4th of July Weekend Crowds
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Do we expect the crags to be extra crowded this coming holiday weekend? |
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I'd avoid the Gunks, but I'd give that advice on any weekend. Where are you looking to climb? If you use a little imagination you can find great routes unoccupied any weekend of the summer. There's also the old trick of getting up early and beating the crowds. |
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Yeah, I was thinking off the beaten path. Kanc crags instead of cannon, or maybe an Adirondack crag with an ugly approach. Sarah just wants the crag to herself. |
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Lothian Buss wrote:... or maybe an Adirondack crag with an ugly approach.This. |
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No need to go off the beaten path in the Adirondacks or do an ugly approach... I'm willing to bet you can find classic and unoccupied routes right off the road all weekend. I'm convinced that 95% of people do 10% of the routes here. |
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sara pax wrote: It's true! I'm convinced that due to some totally wacky circumstances I'll have the Gunks all to myself this weekend. It's gonna be great! I'll let you all know how that goes...Long weekend equals take a longer road trip. The Dacks with be a nightmare! |
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Nightmare? Only if you're waiting in line for Frosted Mug, Gamesmanship, Pete's Farewell or one of the other routes everybody ques up for. If you just try being a little original you'll have no problem finding three, four and five-star routes here with nobody on them anytime you want. I don't think I've waited in line for a route in the Adirondacks for years... well maybe not years, but close enough. |
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MaxSuffering wrote:Nightmare? Only if you're waiting in line for Frosted Mug, Gamesmanship, Pete's Farewell or one of the other routes everybody ques up for. If you just try being a little original you'll have no problem finding three, four and five-star routes here with nobody on them anytime you want. I don't think I've waited in line for a route in the Adirondacks for years... well maybe not years, but close enough.But those ARE the classic routes, and two posts up you said they would be open. (?) |
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rocknice2 wrote: Long weekend equals take a longer road trip. The Dacks with be a nightmare!It will definitely be busy both hiking, campers, and climbers. The long approach is definitely useful if you're looking for solitude. The 4th has always been a busy weekend for the ADKs when there's an extra day off involved. People who wouldn't normally visit for 2 days will make the road trip for 3. I would even expect a lot of people to take Thursday off as well based on the decent (note - not perfect) forecast. That's just how it is. It doesn't mean you'll definitely wait in line, but it happens. It happens even on non-holiday weekends. Max has selective amnesia or has just been lucking out. I'm sure they sit at the bottom of every classic ADK climb every weekend day doing their traffic survey. |
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Kevin Heckeler wrote: But those ARE the classic routes, and two posts up you said they would be open. (?)Nope Kevin, I did NOT say those routes would be open, or even that every classic route would be open. Those routes will probably be hopelessly crowded, and that's my point entirely: If you want to do the routes everyone else does you'll wait in line. Frosted Mug booked solid? Tequila Mockingbird and several other four-star routes are just around the corner. The El? Skip it and do Wald-Calder. The Prince may not be quite the gem it's made out to be but it sure beats standing around at the base of Quadrophenia or Hesitation for an hour or two. Roaches got the top-rope train running all day? Coffee Achievers is every bit as good and almost never occupied. Brrright Star? One of the best pitches nobody does. Tanager Face? Chapel pond Gully Cliff? Bear Den? Highway Blues? Hell, I haven't even mentioned Silver Lake yet... how many people have done Great Norther Diver, Hairy Upper Lip drip, Adirondack Iron, Tooth & Nail, Rico's Roughnecks? Some awesome pitches and some of them may not even get climbed this weekend. Then of course you could go somewhere other than the High Peaks region. Anybody been to Rods & Guns wall? I haven't, looks cool. Good Luck Cliff? Eagle Falls? You may see other climbers, but not like at the Beer Walls. Like I said 95% of climbers come to the Adirondacks to do 10% of the available routes. I haven't been lucking out at all, just putting a little thought into my day rather than following the crowd. Although I could be wrong since as you point out Kevin I do not sit at the bottom of routes doing traffic surveys... because I don't wait at the bottom of routes at all. (See how that works?) |
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The 'classics' are that for a reason, and climbed a lot because of those reasons. I wouldn't consider everything you posted to be great, some of it very good and places/routes I've climbed myself, but hardly apples to apples replacements. |
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Everyone's waiting in line this weekend... Sitting in front of the Mountaineer and ADK cafe waiting for the light to change. |
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Bill Kirby wrote: Everyone's waiting in line this weekend... Sitting in front of the Mountaineer and ADK cafe waiting for the light to change.Not me, won't be anywhere near the high peaks. ;-) |
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sara pax wrote:I definitely wouldn't head to the crag this weekend if I were you, especially the gunks. Go fishing or something.East coast crags fill up on national holidays? I seems to remember the crags being empty on the fourth out here. Every one is at home with family and friends or at the beach. |
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Have to think peregrine closures too... |
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Just out of curiosity Kevin which of the routes I've mentioned specifically have you done so you can say I'm not giving an apples to apples comparison? I base my recomendations on actual experience with the routes in question, not what I've heard. You're certainly entitled to your own opinion about what constitutes a "classic" route but I'll stand by my statement that there is high quality climbing available even on holiday weekends if you just look for it. People "wander off to other routes?" Nope, that's my point entirely: they typically do not. |
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climbing friend, |
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MaxSuffering wrote:...Are Northeastern climbers really that lazy?...Of course if you like to sleep in late, think a 30 minute approach constitutes a backcountry route or just have to do that one well known route everybody else came for too you're pretty much screwed.You assume too much. Enjoy looking down at us from your perch. |
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What am I incorrectly assuming? Enlighten me. |
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Crowds in the Dacks? Seriously? There's more than 3100+ routes here (not counting the 140+ new routes since the beginning of last summer). What MaxSuffering says -- if you want THE one-and-only mega classic route at your roadside cliff, then be prepared to wait. With a little imagination and 2 minutes with the guidebook you can have a cliff entirely to yourself with, yes, classic routes. That's what I do, and I sleep late. |
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the problem with those 400 rts @ Poco is most of them are hard;) |