In the Desert

The weather in Las Vegas remained cold yesterday but the people were out in numbers climbing and riding. It’s great to be in the desert and remain active even thought it’s the middle of winter. I wanted to do some climbing after riding in the morning, after all I am on vacation. I’ve been trying to seek out some people to take photos of so I found a great bouldering area right outside of Vegas called the Central Kraft.
The rock quality at Kraft is nothing short of spectacular sandstone. I have climbed quite a bit of sandstone around the country and the Red Rock Canyon has to have some of the best anywhere. I met up with a few guys from Tucson and we climbed what seemed to be the classics of the area. I’m not that strong of a boulderer (?) so I climbed for a while and then started to take pictures when we started in to the V5-V6 range. The sun was going down and it was a good time to watch Eric and his friend (sorry, cannot remember his name. I know, I’m working on it) from Germany pull down hard on some small holds and overhanging slopers.
We exchanged stories of illegal camping in national parks and soon we where all friends. It’s funny how we can all relate to some things as climbers. No matter what language we speak or what kind of rock it is, when it’s hard or fun or whatever, just a glance at the other guy can say so much about what that person is thinking and feeling.
It was quiet out there with some houses in the distance and I could see the smoke start to settle in the valley from people coming home from work and lighting their fires. Inside, I wished the sun wasn’t going down. I wanted to stay and keep climbing and taking photos. It was like getting on a plane from some far off land when you don’t really want to go home. The kind of day that you don’t want to end but your fingers are torn up and your legs wobble under the weight of your backpack. Yesterday was that type of day.

Today I am heading to San Diego to take pictures for the Fluid Cycling Team. They have a series of men and women’s races out there so I’ll be cheering my friends on and taking some action shots. I have been taking many more pictures than usual. I mostly do video work now and I've missed working to take better photos. Now I find myself taking the photos that I really want to be working on in the outdoors and on adventures. I’ll keep posting them. It’s Fun.