Saturday, November 10, 2024
I would estimate that well over half of the campers here are here to climb. Every person I talked with, on this trip as well as last year in four days here, was here to climb. Red Rock Canyon is apparently on the climbers’ map of places that one needs to go. It’s a climber’s destination, like Joshua Tree NP in California, like the Endless Wall at New River NP in West Virginia, and the Gunks in New Paltz, New York.
Yesterday while hiking, I could see and hear a lot of climbers at various stages going up the rock. The most popular climbing section is two-mile-long stretch of sandstone along the Calico Hills Trail. When walking, I could hear the climbers yelling to each other. It takes a minute to focus in on where they are, as they appear small to tiny against the massive size of the rock. It looks to be an exhilarating sport. I never was inclined to climb like that. I enjoy hiking on red rock, on the horizontal rock formations that are plentiful here along the trails, as well as in places like Canyonlands, Arches, Colorado National Monument, Canyon de Chelly, etc. Camden Hills State Park in Maine has some nice spots, too, overlooking the ocean from up high. This kind of hiking is not limited to the west.
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