Spring Mountain Ranch

Spring Mountain Ranch State Park is near Red Rocks (where we climb) but we'd never stopped there before this trip. It's small but it has some interesting history (past owners include Howard Hughes). We also enjoyed the short walk through the park.



One of the things that made the ranch sought after was that it has water from a number of springs. The lake is artificial but is still a treat in the desert.



A hawk circled overhead, too high for good photos but I tried with the lens I had.



Some of the trees were starting to flower. (Ones that flower before they get leaves.) I love spring time!



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Pronghorn

Pronghorn are one of my favorite animals. What's not to like about a cute animal that's also the fastest land animal in the western hemisphere and is related to giraffes. They have an extensive range from Baja Mexico to Saskatchewan. They are one of the rare conservation successes, at one time down to approximately 12,000 but now back up to over 500,000, although the Baja and Sonoran subspecies are almost extinct Unlike deer, pronghorn have trouble jumping over fences. Instead they go under/through fences. It helps if the bottom wire is barbless or removed.



Driving north on Highway 93 from Ely (bypassing the endless metropolis of Salt Lake City) we passed a large group of pronghorn lying in a field quite close to the road. Shelley was surprised I didn't stop, but I didn't have my camera ready and was already past by the time I recognized them. But I started having second thoughts so when I found a turn off I pulled over and got my camera and long lens out. Coincidentally, there were a few pronghorn across from where we stopped so I photographed them first. But there were only a few and they were quite far from the road. Still, one of them (a male) stood up and watched me closely.

I turned the car around and drove back to the large group. Of course, as soon as I stopped they started to get up and move away. Like hawks, they will sit peacefully if you drive by at 100 km/hr, but if you stop they get skittish. At least they had the courtesy to run somewhat parallel to the road. Usually they'd run directly away from you and all you get are butt shots.

They were a long way from the road and moving, and I was handholding a 900mm equivalent lens, so the photos aren't as sharp as I'd like. But it's still nice to get some shots of them.



This is one of the reasons I prefer not to travel on the interstates. You might see some pronghorn from the interstate, but stopping and turning around would be next to impossible. I enjoy Highway 93 from Las Vegas to Twin Falls, with it's wide valleys and low mountains. Of course, in bad winter conditions you are probably better on the interstates. We ran into a snow storm just before Twin Falls and followed a snow plow past several people in the ditch. Thankfully it was only a short part of our drive.

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Paragliding Jean Ridge, Las Vegas

After the rainy weather in Santa Barbara our best bet for good weather looked like Las Vegas. Usually we come to Las Vegas to climb at Red Rocks. This was our first trip since we learned to paraglide and we were keen to check out the local sites. Jean Ridge looked like the obvious choice - close to town and doable on our own without a second vehicle to shuttle. Driving to the top required a four wheel drive vehicle, but we could get to the bottom in a regular car and then hike up. We tried to contact the local pilots but didn't get any response.



The first day we were the only ones there. We hiked up to the launch about two thirds of the way up the hill where the wind was about 12 mph, no problem to launch. It was forecast to get stronger later so we didn't wait around. Shelley launched first without problems. She went up right away but moved out front and seemed to be doing ok. I launched shortly after. I was more concerned about staying up but the problem turned out to be the opposite - I was soon well over launch and unable to penetrate. Even on full speed bar I slowly drifted back behind launch. On the positive side the air was smooth with no turbulence. I debated whether to turn and run downwind but I wasn't sure what was back there. I landed (if you can call it that) going slowly backwards. If I'd been thinking I would have killed the wing with the rears as soon as I landed. But I wasn't thinking that clearly. I was too busy cursing myself for ending up in this situation. Luckily there wasn't much rotor (turbulence) since the slope was rounded and not too steep and there was a big plateau on top.  It was hard to resist the instinct to flare (pull the brakes) but that's not what you want to do when you're landing backwards. I didn't even attempt to look behind me and steer. Luckily there was only scattered bushes and sand. Since I hadn't killed the wing and there was (obviously) strong wind, I got dragged until the lines caught in the bushes. Thankfully there was no cactus here! Every time I'd untangle some lines the wind would grab the wing and wrap it around a new bush. Eventually I got it free and gathered up. I was about half a kilometer behind launch and then had to walk down the hill. Holding my bunched up wing I couldn't see my feet and the stumbles on the walk down were more painful than the landing!

