Red Rocks - 2003
page one
This is my helmet, resting in Tokyo between sets on the hangboard. 

My helmet has dreamed of climbing at Red Rocks - home of a host of sandstone classics - since it was an unscratched, un-stickered newbie.  This year, thanks to my friend Cody, with whom I've climbed during his regular business trips to Japan, my helmet's dream was finally realized.  I was invited along to provide arms and legs.
The trip to Red Rocks begins on the Tokyo platform of the airport-bound Narita Express.  In this shot, my helmet - bags packed - waits impatiently for the train.
Plane travel is so relaxing these days.
Of course, my helmet used frequent flyer miles to upgrade to business class.  Helmets don't care about leg-room, but they're careful to keep up appearances.
Day one

We took off late Saturday afternoon, April 5 (delayed two hours by a problem with the plane's rudder - the pilot said he wanted to make sure it worked, and my helmet and I agreed).  Thanks to the time change we arrived in L.A. early the same Saturday morning, puddle jumped to Vegas and shook hands with Cody at the baggage carousel at around 1:00 p.m.  A little grocery shopping, a snack, and we headed off for a few quick sport routes.  Setting up my tent could wait.
The shot on the right is me on a pretty steep face route on the Dog Wall (first pullout), under an unbelievably blue sky.  Cody led and set the top-rope, and for my first route off the plane, I was happy to have it.

The route is called "It's a Bitch" (5.10b) but it wasn't - it was freakin' excellent!
After It's a Bitch, we moved over to the Ultraman Wall for some slab runouts.  I led Clutch Cargo (5.9), then followed Cody up Ultraman (5.8+).  Here's Cody on the lead, with the rock bathed in the desert's afternoon light.  This shot was taken at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, exactly the same time, on the same day, that I took off from Tokyo.  For me, after twenty or so hours of travel and an international date-line, it was a near hallucinatory moment.
It was time to head home.  For the week, that meant the BLM's 13-Mile Campground.  In addition to Cody, I was lucky to have the company of Chris, Jim and Cherryl.  Chris and Jim are long-time friends and climbing partners of Cody's.  I had met Chris during a weekend of cragging with Cody near Tokyo, but it was my first chance to meet Jim and his wife Cherryl.  Both of them were wonderfully relaxed and welcoming - it would be a happy camp.

Here are the boys.  From left to right, Chris, Jim, me and Cody.  Note the jumbo bottle of ibuprophen - already handy on the picnic table.
Day two

For our first full day of climbing, Cody launched us at Beulah's Book (5.9-) and Solar Slab (5.6).  Getting up early was no problem for me, since my body had no idea what time it was anyway, and Cody is a chronically early riser.
The walk in to Oak Creek Canyon was flower studded, but nippy - we had cold weather in the first half of the week, warming gradually.  In my hat, gloves and puffball vest, I was cozy. 

Almost directly above my head in this shot is Solar Slab Gully.  Beulah's book starts slightly to the left of the gully.  Solar Slab runs up the expanse of white slabs above.
Cody took the first pitch of Beulah's Book, and gave me the second.  I soon found out why as I grovelled up a flaring chimney, weeping and begging for mercy as I slid a #4 Camalot along for company.  Welcome to Red Rocks!

The pitch continued with an arching corner crack - my nemesis.  This bit is considered a classic of Red Rocks crack climbing, but after the chimney, I opted for a face climbing alternative, finding later that my edition of Swain's Select calls it 5.7 X. Is Todd scorning my green alien behind that potato chip flake?
We had been hearing another party climbing in the Solar Slab Gully, so upon reaching the easy scrambling at the top of Beulah's we quickly grabbed our gear and beat feet to the base of Solar Slab, arriving while the leader of the other party was still bringing his seconds up the final pitch of the Gully.  Always nicer to be first on the route.

At left, the view from Solar Slab was awesome, and the weather was absolutely perfect.

