West Coast in Late August

I was wondering if any west-coasters want to help me pick my next climbing trip destination. My two sisters live on the west coast (San Fransisco and Tacoma, Washington). They both climb and we are going to take a climbing trip together at the end of August. Ideally the place would have a good amount of easy/moderate routes (5.7-5.9) and I would like to get on some slightly harder climbs in the 10's and 11's. We are planning on anywhere from 2-5 days and some cool rest/rainy day activities in the area would be a plus.

I think it might make sense to do a sport area so that I can lead routes and then set up a top rope for my sisters. None of us know trad and none of us are confident enough to set up a top rope anchor on gear. I guess hiring a guide and having them take us up some trad climbs/multipitch isn't out of the question and would actually be a pretty cool experience.

I haven't looked into too many areas yet but from what I heard, Smith Rock is a really cool place except it might still be really hot? Names that have popped up are Index in Washington, Leavenworth in Washington, Vantage in Washington, Squamish, Tahoe. Do any of those seem to fit the bill? Is there anything closer to Nor Cal? My one sister in the Bay doesn't have a car and so she is leaning towards California but any cool spot on the west coast will do. I know she just climbed at Castle Rock in the south bay which seems like a really cool place but maybe not a destination area.

I appreciate any advice.

If you want to come to San Luis Obispo (SLO), and climb at Bishop Peak, I could show you around for half a day. SLO is halfway between LA and SF, near the coast. A lot moderates, some bolted climbs and some easy-to-set up topropes.

Let me know if you're interested and which dates, as I will be away for parts of August.

Edit: Bishop Peak is not a "destination climbing area," but is fun and climbable in August.

Thanks for the offer Frank! I'll definitely put the idea to my sisters and see what they have to say, just looked it up on MP and it looks like a really fun area.

BryanE wrote: Smith Rock is a really cool place except it might still be really hot?

Will be very hot in August. Plan a trip there at a time with more civilized temperatures.

BryanE wrote: Vantage

Again, stupid hot in August. The climbing is only OK in quality; I wouldn't travel a long distance for it.

BryanE wrote: Leavenworth

Still pretty hot. Not much sport climbing. The trad cragging is OK, but nowhere near a good as...

BryanE wrote: Squamish

Go there! Nice summer weather, beautiful scenery, massive amounts of good climbing. Squamish is a pretty unique area in that every discipline of climbing is available at every difficulty level. Easy sport, hard sport. Easy trad, hard trad. Tons of bouldering. All of it is packed into a condensed area, with a nice campground. Squamish is most famous for the trad climbing, but the sport climbing is also excellent and abundant. A number of new sport crags, with lots of moderate routes, have been developed in recent years.

BryanE wrote:I guess hiring a guide and having them take us up some trad climbs/multipitch isn't out of the question and would actually be a pretty cool experience.

Squamish, again, would be a good place for this. Lots of really nice moderate multipitch routes. There are a number of well established guide services there.

BryanE wrote: Tahoe

Tahoe is great too, but the sport climbing is more limited in quantity and less densely concentrated than in Squamish.

Thanks for the info JCM, I'll definitely put Squamish towards the top of the list and see if we can make that happen.

I agree with everything JCM said.

Shuteye..... shade, swimming, fantastic climbing....