The first time I drove into Red Rock Canyon from Las Vegas the
canyon overwhelmed me with its desert beauty and expansive views. I came to the
canyon early in the morning, as soon as it opened to visitors, so I would avoid
the midday heat. I parked the rental car at the Visitor Center shortly after
6:00 AM and looked out toward the Calico Hills to the north and Rainbow Mountain, Bride Mountain, and
North Peak to the west, all bathed in early morning light. I found it hard to believe that the nearby Calico Hills were
still at least half a mile away and that
the lowest slopes of those three peaks to the west were still nearly
three and a half miles away.
I am used to hiking in the Eastern United States, especially in
the Appalachian Mountains, where tree covered slopes block any distant
views unless I am hiking along a ridge and come upon a rocky overlook or
climb above tree line. When hiking back in the east, I feel fortunate to see a
hundred feet down the trail. I could, at times, see several miles in all
directions as I hiked in Red Rock Canyon.
That first morning, I stepped out onto the Moenkopi Trail, an
“easy” rated trail that took me through open desert past Yucca, Joshua Trees,
and Prickly Pear Cactus until I picked up the Calico Hills Trail, a “moderate”
trail that seemed no more difficult than the Moenkopi Trail and that led me
back to the car at the visitor center. My hiking shoes and socks were a little
dusty, and my feet were warm and sweaty, but I was no worse for the wear. The round-trip
hike was about 2 miles of open, easy to negotiate, and beautiful desert.
Not ready to call it a day after just two miles, I drove the car
over to the Calico I parking area where I
had just hiked through, and after
parking the car, I climbed down into a small canyon to explore. As I climbed
upon an outcrop, I saw a man below holding a stone to carve his initials into the rock face
over his head. With little hesitation I called out, “That’s not cool.” Looking
at me, he dropped the stone in his hand and said, “I am sorry. I didn’t know.
This is my first time here.” He then asked, “Do you come here often?” Not
wanting to give away the fact that this was also my first visit to Red Rock
Canyon, I replied, “I get around.” I then continued hiking down into the canyon and did not see another person until I returned
to near the parking area.
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| Calico 1 parking with rocks in the background |
The next morning, again entering the canyon soon after it opened
to visitors, I drove directly to the Calico I parking area, intending to again
hike the Calico Hills Trail, but this time a mile up to the Calico II
parking area and back. When I reached the dry wash, I saw that the trail divided,
right and up toward the ridge, and left along the dusty wash, but the map I was
using did not show a loop. Not wanting to follow the trail up to the ridge in
case it dead ended, I followed the trail through the dry, sandy, and rocky wash.
This lower trail, heading toward the Calico II parking area, seemed to
promise a clear hike to my intended destination while the upper trail was
questionable.
After hiking past some large boulders which I explored, including
one with ancient petroglyphs, I approached the parking area and noticed,
off to the right, large rock cairns
enclosed in what looked like wire mesh. Consisting of rocks piled into a
wire cylinder about two feet wide and a yard high, each cairn leading to
another, I followed them toward the ridge top. Climbing over rock ledges and up
through crevices, I eventually reached the ridge above, where I was
greeted by one last cairn and a scene that reminded me of something out of The
Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones. Once at the top of the ridge, I found the trail easier to follow and hiked
it back to the car. The entire loop was a spectacular hike of two miles
that at times, both in terms of route finding and the scrambling, not always seeing where the trail led and
having to rely on hands as well as feet to climb up and through some rocky
slopes, qualified, in my mind, as “moderate.”
Again, not wanting to call it a day after hiking just two miles, I
drove up to and parked at the Calico II parking area where once more I picked
up the Calico Hills Trail, but this time following it up to the Sandstone Quarry trailhead. This section of
the Calico Hills Trail was about as easy as the first section I had hiked the
day before and not nearly as difficult as the section I had hiked earlier that
morning.
Upon reaching the Sandstone Quarry trail head, I looked around and
then headed back from whence I came, following the same trail, hoping to get
back to the car before what looked like approaching rain clouds dumped their precipitation
on me. Other than a few sprinkles, I was able to add over another two miles to
my day for a total of over four miles before rain started falling and the wind
increased.
The third morning I again entered the Canyon around 6:00 AM.
Driving toward the Sandstone Quarry
Trailhead, I debated whether to hike from the 4,280 feet above sea level trailhead on
the “moderate” Calico Tanks Trail up to the tanks at an elevation of about 4,680 feet, a three
mile round trip, or to hike the
“difficult” Turtlehead Peak Trail up to the 6,323 foot high summit of
Turtlehead Peak, a five mile round trip. I mention the altitudes because I am
used to hiking eastern elevations
between 1,300 and 4,200 feet. Since I was hiking by myself and was a little out
of shape after a cold, wet, miserable eastern winter, I opted for the
“moderate” hike up to the Calico Tanks rather than the “difficult” climb up to
Turtlehead Peak thinking I might hike up
to Turtlehead Peak the following day.
