Red Rock Canyon encompasses an almost 200,000 acre wilderness just 20 minutes from the Las Vegas strip in the Mojave Desert. Not only a traveler location with unusual geological developments, this distinct park utilized to be a home to dinosaurs. Today, it’s filled with hikers and climbers out to dominate the big sandstone walls, like me. With warm weather condition most of the year and every kind of climbing up from bouldering to sport to trad, this park has a project for everyone.Even though there are around 2 thousands climbing paths in Red Rock, much of the more difficult walls can leave even the most skilled climbers off path or worse.
The Mission
Image by Alice Hafer I’m a rock climber for Maxim Ropes, Scarpa and Physivantage, and my destination in Red Rock was the daunting Rainbow Wall in Juniper Canyon. The 4th highest peak in the Red Rock Canyon National Sanctuary, the Rainbow Wall sits simply behind Mount Wilson, and is one of the most popular natural features of the Red Rock location. At 5,660 feet, the exposed flat wall shows up from the highway outside of the park.
The route we were dealing with is an unpublished 13+ trad combined climb without a 2nd ascent. Juniper Canyon may be among the most stunning canyons in Red Rock, however it is also the most hard to access. Getting to the climb requires either a 2.5 hour walking from outside the park, or an around 2 hour walking from the parking lot for Pine Creek. We started the hike from outdoors, knowing that we might be returning after the park closed due to the problem of our objective.
The method crosses the bushy desert up until you reach a long constant scramble over slippery sandstone boulders. Then, with the aid of a repaired rope, you hulk your equipment to the base of the huge slab. The piece itself takes around thirty minutes and simply when your calves are screaming for mercy, you reach the bottom of the wall and the start of the path. Needless to say, the hike goes faster without ropes, trad equipment, water, and snacks. At this moment, I had depended on Rainbow Wall often times, and I knew that once you passed the scramble anything goes. Rainbow wall has a couple of popular routes, like the Original Route (5.12 a) originated by Joe Herbst and Larry Hamilton in 1973, but even that climb doesn’t see many climbs regardless of many attempts. Getting on rock with so few visitors implies all sort of barriers come your way, from stuck ropes, to rock fall, to unexpected storms.
Juniper Canyon is like another world. It resembles its own microclimate, continuously disrespecting online weather condition forecasts. Once, we even saw a family of wild skunks out there at midnight. The uncommon time you might identify another climber or hiker, it seems like a reminder that regular life continues. This experience happened during mid-winter, normally the best time to climb. Even though the clouds looked thick that early morning, we set out on the method, determined to tackle our objective.The 2 hour walking felt long and slipping on among the huge boulders, I wondered to myself if I was even psyched to climb up eight +sketchy pitches. We stopped for water before the piece and then gritted our teeth starting up the solid sloping sandstone.”Are those storm clouds?”I asked my partner
, as big dark clouds rolled in out of no place. “Should we reverse? “he asked. I said we should just get
to the base and regroup, maybe it would pass, but halfway through the slab beads began to land around us. The clouds thinned. We hoped that it was simply a caution and not a storm. The Death Slab Image by Alice Hafer Finally, at the end of the intense walking, we shook off our packs, and sat at the base of the wall. Inhabiting the little rugged ledge above
the talus field leading down, we downed water. Evaluating by the dark sky, we decided to reverse– it’s not only better to climb up in great weather condition, however climbing up damp sandstone is a no-no. The fragile nature of this rock indicates you can cause a great deal of damage and boost disintegration if you climb it when wet. About halfway down the slippery piece, the rain started to put and streaks of electrical power illuminated the sky.
Any desert dweller knows that when lightning strikes, it’s a major desert storm not the normal threats of rain with meager drops. We hadn’t even packed rain coats. The rocky piece was soaked quickly, and our shoes slipped. The piece isn’t a cinch. It’s most likely a Yosemite grade 5.0.
Some people even call it the” death piece.”I thought about my buddy who had actually broken his ankle just walking down this extremely slab, and not even in rain. With substantial packs chock-full of gear, I took a seat and attempted to slide down the piece, however when the steepness started midway, even that was too much without strong feet to catch my body’s momentum. We sat, getting slowly soaked, wanting to suffer the rain and continue, but the rain increased. The slab, now entirely soaked, was impossible to come down. Ultimately, we made our method to the base of the reach wait. No Turning Back Image by Alice Hafer The rain didn’t stop. We were stuck. There was no cell service and nobody to contact for aid. At the base of the climb, there was no shelter. We looked for a nearby cavern however there were none. The talus field didn’t use any shelter, simply exposed steep rugged rocks. With nowhere to hang our emergency tarp, not enough trees and no bolts, we gathered under our coats. The winter season wind continued to blow rain onto our soaked bodies. I remembered my down coat was hydrophobic, grateful for slight security from the wet. The storm eased off however the rock was so damp, there was no way we might securely come down– we had to invest the night. We were at an elevation of practically 6,000 feet and temperature levels can drop to as low as 30 degrees Fahrenheit in the evening up there. We were prepared for winter season temperatures when active, however did not have the correct clothing to spend the night if we weren’t moving. Buried under our coats, the rain continued all night and I lay awake shouting to myself to just make it through until early morning. Ultimately, my down soaked through and I shivered as my body attempted to keep the little heat it had. Wandering off and waking, cold, I clinged to the
hope that soon the sun would peek through the dark sky. Every as soon as in a while I ‘d get up and hear the patter of the rain. I ‘d check in with my partner,” You still fine? “and he ‘d mumble. A little puddle of water formed around our bodies– it was main we were submerged. Snuggling in a small ball, I felt determined to finish the mission, however the target had changed– the objective was now simply to make it home. The dubious north-facing wall offered no sun warming our faces. I had actually hardly slept and my partner less. At the first indication of light, still soaked to the bone, I woke my partner up and said,”We need to go now.”The sun was rising, but the sky was still full of clouds, threatening to strand us even longer. “I wasn’t sure I was going to make it,”he said. “I didn’t sleep a wink.””But we did it,”I said in reply. The slab had actually partly dried however I still decreased on my butt to avoid sliding and falling. My partner and I compromised going initially and helping the 2nd securely down. It took control of an hour to just get down the piece. Finally, standing at the base of
the slab, we knew we might make it home. “Do you want to rest?”
my partner asked. I replied,”No other way, let
‘s get the hell out of here.”I have actually gone back to the Rainbow Wall considering that, but not without a waterproof jacket, a more thorough weather condition scout and a visible check of the clouds. I learned my lesson– don’t attempt to question Nature,
because she will certainly win. Here’s the story of one author mistakenly getting stranded over night in Red Rock Canyon, just 20 minutes outside of Las Vegas.