As a group of experienced climbers who hadn't been climbing regularly, we'd planned one of the easiest climbs in Red Rock: Cat in the Hat, a 5.6 my climbing partners had done numerous times. As the day approached, late spring Vegas temperature predictions predictably made us reevaluate climbing a long multi-pitch in the full sun. How about a climb that goes through a tunnel! A tunnel with few places to place gear so it's almost a free solo a grade harder than our planned climb. What could go wrong?

We got to the trailhead reasonably early. It was hot but not uncomfortable. Best of all, the parking lot was empty! So, I guess no one else was foolish enough to try climbing one of the classic Red Rock routes in the predicted heat. At least we could take our time.

The hike out wasn't bad. It starts on a trail going slightly downhill and after a little less than a mile, it breaks from the trail and heads up towards a gully. We were soon going steeply up towards the base of the cliff and after a bit of searching we found the start.

The base was in the full sun and I definitely wanted to get up higher where I was hopeful it would be shadier.

Tan geared up and started up the first pitch (5.6). The route goes a few feet up towards a roof and then traverses out right to an exit crack where the climbing gets easier. The moves aren't hard but they're reachy and insecure. Not a great warm-up after months of not climbing. Tan decided to back off after a few minutes and let me have a go. Fortunately, I was able to stretch my feet a little further and onto some small footholds. I rocked over them and was able to reach up for the exit crack and then the rest of the pitch was easier.

I end up linking pitch 1 and 2 (5.6 and 5.4). I think Tan was hoping I'd end up at the top of the whole climb so he could just follow everything. Lucky for me, there's a fixed anchor at the top of the second pitch making an obvious stopping point.

Having bowed out of the first pitch, it was now Tan's turn to lead. Hmm, the guide says this one's 5.7. The technical crux. Feeling warmed up, he didn't back off this time. I followed, and it did feel like the technical crux. To make matters scarier, the gear to protect this section is tricky or non-existent. I'm glad he'd unintentionally traded pitches so I was following.

Pitch 4 (5.5) was my turn again and it was back to easy and fun climbing.

Pitch 5 (5.3) starts at a giant ledge in a cave. We stopped here for quite a while for lunch. We also had to spend about 15 minutes extracting the rope from some rocks it had become tangled around below where I'd set up the belay.

While this pitch is marked as the easiest grade of the climb, it has little protection and slick rock. Tan remembered it as starting far back in the cave where you can chimney up and I agreed. It looked more physical but less likely I would slip and careen back down to the ground.

I worked my way up to a ledge midway to a second larger ledge that seemed to be the exit ledge out of the tunnel. This part didn't feel too hard but still probably harder than 5.3. I briefly tried to move towards the lower angle part of the wall closer to the entrance, but the moves felt more committing and slippery.

I went back to the chimney and started working my way up with the hope I'd at least stop on the ledge if I slipped. It soon felt much harder than 5.3, perhaps 5.8. It was a battle but still well within my ability and I had to remind myself this to calm down and push through. Soon enough I was at the ledge and on my way out the tunnel.

It turns out the easier way is to stay out of the chimney and on the low angle but slick looking rock. This certainly reinforced the lesson I already knew about how quickly trad climbing can go from no big deal to terrifying if you get off route. I should have tried to climb more of the slick looking rock before committing to the chimney.

The remainder of the climb was easy and fun. We topped out about 4pm and hung out for a while before heading down.

The down climb follows a gully that starts immediately to the climber's left of the top. There's one optional rappel station, but we decided to skip it as that section wasn't too difficult after we found the right path.