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Leavenworth Bouldering

Original Post
Beau Bot · · Portland, Oregon · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 2

Heading there soon with my girlfriend and our 12 year old dog.

Looking for the shortest, flattest approaches with pretty well maintained trails to fun boulders.

I am an easy to moderate level climber and she is a beginner.

Any suggestions?

MorganH · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2010 · Points: 197

too hot on the eastside unless you get up into the alpine.

leave your dog at home.

Beau Bot · · Portland, Oregon · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 2

Yeah seems like we might be leaning towards leaving him at home.

Beau Bot · · Portland, Oregon · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 2

Also looking for free/cheap camping if we end up leaving the pooch behind

Andy Shoemaker · · Bremerton WA · Joined Jul 2014 · Points: 65

i always stay at bridge creek campground, past 8 mile. as far as areas, egg rock is a 30 second approach, the fridge is 30 seconds, the sword is like 2 minutes, twisted tree is 30 seconds. all have quality problems at a variety of grades. mad meadows or forestland both offers huge amounts of bouldering, but more like 10 minute approaches. mad meadows is quite a bit steep in sections.

Nick Jackson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2011 · Points: 135

The dog will be fine if you spend the hot parts of the day in the shade or by the creek. Not too hot for east side bouldering as some claim - you aren't gonna be sending the megaproj in this weather but climbing beginner/moderate problems is going to be plenty doable. Egg rock/machine gun/sword stay cooler,
Will have shade until mid morning-noonish. Forestland is about a 2 minute approach, and about as easy as it gets. The Lower boulders will have early AM shade, the shield stays shaded until later in the day. Barneys rubble(just below) keeps shade longer and is a 20 second approach. Mad meadows takes about 3 or 4 minutes, and any steep hiking is over quickly. Best visited eaaaarly morning or later in the evening. The meadows has the best concentration of easy-moderate problems that's in the current (old) guidebook.

Beau Bot · · Portland, Oregon · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 2

Yeah it seems like the temps will be much warmer this year than I thought (for June). I do remember plenty of shade in the areas I had been to in the past, but that was typically in October.

ZachSmith42 · · Liberty Lake, Washington · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 0

The beach boulders will probably be acceptable. avoid the hottest part of the day and jump in the river every once in a while and you will be good. The approach is about 10 minutes and my 4 month old puppy did it a few months ago. It is very flat.

TaylorLutz · · Seattle · Joined Jul 2014 · Points: 65

dogs are no problem, just dont let him/her get interested in any snakes, a bite will ruin your trip. the swiftwater area has a good concentration of easy/moderate problems with shade and 0-minimal approach. outside of that and the above recommendations id say go grab the guide from LMS when in town it'll be worth your while.

Robes · · Leavenworth, Washington · Joined Apr 2008 · Points: 0

Temps have been fine and supposed to be even better all week here. Lots of shade depending on aspect and TOD. Few places are too far off the road so your dog should be fine.

Beau Bot · · Portland, Oregon · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 2

Thanks for the info everyone!
We have decided to not bring our dog.

Looks like all the campgrounds are booked though.
Any suggestions for sneaky places or something?

Alan Zhan · · Seattle, WA · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 156

Pretty sure there are some campsites reserved for first come first serve.

Andy Shoemaker · · Bremerton WA · Joined Jul 2014 · Points: 65
b0t23 wrote:Thanks for the info everyone! We have decided to not bring our dog. Looks like all the campgrounds are booked though. Any suggestions for sneaky places or something?
I most often camp at the Bridge Creek Campground, which (as far as i know) doesn't accept reservations and there's usually at least a few decent spots left even if you're getting there at 10pm on a Friday.
Beau Bot · · Portland, Oregon · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 2

So the first night we totally broke the rules and ended up sleeping in our car in the Forestlands Parking area. We didn't get to Icicle Road until around midnight and every campground back past Johnny Creek was completely full.

Second night we ended up at Rock Island Campground about 17 miles up Icicle Road and it was amazing! Such a beautiful and expansive campground. Our spot was right on the river with a path leading down to the water.

Highlights of the trip for myself was sticking the techy V3 called Briefs on the way to the Sword (which I do not have the balls to try over pads). I'm a fairly new climber in the last 2.5 years, but it felt good to easily walk up some v1s and 2s that I had trouble with the first year I came.

Thanks again for the comments. Can't wait to go out again after summer.
It was definitely getting to be too hot in the day time.

Nick Jackson · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2011 · Points: 135

Don't camp at forestland.

Beau Bot · · Portland, Oregon · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 2

Yeah I was surprised how many people set up tents in the parking area.
Our impact was really low and we had really driven all around looking for a pay spot.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Pacific Northwest
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