Trail to Peak: The Adventurous Path
Hiking, Exploring, Travel & Adventure
The Mass Production Wall of Calico Tanks
And now, back to our regularly scheduled program once again…
Located high above Red Rocks’ popular Calico Tanks trail, the hike into this crag was my favourite part 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. 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!
There, I climbed “Parts is Parts” (5.8), “Battery Powered” (5.9) and “Hit and Run” (a wonderfully long 5.9). 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. Above us rose Turtlehead Peak, a mountain we hiked up during our visit. And we had spectacular views into the Calico Tanks and the people, far below.
Climbing is slow moving, thought filled, and takes time to watch. I’ve sped Bill up here a bit.
If You Go…
- Go early to get a parking spot. 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. 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. We had no trouble at 9am.
- For tips and tricks for navigating the climbing, see the “If You Go” section of the intro post, Red Rocks Climbing Crags.
- For tips about staying in the Vegas area, go to the “If You Go” section of the post, There’s More To Vegas Than You Think.
- To explore more crags that we climbed in Red Rocks, see these posts:
Not all of the photos in my Red Rocks climbing posts are mine. Some of the credit goes to Chris Schell, an amazing rope runner and inspirational, very experienced trad climber … and to Greg Funk, a most determined climber who can power up walls like nobody’s business with skill and an impressive amount of sheer force of will and determination! It was an honour to climb with, and be inspired by you both! Thanks for letting me share your pics!
5 Comments on “The Mass Production Wall of Calico Tanks”
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This looks like a gorgeous place to climb!
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It was very, very cool!
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