Bridge Mountain is considered the crown jewel peak in Red Rock Canyon. It's not the highest, nor the furthest hike, but it's got a great balance of incredible vistas, stunning exposure, and fun scrambling. Not to mention the namesake arch near the top.
The biggest problem with Bridge Mountain is getting to the trailhead. The most popular route starts behind (to the West of) Bridge Mountain, hikes over the escarpment of limestone and sandstone, and continues to the peak. However, reaching the trailhead involves 5 miles of incredibly rugged driving on a washed out road. You can see the conundrum: risk your vehicle on this crazy road, or add 10 boring miles to the 7 mile round trip hike.
Karen and I have a brief history with this very road. A couple years ago, we tried to drive it to get to the same trailhead to try a different hike, but had to turn around less than 2 miles in. We vowed to return when we had more capable transportation.
Fast forward two years, and Karen's car, an Xterra Pro-4x, is our outdoors vehicle. It has extra skidplates, extra clearance, and extra tough tires. We both thought this drive would be a cinch in our outdoor tank, so when I asked to take it while she was working, she didn't really protest.
Long story short, Rock Gap Road is a BEAST. I am not a 4-wheel/rock crawling hobbyist, so I was literally sweating bullets as I navigated this vehicular obstacle course. I actually had to stop the car, get out, and inspect the route ahead, lest I hastily charge forward and get stuck on an impassable boulder or in an especially deep pothole. I held my breath as the horizontal angle of my vehicle approached dangerous levels. I prayed as I rolled over an especially tall limestone protuberance that I wouldn't hear a terrible grinding noise. I watched my side mirrors like a hawk as I squeezed the car between a razor sharp limestone wall and a 25 foot drop. After 45 minutes, the road eased and I was at my destination. Reportedly, the roads gets even tougher past this point.
Now I could start the actual adventure. I made quick work of the approach trail, up and over the limestone ridge behind Bridge. My first views deep into Pine Creek Canyon were breathtaking. These views are easily some of the most dramatic I've yet seen in Red Rock.
As I approached the toughest part of the route, I ran through it in my head for the thousandth time. The Bridge Hike is known for a roughly 100 foot tall crack that you need to climb up in order to proceed. You then climb out of the crack, step over it, and on to an airy ledge that has precipitous drops a few feet to your left. The rest of the hike is no picnic, but in performing my pre-hike research, this was one of the areas most people mentioned as the crux of the route.
Over the course of my hiking and snowboarding careers, I've gotten used to the concept of terrain appearing forebodingly steep when viewed straight on. It's only when you get up close, or view it from an angle, that you get to see the true degree of the steepness. The Bridge Crack was no exception to this rule. I kept looking up to it, and saying, "Yup, still looks vertical."
It was only when I got close to it that its true verticality was revealed. Most people report that hiking in the crack is safer, but makes for tougher climbing. Hiking the sandstone to the RIGHT of the crack is more exposed, but the climbing is easier.
In practice, I found the first part to be true. The crack was plenty safe from the pucker-inducing exposure on either side of this rib I was ascending. I also found that the climbing inside the crack did prove to be tricky, especially for someone as short as I am. At one point, I did climb out of the crack and ascend the sandstone to the right to bypass a tricky part, but I quickly got back into the crack. I was uncomfortable with the exposure not to my right, but behind me. Slipping and falling back would.....not be very good at all.
The crack is over in just a few minutes. It was fun, and not as scary as some made it out to be. I stepped over it, on to the airy ledge, and snapped a photo. The ledge, like the crack, wasn't as bad as it had been reported.
A couple minutes later, I was at the bridge for which Bridge Mountain was named. It is large and really impressive. The route takes you under it, into the water hole that created it, and up the other side.
The rest of the route is pretty basic, especially if you're comfortable with friction scrambling on sandstone.
The summit was windy and I found shelter in a hole nearby. After eating and taking photos, I started back down. After all, I had determined that by far, the toughest part of the day laid ahead: the drive back out of Rocky Gap Road.
While descending the infamous crack (slightly spookier than ascending it), I met a couple who had climbed up from Pine Creek Canyon. We exchanged banter on the various route options for this peak, and I advised them that they were probably 20 minutes away from the peak (maybe a little optimistic, but I have a habit of quoting overly optimistic times to fellow hikers). What stood out most to me about this conversation was the setting: I was perched precariously above the toughest part of the crack, and the couple were standing on the exposed sandstone to the right of the crack. Clearly, none of us were rookies to this type of terrain.
I actually jogged parts of the trail back to the car, because I was feeling great, and I was also very anxious to get Rocky Gap Road over with.
Why no pictures of this terrible drive? Because it was terrible, and I would prefer to not relive it. I'm being a touch dramatic, but I am not an offroad enthusiast, and I literally had the fear of God in me that if I damaged Karen's car in ANY WAY, I would probably meet an end far worse than any I may meet in the mountains.
In the end, the Xterra performed most admirably. It was undoubtedly the reason I escaped the drive unscathed, rather than my superior offroad driving skills. As I got closer to civilization on the road, I passed many people walking, who were forced to pull over lest they damage their vehicles. That was a proud moment.
As for the hike itself, it lived up to every bit of its sterling reputation. It's not a hike for kids or dogs, but now that I've done it, I'd be happy to lead anyone interested in jaw-dropping views and a real sense of achievement. I only ask that you take your car on Rocky Gap Road, not mine ;)