In hindsight, I obviously should have gone to the top of the hill and checked the wind up there. I knew it would be stronger up top, but didn't think it would be that much stronger. If we could have contacted the locals and got a site briefing that probably would have helped too.

The next time we drove out, the wind was the same at the bottom (about 12 mph) so we hiked up to the top without our gliders. Sure enough it was too strong at the top (over 20 mph). No flying that day.



Our third attempt was on Saturday and there were actually other people flying. Winds were light and they weren't staying up long, but at least we could fly. There wasn't enough wind to ridge soar but there were some small thermals to stretch the flights out.

As we were leaving some other pilots showed up and offered us a ride to the top for another flight. We decided not to go since conditions were getting a little squirrelly. I felt a little guilty about passing up a flight, but it turned out they weren't able to fly due to the winds, so I guess we made the right call.

The next day conditions looked similar (i.e. light and unpredictable). Although it was still the weekend there was no one else at the bottom of the hill when we arrived. But a few minutes later, a truck pulled up. They opened the window and asked "You here to shoot?". We said, "No, we're here to fly". It turns out this is a favorite site for shooting. They can get up to a mile away from the hill. We countered by saying it was a favorite site for paragliding. Eventually they conceded that we'd got there first. Every day we flew here we could hear constant gun fire in the area. A bit disconcerting!

We also got visited by the dirt bikes and ATV's. One time I was coming in to land and was lined up to land on the road right beside the car. Three dirt bikes roared up and stopped to watch me land. The only problem was that they stopped right where I was about to land. I assumed they would clue in and move, but no such luck. I had to shift to the side and land in the bushes instead. They called out "nice job!" and roared away.

Another dirt biker showed up as we were packing up. He asked what we were doing and we explained we were flying off the mountain. But he was more impressed with us getting our Prius up here. (The road is marginal for a car with the clearance of a skateboard!)

Overall I've been pretty happy with my launches this trip. But I had a sketchy launch on my first flight that day. The wind was shifting directions and strength and my wing didn't come up straight. I lowered it almost to the ground, and brought it back up, straight this time. I turned and ran, but the wing again got off to the side. I followed it and steered. You can see in my video that I turned to look at the low wing tip, decided it wasn't too bad and kept going. I got off fine, but the corrections cost me some speed and I barely cleared the boulders below launch. It's a fine line between what you should try to correct and what you should abort and start over.

Jean Ridge is normally a ridge soaring site but unfortunately we didn't get soarable conditions. The wind was either too strong to paraglide or too weak to soar. We did get enough small thermals to stretch out a few flights to about 15 minutes, not bad for a 400 foot hill. One flight I managed to catch a thermal to about 300 feet above launch, but that was the best I did.

Luckily the one time this trip that I actually videoed my flight was the longest flight here. This is a few highlights. For more viewpoints and much more polish see Shelley's video.

White-lined Sphinx Moth

Filling up with gas in Alamo, Nevada I happened to look down and saw a moth half hiding under the gas pump. Of course, I grabbed my camera :-) It took a little nudging to get the moth out from under the pump. It was still alive but not very active. Looking it up later it appears to be a White-lined Sphinx Moth, also known as a Hummingbird Moth. (But not the same as the Hummingbird Hawk-Moth I saw in Europe.) They are listed as abundant but I don't recall seeing one before, or at least not well enough to identify. They have a large range extending from Central America to southern Canada.

I suspect this one was attracted to the lights of the gas station at night.





The pink part only shows when the wings are open. For some reason this moth was opening its wings, perhaps wanting to fly away, although it didn't seem healthy enough for that.





Nice to encounter a piece of nature even in as mundane a place as a gas station.

