Ascending the Calico Tanks Trail
Feb. 22nd, 2023 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerNorth Las Vegas Travelog #3
Red Rock Canyon NCA - Sat, 18 Feb 2023, 10am
We got up early this morning to hike in Red Rock Canyon, a favorite outdoors area near Las Vegas. We visited a few vista points then started the Calico Tanks trail (previous blog). The trail follows a gravel wash to start. It skirts the bottom of the Calico Hills and seems not that interesting. Past a fork that leads to the top of Turtlehead Peak the Calico Tanks trail turns to head up a red rock canyon and starts to get interesting.
The pic above shows one of many vistas from the lower reaches of the canyon we climbed. The gray mountain in the background is Turtlehead Peak. I think the sandstone structure in the foreground, though, actually looks like a turtle. You can see its head rising up on the right, with its forelegs to the left and right of that.
After the canyon narrows, it's climb, climb, climb.
Most of the climbing is directly on natural rock. In a few places there are rock stairs built for the trail. In others you just walk/scramble up the sandstone. In places where it gets steep there are steps carved into the rock. The pic above shows one of these steeper parts. They're enough of a challenge to be fun without being dangerous or overly difficult for moderately prepared hikers.
As we climbed higher into the canyon we found a small surprise: ice! In some places a few inches of water had pooled along the trail and frozen over. The weather in Las Vegas took a cold turn early in the week.... Recall flights on Tuesday were a mess because of high winds and snow!
Temperatures have been running several degrees lower than average since then. Down in Las Vegas at 2,000' elevation that has meant daytime highs around 55° this week (13° C) and overnight lows of 39° (4° C). Up here in this canyon, around elev. 4,500', temps likely run 8-10° cooler, making it possible for ice to last in shady places like this. On the higher peaks in the far distance you can see significant snow cover remains from Tuesday.
BTW, this particular ice puddle was frozen over, not sitting in chunks or cubes, 60 seconds earlier. One of the youngsters in the group ahead of us smashed up all the ice with loose rocks because, hey, when you see a thing of natural beauty, you either (a) appreciate it and leave it for others to enjoy, or (b) destroy it if you can. Sadly there are two types of people.
Fortunately for us there were bigger patches of ice farther up, patches too big for philistines to destroy!
This pic shows the actual Calico Tank, the thing this trail is named for. Water naturally pools here. The lowest lip on this rocky bowl is at least 20' high. We've only ever seen a few inches to maybe of foot of water in the basin. This trip it was frozen over with ice at least 2" thick. That was enough to foil the countless philistines trying their darnedest to smash through it with every loose rock within 50' they could heft.
Keep reading: Amazing Views Atop Calico Rocks!
Red Rock Canyon NCA - Sat, 18 Feb 2023, 10am
We got up early this morning to hike in Red Rock Canyon, a favorite outdoors area near Las Vegas. We visited a few vista points then started the Calico Tanks trail (previous blog). The trail follows a gravel wash to start. It skirts the bottom of the Calico Hills and seems not that interesting. Past a fork that leads to the top of Turtlehead Peak the Calico Tanks trail turns to head up a red rock canyon and starts to get interesting.
The pic above shows one of many vistas from the lower reaches of the canyon we climbed. The gray mountain in the background is Turtlehead Peak. I think the sandstone structure in the foreground, though, actually looks like a turtle. You can see its head rising up on the right, with its forelegs to the left and right of that.
After the canyon narrows, it's climb, climb, climb.
Most of the climbing is directly on natural rock. In a few places there are rock stairs built for the trail. In others you just walk/scramble up the sandstone. In places where it gets steep there are steps carved into the rock. The pic above shows one of these steeper parts. They're enough of a challenge to be fun without being dangerous or overly difficult for moderately prepared hikers.
As we climbed higher into the canyon we found a small surprise: ice! In some places a few inches of water had pooled along the trail and frozen over. The weather in Las Vegas took a cold turn early in the week.... Recall flights on Tuesday were a mess because of high winds and snow!
Temperatures have been running several degrees lower than average since then. Down in Las Vegas at 2,000' elevation that has meant daytime highs around 55° this week (13° C) and overnight lows of 39° (4° C). Up here in this canyon, around elev. 4,500', temps likely run 8-10° cooler, making it possible for ice to last in shady places like this. On the higher peaks in the far distance you can see significant snow cover remains from Tuesday.
BTW, this particular ice puddle was frozen over, not sitting in chunks or cubes, 60 seconds earlier. One of the youngsters in the group ahead of us smashed up all the ice with loose rocks because, hey, when you see a thing of natural beauty, you either (a) appreciate it and leave it for others to enjoy, or (b) destroy it if you can. Sadly there are two types of people.
Fortunately for us there were bigger patches of ice farther up, patches too big for philistines to destroy!
This pic shows the actual Calico Tank, the thing this trail is named for. Water naturally pools here. The lowest lip on this rocky bowl is at least 20' high. We've only ever seen a few inches to maybe of foot of water in the basin. This trip it was frozen over with ice at least 2" thick. That was enough to foil the countless philistines trying their darnedest to smash through it with every loose rock within 50' they could heft.
Keep reading: Amazing Views Atop Calico Rocks!
