A Beautiful November Day on the Calico Peaks
Today's hike was a scramble among three peaks in the Calico Hills of Red Rock Canyon NCA starting out of Sandstone Quarry. Mike and Lazlo offer these photos and Mike contributes the interpretation of today's event.
"...and the skies were not cloudy all day." Nor was there a
breath of wind. An absolutely stunning November day. Which was reason
enough to bag three peaks on a Tuesday morning. So 10 trekkers (nine
dudes and a damsel) rambled out of Sandstone Quarry en route to Peak #1,
Red Cap via the back door. That would be the approach on the north
side of the Calico Hills. In the early morning shade. It was up the
third class slot, then a cautious step on a manmade cairn to attain the
plateau. Take pictures, sign register, go to Peak #2.
Red Cap Summit Photo
That would be Calico Peak, a mere 30 minutes east of Red Cap. But on
the way, the group would encounter the fabled "Triple D," the Diane
Dempsey Descent. Most used arms and legs for the down climb; some
preferred the 'Derriere slide.' Whatever works. All negotiated the
section safely. Calico Peak now loomed just above us. Once again sign
register, eat lunch, tell a few war stories and move on. Gazing due
south, we spied our third and final peak of the day--Calico II Overlook.
Andiamo!
The Diane Dempsey Descent
After the first two peaks, the third was a piece of cake. An easy
scramble down to the huge tenaja followed by a gentle climb to Calico
II. Magnificent panoramas from here as the entire Red Rock valley lay
beneath us. No time for complacency however, as the tricky Calico II
descent still awaited us. Carefully, we dropped into the canyon and
wended our way back to the base. An anticlimactic one-mile trek back to
Sandstone Quarry and the clockwise loop was complete.
Descent from Calico Tank to Calico II
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