Springs Preserve, Las Vegas

One of our favorite places in Las Vegas is Springs Preserve. Unlike most people, we stay on the edge of town near Red Rocks (where we climb) and don't visit the strip or go shopping. If you're careful where you go and squint a little, Vegas can almost appear to be a "normal" city (as far as there is such a thing).

It seems a little artificial to go to Springs Preserve instead of just visiting the actual desert but the advantage is that there are a range of habitats and plants concentrated in a small area. And usually birds attracted by the water and flowers, although often just common ones like this House Finch.



I was surprised to see this Great Egret out in the desert, usually they are by the water. Maybe he was hunting lizards.



Later we saw (the same?) one in a more expected spot by the water.



I didn't get any photos of them, but we saw a couple of cormorants fly in and land on the water. Later we saw them take off. They are not the most elegant fliers (better underwater) and they always struggle a bit to take off. But this time, one of them crashed into a bush just past the water! It reappeared and waddled down the beach and back into the water. If it had been me, I would have been hoping no one had seen it happen!

As usual, there were a few hummingbirds around, although not many flowers for them. I couldn't get very close so didn't get great photos.



The most common birds on this visit were Northern Mockingbirds. This one was singing up a storm and let us approach quite close.



Of course, I enjoy the plants as well as the birds. It's a treat to see spring so early in the year (relative to Saskatchewan). Some of the trees were flowering:



And some of the leaves were coming out. I always love the color of new leaves on the trees:



And tall grasses backlit by the sun:



I got frustrated because these ones kept blowing in the wind when I was trying to photograph them. So I switched to a longer exposure and embraced the blur :-)



One of the reasons for the plants and animals here is the water. I'm always fascinated how the reflection of the sun traces lines as the water moves (with a long exposure, in this case 1/30 of a second).



Normally I wouldn't even attempt to photograph hovering insects but this one was surprisingly cooperative. Not sure what kind it is.





Funny to see domestic flowers beside the ocotillo.





Some of the ocotillos had lots of leaves - must be getting water. (In the desert they are bare sticks most of the year.)



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The Road Less Traveled

Next we were headed to Santa Barbara (just north of Los Angeles) for different adventures.

After our climb on Thurs. we were feeling a little worn out so Friday we sport climbed at Civilization crag at the first pullout. Not being too ambitious we led a few easier routes and top roped a couple of harder ones. We also checked out some new easy routes on the backside.

After climbing we drove as far as Pahrump and spent the night in a cottage in the RV park associated with the winery (only in America!) and had a nice supper at the winery restaurant.

Saturday we headed west. The obvious route from Vegas to LA is on the interstate, but that isn't our way. We first headed through Death Valley National Park. We had planned to take a smaller road through part of the park but missed the turnoff, which turned out to be a good thing because when we passed the other end of the road it was closed due to washouts.



We passed an area of large Joshua Trees and stopped to take photos of the flowers. I wonder why the Joshua Trees are much larger in some places than others - presumably some combination of moisture, weather, and soil. The flower clusters are large, these were about the size of a loaf of bread. And the petals (?) are thick and almost rubbery.



Around Bakersfield we passed through various orchards. In one spot the trees were thick with flowers and the petals were covering the ground. The sun was shining but the clouds were dark, making for dramatic lighting.



There had been winter storm warnings for parts of California and several of the roads we took through the mountains weren't recommended in bad weather. Luckily we just got some light rain. The sun shining through the dark storm clouds made for dramatic lighting and we stopped several times to take photographs. The GPS estimate of our arrival time kept getting later with every stop.







It was getting dark by the time we got to Ojai (pronounced oh-high) which was too bad because the steep winding road dropping out of the mountains would be impressive in daylight.

We played our usual game of picking somewhere to stay based solely on location and names in the GPS and ended up at Chantico Inn.

Sunday we had a short drive to Santa Barbara so we went for a walk on the trail connecting Ojai to Ventura. The rain we had encountered in the mountains had made it here overnight and the morning was fresh and clean, the air cool but the sun warm.

We made a stop in Ventura to visit the Great Pacific Iron Works, the original Patagonia retail store and the location where Chouinard started what became Black Diamond and Patagonia.

