Kraft Mountain Loop CCW - 10/26/21

North Side of Lower Gateway Canyon

Turtlehead Peak view Up Canyon

South Side of Kraft Mountain Peak

Hiking out the Loop Approach

The Kraft Mountain Loop is normally hiked / scrambled in a clockwise direction. This puts the steep 5 Stop Hill in the beginning of the hike. Afterwards, the remaining hike is dessert; a gradual descent of colorful sandstone with familiar drops and scrambles that slightly change from year to year. Today, the Fearsome Foursome hiked / scrambled the loop in a counterclockwise direction like we have seen numerous others do in the past. However, with the exception of Mike who did the canyon in this direction years ago, we were all newbies! We parked at the Kraft Mountain Trailhead located at the end of Sandstone Drive in the Calico Basin of Red Rock Canyon NCA. After saying hello to an old friend, we headed out the trail at the bottom end of the lot.

"Birthing" Petroglyphs

Circling the South end of Kraft Mountain

Visit to Lettie's Lounge

Start of Scrambling

Recently, a group (maybe Susan Murphy's) has worked on this trail. There were rocks lining the trail with clear directions on which of the many social trails to take. We T-ed into the Kraft Mountain Boulder Field Trail and turned to the right. This trail took us around the south end of Kraft Mountain. It was a very cool morning but, indeed, very pleasant. We were hiking at a good pace that would warm us up before the sun took over that task. The trail dead ended at a place we affectionately call Lettie's Lounge and we dropped into the Gateway Canyon wash. In this unfamiliar direction, everything looked different. We know the canyon wash pretty well, but today, it was a different ballgame! The first scramble of sorts came soon. See the photo to the right.

Lower Gateway Canyon

Big Scramble

Lower Gateway Canyon

Pickle Rock

Next, the scramble with options appeared. The gravel was at a high enough level that the south side of the wash was a fine choice. Climbing on up, Pickle Rock was the next conundrum. It is seen in the photo to the left. The big scramble after that was the one we had cogitated on the night before. This is the three level challenge. Rita, Mike and I took on the challenge and felt pretty good about ourselves for having few problems. When we got up to the top after working hard on the scramble (see photo below), Ralyn appeared around the big boulder. She had found an alternate route through a crack that was a bit easier! 😄The last scramble was hardly a scramble at all since the gravel was at such a high level.

Really Big Scramble

Gravel Filled Scramble

Ms. Tall Shadow

Fearsome Foursome

We arrived at the yellow section found at the end of the red section and decided to take a break and our group photo. The morning sunlight was beautiful on the colorful rocks that were all around. When we got up to go, we were a little disoriented. We didn't realize that we had just passed the Candy Cane Slide and were surprised to see the Gray Fox Canyon area coming up quickly on our right. Also, there is no longer a large cairn in the wash to indicate where the Rattlesnake Trail and the wash junction. But, by then, we knew where we were and found the trail leading up through the bushes at the small canyon outlet on the left. Up the trail to the saddle, we took no breaks. Finally, we started seeing a few other hikers as we descended 5 Stop Hill.

Gateway Colors nearing Gray Fox Canyon

Lower Gateway Canyon from Rattlesnake Trail

Kraft Mountain Saddle

Calico Basin from Saddle

At the bottom of the hill, we changed our trajectory to the left and noticed the Kraft Mountain Boulder Field Trail across an adjacent wash. We crossed over to it and followed the pretty trail through the rock climbing practice boulders until we reached the approach trail that we had come in on. A right turn led us back to the parking lot on the rock lined trail. This was a nice short hike that served us well on this busy day. Lots of fun!

Stats: 4 miles; 700' gain; 2 hours

Finishing 5 Stop Hill

Hiking the Kraft Mountain Boulder Field Trail

Boulder Field Trail with Dragon Peak in Background