Need some advice on where to spend the summer in a van with a dog

Second JCM and Helen. JCM’s sport circuit is your best option and COR for that bouldering itch 

Jon Frisby wrote: Second JCM and Helen. JCM’s sport circuit is your best option and COR for that bouldering itch 

I agree that COR is awesome, but it is kinda hot mid-summer for granite bouldering. If the trip plan were arranged to get there at the start of the summer (~late May), Although if OP is from Texas, he may be more heat-tolerant than me.

Other thoughts on summer bouldering:
-Lander has some sweet bouldering these days, and would be a great stop for a mix of sport climbing and bouldering, with good town amenities nearby.
- Last I heard, dogs allowed at Evans but not at RMNP (I don't have a dog so never paid too much attention to these things). Check before you go.
- If you start your trip in very early part of May, Joe's Valley will still be good in the shadier and higher elevation zones (Dairy Canyon, etc). Would be a good stop on the way to COR.
- My suggested itinerary before was solely sport-focused. I'll do a new one the incorportate the bouldering suggestions from this thread

Here is is. Dog-friendly summer sport and bouldering circuit. I arranged this as a clockwise loop to hit area at the time of best conditions (i.e. COR in early summer before it is too hot; Colorado later in the summer when alpine areas are snow-free and Rifle is dry).

I assumed you have the full 4-months (May-August). In the likely event you have less time, suggestion would be to just chop off that portion of the itinerary. I.e. if you don't leave until late May, skip Joe's (it'll be too hot in late May) and go straight to COR (long drive...). All of these areas have nice camping options, and nearby town amenities, but for the most part it will be primitive (rather than plush and w/ electricity) camping.

Here's the itinerary:
Early-mid May: Joe's Valley bouldering. A bit late in the season there, but the shady and higher-elevation areas will be good (Dairy Canyon, etc.)
Mid-May- Optional stop at Salt Lake City crags on your way north. American Fork Canyon or Logan Canyon would be good options for limestone sport climbing.  Little Cottonwood would be a great bouldering stop (sans dog), but no dogs are allowed there, so you may need to skip LCC.
Late May - early June: City of Rocks (bouldering and cragging)
Early-Mid June: Lander - sport climbing and bouldering. Wild Iris may or may not be accesisble by then. If it isn't, the Sinks is great also.
Late June - early July - Tensleep sport climbing
Mid July- Colorado bouldering. Investigate dog issues though. RMNP no-go, but Mt Evans should be good (leash law?)
Mid- July-Mid August - Rifle sport climbing. Suggest spending a solid chunk of time here to get used to the climbing style. Also, based on your profile (5.13 sport), you'll have lots of good projects in Rifle.
Remainder of August - Maple Canyon sport climbing
End of August- Move to Vegas. Climb at Mt, Charleston.

Dates are all approximate. The biggest road-trip advice I have is to have an idea of a general itinerary, but keep the exact schedule and timing loose. If you are still psyched on an area and want to stay longer, do so. Or if the weather is bad, bail and go somewhere else.

Jon Frisby wrote: Second JCM and Helen. JCM’s sport circuit is your best option and COR for that bouldering itch 

Dierkes Lake for bouldering!! COR...just cuz. Bouldering is...sorta under the radar at COR. Dierkes is way better for that. There's some hardish sport there too. Steep enough for permadraws. But the bouldering is better. ;-)

Best, Helen

Old lady H wrote:

Dierkes Lake for bouldering!! COR...just cuz. Bouldering is...sorta under the radar at COR. Dierkes is way better for that. There's some hardish sport there too. Steep enough for permadraws. But the bouldering is better. ;-)

Best, Helen

What's the season for Dierkes sport climbing? Doesn't a lot of the sport climbing face south? Or is there good shady stuff?

Thread drift, but interested for my own purposes. I'm doing a trip to CoR in late May to early June 2020, and am wondering if there would be anywhere interesting to stop for a day in Idaho on the drive between Seattle and CoR to do some steep basalt sport climbing. Is there anywhere you'd suggest? Good sport climbing in the 5.11-5.12 range, not too hot/sunny in late May, and not too far out of the way between Seattle and CoR. 

The Fins would obviously be a sweet choice, but is a bit too far out of the way for a one-day stop on this trip. I've heard about the lava tube crags; are those shady and cool?  Or do they cook in the sun?