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| The Calico Tanks Trail, heading up toward the overlook |
The Calico Tanks trail was at first easy to follow, but the higher
it climbed up into the canyon, the harder it became to follow. More than once I
would follow a clearly followable trail up onto a rocky flat ledge only to
spend several minutes searching for where the trail continued. As the canyon
became narrower and steeper, I found myself scrambling more and more and
wondering how this hike could be rated as “moderate” rather than “difficult.”
Near the high end of the canyon, when I stepped up over a rock and
looked down upon a tinaja, or natural rock formation that holds surface water
runoff, I knew I was near the end of the trail. I then saw a couple small
cairns leading up to wide but exposed
sloping rock ledge ahead and to the right. I followed the cairns to the last one
where, under an overhang, I was rewarded with a sweeping view of a hazy Las
Vegas. Despite the haze, I was
able to pick out the resort where I was staying, the Red Rock Canyon
Resort and Spa, as well as the very recognizable pyramid shape of the Grand
Luxor.
The return hike back to the car was a little easier than the hike
up. At least once, however, I had to pause on a rock ledge and look around to
find where the trail continued. While I had not encountered any other hikers on
my way up, I encountered dozens who were hiking up as I was descending,
including one large group for whom I stepped off to the side of the trail for a
few minutes so they could pass. The quiet solitude of the early morning had
turned into a mass of humanity by midmorning and I knew I was no longer alone.
While other hikers on the trail increased my level of safety, I prefer hiking
alone or with just one or two others than in or near large groups like the one
I moved to the side for.
As I was nearing the trailhead parking area, I was certain that while
this had not been one of my longest hikes, it was certainly one of the most
difficult ones I had undertaken in a long time. It was tough both in terms of
route finding and rock scrambling, two problems I rarely encounter back in the
worn-down and weathered Appalachian Mountains. Still, I was not ready to
call it a day.
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| Looking west toward Rainbow Mountain, Bride Mountain, and North Peak |
On my final morning, I once again entered the canyon around
6:00 AM. Based on my “moderate” hike the day before, I decided not to head up
the “difficult” Turtle Peak Trail and instead opted to follow the Scenic Drive
to the Lost Creek parking lot. After parking the car, I followed the “easy” one-and-a-half-mile
Willow Spring Loop past agave roasting pits but did not see any of the
pictographs that were supposed to be located near the trail. Back near where I
started, I hiked the “easy” three-quarter mile long Lost Creek-Children’s
Discovery Trail, a short hike that rewarded me with better views, a few
pictographs, and a more varied ecology than the Willow Springs Loop. With
over two miles under my hiking shoes, I got back into the car and headed for
the Pine Creek Trail.
From the Pine Creek Canyon overlook and parking area, I
followed the “moderate” one-and-a-half-mile Pine Creek Trail until it brought
me to the “easy” three-quarter mile long loop Fire Ecology Loop Trail. This was
one of my favorite trails as it meandered through Ponderosa Pines and
crossed over the shallow and easily crossed Pine Creek. I could hear drumming
off in the distance as I was hiking and
wondered if Native Americans were engaged in a religious ritual or some
New Age drummers were getting it on with nature.
Reconnecting with the Pine Creek Trail, I followed it all the way
to near the end of the canyon where
it branched off in a one-mile loop
over rocks, across Pine Creek, and back upon itself. I then retraced my steps
back to the car, all the while thinking this “moderate” three-mile hike was a
lot easier than the mile hike along the
Calico Tanks Trail I had taken the previous day. Adding all the distances I had
hiked that morning, I realized I had covered about six miles. My last day in
Red Rock Canyon provided me with my longest hike in the Canyon but not the
hardest. That label belonged to my hike on the Calico Tanks Trail the day
before.
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| Looking into Pine Creek Canyon |
The four mornings I hiked in Red Rock Canyon was the first time I
had hiked in the desert in over twenty-two years when I last enjoyed a
day hike near Abiquiu, New Mexico. The time since then had dulled my memory
about what it was like to hike in such a
fierce landscape, its beauty and charm as well as its challenges and dangers.
As I drove out of Red Rock Canyon along the Scenic Drive for perhaps the last
time, I knew I had found a new love and hoped to someday return. After all,
Turtlehead Peak was still waiting for me.
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