With a soon-to-be-expired free ticket from my flight attendant sister in hand,
I made plans to fly down to Las Vegas for three days of moderate climbing. I
had last climbed a month ago. Tendinitis in my right elbow had been bothering
me all year so immediately after my last climbing trip I got my third cortisone
shot of the year. This time I had vowed not only to lay off climbing for at
least 20 days (the doctor says cortisone's healing action continues this long),
but that I would start back gradually. It had been almost four weeks since the
shot, so I was juiced to climb again.
John Blackberries was heading down to Red Rocks near Las Vegas for five days of
climbing with six other friends (Trip, Tom, Peter, Rob, Jesse, and Greg). He
agreed to pick me up at the airport and do moderate routes for three days. Originally,
John was going to drive his truck, but changed plans to come in Tom's big van.
Tom and Trip were interested in doing the longer moderate routes also while the
others were hard core sport climbers working on 5.12 and 5.13 projects on the
loop road.
I flew in late Saturday night after the annual Ric Rojas Running party in Boulder.
John was right on time and we headed out to the new campground: 13 Mile Campground.
We were all baffled how it got the name. This campground is on highway 159
(Charleston Road) west of Vegas, but east of the Red Rocks. The other
campgrounds around Red Rocks have all been shut down. In addition, you can no
longer even drive the road at the former Oak Creek Campground.
Tom had just had his wisdom teeth out and he wasn't interested in climbing the
next day so John, Trip, and I planned on hiking into Oak Creek Canyon and
linking up Buelah's Book (5 pitches, 5.9) with Solar Slab (9 pitches, 5.6) as a
threesome. We got up around 6:00 a.m. and it was still dark and cold. We parked
by the side of 159 near an access gate in the fence and, after packing and
eating, started weaving our way toward the canyon at 7:15 a.m. We chose the
wrong gate on our way in and had to do a lot of weaving around. We rectified
the problem on the way out.
We got to the base of the route by 8:30 a.m. and geared up. We decided to take
one pack with us and leave the rest of the gear at the base. John carried lots of
his personal gear on his harness and I wore a Camelback for water. Trip led the
first pitch and struggled at the start of this 5.6 pitch. Trip has led hard
5.11 but mostly sport climbs at that level. John tells me that Trip is very
strong, but lacks much technique and this seemed evident at the start of this
route.
John and I followed simultaneously on the same rope - tied in about twenty feet
apart. The next pitch was by far the hardest pitch for the day. It was rated
5.9-, but we all found it to be solid 5.9. It was my lead. This pitch starts
with a very wide, insecure chimney section that had me stretching at my limit
to make this a back/foot chimney. At the top of the chimney I had to exit via
an overhang. The protection for this section was a large camming unit put into
an offwidth crack formed by a flake in the chimney. Above was a beautiful,
right facing dihedral with stellar climbing. This was the best
pitch of the day.
John followed on my 7mm static line (I trailed two ropes while leading) and the
thin diameter had him more than a little bit concerned. When John got to the
tiny belay ledge, I belayed Trip up on our lead line. Trip carried the pack on
this pitch and had a tough time. At one point the rope was weighted hard as if
he fell, but Trip never said, "Falling."
John had the next pitch and was a bit intimidated by the steep runout face above.
It was well featured with flakes and knobs, but John went 35 feet before
getting his first piece of protection. Above the climbing eased and John quickly
ran out another 80 feet of rope and set up a belay from a crack. Trip led the
last short, easy pitch and we soloed up the remaining third class terrain to
the big bench at the base of the Solar Slab.
Earlier, while I was leading the second pitch, a couple of other climbers approached
and John asked them what they were going to climb. They responded with
"Johnny Vegas" and we felt secure in that they weren't competing with
use to get to Solar Slab. Well, they must have bagged those plans, because they
headed up the easy (5.3) Solar Slab Gully and were just starting up Solar Slab itself
when we arrived. This was disappointing since we didn't want to be held up on
the long route above.
While waiting below this party, I heard one of the climbers call down to his partner,
"George, did you put up this route?" I didn't recognize the name George
as a first ascensionist from this area, but asked the older climber his name.
It was Jorge (pronounced "George" these days) Uriosite! Cool! Jorge
was extremely nice and we chatted amicably whenever we were next to each other.
Mike was Jorge's partner's. Mike was probably in his 40's while Jorge was over
60 years old. Mike seemed to have an ego problem with letting a party of three
pass him. Jorge kept telling us to go by and we wanted to go by since we were
concerned about finishing the route, getting down, packed and back to the car
before darkness caught us. Mike was strongly resistant to this idea.
Eventually, on the third pitch, I was allowed to pass. Mike asked incredulously,
"How long is your rope?" He was surprised that I could still be on
their tail and didn't realize that we were simul-climbing the route - all on
the same rope. I ended up leading pitches 2-7 as one really long pitch. We
re-grouped after the first pitch because of the hold-up, but then
I led from there to the top of the seventh pitch in one continuous shot. Everyone
on the route, including my partners viewed this as a radical maneuver. I didn't
hear any complaints from below and felt the climbing was easy and solid so I
continued. I've done a lot of simul-climbing over the years and this seemed
natural to me. I wanted to climb high enough so that there was no chance we'd
hold up Mike and Jorge. I didn't want Mike to have any reason to get upset any further.
