Best Locations for the Climbing Bum...

Peter Pitocchi wrote:Do climbing bums "beg"? does this make them bums who climb or climbers who bum? I was a bike bum for a couple months but begging never crossed my mind--I had some money saved up. What ethic do you have for begging? Is it right to play when you haven't worked...

Beg might be too strong of a word...mooching to a minor degree is the most I've encountered.

Jamie,
Maybe the Tetons could work. The Park service charges for campsites, but you can post on the Partners Forum on this site and see if you can share a campsite and maybe a rope with climbers visiting the Park?

Check on joining the with American Alpine Club, that way you can stay in the climbers ranch, but I don't know the details. Plenty of people here do know the situation in GT NP, of course.

You'd be staying out in the country and away from town. That might be nice. Jackson is enough close by for supplies and fun.
You can probably take a bus to Jackson from Oregon.
Good luck!

There is great free NF camping just outside Grand Teton NP by Moose Jct.

Many of the more "obscure" climbing areas in California are far enough off the radar that you could pretty easily "bum" around them for some time, I'd think, before you attracted attention. Courtright Reservoir, I believe, has free camping, and (I've heard) Tuolomne-like climbing without all the park regs.

If you can get your hands on a copy of "Southern Sierra Rock Climbing, Sequoia/Kings Canyon Including Courtright Reservoir" you'll find tons of climbing areas you could camp near for free. You'd probably not find a lot of nightlife at the far-flung crags, if that's a concern.

Fun reading the Boulder flames. Ha! I spent a few days climbing in the Flatirons and Eldo last year and our downtime was all spent in Boulder. Nice place to visit. A few observations:

- Lots of beautiful women. I think this is associated with:

- More rich college kids than I've ever seen in one place in my life. I saw countless kids on campus driving cars I couldn't afford to buy, and I've had a "career" for about 15 years

- Wonderful climbing right at hand.

- Clearly a lot of wealthy people there who probably didn't make their money in Boulder.

- Some homeless people, but you've never been to San Francisco if you think there's an inordinate number of them in Boulder.

I think Boulder would be okay to live in if you could tune the people out. Living in Southern California, I've honed this skill to a fine art.

While climbing Friday's Folly on the back of the Third Flatiron, we had a chat with a group of local climbers. At the end of the conversation, one of the guys said "Hey, we're having a party tonight, you should come!" Just as I was thinking "hey, these Boulder dudes are pretty cool" he added "It's only $15 at the door."

Sigh...

Chris D wrote:Many of the more "obscure" climbing areas in California are far enough off the radar that you could pretty easily "bum" around them for some time, I'd think, before you attracted attention. Courtright Reservoir, I believe, has free camping, and (I've heard) Tuolomne-like climbing without all the park regs. If you can get your hands on a copy of "Southern Sierra Rock Climbing, Sequoia/Kings Canyon Including Courtright Reservoir" you'll find tons of climbing areas you could camp near for free. You'd probably not find a lot of nightlife at the far-flung crags, if that's a concern.

Courtright is indeed awesome! Huge granite domes surrounding a beautiful lake. There should be plenty of climbing there to keep you busy for awhile. It's at a pretty high elevation so summer temps are great. The camping is free, and you could jump into the lake to clean off at the end of the day. The only problem that I could see you having is that the area is more crowded with fishermen than with climbers. This is nice since you won't have to wait in line to climb even the most popular routes, but it might make meeting climbing partners tricky.

Have fun this summer, I'm jealous!

squamish...

the united states is steadily losing its america-ness... freedom's losing the battle to paranoia homie

Rifle from May - October.

Duh...

CalmAdrenaline wrote:Jamie, To actually answer your post, having done the same thing myself and still wishing I was most of every day at my 9-5, I have a few suggestions other than Boulder. I spent about a month in boulder and I must say its tough to do living like that, the only no hassle "free" camping we found was up Boulder canyon outside Nederland Res., and some squatter spots in the canyon proper. Honestly as a Salt Lake local, living right by Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, this is a fairly easy place to bum around, you can find fairly comfy spots in the minor canyons in the area, and with craigslist and MP postings on rideshares to the creek, City of Rocks, Maple Canyon, etc etc you wouldnt be too hard pressed to get a lot of climbing in. LCC has some epic trad and bouldering, and BCC has some good stuff too. Moab is a good beat too, but its going to be getting a bit hot soon.

Thanks for the info! I'm considering City of Rocks, as my older brother lives in Twin Falls, not too terribly far from there; if I need a break (and a hot shower) I can just head to Twin'.

I just met a guy who spent the last few weeks in Moab. He also mentioned that it'll be too hot there soon.

I make it a habit to steer clear of Utah as much as possible, as a queer person and ex-mormon, I don't think I'd like it there too much. But, um, thanks for the suggestion!