We had lunch at the restaurant on the pier in Ventura, watching the waves roll onto the beach and the seagulls soar on their endless scavenging rounds.

Our first stop in Santa Barbara was at the zoo, mostly to renew our membership. We wandered a little bit and caught a keeper talk about their two aging Asian elephants. We even got to see the elephants get their daily pedicure :-)

We found our Airbnb apartment without too much trouble. Nothing fancy but a lot more reasonably priced than most other options around here. The California coast isn't a cheap place.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we start learning to fly :-)

See also Shelley's blog post about the drive

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Group Therapy

We decided to do a multi-pitch trad climb called Group Therapy. It was beside a popular route we'd done a couple of times before (and really enjoyed) - Tunnel Vision.

Although it was the same grade as Tunnel Vision, Group Therapy sounded a little more challenging. It had an off-width crack - too small to get inside, but too large to jam a hand or foot. Think knees and elbows and shoulders and jamming feet lengthwise. It also had a big overhang to surmount. And the protection sounded a little sparse. We bought a #4 cam but some people were recommending #5 or larger. But the climbing was rated well within what we should be able to handle so we decided to do it.



We found the start of the route without any trouble. (That can be the first challenge!) Shelley led the first pitch. The description sounded simple - up and left to the base of the off-width. But how far left, and where the heck was the base of the off-width? After some up and down she picked a place to stop and brought me up but it was unsettling not knowing if we were in the right place.

Meanwhile, belaying at the bottom, I was freezing. It had been warm hiking up, but now we were in the shade and it was only about 10c. To make it worse I could see the sun on the bushes about 10 feet away. We froze all the way up, with every belay either out in the breeze or in the back of a cold damp corner. It's hard to do jumping jacks when you're on a little ledge hanging on your harness. Shivering and isometrics are pretty much it.

I headed up the next pitch and it turned out that we were in the right place since I was soon into the off-width. It turned out to be relatively easy - there were enough holds in and beside the crack and it wasn't too steep. There wasn't a lot of protection but it didn't feel too bad.

But the next pitch we were back to not knowing where we were supposed to be. The climbing wasn't too hard but it was frustrating (and worrying) being uncertain. I'm pretty sure we were off route at least some of the time. We found some stuck gear that others had left behind, so we weren't the first to come this way, but it wasn't much reassurance - they were probably off route too!

A pitch that was supposed to be an easy scramble was harder and very run out. The last 35 feet I didn't get any protection. I kept looking down and imagining what a 70 foot fall would be like on this broken terrain. Not pretty. I wasn't a happy camper. The climbing wasn't hard, but that doesn't stop soft sandstone holds from breaking off. I belayed where someone had rappeled off a single nut. That was a little unnerving - did they rappel off because they were off route? I was pretty sure I should have been in the crack / chimney to the left but I hadn't been able to find a way to get over there.

We considered rapping down to where we thought we should be but it would have been a hassle and it looked like the ramp above would get us to the base of the overhang and back on route. And it looked like there would be some protection, at least at first.

Shelley headed up. Unfortunately, there wasn't much protection higher up. Almost at the base of the overhang she went to traverse on a large surf board sized flake. Except once she was hanging on the flake it started to move. There were no screams but I could tell from the panic tinged curses that she was in a bad situation. I was thinking "what can I do?" But there was nothing. My belay was as secure as I could make it. I held tight on the rope, again imagining the consequences of a long lead fall, only this time Shelley and not me. Thinking about the aftermath, I think I'd almost rather be the one to fall than the one to pick up the pieces.

Thankfully (understatement) Shelley managed to get off the flake without dislodging it. I could tell she was freaked out but she kept her s**t together and made the tricky moves above and around the flake and into the chimney at the base of the overhang. She was ready to keep climbing but I knew she had to be shaken and I offered to take over the lead.

She set up a belay and brought me up. I carefully avoided the flake. The moves around it weren't easy and I was impressed that Shelley had kept her cool on it. Not easy when the adrenaline is pumping.

The flake was an accident waiting to happen and I would have liked to kick it off but we had no idea if anyone was below us.

