Adventure Trad Climbing Road Trip Itinerary

Calling all climbers of the "adventure trad" (long multi-pitch, route finding challenges) persuasion! What would your ideal road trip itinerary be?

Starting this summer, I will be doing an extended road trip (~1yr)in North America. While I do enjoy bouldering, cragging, and alpine slogs, my favorite type of climbing is long, multi-pitch, on trad gear, with route finding challenges, and relatively good protection. Therefore, I am looking to identify the best areas/routes (rock, ice, or mixed) for this style of climbing and link them up into a continuous road trip.

Currently on my itinerary:
- Grand Teton, Moran, Gannett, Pingora, Wolf's Head
- Gunks
- Desert Towers
- Red Rocks
- Yosemite & Tolumne
- Candian Rockies (Edith Cavell, Wiwaxy, Polar Circus, Mixed Master, etc.)
- Bugaboos
- Ruth Gorge

I did a similar road trip two years ago. The only thing missing from your list is Zion.

Black canyon

The Gunks seem kind of anomalous in this list, since they're the only Eastern destination you've got. If you want adventure tradaineering in the East, I cannot recommend North Carolina enough, much more than the Gunks.

Adirondacks: 10x more adventure than the Gunks.

Dacks.. Cannon...Katahdin... then swing up to Trinite..that should keep things spicey

I second Zion National Park.

Karl Henize wrote:"adventure trad" (long multi-pitch, route finding challenges)

Most of your list is not what I'd call "adventure" climbing. Winston O'Boogie nailed it.

Check out Fred beckeys book, 100 favorite climbs of North America. Ticking that book would be quite the road trip

Don't forget Cochises Stronghold.

Man, what an itinerary! But yeah, if you come east nix the gunks and do laurel knob and whitesides in NC!

Yes .. Wyoming... Grand, Cirque and the Tower.. DONT FORGET THE TOWER!!

I think with a one-year trip, you do need to plan to move with with the weather. This link, to ClimbingWeather.com Map can help you do that. It doesn't include all destinations -The Adirondacks aren't included, but it has a good amount. The site also give average weather conditions for the areas.

I would get my "start date" and choose the part of US that has the best chance of being nice at that time of year. Gunks in July and August would NOT be the best choice, for example. But further north - Cathedral and Cannon, would be nice in summer.

People used to describe the Black Fly situation in the Daks as excruciating in summer. But the last few years I haven't heard much -anyone have an idea?

Personally, I think two to three weeks in a localized area(where one can get to various cliffs within an hour or two drive or so, is the minimum needed to be able to have a quality experience. People forget how much time driving between areas eats up, and that it does take some climbing to get used to a new type of rock, unfamiliar layout, and how much time gets eaten up with errands when you are living on the road. And a year to cover the whole US and maybe parts of Canada really is tight. Two years would be better!

Winter might be hard; even Red Rocks and Cochise get cold. You ought to add some stops in Mexico to your list; the travel/cultural aspect alone will make any trip feel adventurous. It'll help you get through the winter, when the rest of North American climbing is in a deep freeze. Potrero Chico is worth a stop and will provide what you are looking for, even though it may not seem that way. If you like long traditional multi-pitch, leaving the rack behind and blasting a huge wall with minimal gear will feel awesome. There are plenty of more "traditional" adventure trad or big wall destinations too, like El Trono Blanco, etc.

Alternatively, skip Northern Hemisphere winter and fly to Patagonia. If you don't want the full bad weather. rime-mushroom expereince of El Chalten, staying a bit further north in Frey would be awesome.

Also in the summer: Cirque of the Unclimbables.

If you want to do anything out east, both the Adirondacks, and various places in New Hampshire (Whitehorse and Cathedral ledges are great -- but not adventure. Cannon mountain might be a good choice, and there's lot of others.)

The Gunks are more of an outdoor trad climbing gym than anything like adventure climbing. Well climbed, well documented, big clean trails in, etc.

There are, also, some adventurous long routes in eastern Quebec.

Squamish may, also, be worth considering.

Another great adventure crag in the Needles; definitely worth checking out.

^^^
I agree with the above, but your list is kind of a weird one in that, while including the Gunks, also seemed to have left off all of Colorado (what about the Diamond, Spearhead, etc.), the Black and the Sierra. Those places will have some of the best examples of what you're supposedly looking for.

David Gibbs wrote:If you want to do anything out east, both the Adirondacks, and various places in New Hampshire (Whitehorse and Cathedral ledges are great -- but not adventure. Cannon mountain might be a good choice, and there's lot of others.) The Gunks are more of an outdoor trad climbing gym than anything like adventure climbing. Well climbed, well documented, big clean trails in, etc.

Overall, I think that the OP should probably just skip the East. The climbing in those places, no doubt, is amazing. Liville Gorge, Looking Glass, Dacks, Cathedral, Gunks...all awesome. But for really long multipitch? The east is kind of limited. Wallface and Cannon are pretty rad by east coast standards (I used to live in New England, and spent a decent bit of time at both areas), but in Yosemite either of them would just be another cliff among many. If they were somewhere deep in the Wind River Range, they probably wouldn't even be named. Anyway, given what the OP is looking for, he is probably better off spending the whole trip in the West. There is way more there than he can touch in a year.

Here would be my ultimate list, if I were planning a trip based on the OP's priorities. I separated the areas by season.

Summer areas (mostly alpine-ish):

High Sierra (esp. the Hulk, but lots more than that too)
Tetons
RMNP
Wind River Range
Elephant's Perch (Idaho)
Needles (CA)
Washington Pass, and various other North Cascades objectives
Squamish
Bugaboos
Cirque of the Unclimbables

Fall/Spring:

Yosemite Valley (I'd spend most of the Fall there)
Black Canyon
Zion
Red Rocks
Desert Towers
Utah West Desert...i.e. north face of Notch Peak...rad

Winter:

Canadian Rockies (ice/mixed)
Cody (ice/mixed)
Cochise
Red Rocks (some of the sunny routes are OK in winter)
various areas in Mexico (go relax in Potrero and clip bolts for a bit, after a Fall spent getting scared in Yosemite, Zion, and the Black)
or just buy a plane ticket to Patagonia

This list is very long, and if you managed to visit a quarter of these areas you would have an extraordinary year. Trying to visit all of them would not be recommended.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I now have a lot of new climbing areas to research and string into a logical sequence. Keep the recommendations coming. =]

It seems that I will need more time than 1 year to hit all the top spots. The hard part now will be deciding where NOT to climb on this particular trip.

I also suppose I ought to explain some of the anolomies noted in my original post...

Q: Why is the Gunks on the initial list? Why isn't anything else from the East coast on the initial list?
A: The Gunks is the closest "world class" trad climbing area to my parents' home. I plan to climb at the Gunks, when I am visiting family. I also plan to use Gunks cragging to build up strength, endurance, and technique. That being said, I believe there is at least 1 adventure crag there (climbing cumminity has elected not to publish any route information).

Q: Why isn't anything from Colorado (specifically Black Canyon and the Diamond) on the inital list?
A: The first reason is that I am largely ignorant of the best climbing areas in Colorado. The second reason is that I am scared s***less by the Black Canyon. The Diamond scares me too, to a lesser extent. I plan to visit these places once I have learned to aid climb and become significantly more badass. While I like adventure climbing, I am not yet very experienced (or ballsy).

I'll be in the Tetons all summer. Let me know if you want to do some climbs! I certainly have a few on my checklist this summer, including CMC on Moran and the Upper Exum on the Grand.

Thomas