Scott McMahon wrote: Yeah...pretty typical for Boulder...Damn self righteous Aholes that don't exist anywhere else... "During his 1993 campaign, Giuliani proposed to drastically curtail city services for the homeless, setting a limit of 90 days for stays in shelters. Opponent Dinkins accused Giuliani of punishing the children of the homeless with the policy. This contrasted with Giuliani's campaign promise during the 1989 campaign to build hundreds of new homeless shelters around the city. Advocates for the homeless sued the mayor over an alleged failure to provide proper medical treatment to homeless children. During the Giuliani administration, police conducted sweeps of parks and other public places to arrest homeless people and move them to shelters. Critics charged that the purpose was not to help the homeless but to remove them from sight. The pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, Rev. Thomas Tewell, said: "I think the police and the administration in New York were a bit embarrassed to have homeless people on the steps of a church in such an affluent area. The city said to us that it's inhumane to have people staying on the streets. And my response was that it's also inhumane to just move them along to another place or to put them in a shelter where they are going to get beat up, or abused, or harassed." The church sued the city of New York, Giuliani, and Bernard Kerik, asserting a First Amendment right to minister to the homeless on its steps". Sorry for hijacking your thread Jamie!! But legal camping around here does suck!!! There is actually some lawsuits about sleeping "outside" that going on right now about that in the city. Ironically everyone has something to say, but in the Summit and Vail counties you can't even sleep in your car the night before a powder day.....But we could all have worse problems and should count our blessings!!

Oh, it's definately not just a Boulder thing, or even NYC thing; it's effectively illegal to be homeless in alot of places. I would be in Portland right now, but there's no room anywere in the shelters, it's illegal to sleep in the parks (or even sit on the sidewalks for that matter), and even the tent city has a waiting list! The state of homelessness in the US is sad, and people are homeless for alot more complicated reasons than most realize.

Clayton Laramie wrote:You could also check out couchsurfing.com for generous people that will let you stay with them for free when you get to a new town like Boulder (or if you really need a shower!)

Actually, my best friend lives in Arvada (near Boulder), so I'd stay with her for a bit, but I don't expect friends to support my attempt at "the climbing lifestyle." I much prefer being self-sufficient, beholden to none, ya know?

I am familiar with couchsurfing.com, though I have yet to actually use it. Def' check it out for a shower here and there along the way. Cheers.

Scott McMahon wrote: Beg might be too strong of a word...mooching to a minor degree is the most I've encountered.

In my somewhat limited (as of now) homeless experience, it's possible to survive on recycling cans, working for day labor, selling gear when needed, etc. You get pretty resourceful when things are tight.

Eastvillage wrote:Jamie, Maybe the Tetons could work. The Park service charges for campsites, but you can post on the Partners Forum on this site and see if you can share a campsite and maybe a rope with climbers visiting the Park? Check on joining the with American Alpine Club, that way you can stay in the climbers ranch, but I don't know the details. Plenty of people here do know the situation in GT NP, of course. You'd be staying out in the country and away from town. That might be nice. Jackson is enough close by for supplies and fun. You can probably take a bus to Jackson from Oregon. Good luck!

I'm definately going to look into GT NP. Thanks!

Has anyone mentioned the Valley? As a climber, it's gotta be one of the best places in the country, if not the world, to dirtbag it. Admittedly, it's not as easy as it used to be. Camping restrictions have tightened quite a bit, but there are ways you can fiddle with that. You do your two weeks, wander off and crash someplace else, then come back. I knew a guy who got to stay for free for picking up garbage. You've got world class climbing within walking distance, showers at Camp Curry and Housekeeping, a supermarket, etc, etc. Lots of other climbers looking for partners that could probably score you a ride to Tuolumne and elsewhere. What could be better?

Sounds tempting

You can find free camping outside Yosemite on Nat'l Forest ground. There will be no bear boxes there though, so you must take all precautions, or your car WILL be broken into. Them bares can pop a windshield or window out easier then you spit pistachio nuts. Plan ahead, as close to, or in the park gas and food is very expensive. I've heard of people sleeping in their porta-ledges a pitch or two off the ground. It's not that difficult to find people that will let you crash in their site for a nominal fee. As for the ethics of poaching Curry village showers ... that's between you and your god.

My biggest issue with staying in the Valley was air quality. Everybody lights a fire, and many have no idea how to burn cleanly, so here is a palpable haze.

Have fun!

Scott states, "'. I do volunteer work for the community, and contribute finacially as well...do you???

Additionally I'm not broke because I have a job, but I grew up working for everything I got.'"

Good for you. I think you're very special!!! Indeed.

nothing like a pissing match over someone who's inquiring. Hope the wind blows right at you while doing it, and HARD. Good golly. Sometimes we just can't get over ourselves.

Juan

Paul Carlson wrote:Chris- Great beta for Ca., what's the weather like in those areas over the summer? Limited routes or a summer's worth?

Between The Needles, the Sequioa/Kings Canyon area, and the domelands, there's somewhere to climb all year. Just keep in mind elevation and 3-5 degrees F difference for every thousand feet and you'll have some idea what the temps are like.

In mid-summer, I'd suspect it'll be "hot" even at the higher elevations, but nothing like the heat in the Valley or desert.

Squamish is the best place to be car free in the summer, there is nothing like it in the U.S. Yosemite works but the park rules will drive you insane after not too long.

Hands down Arco Italy. Seriously

Allen Hill wrote:Hands down Arco Italy. Seriously

I just looked up Arco, and I want to move there. Now.

Read about it here:
outside.away.com/outside/de…

Also, for some pictures
guesthouse-arco.com/en_arco…