Kraft Boulders

Challenging Kraft Boulders, May 2012

May 10, 2012 by outdoorsvegas · Leave a Comment

Parking area near Kraft Boulders

The temperature here in Vegas took a friendly dip down to about 82-degrees this past weekend… that warranted an immediate trip back out to Red Rock Canyon. We decided on doing some rock climbing this trip instead of hiking, so we headed down into Calico Basin (outside the National Conservation Area) to do some bouldering at Kraft Boulders.

Normally in late May, the daytime temperatures get so hot that doing outdoor activities at Red Rock Canyon are out of the question (unless you start at the crack of dawn, before the sun is high in the sky). I knew as soon as I read the weather forecast on my Android phone that we needed to take advantage of the cooler weather and dust off our climbing gear. We grabbed our seasoned crash pad (padded protective mattress that absorbs falls when bouldering), climbing helmets and chalk bags, and started driving towards Red Rock.

Vast boulder field at Kraft Boulders

A lot of other people must have been thinking the same thing, because by the time we reached the end of Calico Basin Road (after stopping for breakfast on the way), the Kraft Mountain parking lot was nearly full! It was a pretty day, dominated by a perfectly blue sky and warm (but not hot) temperatures. We loaded up our gear and headed down the short trail to the boulder field at the foot of Kraft Mountain. Surprisingly, although the parking lot was full, there were very few people bouldering.

Reaching the top of a boulder

The kids (age 6 and 4) warmed up on an easy boulder, then started to really challenge themselves on some of the tougher problems. Their climbing skill have really picked up this season and they were soon reaching out for smaller and more difficult holds on steeper walls. You could see the great sense of accomplishment on their grinning faces as the reached the top of one boulder after another.

Climbing up a boulder at Kraft Boulders

After much climbing, and a lot of hydration (even at 82 degrees, the high sun and dry air was sapping us of our liquids), we triumphantly headed back to the car… having conquered many boulders today… and getting no blisters from our climbing shoes! Another great day at Red Rock.

Filed Under: Red Rock Canyon, Rock Climbing · Tagged: Kraft Boulders

Wild Donkeys at Kraft Boulders!

February 16, 2012 by outdoorsvegas · Leave a Comment

It was a bright blue-skied, warm mid-60′s day and we decided to end our Winter climbing hiatus and return to Kraft Boulders. Outfitted with the newest kids’ Petzl Picchu climbing helmet for my three-year-old, we dusted off our climbing kit, grabbed our crash pad and headed to Calico Basin where the vast red sandstone boulder field lays at the base of Kraft Mountain. The weather was unseasonably warm that I ended up wearing just a t-shirt — the warm sun felt great.

Conquering one of the climbs at Kraft Boulders

As we pulled off of NV-159 onto Calico Basin Road, the sky was a piercing deep blue and we were eager to get out to the boulders. Then, as we turned right, just past Red Springs, we came across a group of 3 wild donkeys that were getting ready to cross the road.

We had seen wild donkeys at Red Rock before, but never this close. One other car had pulled over to take photos – and we joined them. The 3 donkeys were disinterested in the human observers and simply ambled across the road onto a grassy field. One had a dark mask on its face and all three had a distinct, dark-ridged strip running down the upper part of their front legs.

Donkeys crossing Calico Basin Road

Donkey at Calico Basin, Red Rock

After an afternoon of bouldering, we returned back down Calico Basin Road and came across the same three wild donkeys, frolicking in a neighborhood yard just a few yards from where they crossed the road. We once again stopped to photograph them as the low sun reddened Kraft Mountain in the distance.

Donkeys at Sunset, Kraft Mountain in background

It took everything I had to keep the kids from running up to and trying to pet the donkeys. I reminded them that they were wild animals and that we needed to respect them and give them plenty of room (and I’m sure there are a billion rules, laws, and regulations saying just that.) We finished taking photos and wished the donkeys farewell.

A challenging problem at Kraft Boulders

Filed Under: Red Rock Canyon · Tagged: Calico Basin, Kraft Boulders, rock climbing, wild donkeys

Rainy Geocaching at Red Rock

February 12, 2012 by outdoorsvegas · Leave a Comment

Rain clouds at Red Rock Canyon

We headed out to Red Rock Canyon today with two families and six kids to go geocaching. Our destination was the Lost Creek Trail off of Willow Springs, at the western edge of the Red Rock Scenic Loop. Initially, as we approached Red Rock Canyon, there was one small patch of grey skies over the western cliffs, off towards Rocky Gap Trail. But, as we circled the Scenic Loop en route to Willow Springs, we noticed the grey clouds building and could see rain falling in the upper elevations. The weather is unpredictable here at Red Rock – it could be raining at one trail head, but be clear and sunny on the other end of the Park.

Rain clouds over Turtlehead Peak

Today, we were introducing geocaching to our friends (more on geocaching later). Essentially, geocaching is using your GPS to aid you in locating hidden caches (or treasure boxes from a kids’ perspective). The caches are loosely organized through an online community where the lat-long coordinates of these caches are posted online (www.geocaching.com). We started off from the Lost Creek Trailhead towards the first geocache of the day, a mere 200 meters from the parking area. Just as we found the first cache, the rain changed from mist to drizzle then quickly to downpour.

Rain-swollen clouds at Red Rock Canyon

After waiting a while under a tree that offered some protection against the cold February rain, we made the decision to halt geocaching for the day and to head down to Calico Basin and do some bouldering at Kraft Boulders – we could see from here that Calico Basin seemed to have been spared from the rain, and might even have partly blue skies. We figured we could turn in our GPS and topo map for climbing shoes and a helmet – time to go Bouldering! Just as we parked our car across from Kraft Mountain, the rain subsided and shortly thereafter, the rain stopped altogether! We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon taking the kids bouldering and exploring the area. Another great day at Red Rock – despite the cold rain earlier!