After my run out pitch and Shelley's close call I was a little psyched out myself. The overhang above us looked intimidating. I took a couple of minutes to catch my breath and get my head together.

The chimney up through the overhang wasn't too bad. I indulged my bad habit of jamming myself too far in so I feel more secure and don't feel so exposed. Of course, once you're wedged in securely it gets hard to move, making it more of a struggle than it really needs to be. On the positive side, thrashing up the chimney was the only time on the whole climb when I was warm! Again the protection wasn't great but a little creativity found me a few placements. I could have used the big cam but Shelley had it in the belay so I used the biggest hex, old school :-)

determined to lead the last pitch

In the spirit of getting back on the horse, Shelley led the last (easy) pitch. It felt good to be finished the climb. But, as any climber will tell you, getting to the top is only half the battle. We still had to get down. And having flailed on the route and wasted a lot of time, it was now 3:30 and the gate closed at 5:00. So we had no time to relax or eat lunch.

The descent was mostly straightforward since it was a walk off and we'd done it before. But first we had to find a way to get to the descent gully. I traversed right but was blocked by cliffs. I came back and tried to go left. That didn't work either. We descended and crawled through a tunnel under some huge blocks to get into a gulley that led downward. Unfortunately it ended in a cliff as well. Back up the gully and over into another only to reach another drop off. Except this one had rap slings and at the bottom we could see the path in the descent gully. Thankfully the remainder of the descent went smoothly and we made it out before they locked the gate.

Don't get the wrong idea, this wasn't some epic dramatic adventure. Just a moderate climb that we fumbled on a bit and had a close call on. I doubt we'll do this particular route again, but we'll no doubt do other multi-pitch trad routes, hopefully in a smoother more enjoyable style!

NOTE: If you're looking for a more gentle introduction to multi-pitch trad at Red Rocks you might want to try Johnny Vegas - shorter, easier route finding, well protected, bolted belays, and a straightforward bolted rap route down.

See also Shelley's post about this climb

Climbing Friends

Ha ha, fooled you. You thought I was going to talk about actual human friends. But you should know I don't really like humans. Here are a couple of our usual climbing friends at Red Rocks.







These little (3 to 4") side-blotched lizards are commonly seen scurrying away as you walk along the trails. It was nice to see them out again since it meant the weather was a little warmer!

Vegas Hikes

Sunday morning we headed out to climb. The forecast was for rain but supposedly not till the afternoon. We climbed Man's Best Friend at Sandstone Quarry as a warm up, planning to head to Ragged Edges afterwards, but it was already starting to rain so we bailed.

Monday morning we awoke to snow on the ground! Snow in Vegas, who'd a thunk it! We decided to visit Clark County Wetlands Park. Unfortunately, it's on the opposite side of town from Red Rocks so it was a bit of a drive. It was cold and windy, but we had a nice walk and enjoyed seeing rabbits and various birds. The nature center was nice as well.









Since we were over on the west side of town we decided to continue on to Valley of Fire State Park. It was getting later in the afternoon so we just did the short hike into Mouses Tank (and a bit beyond). Unfortunately, with the cold weather there weren't any lizards or even insects around. The rain will likely trigger some good wildflowers but not till after we're gone.





Tuesday was sunny and a bit warmer, but we still couldn't climb because we had to wait for the snow to melt and the rock to dry out (the sandstone gets soft when wet). We decided to do the hike around the Calico Hills, starting at Red Springs. There was a bit of easy scrambling to keep it interesting. When we got around to Sandstone Quarry we were amazed to find the parking lot empty. We later find out they had closed the road for the morning. Not sure why, but probably related to the snow and rain causing problems. I didn't take too many photos on the first half of the hike. That may have had something to do with stupidly whacking my knee on a rock hard enough to trigger an instant of nausea and a limp for the rest of the day. Luckily I don't seem to have done any lasting damage! It was a change to find so much water in the desert.







We finished the hike by early afternoon so afterwards we wandered around the Downtown Summerlin mall. The only place of much interest was the Apple Store, but since there are no new products even that wasn't too exciting. I did manage to find a few things to take photos of, including a few reflections :-)



Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to get back to climbing.

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