Note to self:  Do NOT be underneath that perched rock over there - the size of two greyhound buses - when it finally decides to cut loose.
Here's Cody leading up the fun, easy ground of Solar Slab's second pitch.

Above, Cody coolly and efficiently leads Beaulah's third pitch.
Day three

With plenty of pitches in my deskworker soft fingertips after only two days, I was delighted when Cody suggested Dark Shadows (5.8) for day three.  I figured this four pitch route wouldn't eat up too much skin, and it has a reputation as a Red Rocks classic.  The reality did not disappoint.
The walk in to Pine Creek Canyon was beautiful.  With the route still to come, however, my attention was focused mainly on the black varnished left wall of the Canyon.
Looking up at the route didn't exactly relieve my anxieties.

(This shot was actually taken after we had finished our climb and descended.  You can just see a climber from one of the later parties at the third belay (arrow).

Still, the baby waterfall that runs past the start boulder was making cheerful noises, and the first pitch was easy slab...
... So off I went.  Nice new bolts on gentle ground, as advertised.  In the shot below, I've just clipped the first one, and am breathing easy.
Cody took the second and fourth pitches - floating them both.  Unfortunately, he had my camera so I have no shots of him on this route, but below is another shot of me  This is the third pitch, a super fun stemming corner with solid gear and a spicy section, followed by outrageous, slightly runout face climbing on big holds on the right hand wall (the shining, polished section just above me in the pic) and a step back left to the belay ledge.
Meanwhile... Jim and Chris had made the walk in with us and were at work on Risky Business (5.10 R) on our left skyline.  At left is Chris at (I think) the third belay.  How cool is that?
And here's Jim into the business on (I think) pitch four.  
The walk out had it's own pleasures.  Great views, a return to the warm sun and some remarkable flora.

On the right:  Yes, it's true I'm a dwarf, but that's still a big freakin' cactus.

And below:  The wildflowers by the trail were truly remarkable.
Day four

This day ended up being a sport climbing and rest day.  We headed for the second pullout, and actually had the Black Corridor to ourselves for about half a route, before other parties arrived.  Later, we moved to the Sandstone Quarry area, where Cody, Jim and Chris kept pulling at the Mass Production Wall, while Cherryl and I took the gentle hike up to Calico Tanks.


The Black Corridor is a neat spot - a cool, shaded slot, hidden back in a non-descript fold of red sandstone.  The walls are desert varnished black, and loom up, leaving just a slice of sky above.

In these shots, Chris leads something on the left wall, second story - maybe Black Gold (10b)?
I was happy to top rope Bon Ez (5.9+), lead Bonaire (5.9) and top rope Crude Boys (5.10d), before my tips said it was time to take a hike.  Cherryl and I followed the trail up through dry brush and red, yellow and gray stone, before reaching a startling overlook of the Calico Tanks, a natural formation that collects and holds water from the surrounding high ground.  Cherryl had made the walk in a previous spring only to find the Tanks completely dry.  This year, as the picture below shows, it was a different story.  What a remarkable contrast between the pool below and the rock above.
And speaking of contrasts, a fifty meter upward walk beyond the Tanks yields an even starker one.  Behind - wilderness.  In front - Vegas.
I wasn't sorry to turn my back on that.  Our camp, with Cody's, Chris' and my tents pitched, and Jim and Cherryl's rig parked, seemed like all the civilization I needed.  Cody certainly looks comfortable enough
Even the trip back to camp rewarded us, as we encountered a wandering band of Red Rocks' wild burros, including this fuzzy baby
...And following somewhere further up the route.
Agave were in bloom everywhere on the walk in - a remarkable time to be in the desert.
We ended up bailing of Solar Slab after six pitches for a spectacular nine-pitch day.  (The route actually continues for another three pitches, although I think I led us a bit past the proper end of pitch 6.  Coincidentally, I built my anchor close by one of the upper rap stations.  Cody climbed up to me, we agreed to call it good, down-climbed to the chains and headed for the dirt.)