After 5 days at Indian Creek and word from my new employer that my start date would still be a few weeks out, I continued my journey southwest to Red Rocks outside of Vegas. Our friend Dick lives in town and was game for some climbing, so Pente and I arrived in Red Rocks on Monday afternoon. Dick and I went out for dinner and schemed up some climbing plans for the next 5-6 days.
Our first day out we went to the Adventure Punks area and did the first 4 pitches of this very cool route. The climbing was interesting and varied, and kept my full attention in several spots, especially the first pitch. Good stuff. After that we headed over and did the first two pitches of a route called Challenger, which indeed was challenging, with unusual and strenuous climbing in a somewhat remote setting.
Next on the list was a route called "Texas Hold 'em" in Black Velvet Canyon. This route is 9 pitches long and sports some pretty hard stuff, so I wasn't sure of the end result, but it was certainly worth a go. The first 6 pitches went well and we both enjoyed the climbing, despite some pretty windy conditions. 
The crux 7th pitch rebuffed a few attempts to unlock the unusual 5.11c crux, so we rapped after climbing about 750' of the route. A fun day despite not being able to complete the route (getting old and recovering from arm surgery ain't for sissies :-)
The following day we went to the Calico Hills area to climb some good quality single pitch routes that included a long corner route called The Fox and a very cool roof route called Risk Brothers Roof. The next day was a rest day complete with some gorging at the local casino buffet.
Our last adventure for the week was the Original Route on the Rainbow Wall. I've been putting this one off for many years due to it's difficulty and remote nature, but I figured it was time to give it a go! Dick was up for the adventure, so off we went at sunrise. After a good calorie burning 1:50 hike in, you are at the base of a beautiful 1200' wall that sits in a commanding cirque like feature. 
Great views, amazing place! The first pitch is hard, this route is tough right from the start! This pitch went well, but was certainly challenging. The second pitch was harder and as I was contemplating the crux, a crew of 3 climbers showed up at the base and started up the same route - too early in my opinion and a bit rude given the nature and location of the route.
Having them crowd Dick at the belay and break my concentration on the pitch by asking if they could pass us at the next belay was just enough to take away my focus and psyche, so we decided to avoid the cluster that was about to happen. We rapped down and re grouped, then hiked over and climbed Nightcrawler, which is a great 4 pitch classic!
A really fun week of climbing and rest days, with excellent weather overall!
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