Need July Trip Ideas!
|
The company where I work is shutting down for the entire week of July 4th and my girlfriend is going to be in China with her mom the whole time. That means I have from July 1 through July 9 with no responsibilities and I want to go climb! Sadly, all my favorite places to climb are not awesome in the summer (Yosemite Valley, Indian Creek). I have a few potential candidate locations to go to but I'm curious if there are other places I've not thought about. A few notes on what I'm looking for:
Hit me up with some ideas! |
|
Oh Oh Oh!!! I built a site for these exact questions! I was in Europe on a trip that turned into a climbing trip when I got hooked but I didn't know any of the destinations and had to rely on word of mouth which ended up leading me to places which were way above my level so I built climbcation.com All the locations listed there are world class spots(or pretty damn close to it) while the site attempts to ignore smaller local crags. Anyways, you can use the map to filter destinations... couple that with the "when do you want to go" filter and you should have a good idea of your options. While the site isn't 100% filled out with every world class destination, I've got north america mostly covered. If you notice something missing feel free to add it using the "Submit a new location" link! It takes about 5-10 minutes. Putting in your closest airport will give you some flight price information(currently only limited to the next 2 months) so you can even look for a place that might be cheap to fly to. I think Climbcation is a good supplement to sites like mountain project. You can get a collection of ideas for places with my site and then when you want more detailed info such as the routes, you can come here! Personally, since you've got at least 10 hours of driving to get anywhere(outside of CA), I would fly to somewhere where you can avoid needing a rental car which can be $$$... I would do Squamish; with the right amount of planning you can plan your arrival/departure at the time when the bus to squamish leaves from vancouver. The campground is super duper social so you can get rides to the grocery store easily and there is a ton of climbing within walking distance of the campground. |
|
Summer is prime time for Tuolumne Meadows. |
|
WIth only a week, you should stay in CA. No need to get on a plane or drive 1000 miles when there is a lifetime of good summer climbing nearby. Less travel equals more time and energy to climb. A week is a good amount of time to go get a lot done at a close to home crag. So with those criteria (multipitch trad preferred, 9s and 10s, short travel time from Bay Area), I'd say: Tuolumne Meadows would be a prime option. July is good there, tons of great climbing, easy to get to from the Bay. You could probably roll in there solo and find partners there. Other good options might include the Needles, Lover's Leap, and Tahquitz (choose one; not saying to visit all three). Any one of those would be a great place to spend a week. Arranging a partner ahead of time might be a better option for those areas. |
|
There's a reason why people keep mentioning Tuolumne Meadows. The only downside I can see is that last winter was apparently a very heavy one in the Sierra Nevada, so Tuolumne Meadows Campground and the associated facilities won't open until August this year, and the approaches could still be wet/snow covered. You could probably camp at Porcupine Flat, though. If Tioga Pass opens in time (which is uncertain) you might be able to camp on the east side of the pass. |
|
I've done a fair bit of climbing up in Tuolumne so I'm looking at heading somewhere more unfamiliar. There are a few Sierra crags I've not explored too much which I've been thinking about (Needles, Donner Pass. and other Eastern Sierras locales). |
|
Cardinal Pinnacle would meet those criteria. |
|
Best moderate multi- pitch high alpine crags in the country with reasonably short approaches are,,, Elephant's Perch Buttress, Sawtooths, Idaho or Incredible Hulk, eastern Sierra. Both crags are only a moderate 3- 4 miles hike but more logistics involved. And partner necessary... once you get there, you won't want to leave! Colorado has lots of options that fit your criteria too! RMNP, Lumpy Ridge, South Platte, Independence Pass....lots of possibilities in the mountains! |
|
|
|
Bugaboos!!!! |
|
My two ideas had been staying close to home and doing eastern Sierras or maybe Squamish. I've been there once, very briefly (climbed Exasperator and nothing else). Seems like most everyone is also recommending those options so its good to know I'm not overlooking anything super obvious. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. If any of you are interested in climbing that week in any of those locations (or Colorado or the Bugs as others have recommended) let me know! |
|
I would go out to Wyoming. Fantastic country in July. Alpine or Sport so much to do, and then fish on off days or watch the buffalo roam. |