People come to Las Vegas from all over the world. The lights, the sounds, the people-watching…it all can be exciting and mesmerizing.

My first trip to Las Vegas was for a gymnastics meet when I was 18. My teammates and I rode all of the roller coasters, watched street performers, and competed. We had a blast!

I finally returned after moving out to CA for a friend’s bachelorette party. It was fun, but not how I remembered. It was hot, a little dirty and smelly, and crowded.

I don’t gamble, so I didn’t get what the appeal was. I just sat by the pool, and had a great weekend not being in the casino.

The times I’ve been since have been for a totally different reason. Red Rocks.

It’s a climber’s paradise. Its chock full of sport routes and trad routes, single pitch and multi-pitch.

Top of “Big Bad Wolf.”

Mark had a business trip there this week, so I went out the weekend before so we could climb and explore “not Las Vegas.”

We went to climb in Calico Hills at an area called Riding Hood Wall. There are a few classic climbs here, and we headed for Big Bad Wolf. It’s a 4 pitch sporty, and it’s awesome.

I’d lead it once before, so I started up. Man, is that route fun! Nice and vertical for the first pitch. The 2nd is a little slabby (not my favorite), and the 3rd pitch has a small, but awesome little roof to pull. The 4th pitch is super short, so we just scrambled up at that point and stood at the top.

You get a great view of the city from the top! We tried to take a selfie, but I don’t practice taking pictures of myself so it came out with a big finger in the way. Oops.

The scramble down the gully is probably the hardest part, and it’s a little sketchy in spots. But to me, it’s still safer than rappelling down.

Entrance of the park.

We then headed to Valley of Fire State Park. It’s beautiful! Full of mountains, caves, and rock formations. We only drove through the front part of the park. There is a road that cuts south along Lake Mead that we didn’t take, maybe next time.

The rocks are on fire!

And that, my friends, is how I prefer to do Vegas. I’ll take nature and adventure over the casino or club scene any day.

Valley of Fire