Tim Stich wrote:

Ha ha, yeah. You might meet this other guy I knew that was living in his van with a large dog and a really large rabbit. This woman I was seeing had befriended him, as she had developed a habit of doing after her divorce where such friendships were forbidden by her Bible thumping husband. What a delightfully awkward friend he was mixing company with others, especially me! "Hey, my friend wants to hang out with us. Is that cool?" Well, errr, ummmmmmm. Uh. Dude lived in a friend's driveway in Woodland Park and worked at a bar I think. Best part of his lifestyle was, he discovered a shanty shack in the woods nearby and actually took my friend there to make a full meal for on a one burner stove. I shit you not.

So dude, you might make a nice lady friend like that on your van travels with the dog. But leave the rabbit at home, unless you are going to meet some Czech ladies and cook that mother f'er up for your shanty shack dinner. Czechs love eating rabbit.

Yes again? Huh? I fucking drink a lot and say stupid shit on MP all the time but. Wtf? There has got to be more to this story

JCM wrote:

What's the season for Dierkes sport climbing? Doesn't a lot of the sport climbing face south? Or is there good shady stuff?

Thread drift, but interested for my own purposes. I'm doing a trip to CoR in late May to early June 2020, and am wondering if there would be anywhere interesting to stop for a day in Idaho on the drive between Seattle and CoR to do some steep basalt sport climbing. Is there anywhere you'd suggest? Good sport climbing in the 5.11-5.12 range, not too hot/sunny in late May, and not too far out of the way between Seattle and CoR. 

The Fins would obviously be a sweet choice, but is a bit too far out of the way for a one-day stop on this trip. I've heard about the lava tube crags; are those shady and cool?  Or do they cook in the sun?

Seattle to COR? Burnt river Oregon is pretty interesting, could be fun just to break up the trip. It's not a major area, just on the way. 

A bit of a detour, Leslie Gulch is beautiful, interesting...and part of climbing history. Well worth a detour to simply see it. You have to decide if you want to climb that dubious history though..on the original bolts. Nice hiking area.

Dierkes is at Twin Falls, only an hour and a halfish from City, so decide if you want a break there. I've not even bothered to check out the climbing, it's totally out of my pay grade. You will like it, or hate it, from what I've heard. Thuggery, on kinda ugly rock. The bouldering, on the other hand, is fun stuff, super accessible, and really beautiful rock! Dierkes does face south, but, it is not all the way up top of that side of the Snake River. There is also some stuff (I haven't checked it out yet) on the other side of the river.

The lava caves, are collapsed lava tubes, so the stuff is essentially on the underside of bridges. I've not been there, again, too hard for me, but my son has, and he enjoyed it. It is definitely a strange place, and tends to stay cooler than expected.

And, my own backyard, the Black Cliffs, are columnar black basalt. Not quite like any of the other basalt crags, even in Idaho. Routes up to 5.14, a mix of trad, sport, and old school sport, usually quite close together. If others are around, we tend to be a nice community, one of those places people may share ropes and offer you a lap before they pull it.

With a few exceptions, a great many places in southern Idaho were bolted long ago. Be cautious, even at City.

Is it too hot then? Well, YMMV, lol! Could be. Could have frost. But generally, your time frame is prime climbing for southern Idaho. If you are camping at City, get it reserved or sleep with the cows, lol!

There is a great new version just out of Dave Binghams book "Idaho Underground". It has almost everything I mentioned and a lot more. If you have his newest City of Rocks book, this guide follows that model.

Feel free to hit me up for whatever, if you do stop in Boise.

Assuming I'm not already over at City. ;-)

Best, Helen

OLH: Thanks for the beta on Burnt RIver. That looks perfect. A handful of interesting looking routes, and right on the way. Even if we don't end up climbing there, it still looks like a convenient halfway-there camping stop.

JCM wrote: OLH: Thanks for the beta on Burnt RIver. That looks perfect. A handful of interesting looking routes, and right on the way. Even if we don't end up climbing there, it still looks like a convenient halfway-there camping stop.

I've got a tick for it. We were only on the one wall, don't remember names, but, it's the first time we actually grabbed a stick to clip the (low!!) first bolt. Otherwise, your feet were likely to zing sideways down the loose, very steep, scree covered slope. Only time I ever belayed more or less lieing down, lol! It is nicely bolted, and fun climbing.

