Black Velvet Peak O&B

Black Velvet Peak from limestone Approach

Climbing Mountain Springs Peak

Starting the Sandstone Scramble

Ralyn climbs up through the Rabbit Hole

From the southern end of the Red Rock escarpment (Sandstone Bluffs) the peaks rise at South Peak, Hollow Rock Peak, Windy Peak ... and next comes Black Velvet Peak. Black Velvet is mostly known for its world class climbing walls. However, it is possible to hike to the peak with a small bit of difficulty and a lot of nerve! Cheryl and Jerry took photos, wrote the narrative as below and led the group through the route. Quite the accomplishment! 

There were eleven hikers that met at the Mountain Springs parking lot for a strenuous hike up to Mountain Springs Peak and then on to Black Velvet Peak. It was another beautiful day with temps in the low 50s starting out which helped with the climb up Heartbreak Hill. Everyone was talking about the long summer and what they did to escape the heat. Once we got to the communication tower everyone stripped off their jackets. The group of strong hikers got up to the junction quickly and we turned left onto the trail to Mountain Springs Peak. We made it up to the peak in short order and had a short break. We then started down the broad ridge line towards Black Velvet Peak. 

Coming out of the rabbit Hole

Rabbit hole with a View

Emerging from the Rabbit Hole

There is a seldom used social trail here which we followed down to the sandstone. Once on the sandstone some of us ditched our poles and started scrambling up towards the summit. Right away there was some exposure on the sandstone slabs. It was best to just look at your feet and not down the drop offs. We scrambled over the sandstone up towards the rabbit hole. Everyone got through the rabbit hole with no assistance except for encouraging words from their fellow hikers. After the rabbit hole there was a tricky class 3 down climb which took a little time to negotiate. After this was a large sub peak obstacle with two ways to get around it. Going to the right you had a tricky slanted climb up an exposed slab and going left you had to climb a class 3 chute and go around a corner with some spectacular exposure down to the canyon floor. 

Taking a break before Continuing

3rd class down Climb

More sandstone Scramble

 We decided to take the latter route (gulp!). At this point two hikers elected to stay behind and wait for us to return on our way back. We continued past this obstacle and the going was a little easier until we reached the summit block area which consisted of three separate peaks. Of course, the highest peak was the third one we came to. The going was slow here and two more hikers decided to stay behind. We were very happy to finally reach the summit but were disappointed to find no register to sign. We took our group photo, had a snack and started our hike out scrambling back across the sandstone until we reached the steep hill to the saddle and the limestone crest trail that would lead to the cars. While this last hill entailed hiking up 800 feet on tired legs everyone did so without complaint. However, we did notice that once we got to the crest trail and it was all down hill from there, everyone was very cheerful and we chatted all the way back. A great hike with a super group of hikers. ~Jerry and Cheryl Thomas

Hiking time 6 hrs 30 minutes, 7 miles, 2300 ft elevation gain.

Summit photo with 7 out of 11 Hikers

Interesting spot on the way Back

Another interesting Spot!

Blue Diamond Canyon 5 / Goatroper Loop - 10/20/24

Cairn at start of Old Mining Roads / Top of Canyon 5

Deep part of Canyon 5

Ebb & Flow Trail with Sandstone Bluffs in Background

Starting out trail above Canyon 5

There are many hikes to do out of Wheeler Camp Springs Trailhead! We put together another hike from there using our explorations and suggestions and I think it's a real winner. I would like to put a fancy name on it but I tend to stick to the more descriptive monikers. We parked at the trailhead that is the next right turn after a large brown sign telling you to not feed the burros, if you are traveling toward Blue Diamond from the Red Rock visitor center. (If you are traveling the other direction, it is the next left turn after the mine road turns off to the right.) This trailhead is yet another "hidden" dirt turnout that forces you to slow down to find it. To begin the hike, cross SR 159, step over the fence and follow the bike tracks down into the wash on the right.

Bikers' bridge on Trail

Climbing up trail above Canyon 5

Rita on Canyon 5 Trail

Heading up Canyon 5 Wash

The bike trail takes you up the wide wash and turns you to the left to go up the hill. It continues along the wash and Canyon 5. If you choose to hike up the deep canyon, you will come to a very difficult class 3 scramble that I have only managed to climb up with help twice! Your choice! The trail takes you above the deepest part of the canyon and dumps you back into the wash. Continue hiking up the main part of the wash with a few class 2 scrambles. When you come to a wide fork in the wash that has rocks in the middle that look like the ones in the photo below, take the left fork. There are a few more small scrambles as you continue up. Reaching 2 miles into your hike, there is a wash that turns to the left. Taking this wash will keep you within Red Rock boundaries. 

