March - Skaha
Skaha is all about sport climbing. There is trad...and good trad but its short (1-3 pitches max). And frankly...the sport climbing is AMAZING. Tons of it...hard, easy, and everything in between. We go here in March cause its still cold, less crowds, and it gets us in shape for the coming months.
April - Red Rock
Red Rocks is all about trad. Desert sandstone, 1500 foot routes, intimidating chimneys, routefinding, face climbing, interesting pro...this is a trad climbers dream local. If you want pure adventure and never see a soul...do some out-of-the-way routes, here!
May - Smith Rock
By this time...it's usually too hot...but who cares...we find shaded routes and have a good time. This is mecca for hard sport climbing and LOTS of amazing trad as well. This place is WORTH VISITING again and again.
June-August - Squamish
Actually, we'll have been climbing in Squamish since the rain stops-ish (usually as early as april)...but we are in full force in June through August for sure. Squamish has everything (bouldering, sport (technically north of squamish), and trad). But, they don't call it "Yosemite North" for nothing. Granite, long routes, highly asthetic, with TONS of mega classics....this is a trad climbers dream.
August - Yosemite
What can I say about Yosemite that hasn't already been said. It's Yosemite. We have backpacked through Yosemite and climbed there once...but have never done anything real serious there....hopefully this year....that will change.
Now you are undoubtedly wondering "Now, you guys have done all these road trips without a baby...do you really think you are going to be able to do this with Elizabeth?"
Our answer: Nope. That's why we are going to leave her behind.
Hah. Just kidding.
The real answer: We are going to invite Elizabeth into these adventures. It may mean less climbing, or no climbing, but we'll try. And, success for us, is being together. Now, practically, for some of these trips, we have friends and relatives hooking up with us in these places. These are people who love us and also understand how being a parent does (and should) change things...so some days, we may not climb, or I may be on daddy duty while Heidi climbs with a friend and vise versa, or some days we might not even make it to the crag!. We shall see!
The adventure continues...
7 comments:
actually i was wondering when you were going to go to work!!!!
ha. good question. vacation days...we use em!!!
Good job remaining flexible in your expectations. You guys have been blessed with a laid back baby so far, but each week and month can expose a whole new child. Here's hoping for you though!
Yeah for roadtripping with a baby! We had a blast taking Selah climbing for 8 weeks last summer and can't wait to do it again this year. It's perfect when they can't even roll over--where are they gonna go? You just stick little Elizabeth on the ground next to the crag and go for it! We had a little tent thing we put Selah in and she would sleep while we climbed. We'll have to get new ideas this summer because she'll surely be walking by then :)
Joy!
Where did you get your tent?? We are looking for something like that for Elizabeth.
We had a "Baby Einstein Play Gym". It folded up and could be strapped onto a pack. We brought a tapestry with us (a bedsheet would work) and some binder clips and clipped the tapestry over the top of the "gym" to keep sand, wind, sun, etc off of her. Worked great! I know someone also makes actual tents that zip closed.
Thanks Joy! We'll look into that :)
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