This morning was our last morning in Paradise Forks, and everyone except Pat and I decided not to climb. We, however, had a cool 5.8+ on our mind called The Black Rose. You had to rappel in over a large pool of water (The Silver Pond) and then climb a jet black corner and roof system out. The rock was very slick, because at certain points in the year, a raging water fall is going over the rock here, but the river was dry as a bone today. We rappelled in, got set up, and took off. The climbing was very interesting, unlike anything else we had done in the Forks so far. The rock felt different, the features were different, and it was in a very cool location. Unfortunately, the combination of flare and possibly water droplets on the lens of my camera wrecked any chance of having pictures of the climb, so I will reference Mountain Project instead. 

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/the-black-rose/105792351

I took one last picture of the canyon with part of the Silver Pond in the bottom. Our climb finished up on the rock in the lower left of the picture.

Pat and I headed back up to the parking lot and discussed our plans for the rest of the day, and for lodging in Vegas, with the rest of the gang. We decided to pass up on the Grand Canyon since it was like 3 hours out of the way, and our drive to Vegas was only 3.5 hours. We also decided to try and find a dirt cheap hotel to stay in rather than camp since the price of camping had increased, and our Austrian friends from the Creek informed us of some great deals to be had in Vegas. Then, it was on the road!

During our drive, when we were just outside Vegas, we drove right past the Hoover Dam, and decided to stop. None of us had been before, and it seemed like a cool half hour distraction. It’s pretty much what you’d expect, a huge dam, lots of concrete, lots of water, but it was pretty cool! Here are some pictures.

Once we had our fill, we took off and got ourselves to Las Vegas. I’ll sum up the rest of the day before I rant about Las Vegas…

We saw a good deal online for a hotel room, but when we got there, that deal no longer existed. We did some more internet reconnaissance and found another deal, booked it, and headed off to our hotel. The place is shady. Not even a bit. In the few days we’ve been here so far, we’ve seen many call girls (most of which are probably our neighbors), pulled up with police cars outside the hotel, seen monetary transactions of most likely illegal goods, etc. But it’s home. Some amenities include a dumpster (we haven’t had a dumpster or trash can since the start of the trip), a well-lighted parking lot for our tailgate dinners, running water, electric outlets, continental breakfast, and a pool. Those are listed more or less in order of importance. The room is okay for being less than $40 a night. There are a lot of strange quirks about the room, though, like how the keycards consistently stop working every day or two, the TV randomly chirping loudly, even though it is unplugged from the wall, certain lamps not working, etc. Either way, it’s nice to be in “civilization” I guess, even if it is this vile city.

Vegas Rant: On.

Okay, so Las Vegas is more or less the epitome of the morals, tastes, and desires that I despise. The entire city (besides possibly the high roller rooms and mega luxury suites) is one big facade. Everything looks pleasant from afar, but on closer inspection, you start to realize everything is very cheap. The innards are crap, and have been dolled up to appear as luxurious or high quality. Things like astroturf instead of grass. The worst part is that they don’t even bother to try and do a good job to hide the cheapness of everything. It’s glaringly obvious.

Another thing I hate is the type of people I see here. You walk into almost any place, and there are slot machines with people gambling away their money, most of which I have a feeling shouldn’t be gambling their money away. It always reeks of smoke. Then there are all the homeless people everywhere, looking for handouts. It’s just a depressing place. Nothing like the movie 21 makes it out to be, at least nowhere I’ve been, that’s for sure. It’s a place of despair, disappointment, and false hope to me.

Vegas Rant: Off.