Left turn junction in Canyon 5

Upper part of Canyon 5

White Rock mining road Marker to Right

Wooden post marker to Left

However, you will miss some interesting terrain and dangerous small air holes by not hiking over the hill in front of you to the left. (You will also miss the snake that Rita spied on her way over!) At any rate, again it is your choice. We chose to hike around this hill on the old mine roads since we didn't know until later that we were drifting out of bounds. We passed a large cairn on the right (see first photo) and came to a large flat white rock standing on its side. This white rock marks another old mine road. Directly across from the White Rock Road is the continuation of the road that circles up and around that little hill. We chose to take another old mine road up the hill to see what we could see. In the end, we discovered air holes, hills of dirt, fossils and the Red Rock boundary sign! Having seen enough, we eyed the easy hill to our west and decided to climb that hill up to the Goatroper bike trail that we knew was there. On the way up, we saw a large part of the present mining operation in the distance to our right and a large cairn as we neared the trail. We reached the trail at about 3 miles into the hike. Feeling very comfortable on the bike trail, we turned to the left and began our descent from what was to be our high point.

Interesting Stuff (spelling correction = brachiopod)

Alternate approach inside boundaries during crossover to Bushwhack Hill

Up canyon from crossover to Bushwhack Hill

Rita easily climbs Bushwhack Hill

The Goatroper Trail is a long trail that can be accessed at the top near the Cowboy Trails Trailhead. Used mostly by bikers with helmets on (!), the trail travels downhill from an overlook on a cliff above some of the mining operation. It zigzags in and out along the contours of a low-rising ridge as it descends toward SR 159 in the Blue Diamond / Bonnie Springs area. The views this trail affords are quite nice in the Bird Spring Formation. This geographic formation contains fossils from the Carboniferous and Permian periods. The Carboniferous period is often referred to as the Age of Amphibians. During this period, forests and swamps covered the land eventually becoming coal beds. (Wikipedia). 

Cairn near Goatroper Trail Junction

Starting down Goatroper Trail

Picturesque Goatroper bike Trail

Goatroper approach to Saddle

The Permian period began at the collapse of the Carboniferous period. This collapse left vast areas of desert where amniotes were much better at adapting. During the Permian, there were 3 or 4 mass extinctions and it took 30 million years, on into the Triassic era for ecosystems to recover. The fossils found in the Bird Springs Formation are some of the leftovers from this time. The Bird Spring Formation extends throughout much of the Red Rock Canyon NCA.

    We descended the Goatroper Trail for 0.7 miles until we came to a saddle resting between another canyon to the west. Here, as we have done before, we descended to that canyon finding the Ebb & Flow Trail.

Goatroper Trail Saddle / Exit canyon on Right

Ebb & Flow Trail at bottom of bushwhack Descent

Ebb & Flow Trail descending around toward Trailhead

Ebb & Flow crossing over to Trailhead

Another bike trail, the Ebb & Flow Trail has beautiful views. As the name implies, this trail also zigzags in and out among the contours of the hills. It circles around the ridge to the east and finally crosses the desert to join the Canyon 5 trail. A short hike back out the Canyon 5 wash returned us to our cars. Excellent hike!

Stats: 6 miles; 750' gain; 4.25 hours

Sandstone Bluffs from Ebb & Flow Trail

Ebb & Flow Trail flattens Out

Exiting through Canyon 5 Wash

Guardian Angel Loop (aka Red Springs Loop) - 10/17/24

The Guardian Angel Carving

 

The end of the descent Canyon

Rabbithole at Angel Pass

Starting out from Red Springs Picnic Area

As we drift slowly into the lower elevations for the cooler seasons, the temperature is dropping fast as I speak. It will become a little warmer after the cold front passes through but, alas, it is time for us to think about moving the hikes back to Red Rock Canyon NCA. So, we started from the Red Springs Picnic Area and headed northward around the Calico Hills and into the first large canyon on the left. This canyon has a few use trails that climb up to the pass above, Guardian Angel Pass. Usually, we climb up a trail on the left side of the canyon but, for this hike, we stayed to the right for much of the climb. It was interesting to change up the route. We followed David Hardy at a fast pace getting a good workout as we scrambled.

Steep Scrambling

View back down ascent Canyon

Taking a breather at Angel Pass

The descent Scramble

Descending on the other side of the pass has fewer use trails. In fact, there is only one way to get through the boulders and brush several times. But, it is almost impossible to miss the angel carving on the side of a large rectangular boulder as you near the bottom. We passed this and continued all the way down to the Calico Wash to turn left. After passing the usual snack area above, we crossed over to the left side of the wash on the rock shelf. This "trail" led us through the rock slot and up to the upper and former Grand Circle Trail. We dropped down and climbed up to the Calico I area and dropped down the other side to continue either in the wash or around on the parallel trail to the petroglyph area below some more climbing walls.

Reaching the Guardian Angel Carving

Starting down through the Calico Wash

Rock climber sandblasting some Graffiti (Thanks)

Climbing up to take the upper Route

From the bottom of the hill, we climbed up to the overlook saddle that rises above the Red Springs parking lot where we saw a group of rock climbers that appeared to be learning how to rappel (french) or abseilen (german) or, in english, to rope down. It was a fun hike as everyone was giving it their best effort to keep up with the fast pace.

Stats: 3.5 miles; 1000' gain; 3 hours

Sliding down the Dryfall

Following the Calico Wash

Finishing the hike by way of the Overlook