I’m a planner. I love to make spreadsheets and calulate hours/miles and the phases of the moon on road trips. I also love when things don’t go as planned, as most great adventures seem to go. That’s exactly how it went on my most recent trip to Red Rock Canyon, Nevada.
We intended to go climb in El Potrero Chico, Mexico. Then we intended to climb in Joshua Tree National Park. On the way to Joshua Tree, we stopped on the border of Arizona and Nevada to camp and explore these magical slot canyon hot springs.
My climbing partner is rather “climbing obsessive” so he wasn’t stoked on the idea of spending a few hours at the hot springs I wanted to explore instead of heading straight to Joshua Tree. Well, my car decided not to start that morning and the kind gentleman camping nearby, Taylor, helped us jumpstart it. Oddly enough, Taylor was heading to the hot springs that day too. He was a previous zoo-keeper, then raft and mountain guide, now pilot in training, and too cool not to hang out with, so off to the hot springs we went like three peas in a pod.
We had both heard great things about Red Rock Canyon and it was only a half hour away from the hot springs, so we decided to get a half day of climbing in there before continuing on our journey to Joshau tree. Taylor highly reccomended it as well.
It was history after we stepped foot into that park. The first people we met were a pair of Canadian #adventuretwins who helped us figure out where the crag we wanted was. Little did we know we’d be spending the rest of our days climbing with them. Great people are worth changing your plans for.
We decided to camp outside of Red Rock Canyon that night, but to our surprise the one campground nearby was booked and nearly impossible to get a spot at. Our options were limited, it was dark, and we were tired. I thought, we don’t have anything to loose by walking up to a campfire and asking if we could share our boxed wine and space with them.
We picked the first campfire we saw, and it couldn’t have been a better one. At this campfire sat an adventurous couple in their late 30’s/early 40’s from Missoula who run the mountaineering club and have a plethora of climbing/travel/mountain experience. They had young guests from Florida who decided to drive across the country to climb, and most interestingly of all, Kentucky Pete. “I’m Kentucky Pete, climbing bum, campfire whore.” I could go on a separate tangent about all the glory that is Kentucky Pete, but I’ll save that. We joined this crew and every night after climbing turned to each other and said, “we should just stay one more night.” Eventually, we gave up the idea of Joshua Tree all together.
We all sat around this campfire the first night and shared stories, life lessons, and wine. The next night it was just us and the Missoula couple. Eventually, we took over the campsite and were the new campfire hosts. The Canadians joined us for two nights. On the last night, New Years Eve, a figure named Josh appeared from the darkness and asked if he could join us. Josh is 27 and has been doing the van life for a while, traveling and climbing. He brought gifts of whiskey and adventure tales.
Kentucky Pete also graced us with his presence on our last night around the campfire. He said he remembered me and the life lesson story I shared and has been sharing it at other campfires. It’s a compliment to be remembered. It’s also a compliment to be interrupted when they say “wait, now that sounds like the first line in a book I want to read.” Kentucky Pete. What a character.
Ever since the beginning of civilizations, people would gather around the source of heat and light to have community with one another. It used to be that people would alll gather around the fire, now they gather around a different source of light, the TV.
It was beautiful to reflect on the way this same campfire evolved each night. From being guests ourselves, to becoming the hosts, to welcoming another guest who did the same thing we did. The constant was the sense of community and vulnerability among climbers who haven’t showered in days, shared puffy jacket hugs, stories, whiskey and wine. I will remain friends with these adventurous souls who we were lucky to happen upon.
Nothing went as planned, but all went as it was meant to be.