” playing on the slot machines inside. A true Vegas experience! We took a last look at another hotel which seemed over the top at first (It had valet parking). It ended up being our best bet. The Fitzgerald hotel had a room with two queen sized beds for 29$/night with included parking. Also, this hotel seemed like the nicest of the three we stopped into. We took care of parking Chico ourselves and settled into our room.  On the main floor were numerous slot machines, over a dozen roulette tables and card tables with as many lights and non-stop music as two climbing bums can take without a sensory overload. I guess it helped keep the gamblers going at their fast paced rhythm. It was interesting at first to see the intense gaze of the people looking at the slot machine as they continually shuffled coins into the slot machines. At the same time it was kind of disturbing. We took a stroll onto the strip and passed by interesting street performers lining the strip. The most impressive part was when an animation lit up on the ceiling along the whole strip. After speaking to a few people we found out that we weren’t actually on the main strip. Rather, we were on the old strip of Vegas. We took a 30 minute bus ride to the main strip shortly after. The hotels and casinos were newer (obviously) and the party atmosphere seemed more closed into the hotel/casinos. We walked through most of the better known casino/hotels and finished the night at a Denny’s for a bite to eat. Before heading up to bed we put a few nickels in the slot machine and broke even. Time flew by and it was 4:00am when we finally made it to our comfortable beds.

The Grand Canyon.

Nov. 28^th: Vegas recovery day. Drive to nearby Red Rocks.

Pat and I started the late morning with an early all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. For 8$ each we ate amazing food until we could no more. The deserts were amazing! Pat and I chose to split every desert in half so that we could taste most of them. Even with that tactic we couldn’t taste them all. With full bellies, we drove out of Sin City and made it to the common campground at Red Rocks within 10 minutes of the city’s limits. We chose to set-up the tent for a more spacious sleep since we planned to stay here for a few days. We hoped to find our Czech friends Zdenek and Lenka who also planned on being here.

Nov. 29^th: Red Rocks, Sport Climbing at Gallery Wall

We woke up to another van parked beside ours. It happened to be Zdenik and Lanka who arrived later last night and recognized our van. We spent the day climbing in an area called the Gallery Wall. The climbs were typically short. Although what they lacked in length, they made up in quality. The “fun factor” was high.

Pat and I climbed the following routes:

            The Runaway 5.10b

            American Sportsman 5.10c

            Super Guide 5.11a

            Range of Motion 5.10d

            Fear and loathing 5.12a

The last one was the hardest climb (for the grade) I had attempted so far. I was able to complete every move. Although connecting them together from top to bottom in one try was a different affair.



A guy we met crushing "Fear and Loathing" 5.12a



Nov. 30^th: Red Rocks, Black Velvet Canyon, Epinephrine 5.9 (16 pitches)

Pat and I woke up early (5:00am) to climb a well known classic. Most of the first half of the route involved climbing up a fun chimney. The upper half consisted of climbing on features that Pat described as “Lego blocks”. The climbing was superb the entire way. One of the more enjoyable climbs we have done in a little while. Highly recommended! By the time we reached the campground a big wind storm had begun. We arrived to our campsite with a few items we had left on the picnic table missing and the tent was blown upside down against a nearby post. We managed to find most of the missing items nearby. We decided to sleep in the sheltered van instead of the tent.

Typical chimney on the lower half of Epinephrine.

Summit photo! Not the most beautiful landscape.
The quality of the climb makes up for it.

Dec. 1^st: Red Rocks, Forced rest day. Wind storm.

The wind was still howling in the morning and there was actually a little snow that fell. We didn’t expect snow this far south! No accumulation though. We spent the day at the library.

Dec. 2^nd: Red Rocks, Black Velvet Canyon, Rock Warrior 5.10b (6 pitches)

The line of this climb has a few bolts to fill in the blanks but still felt very run-out.  The guidebook mentions “the climb is sometimes runout but seldom really dangerous”. They weren’t lying. With only 5 pieces of protection on the 4^th pitch which was 50m long. All the pitches were quite long. With the run-out nature of the route, it took longer than a typical climb of this grade. Delicate climbing was needed. We had planned to climb with our Czech friends Zdenik and Lanka who were going to climb a neighbouring route. But they decided to call it quits after the first pitch because of the cold temperature. Pat and I stuck it out in the cold. We ended up not finishing the route because of the short day and our later start. We only had enough time to reach the top of the fourth pitch. The climb asked a lot of our nerves but was enjoyable.

Cloudy morning bellow Black Velvet Canyon.

Dec. 3^rd: Red Rocks, food sickness?

I woke up with a sick feeling to my stomach and vomited soon after. I spent the whole day semi-conscious, but mostly passed out in the back of the van. I think it might have been food poisoning? It took a lot out of me whatever it was. While Pat was sport climbing with Zdenik and Lanka. I slept in the van at the parking lot and randomly woke up to our friends John and Tiffany, which we met in Moab, parked next to me. After a brief talk we arranged to meet up at the campground tonight.

Dec. 4^th: Red Rocks, recovery day

I’ve been feeling better today, but I’m not even tempted to try climbing. I’m too weak from yesterday and I haven’t been eating much yet. Pat, Zdenik and Lanka went to do some bouldering at the nearby Calico Hills and I followed along to get some fresh air.

Zdenek making the boulder problem look easy.

Brett working a burly boulder problem.

Dec. 5^th: Red Rocks, Sport Climbing at Sunny & Steep

The mojo has almost fully returned. Pat, John, Tiffany and I walked up to a sheltered and sunny crag named Sunny and Steep. Pat and I climbed 4 sport routes ranging from 5.9-5.11b. We left Red Rocks afterwards and drove towards Joshua Tree.