Finally in Vegas, I met up with my small quaranteam of Austin climbers and we spent the first half of our week climbing in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Tomorrow is a rest day with big turkey plans.
Monday: The Hamlet Wall
Each trip out here, we usually start at The Hamlet. It has a good assortment of easy and moderate stuff to cut our teeth on to remember how Red Rock Canyon is different than climbing in Austin.
Tuesday: Civilization Crags
A favorite area of mine with spectacular views, wherein we got Kenneth back on lead after a while, Mike did his first lead ever, and Brent decided to have us all start the day on a 5.10a as a “warm up.”
After climbing, we had a helluva home cooked meal of steak, potatoes, brussels sprouts, and a multitude of Oreos that we really should stop buying. It was all so good, we even convinced Mike to eat one brussel sprout. It’s been a big day for him.
Wednesday: The Great Red Book
Uh oh. So I asked to go somewhere off the second pull-out since the park seemed pretty empty today. I wanted to see someplace new. Yeah this was my fault. At least partially. We ended up at The Great Red Book, which is mostly trad (which we don’t do — oops) and the base of the wall is somewhere in the lower stratosphere. Also the approach “hike” ended up being a dramatic rock scramble…
The two sport climbs we jumped on were Subject-Verb Agreement at 80 feet with a lot of run-out and the first pitch of Dangling Participles at about 120 feet, respectively. Neither were particularly hard technically, but stupid heights and exposure aren’t exactly my jam. I led neither but cleaned both, so while I cannot claim any ambition, at least I can be useful. Brent led the first and Jay and Mike tag-team lead the second. An ambitious second lead for him given the everything.
We emerged back into the hiking trails through Black Corridor — another favorite area but a slot canyon incompatible with social distancing — right as the sun set. Kenneth is making a carbonara for dinner tonight, which is awfully good natured of him after we dragged him up Everest today.