Red Rock Season Is Almost Here

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Most hikers prefer hiking in Red Rock Canyon than any other location around southern Nevada. There are over 50 peaks in Red Rock in a small geographical location compared to Mt. Charleston or Lake Mead. For most hikers Red Rock is a much closer drive than Charleston or Lake Mead. Temperatures will soon drop into the eighties and below, making it the perfect time to hike in Red Rock.

Things to Remember About Hiking In Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon is known for rock scrambling. I have over 90 scrambling routes on my site: www.hikinglasvegas.com.  Approach shoes are the best type of hiking shoes for the scrambling routes in Red Rock. The soles have sticky rubber and stick to the rock much better the normal hiking shoes. My favorite approach shoes are the Vasque Screes. They are well made, comfortable and really stick to the rock. You can get a discount on the Screes by going to Red Wing (4616 W. Charleston in Las Vegas) and mention my name (Branch Whitney).

Darkness

Once it cools down, heat is no longer your enemy, it's darkness.  Currently it's getting dark around 7 pm, but in December it becomes dark before 5 pm! You do NOT want to descend a scrambling route in the dark. Every hiker should have a headlamp with them. Buy it and leave it in your pack. Also, you need to test it to make sure the batteries are still good.

Snakes

Sidewinder 

Although not a big issue, snakes are most active in October and April in Red Rock. Here's a page from my website that deals with snakes: http://www.hikinglasvegas.com/Snakes.htm

What to Bring on a Hike and Ice

In December it can be cold in Red Rock at the higher elevations. Hikers should have extra layers, a balaclava, and gloves in their packs. Also keep an eye out for ice. Early this year a hiker fell 30 feet because he slipped on ice.

Ice In Red Rock

Red Rock may look snow and ice free, but don't kid yourself. On today's hike to Terrace Canyon we saw plenty of ice. The photo to the left was taken in the South-South fork of Pine Creek at an elevation of less than 5,000 feet! Even though it has been sunny, the canyons do not get much sun this time of the year. The sun is too low in the southern sky. All north facing routes will have some ice. Stick with east and south facing routes in Red Rock Canyon. Terrace Canyon did look beautiful with the ice. You can hike all the way to the log, the traditional stopping point in Terrace Canyon, but you will have to watch for ice. The new Calico Tank and Peak hike is a good choice currently. The route is ice free since it faces east.
Tomorrow we hiking the SE Gully to White Rock Hills Peak. Look for a slide show of the hike this next week.

Turtlehead Junior and Calico Tank

We started the new year out right by hiking to Calico Tank and Turtlehead Junior. We followed Dave and Richard's new route that starts from the trailhead for Kraft Mountain.This is a fantastic route with lots of fun scrambling. Calico Tank was frozen solid. After hiking to the tank, we scrambled up to Calico Tank Peak and then followed Ed's route to Turtlehead Junior. There is a sign-in book at the summit and we built a cairn. All the tanks we passed were frozen making for some great photos. This is the perfect hike during the winter months. It's an east facing route which has a lot of exposure to the sun. During this time of the year hikes in Calico Hills and Kraft Mountain are your best bets if you don't want to hike around Lake Mead. Members will be able to download this hike soon!