Have fun! Helen

Tagging on to this thread since the suggestions for later in the summer look great... I'm also looking for suggestions for April and May sport 5.12 to easy 5.14 or trad 5.11+ range but my partner who is going to visit is not of a sport climber. I'm based out of Bend and last year spent April and May in the PNW and found Smith too hot to really try hard even in the shade and index was too rainy.

I'm full time funemployed so looking for suggestions along the west coast for spring into summer. 

love that Easy 14 ;)

Helen & JCM you are great! 

claty wrote: Tagging on to this thread since the suggestions for later in the summer look great... I'm also looking for suggestions for April and May sport 5.12 to easy 5.14 or trad 5.11+ range but my partner who is going to visit is not of a sport climber. I'm based out of Bend and last year spent April and May in the PNW and found Smith too hot to really try hard even in the shade and index was too rainy.

I'm full time funemployed so looking for suggestions along the west coast for spring into summer.

Wait, a bit confused here.. what style of climbing are you looking for? You like sport and trad, but the partner is trad only, it sounds like? Is your partner with you the whole time, or only part of the time? And are they interested in doing some sport, or only trad the whole time? This will all affect suggestions. 

In any case, April-May is shoulder season. The low-elevation sunny areas in the desert are too hot, the high-elevation mountains areas are still snowed in (especially since this is looking like a good snowpack year for the west), the west-of-Cascades PNW may still be rainy rainy, and the southeast is just kind of unreliable (can be wet). For reliable conditions, the best options are mid-elevation desert areas with good shade options. Fortunately, this includes a lot of awesome areas.

Good spring trad destinations: Indian Creek (earlier in the spring is better; late spring gets hot). Moab desert towers. Zion multipitch. Red Rocks multipitch (sunny walls in early spring, shady walls in late spring). Yosemite (April can be wet still; May is usually good). Sedona/Flagstaff (sandstone and basalt options; a range of elevations and aspects allows you to choose your conditions throughout the spring).

Good spring sport destinations:
April: Shady mid-elevation desert crags: Cathedral/Wailing Wall, Lime Kiln, Bishop-area sport crags (ORG and Pine Creek).
May: Once it gets a bit warmer, it is a good time to catch the very start of the season at summer areas like Maple, Rifle, or Mt. Charleston as they dry out. Great time for cool climbing conditions and less summer crowds, even if the occaisional route is still seepy. Lander (Sinks Canyon) can have good spring weather, but not always relaible/stable. May is also prime season for Skaha (BC).
June: Summer areas (Maple, Rifle, Tensleep, Squamish) are coming into prime condition.

You could mix and match these to create a trad-only, sport-only, or mixed trip. I'll start with a "trad only" itinerary, but I can think of some sport-oriented itineraries that would be good also.

Making up these itineraries is pretty fun. Good thing to do on a rainy morning in Seattle.

OK, here is an itinerary for Claty for mostly trad climbing (Google Maps link). April into summer.

Early-Mid April: Indian Creek & Moab desert towers
Mid-Late April: Zion / St George area. Could trad climb in Zion. Or take a break from trad and climb limestone sport at Cathedral / Wailing Wall/ Grail.
Late April or Early May  Red Rocks multipitch. Note that it is getting warm at this time and the sunny walls will be hot. But it is prime season for the classic multiptches in the shade in Black Velvet, Rainbow Wall, etc.
May: Yosemite Valley
June: Higher elevation CA areas: Tahoe, Needles, Tuolumne, etc. As Yosemite Valley starts to get too warm the higher elevation areas become accessible. Exact timing of this transition depends on the year.
July: Migrate north to Squamish.

Here is a sport-only itinerary for the same time frame. Whereas the trad itinerary took a clockwise loop (Utah to California), this one takes a counter-clockwise loop (CA to UT to CO to WY to ID). Google maps link.

