RRC Archives

wberry wrote:Josephine,
never been down in mid May. so, how are the bugs this week??

The bugs are never bad at the Red. Of course, I'm from Minnesota and Michigan, land of the mosquitos, so I'm biased.

bugs LOVE me. they adore me. they follow me in droves sucking my blood

i would bring bug spray.

DuppyC wrote:I suggest throwing the plan out the window, coming down and having some fun. itineraries suck.

AGREED. chances are it will rain on your day to visit crag C, be too hot to climb at crag D on that day, etc.

you will have plenty of time to plan it out at night, and by chatting it up with others. don't worry about a thing. the red will accommodate you and climbers here are eager to offer their opinions.

that being said, you will want to climb NO PLACE LIKE HOME.

it will get pretty humid by late may, but camping may still be bareable. bring ear plugs if you stay at miguel's... then you dont have to worry about the noise at night. if you want something quieter, go down the road to whittleton. Its walking distance you can get tanked. =) Other than cabin rentals, True North Hostel is nice, and not super expensive.

stick to the 4 and 5 star routes and you wont go wrong. Dont try to plan everything out, you can NEVER count on weather to be like the forecast says. Just play it by ear and you will always find somewhere to climb.

the red:

A) heat: never too hot
B) humidity: never too humid
C) insects: too few to even notice, always

...if you disagree, you are probably one of the following:

D) an ice cube
E) a sponge
F) a total pussy

Thanks ya'll,

I'm taking notes.

And yeah, I here ya about the "things won't go according to plan anyway so don't bother." But rest assured I am not planning an itinerary or anything like that, but merely trying to give myself "enlightened" options.

Once we're there, we'll basically just go with the flow. And by going with the flow I mean we'll climb way too hard on day one and spend the rest of the trip at the campground complaining about how weak and sore we are. Hanging at the motherlode ain't such a bad idea. Maybe we can chill at the base of a route and try to look cool, like we were actually considering climbing it.

But I do think there is some logic to finding out early about things like camping, if only so I can make reservations, and weather, so I can pack accordingly.

Also, not too worried 'bout the bugs. Up here a swarm of black flies can actually lift you up and take you away.

Just to get things straight with the camping thing: Lago would be the comfortable camping option, and Miguel the cheap, party-hardy option?

thanks, keep the beta coming

Wonder1900 wrote:
Just to get things straight with the camping thing: Lago would be the comfortable camping option, and Miguel the cheap, party-hardy option?

yes.

If you go to the Solarium, which you should, definately jump on Air Ride Equipped and Banshee. 2 different types of climbs but awesome and aesthetic!

MUST go to miguels. I'd say at the very least eat there your first and last night.