When we first drove in to Red Rocks we were greeted by rain, and our first day there was filled with a ton more rain, followed by rain the next night in the form of wonderful thunderstorms! I have never done any technical climbing on sandstone, but the first rule seems to be DO NOT CLIMB ON WET ROCKS! When I woke up to sun on our second full day there, I thought for a second that we could still climb, but upon further research it seems you should wait at least 24-36 hours… I knew that climbing wouldn’t be an option.
However, there are still tons of fun non-climbing options in the area. Ever since I started working on the Desert Peak Section list of peaks, I was very excited about the possibility of an ascent of Bridge Mountain! The scrambling looked really fun, and it seemed like a good post-rain option
To get to the trailhead, we took the Willow Springs turn-off from the Red Rocks Scenic loop. Theoretically, if you have a solidly off-road capable vehicle you can get within a few miles of the summit. But, the Subaru Forester was not up to the challenge (or my driving abilities were not up to the challenge) and we parked only a mile or so in to the dirt road… which meant the hike would be 14 miles versus 6 miles…
We started out from the car at the very “early” hour of 10am
And started up the very pretty road… for about five miles until Red Rock Summit where we could find the official trailhead.
We even saw some hail left over from the last night’s thunderstorms! Pretty cool, and overall the air temperature was on the cool to comfortable side. A nice change from my normal summer desert experiences
Finally, we got to the official trailhead, where we found a collection of various Jeeps that actually made the trip. Maybe I need a car upgrade!
At this point we turned east and followed a well-worn trail up a ridge to meet the main north-south ridgeline where we would get the first view of our objective
And, finally, we saw Bridge Mountain! I have to say that my first view was pretty intimidating. The face looked pretty much verticle and not paticlarly obtainable by a third class route. But, as with a lot of mountain adventures, we pressed on figuring we would go as far as we could before turning around, defeated.
As we hiked on over and along the N-S ridge, down to the saddle of Bridge Mountain, the views only got better and better
The sandstone had hundreds of hues of beautiful color and georgous formations. I kept having to stop and admire the beauty of the place, and the open views of Vegas in the background.
As we started descending to the saddle, the trail ended and a series of ducks marked the way down. It’s also where the climbing started getting FUN and interesting. Here is Erik looking down at the next trail marker… and heading down.
The views of Pine Canyon to the south opened up and were stunning. It made me want to come back one day and explore the lower reaches of that canyon.
There were a few exposed sections on the way down, but nothing more than class 3, and all of it really solid and fun.
But apparently I did have to put on my concentration face for some of the more interesting moves
Once we actually got to the saddle, we got the full view of our next objective, a 200 foot crack, that appeared to be the crux of the route. I was excited that up close the crack looked a lot more do-able than it did from afar!
Here is Erik starting up the fun part!
And since he went up first, got some good photos of me ascending the route. Honestly, there was some exposure but tons and tons of hand and foot holds. It felt like climbing a stone ladder. I used a combination of the crack and the face on the right hand side.
Finally the crack system ended, and the terrain leveled out a bit. We got a view of the eponymous bridge.
At this point there are two ways that you can get to the next step, one is heading to the right, then crossing the bridge right to left (which Erik took) and the other is to head under the bridge to a steep slab and use a dead tree to climb. I took the later option and it was steep, but a ton of fun.
After we “crossed the bridge” we got a tad bit turned around, as the next few hundred feet looked impossible from far away. But the DPS guide lead us around the hidden forrest to a series of steep slabs. Ducks lead the way, and we kept putting one foot in front of the other. There was some serious exposure (don’t trip !!!) but the rock was really grippy, and overall the climbing was easier than it looks.
After navigating a series of ledges and slabs, we got to the summit where we were greeted by fantastic views of Vegas, Red Rocks, and the surrounding mountains. The whole thing was very well ducked, and marked.
We even got to eat lunch of sardines and corn chips, and took a photo together
Both of us were excited to get the hardest parts of the descent over with
Seriously, don’t trip
I felt a lot better once the steep slabs were over, I’m not a fan of friction in running shoes on the best day.. now just for the crack section
During our descent we ran in to the only other person also climbing the mountain, he was climbing up as we were coming down. (Hello, Shane) He had left his backpack before the challenging climbing, and it looked a lot more enjoyable to climb without the weight or cumbersome stuff on your back.
Once we let him pass, we continued going down… which amazingly was a lot easier than coming up. It’s comforting to be able to wedge yourself in the crack and use stemming moves to get down
With the changing light, the cliffs were perfectly lit to highlight their amazing shapes
The way back up the saddle and to the ridge was a lot easier now, when compared to the more intense scrambling we just did… but still, it looks impressive
Here is the mountain looking back, with Los Vegas in the background
Finally, we found the trail proper again, and entered the pinion-juniper forest, that also had these really cool agave plants.
After gaining the ridge, and finishing all the uphill for the trip, we made an impromptu trip up to North Peak, only a 0.3 mile detour. It was a fun easy side trip and worth the minor effort for another summit register and the good views of the peak we just climbed.
After that the rest of the trip was just a relaxing walk down a trail, then down a road. In total the whole thing took us about 8 hours, 14.7 miles and 5K feet of elevation gain according to my watch. What a great day!
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