Dirtbag climber wannabe, looking for somewhere to live!

January 17, 2012 6:06 PM

I'd like to dirtbag (AKA, camping in an area for extended periods of time) somewhere this summer, preferably somewhere with nearby access to rock climbing. Where do I go, and how do I do it?

I got the heads up from my boss that because business gets very slow in the summer, I would be free to leave for a month or two beginning in May. I just got back from a several-month-long trip to the mountains of India, and would love to spend some time away from city-life again and just focus on climbing and nature.

I have plenty of gear, for both climbing and camping (though I'd love to hear specific recommendations).

Here's some things that might make the hypothetical location ideal, but certainly aren't necessary: access to climbing nearby, bouldering being first priority and sport climbing being second; (hinging on the climbing part...) a friendly population of climbers from which I could get a climbing partner for the day; somewhat-nearby/available access (somewhere that I could get a ride to, at least) to food/supplies in the event that I need to restock; and least important, decent weather :).

Any thoughts / first-hand experience? Thanks metafilter!

(PS... My trip to India was awesome because of your advice. I can't thank you enough!)

posted by pyrom to sports, hobbies, & recreation (12 answers total)

My first thought was Moab. Lots of public land for free camping not far from town, easy access to climbing and camping spots, friendly town, plenty of places to grab a shower if you want it, etc. The area's known for crack climbing, but there's quite a bit of bouldering, too. May should still be ok temperature-wise, but you can usually find a shady spot in a canyon in the middle of the day even when it gets warmer. Check out some of these areas and see if any would appeal to you. I'm not a climber or anything, but it seems like you'd be in good company there.
posted by BlooPen at 6:26 PM on January 17

Well, there's always Yosemite.

Austin has some good sport climbing that's within city limits. There's the Greenbelt for lots of short sport routes, and McKinney Falls state park has camping and a lot of good, steep bouldering. Just outside the city is Reimer's Ranch, which has some longer sport routes and a good bit of bouldering, but no camping. In nearby Fredericksburg you can camp at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, which has tons of granite bouldering (everything else in Austin is limestone) and a lot of good trad routes (plus a few sport pitches).
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:32 PM on January 17

I've heard Yosemite is hard to dirtbag, because there are quite a few rangers trying to prevent tourists from camping beyond their stay. Yosemite is extremely appealing, and I'd love to be around the big-wall crowd, but I might not have a partner and I haven't learned multi-pitch techniques quite yet.
posted by pyrom at 6:46 PM on January 17 [1 favorite]

First thing that sprang to mind is the City of Rocks in southern Idaho.
posted by rosa at 7:07 PM on January 17

I live in Ogden, Utah and we've got pretty darn good climbing around here as well as beautiful camping. I'm not really a part of the climbing scene, but you can contact the people at Ogden Outdoor Adventure for specifics. They're really nice.
posted by TooFewShoes at 7:21 PM on January 17

Hmm.. do you have a vehicle?

With Yosemite, you can stay up to two weeks, but lots over-stay, by bivying under boulders and suchlike. But these measures aren't really necessary. You could spend two weeks in the valley and then head up to Toulumne or the East side. Lots of easy dirtbagging on the East side, with free sites on the park boundary east of Tioga or up and down Owen's valley.

If you're happy to move every few weeks, you could do as many do and just follow the season. The desert in winter. Josh in Spring, the Valley in early Spring. And then points north.

But I don't know whether you have a vehicle, and whether you're planning on living on 1000$ a month, or zero. The latter requires not paying for camping, which means BLM lands, really. Or eluding the relevant local authority, for instance Yosemite rangers.

Come July-August, you could do a lot worse than Squamish, though. You have to pay for camping below the Chief now (I suppose its been over decade, so I should stop whining about the good old days now) -- but its cheap. The town -- with groceries, coffee shops and laundry -- is a short walk away. The weather is reliably sunny, dry but not oppressively hot, with good lakes to swim in a short distance north of town (hitchhike, bike or drive). The community is great and its draws climbers from all over. And the climbing is fantastic, with more to do than you could get done in a decade (of course, 3/4 of every year of that decade would be unclimbable during the unceasing winter rains).
posted by bumpkin at 7:34 PM on January 17

Totally seconding Moab. There is tons and tons of great rock climbing and bouldering, and lots of locals who basically rock climb as their lifestyle who would be totally willing to help you in any way (I used to live in Moab). You're right outside not only Canyonlands and Arches, but also a great deal of just local BLM land ripe for hiking, climbing and bouldering. Beautiful weather. Lots of BLM land that you can camp on nearly for free (some have a small camping fee).

It's a truly incredible place. Any outdoors enthusiast would be remiss to not spend a little time there.
posted by Lutoslawski at 7:51 PM on January 17

My first thought was Joshua Tree, but May-July will get brutally hot there. Still, check it out if you ever have time between Sept-May.

I'll 2nd rosa's suggestion of City of Rocks. One thing about camping there is that it's not a giant single campground but rather sites scattered throughout; this could be good if you want some peace and quiet, or not so good if you'd like to be more social. As for local access for resupply would be a bit of a challenge since you're somewhat remote.

Another outstanding choice would be Smith Rock, OR; I don't know of a better sport area in the U.S. (hell, American sport climbing was basically pioneered there), and it has a very social scene with a single large campground with running water and solar showers. People often climb all day and then drive in to Redmond (a few miles) or Bend (~25 miles) for beers/dinner; I'm sure you could snag a ride frequently if you find the right partners.

Good luck!
posted by EKStickland at 8:02 PM on January 17

Seconding Smith Rock, OR. High Desert action.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:55 PM on January 17

Smith is a good suggestion. I was going to suggest Colorado, where I have been a climbing bum in the past, but I can't think of a good sport area that would be worth it. Maybe Rifle or Shelf would be fun to spend a couple of weeks at each?
posted by fieldtrip at 9:56 PM on January 17

Oh wow, I always wanted to do this back in my rockclimbing days. I've been to City of Rocks and can recommend it. The campsites are gorgeous and it's sufficiently remote that it's just not very crowded.

In the end, though, I would go with the folks noting that if you have a huge chunk of time the best thing to do is to move around some. You can stay somewhere for awhile then move when the weather craps out or you want a different style of climbing. One of my more memorable trips started in the Tetons, then, when we wanted more solid granite, moved to the Winds. So you may well want to follow the seasons.

If you're starting in May, the Moab area would be a good spot, although there're more routes (lots of which are trad) than bouldering there. It's sufficiently social that I doubt you'd have a tough time finding a partner, though. From there, just start moving north. I wouldn't cross Yosemite off your list -- there's certainly plenty of (very famous!) bouldering there. Especially when the summer gets hot, it could be a good refuge. Smith Rock would also presumably be fantastic for deep summer sport climbing, though I've never been there so can't personally recommend it. I would stick with the West, though there are certainly some lovely climbing areas in the East. The Southeast will just be horribly unpleasant. (I spent a summer climbing in the southeast due to the vagaries of my life at the time, and although I had a good time I would not recommend it if you have a choice), as will New England. Don't even think about Arizona or SoCal.
posted by Nx at 10:07 AM on January 18

If you want to go east instead of west, my sources tell me that Miguel's in the Red River Gorge in KY is the place to be for dirtbag climbers. $2/night.
posted by BlooPen at 11:04 AM on January 18