Birdland Trip Report

Avery and Morgan drove into Las Vegas to meet Andrew and Karissa for some rock climbing at Red Rock. Since Andrew and Karissa were flying in from the East Coast, they sent all their gear in the trunk well of Morgan’s Tesla.

There was a big storm right before Christmas which continued until the 26th and the rain soaked the rock. Red Rock is sandstone, which shouldn’t be climbed on while wet. Andrew read that after it rains, you have to wait at least 24 hours – but sometimes up to 72 hours before it’s safe to climb. This is because sandstone is more fragile than other types of rock like granite and holds can break off if it’s not dry. This is not only unsafe for climbers, but it can change the route for anyone that climbs after you.

Andrew was worried that the rock would still be wet on the 29th when they intended to climb. After reading a bunch of forecasts, it seemed like it would be a 50/50 whether it would rain again and doom the trip. In the gambling spirit of Las Vegas, they decide to keep their flights and meet Avery and Morgan who were already in Nevada.

Andrew and Karissa arrived midday on the 28th and the weather was still good! Andrew had found a new site WetRockPolice that said that it was ok to climb in the canyon. The forecast for the 29th was good, although the 30th – the second planned climbing day was forecasted to be wet.

Andrew, Karissa, and Avery arrived at Red Rock just after 8AM on the 29th. They wanted to climb 5 pitches on Birdland 5.7+. When they arrived at the Pine Creek Canyon Parking Lot, there were only a few other vehicles. It was a beautiful day for climbing – blue skies and a little chilly. Avery and Karissa both had on their long underwear. As they got geared up, Avery said that even if every other car in the lot was doing Birdland, it probably wouldn’t be too crowded to do it.

Just as they finished putting on their gear, another couple appeared at the parking lot with climbing gear. It was obvious that they had just hiked out from the climbing area. Avery and Andrew asked them why they were back so early. They said that they had wanted to climb Birdland, but had hiked all the way out there (45 mins) and found that the ground was wet at the base of the climb. This is concerning because the ground wetness is an indicator of how wet the rock is. They made the call not to climb and were heading back into town to get the limestone guidebook.

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This was extremely disappointing news! Avery and Andrew discussed back up plans. Avery took a look at her backup routes of Olive Oil and Tunnel Vision, but neither seemed like they would have a better chance than Birdland of being dry. The Birdland couple drove off and another car drove in full of climbers. Andrew and Avery decided to get a second opinion from them. There was a local in the group who said that Birdland should be fine and is also the most likely climb to be dry. His group was planning on climbing Geronimo in Juniper Canyon.

Andrew wanted to at least check out Birdland, so Avery and Karissa put their gear back on and everyone headed off down the approach trail.

On the trail, there were definitely some damp patches. This was not encouraging. By the time they arrived at the base of Birdland, it was 10:30AM and Andrew called the rock DRY ENOUGH. This was probably over 3 hours of sun since the other group checked the route.

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At the bottom of the climb- Avery, Karissa, and Andrew each took a radio. Karissa clipped hers to her backpack shoulder. Andrew told her that he had dropped radios in the past that way and it wasn’t a good spot to put it. Karissa ignored him and clipped it anyway.

Avery got ready to lead the first pitch. It was a 5.6, but being nervous about the rock, Avery was careful not to use any of the smaller flaky holds. Midway up the route, it did seem like the rock was totally dry though. After an uneventful first pitch, Avery clipped into the bolted anchors and belayed Andrew and Karissa up simultaneously on their own ropes. Karissa got to the top first, Andrew being slowed down by having to remove all of Avery’s well placed nuts ;).

Upon reaching the top, Karissa took off her pack and shoes. While maneuvering to swap her shoes, she let out a yelp as the radio plummeted to its death over 100ft below. Karissa was sad that she would have to admit Andrew was right. Avery was sad that her radio was gone and that they had littered Red Rock with plastic trash.

Andrew decided he would lead the next 5.7 pitch. He started off by squeezing into the chimney and grunting as he progressed up the route. Feeling mild panic, Andrew shoved himself into every body jam available on the 110ft pitch. One of these knocked off his radio too! It turned out that despite telling Karissa not to clip Avery’s radio to her backpack, Andrew had also ended up clipping his radio to his backpack! Avery and Karissa recovered it at the bottom of pitch 2. Radioless, Andrew had to shout down to see how many pieces he had already placed. By the time he got to the top, he had only 1 draw left! He knew he was done climbing for the day!

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Avery and Karissa chatted on the top of pitch 1 while Andrew was climbing. Above them, the sun receded and grey clouds rolled in. Mid pitch, Avery said she saw a raindrop and then another. Karissa said she didn’t see any. Then she realized that the small things that were falling were snow flakes! The rock that Karissa had been recently sunning herself on grew cold. Avery and Karissa were really glad they were wearing their long underwear. In light of the weather change, they figured they would just climb pitch 2 and retrieve the gear and then bail from the top of pitch 2 instead of continuing up.

As Avery and Karissa took off from the bottom of pitch 2, another couple appeared at the top of pitch 1. The guy asked if they were going to continue the route or bail due to the afternoon storm. This convinced them that they were going to have to cut the day short.

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At the top of the climb, Andrew was relieved to hear that they were done climbing for the day. They set up the two ropes to rappel to the bottom of the route in one go. Since Avery was closest to the anchor, she went first down the ropes. The ropes were stuck in several places along pitch 2, so Avery radioed back up that they should rap each pitch separately to try to avoid being at the bottom of the route with a stuck rope. Andrew agreed and Avery stopped rappelling at the top of pitch 1.

While waiting for everyone to rap pitch 2, Avery flaked the rope and chatted with the guy’s partner. She said that they had also not been sure about the rock, but it was their last day and he had really wanted to climb Red Rock (they were also from out of town). They had also found Avery’s radio at the base and put it in their bag.

At the base of the climb, Avery retrieved the radio from the backpack. While waiting for Andrew and Karissa to rappel, she also found 1 battery and the back of the radio 5 ft from base of the climb. The radio was in really good shape for falling off the cliff. There was a small scuff on the bottom of the radio. When Avery put in the batteries from the radio she had been carrying, it still worked!! To atone for losing two AAA batteries, Avery found two pieces of plastic trash to carry out. Karissa and Avery were both impressed that there was an overall lack of trash at Red Rock.

On the hike back out, Avery spotted another battery over 60ft from where she found the first battery. They never found the last battery. The promised afternoon storm, rolled in around 3pm. While it was snowing at Birdland, on the hike out, it was raining. Avery really wanted to go to the Visitor Center to get a poster. Despite having been to Red Rock several times, she had never made it there due to the hours being quite short. They made it there 20 mins before close. Avery got her poster and Karissa got a Christmas ornament.

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