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| - My friend Tiffany and I wanted to get outdoors for a day and check out Red Rock. It's such an amazing retreat from the typical Vegas scene, and it's only $7 to enter. There are numerous trails to tackle, but by far Ice Box Canyon is the best. The people you encounter out there are something different. Everyone is so friendly and good hearted people. There wasn't a single person me and Tiffany passed by that didn't say hello or share small talk.
Ok so on to the trail. Tiffany has never experience this trail before so I wanted her to experience the awesomeness of it. This trail is rated difficult, but with my experience from hiking and climbing in the Marine Corps I would rate it around moderate (of course everyone has their own levels, so it can be challenging). The first leg of the trail is wide out in the open and doesn't seem like much, but once you get in the canyon, that's where all the fun starts. Huge rocks you have to scale over, fallen tree bridges, and lots of steep inclines pave the way to the end of the canyon which is the most rewarding part. At the very end of the canyon there is a tiny waterfall. The water is pretty cold because it comes from a natural spring and it creates pools of water. To get up to the first pool is a bit of a challenge, but to get up to the highest pool takes skill. So we made it up to the first pool, but Tiffany didn't want to stop there. She wanted to push forward and see the very top pool. Mind you, this was even a challenge for me. If you have the right gear it's really not that bad. We decided to lose the shoes because we would have more grip and also just in case we feel into the first pool while trying to climb up....which we did lol. The water was freezing cold, but it was such an adrenalin rush!!! We thought we could wade through the ankle deep side of the pool, but it has a bit of an decline and has algae so it's hard to get a good footing. If you do lose your footing (which we both did lol) you'll only be up to shoulder high freezing cold water, but you can swim/walk to the edge you need to climb to get up to the last pool. The end result was so worth it and also fills you will a sense of accomplishment because not many people ever get that far up.
Definitely check out Ice Box Canyon next time you're out at Red Rock.
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