crag log, red rocks Nevada (Vegas baby!)

After resting Sunday from the adventures in Utah, Sunday I met up with a guide from Jackson Hole Mountaineering Guides. Three years ago, I came to Vegas with girlfriends and we did the usual: gambled, partied, saw a Cirque du Soleil show, drank, danced, saw the Hoover dam, and then the not so typical: sky-dived and took a hike into Bureau of Land Management's (aka Bureau of Livestock and Mining) Red Rock Canyon and I found myself drooling at the climbing routes in the beautiful red sandstone of Vegas's best-kept secret. Being impaired with a tender ankle, my guide and I forgoed Froglands which had the more strenuous approach and aimed for Dark Shadows, a four-pitch 5.8 which we did in three pitches, the last being the shortest. Super fun, the rock was super slick, steep, and black looking but the fissures provided some of the best crack-climbing ever. After rapelling one pitch, my guide let me have a go at Slot Machine (5.10c) which I got up only half way with a lot of help. We lowered down one more pitch where I climbed another sweet crack, a 5.9/5.8 who's name I've forgotten.