After an hour-long lunch break, we un-roped completely and soloed the last 5.5
pitch to the top of the route. Jorge had told us about the rappel route that
was just right of the route, but we disdained that approach since it didn't go
to the top. We continued up steep third class terrain to the top of the wall
and then down a gully to our right.
The descent was complex and committing. I don't think we went down the correct
gully because there is no way you could downclimb this descent at 5.6 (like the
guidebook says) and we did 5 rappels (two double rope rappels) instead of the
2-3 rappels stated in the book. There were rappel slings around loose blocks
and small bushes so we weren't the first to descend this way. It seemed to come
out at the right location, but it was adventurous. On the first double rope
rappel, the ropes got stuck. We could see the knot, but the ropes wouldn't
pull. I climbed way up an adjacent gully and tried pulling with no luck. I was
just about to jug up the ropes (we had both ends still) when Trip helped by
flipping one rope while I pulled the other. Progress was slow and physical, but
the rope was coming. John's contribution at this point was to take an
incredibly stinky dump on the ledge. Trip and I were up there huffing and
puffing to get the rope down and the air was so noxious it was difficult to
breathe! Eventually, we got down and retrieved our gear at the base of the
climb. Steve and Jorge were still descending the Solar Slab Gully, having used
the rappel descent for the Solar Slab itself.
They would definitely be hiking out in the dark. It was a good thing we didn't
stay behind them.
That night we ate at Kenny Roger's Roasted Chicken restaurant. It was decent and
we stayed for a long time to prevent heading back to the cold desert. We still
didn't have a plan for the next day. I wanted to go climb Rainbow Buttress with
John, but didn't feel it was my place to dictate the schedule since I didn't
have a car, rope, or rack. John wasn't assertive enough to make the decision
and he was clearly the only person in position to do this. I hated being in
this wishy-washy situation and having no control over my fate. I vowed to speak
up from now on and if I hurt some feelings then that was that. Trip isn't my
friend and I felt bad that his partner, Tom, was being so lazy, but that's his
problem. It was a mess. Of course, we were also beholden to Tom's good graces
to use the van. I didn't like this situation at all. I flew down here to climb
with John and found myself in the middle of a mess. In the end, everything
worked out fine except for one day wasted on easy sport climbs.
The next day my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. and I awoke without a plan and proceeded
to do nothing about it. I read my book and waited for someone to make a
decision. Eventually everyone awoke and we stood around. The sport climbers
were all taking a rest day. Trip, John, and I eventually decided to go do some
easy sport climbing (remember my promise to ease back into hard climbing.) We
drove over the second pullout on the Loop Road (hey, a Golden Eagle pass gets
you into this park without paying the $5 fee!) We sat in the car for a long
time, as it was cold and windy outside. Motivation was at a low point.
Eventually, we packed up and were just about to head down the trail when a news
crew pulled up. We did an interview with them about climbing and climber safety
for 30 minutes before heading off. The
attractive newswoman was doing a story on the large number (113) of rescues that
have occurred at Red Rocks this year.
Finally, we hiked over to the Magic Bus formation. This is about a 15-minute hike
from the car and in full view from the parking lot. On this formation were
three 5.8 routes, a 5.9+, and a 5.10-. All the routes were bolted except for
the bottom half of the 5.10- crack route and were less than half a rope length.
Another group of four climbers was up there, but we traded off routes and did
them all. On the second route, John was going to follow it instead of lead it
because of some elbow pain he was having. Trip, John's roommate in Davis, told
him not to climb if his elbow hurt. I thought he was
just concerned about John hurting his elbow further, but John took it as a command
and not a suggestion. John felt the atmosphere had sullied and without another
word, packed up all this gear and hiked back to the van. This was bizarre.
Things like this never happen with my Boulder climbing group. But I don't know
how these guys normally operate. This whole trip had very bizarre personal
dynamics. There was a constant stream of homosexual jokes and references to
each other. I doubted any of these guys were gay, but I'm never heard such a
constant barrage of innuendo. It turns out that Peter is bisexual and aspires
to be in gay porno films sometime soon. Also, Trip had been eating hummus and
it caused him to produce a constant supply of noxious fumes. Now I like a good
fart as much as the next guy, but this was so
prevalent that breathing on this trip was difficult at times.
