Nick, Stacia, and I spent an awesome, though exhausting, nine hours trekking down Mud Spring Canyon in Red Rocks yesterday. It took us about and hour and a half from the north side of Vegas to make it to the trailhead after setting the exit car. The approach was a nice uphill climb and we were bushwhacking our way through the upper part of the canyon before we knew it. We has a few nice views of the Strip before starting a few fun down climbs. Before too long, we were at the first rap. This being the first canyon I have done in Red Rocks, I was surprised and excited to see how slotty it got. There are lots of beautiful flutes, smooth walls, alcoves, and small potholes.The canyon got a little wet later on in the day which provided a nice reprieve from the heat. Nick was only wearing running shoes and was able to avoid all the water with spider monkey dexterity. The exit started with more bushwhacking and LOTS of boulder hopping. A lot of the boulders clearly came from the red stripe that runs across the park and provided a neat contrast to the brown sandstone we saw most of the day. The last 1.5 miles took about an hour and half. We were cooked when we got back to the car, but felt awesome about the day.
Thanks to Rick and Luke for the beta (and advice). As it says in their beta, this canyon would be a ton more fun when it’s flowing. We still had a great time, though. Mud Springs probably only has a few weeks left before the desert heat gets to be too much. The canyon is conveniently aligned with the path of the sun, so there is very little shade. All of the anchors have webbing and are easy to find. Overall, Mud Spring is a fun and pretty easy canyon. It’s hard to believe Sin City is just around the corner.