The Red in the springtime: season, conditions, and other questions

Here's a few questions for those who have spent a spring in the Red and/or know the area well:

I am free to travel this spring and am trying to decide where to go. I will have the entire spring free. I like endurance climbing, so the Red stands out as an obvious choice. I've been once before, but for just a week, and would love to go back. Alternatively, I am also considering staying a little closer to home and going to Indian Creek and Saint George (a much shorter driver, plus better weather). In thinking about this decision, I have developed some questions/concerns about the Red in the spring:

Season: I know that March-May is the general spring climbing season, but I'd like a bit more detail. When does it usually get warm enough, and when does it get too hot? Wherever I go (be it Utah or Kentucky) I'm thinking about heading over the first week of March. Is this too early, or just right? Every spring is different, of course, but when should I plan to show up?

Rain: This seems to be, along with lactic acid, the primary challenge to climbing at the Red. I heard some horror stories about spring 2011, and how much it rained. Is it really that bad? It sounds like Fall is definately the better time to be there, but how much worse is Spring as compared to Fall? I grew up in the East, so I know not be expect it to be like California, but is the rain enough of a factor to just stay in the West for the spring instead?

Living indoors: Camping in the rain sucks, and I don't have a van. I'm spending this winter in Bishop, and worked it out to rent a room. The financials of it were surprisingly reasonable, and is really nice when conditions are unpleasant for camping- like at this time of year where the days are warm for climbing, but the nights long and cold. It seems like this could be a good option for spring in the Red, too. Wet weather is a lot more tolerable when you have steep caves to climb in and a warm/dry house to go home to. Is this an option that a lot of people take advantage of- a number of climbers getting together and renting a house for the season? I imagine that with a few people this would be quite affordable in Kentucky. Any suggestions for linking up with people who might be doing this, or other suggestions of alternatives to rainy camping?

Edit: I've done a bit more research and it looks like the "nicer" campgrounds- Land of the Arches and Lago Lindas- have indoor areas to hang out and some other good amenities for bad weather. Are these as good as they sound? If so, then camping would be a much better option. Still, might still be interested about options to find somewhere indoors to live.

Any other advice for or comments about putting in a full spring season in the Red would be appreciated. Utah is more of a known quantity for me, and at this point in time I am sussing out the beta on Kentucky so as to decide where to go.

March is the time to be there. You wil get some good days in April, but it will be warming up, and mostly too hot. Many locals climb some in february too, but it can and does snow that time of year, making the roads very trecherous.

The rain is not an issue for climbing. I climbed 3-4 days a week the whole month of march last spring...of course this assumes you are on steep routes. Camping definitely sucks, but I'm pretty soft these days in that regard. Linda's has covered spots for tents (think car port), and a covered cooking area. Land of arches has an enormous building that used to be a flea market you can camp in.

Just out of curiosity Jon, have you you decided on where you will be spending spring? I am in the same boat and keep bouncing around between the Red, Saint George, and Bishop.

We always stay at the Land of the Arches. Relatively inexpensive and indoor camping if you want. Inside the building they also have wireless, showers/bathrooms, tables, couches, tv, etc... Outside they also have a covered pavilion for cooking more bathrooms and plenty of grass to stake a tent. The folks that run it are nice. You can also leave things inside the building while you are out climbing with no worry of theft. Much less of a scene than the other popular places. Being a little older and not the spray type Land of the Arches works well for us. They are in the process of finishing private rooms inside of the building which might be great for extended stays. It is also right next to the Beer Trailor and 5 minutes from Muir.

Rain is never a factor at the Red unless the walls are sweating, which is also more rare than somewhere like the New. You could spend several weeks climbing under large overhangs never repeating the same climb. Some of these require you to be climbing at 5.11 or harder. There are a few walls that have easier climbs that are sheltered, but not weeks worth. If the weekend crowd's become too much, it is also worth having gear as you escape most crowding by climbing trad. One of the best trad lines at the Red is also sheltered from the rain, Rock Wars.

You can also climb there during the summer. It is not the worst thing imaginable, but the conditions can get very humid. There are many north facing walls, or you can do East/West climbing depending on the time of day. Being from the SE we are used to climbing during the summer like that. We have climbed there all of the months from April to October with no complaints. No point for us climbing there in the other months, because that is when our local area is good.

Hey John, second recommendation for Land of the Arches. The big quonset hut makes Miguel's basement look like a refugee camp (wait, Miguel's IS a refugee camp!), and has the most facilities (fridge, fusball table, TV, free showers, lots of couches and chairs). It gets kind of crowded on weekends, but is really chill in the middle of the week. Definitely the place to be if you want to sit out the inevitable rainstorms, although as Mike said earlier, it is really rare that the entire RRG becomes unclimbable.

The one drawback of Land of the Arches is that, since it's the least crowded of the Red campgrounds, you may actually have a hard time finding partners there. It definitely attracts a greater percentage of less experienced climbers than Miguel's or Linda's.

Give me a shout if you head out East. I'd be psyched to meet up again.

Although I got snowed on the first week of March last year, I would say that arriving while it's still cold won't be a problem in 2012.

Nathaniel Gustafson wrote:Just out of curiosity Jon, have you you decided on where you will be spending spring? I am in the same boat and keep bouncing around between the Red, Saint George, and Bishop.

Thanks everyone for this second flurry of responses. I'm still a bit undecided on where to spend the spring, although right now I am leaning toward staying in the West, and spending the spring in Utah. Going to the Red is still very appealing, especially considering the options for staying out of the rain, but it is a lot of extra road miles and gas money. Utah is a lot closer, and I'll want to be there in late May for Maple anyway, so I'm thinking I'll save myself the driving.

The basic plan at this point is to stay in Bishop until ~March 1st, and then head over to Utah for the whole Southern Utah sampler platter. The Creek is a primary target, of course, but St. George limestone also has a big draw, as are longer routes in Zion and on Towers. I'll probably start with the Creek, largely because it provides a 100% guarantee of a fun scene and lots of climbing partners.

Nathaniel: Glad to hear that you're going through with the time-off road trip. Traveling around is great. If you end up deciding to go to S. Utah at some point in March/April/May, shoot me an email (jonmoen1@yahoo.com), and maybe we can meet up in St. George, etc. Also, I'll be in Bishop until the end of Feb, so give me a shout if you make it this way as well.

Camhead: If I do flip-flop in my decision making and end up out east, I'll definitely shoot you an email so that we can meet up at the Red, or maybe for some of the sweet crack climbs at the New that you told me about.

I might be in Utah around March-april too. Maybe I'll run into you...

Thanks Jon! I feel the same way... the Red would be amazing, but those extra hundreds of miles are not too appealing since I want to end up in Maple and Rifle as the weather warms up. I will probably end up in Utah so we should definitely do some climbing this spring. I will be working for another 3 weeks, so probably won't make it out to Bishop before you leave.

Mike Anderson wrote:March is the time to be there. You wil get some good days in April, but it will be warming up, and mostly too hot.

haha too hot to climb in April???? Are you one of those people who only climbs when the conditions are perfect sending temps.... 48 degrees and 0% humidity?

April will be a little warmer with an average high of 65 but I have to laugh at the comment of it being "mostly too hot" to climb in April. Damn, what was I doing down in the red all summer!!!?