We all went out to Thai food that night. I wasn't thrilled with spending the evening
with this group, but didn't want to be the only dissenter. I just didn't fit in
well with this group and I'm not a big fan of Thai food. Despite my worries the
dinner went fine and the Thai BBQ chicken was very good. We went back to the
campground after stopping to buy groceries. Rob fell asleep in the van and Greg
stayed in the van also. The rest of us piled into the tiny camper and talked
about incredibly stupid issues like why "First Blood" is a social redeeming
film and that "Rambo", while great also, cannot be defended against
being a stupid action film any more than "Commando." Then we argued
about the meaning of the word "paradigm" and Trip got on a soapbox
about how nothing is changing to save the earth from the evils of humans. By
far the stupidest event of the evening was not excusing myself from this inane
conversation and going to read my book. We talked until 11:30 p.m. and then
John made the command decision that just he and I would be doing the Rainbow
Buttress the next day. Trip agreed to drop us off.
We awoke at 5:30 a.m. and I packed my gear since I would be heading straight to
the airport after this climb. Trip dropped us off at the trailhead and agreed to
be back at 4:30 p.m. so that we could make my flight. We started hiking at 6:55
a.m. The long approach to Rainbow Buttress leads up Oak Creek Canyon and then
back east and up a steep friction ramp. We dropped our packs at the base of the
ramp and continued up past Eagle Dance and Levitation 29 to our route. The
total approach time to the route was 2:20 minutes, but we spent 20 minutes
gearing up at the base of the ramp. The sky was overcast and the wind was
blowing. Both of our hands froze on the first couple pitches, but then things
warmed up a bit. I still climbed the entire route with a capilene shirt, pile
vest, pile pull-over, and a hat under my helmet. I was comfortable, but not
hot.
The entire day we had the entire, huge canyon to ourselves. We didn't see another
human all day long. We did see five desert bighorn sheep on the descent. These
days are special and the main reason I got into climbing to begin with. This
was just adventure hiking in beautiful surroundings.
John led the first 5.5 pitch. Following my hands froze in the bitter wind. My
hands went completely numb leading the tricky 5.8 second pitch, but the climbing
was outstanding. The next pitch heads up into an alcove and is supposed to
encounter an offwidth, but it isn't obvious from the belay. Sure enough, John
found the offwidth and swam up it to a scary, loose face section. John set up a
belay halfway up the pitch because he wasn't confident on the loose rock. I followed
and put the last half of that pitch together with the next one by stretching
the rope tight to the top of the pillar. This is a great belay spot.
John followed and balked at the next lead, which traversed right off the pillar,
then up, and then right again to a huge left facing dihedral. I led this fun,
airy pitch and found one section which I felt was much harder than the 5.6
rating. I thought one move was more like 5.8, but it was so short.
The next pitch is the crux of the route: a 5.8+, scary, long pitch. It starts
with some crimpy, edgy face climbing with marginal protection. I found this
section challenging and was glad to finally get a handjam. Above was a small
roof that led to a fun fist jamming section and then a flared chimney complete
with three bushes that had to be passed. It was a great pitch and I was almost
sorry to see it end. Johnny followed quickly and confidently and then led the
next easy, but loose pitch to a huge ledge.
We were now one pitch below the top and, according to the topo had a 5.5 X pitch
to finish with. The dangerous nature of this pitch had us a little concerned
and we were surprised to see a line of fat, new bolts leading up a steep
headwall. John was buoyed by the bolts and jumped at the lead. He worked
confidently up the loose wall to the summit anchors where he found some booty:
slings, carabiners, and a GiGi (not Gri-Gri). I was surprised to see the
two-bolt anchor here equipped with rappel rings. It seemed to imply a rap route
that starts from here. I don't know anything more about it and
we didn't attempt to rappel off (we only had one rope anyway).
Following this last pitch, I thought the difficulty was at least 5.8. John did
a nice job on this lead as many of the holds feel like body weight would be
enough to pull them off. We un-roped and hiked across the broad bowl and around
the backside of the escarpment. I had done this descent once before, but still
seemed to screw it up a bit. Nevertheless we made the top of the Oak Creek
drainage and worked our way back to the packs. The entire hike down and out is
quite enjoyable. This was a perfect day and what I had imagined all three of
the days would be. This day alone was worth the trip down.
We got back to the road at 4 p.m. and immediately put on all the clothes we had
since the temperature was dropping quickly. 4:30 came and went. If I missed my
flight I knew there were at least a couple more that night so there was no
reason to get stressed over something I couldn't change. We talked and walked
around trying to stay warm. At 5 p.m. Peter and Jesse drove up. Apparently Trip
decided to blow us off. Peter said the others were still hiking around
somewhere off the Loop Road. They had waited until 4:45 p.m. and then left
because they knew I had to catch a flight. The others were pissed at being
abandoned, but that attitude surprises me because they knew that I had to catch
a flight. Curious group, they are. The only reason for them to be disappointed
was that they didn't think about the consequences of their actions.
"Damn," they could say to themselves, "I'm disappointed we're so
stupid and didn't think to get back to the van before it had to leave."
Thankfully Peter and Jesse were responsible and I'm grateful for them picking
us up.
I packed and changed while we drove to the airport and we made it in plenty of
time to catch the flight. Bidding goodbye to John and his friends, I reflected on
the two great backcountry climbs we had done. These routes are highly
recommended for their location, position, climbing, and solitude.