When we came out from our day of climbing, the cars were parked all the way out the entrance access road and along the roadside… something they can ticket for in the park. This is a popular roadside turnout where people spend more time than at others, so the turn over in the parking area doesn’t happen as quickly as it does at the other parking areas. He approaches that bit of tricky varnish…Ĭlimbing is slow moving, thought filled, and takes time to watch. Here Bill works his way up a route while his belayer is in the gully in the shadows below. We were high enough up here that the only onlookers we had were in the form of annoying drones. In between climbs, you rest & relax & watch the others climb. The view down the approach to the crag is incredible. This photo is a bit distorted, but it shows you the cliff face, with its big patch of varnish, that the routes are on. There’s lots of space to spread out up there and relax between climbs. And we had spectacular views into the Calico Tanks and the people, far below. Above us rose Turtlehead Peak, a mountain we hiked up during our visit. This wall was in the shade all day and had spectacular views over all of Red Rocks park with Wilson Mountain off in the distance. There, I climbed “ Parts is Parts” (5.8), “ Battery Powered” (5.9) and “ Hit and Run” (a wonderfully long 5.9). There are challenging spots, for those who are awesomely inspiring! Chris makes it look easy! His foot is there, perched on the tiniest of flakes while he chalks up his hands. There are some great routes there for all. The crag is located high above the Calico Tanks area, up a steep, rocky gully. The sandstone steps make it somewhat easier. Taken on our way out, this shot shows how high you need to climb up, lugging your gear to the base of the crag. There were lots of people exploring in there. Park walk, park scramble, it takes you along the main Calico Tanks trail for a bit. Once up there, there were two caves to explore and a wide, open area from which to watch the climbing… no neck craning necessary to get route beta! The hike in was one of my favourite parts of the day. Part scrambling and route-finding, it takes you up a dry stream bed, along sandstone ledges, over water-sculpted mounds, past little “tank” oases (shallow rain catchment pools in the sandstone), over white and gold and red and pink sandstone streaking, and then it has a steep push up a rampart to get to the climbing crag. Located high above Red Rocks’ popular Calico Tanks trail, the hike into this crag was my favourite part of the day. And now, back to our regularly scheduled program once again…
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