Early-Mid April: Bishop area. ORG and Pine Creek sport climbing. Bouldering still OK in the shade or at higher elevation also.
Mid-April: Optional stop in Red Rocks for multipitch trad climbing (it is a usually bit hot for the Red Rocks sport crags at this point).
Late April: St George Area. Limestone sport. Stick to the shadier walls like Cathedral / Wailing Wall/ Grail.
Early-mid May: Maple Canyon. At some point in early May Maple should come into season, around the same time that it is getting hot in St George. Exact timing will vary, but migrate up to Maple when the weather dictates.
Late May-Mid June: Rifle
Late-June- mid July: Tensleep
At this point, depending on how much time you have left in your trip, you could start heading back to Bend with one last stop at the Fins (ID) on the way home. Or you could continue the trip into Canada and go to Canmore and Squamish in mid-late summer. (Google Maps link for that variation)

claty wrote: Tagging on to this thread since the suggestions for later in the summer look great... I'm also looking for suggestions for April and May sport 5.12 to easy 5.14 or trad 5.11+ range but my partner who is going to visit is not of a sport climber. I'm based out of Bend and last year spent April and May in the PNW and found Smith too hot to really try hard even in the shade and index was too rainy.

I'm full time funemployed so looking for suggestions along the west coast for spring into summer. 

If you are both okay with a bit of adventure, you might consider Hells Canyon, Idaho, just for grins, for spring. It isn't a "Climbing Destination" the way City is. It is a place you decide to check out....just because. Not on the way to or from anywhere. Actually that sums up Idaho, lol! HC is 100% sport on still sharp limestone, zero beta, no guidebook, a tiny bit of info online if you dig hard. Remote. Gotta have the right head game for it, and be able to simply look at something and judge if you wanna give it a shot. We went in August, lol, in a big fire year. Thunderstorms, meteor showers, stars to the horizon, brutally hot and smoky at times. It was one of those trips that was very memorable, almost a dream state of exhausted, dehydrated, surreal and beautiful. No, no substances involved. The best climbing trips are like that, can't be replicated, ever. 

Best, Helen

Here's a good on that mixes sport and trad destinations

Early-mid April: Bishop area. ORG and Pine Creek sport climbing. (Alternatively, go to Red Rocks in April for multipitch routes. This adds in a lot of extra driving/backtracking, but is still a good option if you are interested in climbing in Red Rocks).
Late April to mid or late May: Yosemite Valley (Spring is still subject to occiasional wet weather, so while in Bishop watch the forecast for Yosemite and base when to head over on this)
Late May to Early June: Maple
Mid-Late June: Rifle
Early-Mid July: Tensleep
Late July: Alpine rock in Tetons or Winds
August: Squamish

You guys are amazing!!! Thank you for the suggestions! Also apologies for the confusion: my partner is more of a sport climber (stupid autocorrect to "not"). He climbs easy 14 on bolts and I climb easy 13 on bolts. He only started trad climbing last year but I lead up to hard 11 on gear. It's more fun if we can both climb hard though and I'm always nervous letting him lead hard trad when he's still learning placements. 

I also figured April-may was shoulder season and was struggling to figure out where to go. I thought May in skaha was a bit too warm, but maybe not? We're currently in Spain and only climbing in the shade even though it's only in the low 50s because anything in the sun is too hot to try hard. I would love to spend the season up on Squamish but am worried we are just going to get rained on a lot. Sadly my 90 day  Schengen visa is about to run out and I'll be back in the US solo for most of Feb and March until my partner comes to visit so if anyone is looking to rope up give me a shout! 

OLH - I've spent time in hell's canyon and while it was quite beautiful and indeed adventurous, I didn't find much over easy 5.12? It was hard to find beta though and one of the developers we ran into said there was an ampitheatre filled with 13s that we never found. If you have any specific beta, I would be forever grateful!

B P wrote:

huh?

I know.
Reading is hard.

claty wrote: 

OLH - I've spent time in hell's canyon and while it was quite beautiful and indeed adventurous, I didn't find much over easy 5.12? It was hard to find beta though and one of the developers we ran into said there was an ampitheatre filled with 13s that we never found. If you have any specific beta, I would be forever grateful!

Maybe join some of the climbing groups on Facebook and post up for Hells Canyon, if no one sends a pm? Hell's has been very deliberately kept a non beta crag. That's why I thought you might enjoy it, with the need to drop down some grades. If you've been, that's probably about it.

Honestly? At the level you two climb (20 grades more than me, lol), the only real destination in Idaho for you is the Fins, but no trad. Or bouldering, new problems are coming up as hard bodies are good enough to do them, kinda interesting. Or climbing mixed (real mixed, with ice and crap) in the high up and thinking YGD for real.

If you get lost and need a catch near Boise, hit me up. I can belay single pitch hard, and have two boulder pads and a bored boulder friend who climbs hard. ;-)

Best, Helen