Pine Creek and Terrace Canyon

March 27, 2005

---

 

Report and Photos by Chris Meyer

Charlie Raymond, Erika Miller, Brett Dawson, Eric King, Paul Francis, and Paul Kuroda were led by me on a trek to find Terrace Canyon in the Pine Creek area of Red Rock. We were all looking forward to some physically challenging bouldering as well as the mental challenge of maneuvering around the boulders so we wouldn’t step in any of the large amounts of water. A large amount of water was expected because I drove around the loop with a visiting friend of mine the day before. We had to drive through water flowing across the road between the Pine Creek parking lot and 159 from all the recent rain, which also left additional snow in the higher elevations. I was really looking forward to this hike, as it is one of my favorites. I also had already cancelled this hike twice before this past winter due to all the rain we’ve had.

We all met at the Red Rock parking lot at 8 am, piling into our cars to start the hike around 9 at the Pine Creek parking lot. The temperature was about a perfect 60 degrees. The first mile and a half are uneventful as we simply walked on a flat trail until we reached a couple big boulders on the right across from Mescalito Peak which was the big marker to either go to the right into Fern Canyon or to go left down a small slope into the wash which leads into Pine Creek Canyon. We now started the fun part of the journey enjoying a lot of boulder-hopping. We encountered a challenging spot to figure out a way not to fall in the water. Most found a route around the water hazard while a few of us hugged boulders along the water making it across dry. Then there was Paul Francis who managed to jump ten feet over water to a boulder then jump another ten feet over water to the other side without skipping a beat, showing us the imperviousness of youth.

Brett and Eric had a great time showing us how well they were able to climb some large, almost impassible boulders with small ledges to find ways to jump across water hazards. They managed to really show the rest of us a thing or two and provided some great entertainment and laughs. As we ventured into the canyon we encountered larger and more difficult boulders providing a lot of great short class III challenges. Also, the farther into the canyon we went, the lesser the amount of water until it actually disappeared for quite a while. The scenery was absolutely wonderful. We all enjoyed the tall cliffs all around us. We had taken our time along the trip stopping often to take in the sights, snack, and enjoy good conversation. Brett introduced us all to his favorite snack, sheep s**t, which is actually chocolate covered raisins, but it still threw us for a loop when he offered it to us.

Unfortunately, I can’t adequately describe the route, but we finally found Terrace Canyon and reached a good spot to stop for lunch around noon. The Terrace Canyon area is aptly named; there was a good amount of water cascading down the terraces that provided beautiful scenery, but also posed a slippery challenge. We managed to climb up the terraces having a good time enjoying the sights, relaxing, and getting in a small nap. We took lots of great pictures.

We headed back finally returning to the cars around 3 pm concluding another great hike with another great crew. I’ll have to lead another trip into the canyon soon to see what it looks like without the water flowing. I hope more mountaineers join me to enjoy this great hike.