I will be leaving Pittsburgh mid august with a good friend to hitch around and climb for no determined amount of time, i assume it will be at least untill the spring. From Pittsburgh we will go through chicago then out to the tetons on 90 stopping at the badlands, the black hills. etc from the tetons north to the anaconda range then glacier, north cascades, Orcas Island, Olympic NP, rainier, mt adams, Columbia river gorge, then the coast down ( Redwood national, Lost Coast, Big sur) to LA where i will have a base and will be back in my usual sierra splendor. I assume ill stay in cali for a while.
I guess my real question is what to climb? My partner is not comfortable above class 3 so i want to have summits we can both obtain. He is cool with me soloing stuff but im only into class 4 or low 5 alone. In the tetons i was thinking about linking a long hike with the middle teton as a goal. In glacier which i hope to spend a few weeks in and around i would like to climb bear hat mountain, and many others. ETC
Any advice or help would be appreciated. There is no time line for any of the parks, just playing by feel, and the onset of winter as we stay north into fall. Also in past trips like this i have done, i have found it exhausting adding all the miles of walking to trailheads when you cant get picked up and without a car no expectations of arrival anywhere can be assumed.
Glacier and the north cascades will be the only two i haven't been to, so advice for them particularly would be great. Or anything along the way we should check out.

-Brian

With all the time you guys seem to have available, I guess I'd just suggest doing harder stuff, & nudging your friend into pushing himself (time & experience make one stronger & make things easier!)- you really have a lot more great things available to you in the different places you mention if you include 4th or easy 5th class terrain. If you make it to the Sierra, Agassiz (from Bishop Pass) & Middle Pal are some excellent 3rd class peaks. Mt. McLoughlin in the southern Oregon Cascades is a great hike, too.

Since you are in the area on your way West, try Cloud Peak in the Bighorn Range. It is a nice Class 2/3 summit.

Take I-90 west of the Badlands, turn west in Buffalo, WY, might be US 20?, and go over the crest of the Bighorns, then turn north to a nice drive up campground.

The base of the climb is about 5-10 miles (??) from the campground. It has been 10 years since I did it, at that time I used a guide book ("Cloud Peak Wilderness," ISBN 0-937603-12-0). Now, the climb must be described on Mountain Project.

When in Washington state, the book you want is "75 Scrambles in Washington" by Peggy Goldman (ISBN 0-89886-761-4).

While in Mt. Rainier NP, check out the Tattosh Range on the south side of the park; fun class 3-4 climbs with great views of Mt. Rainier.

BrianChase wrote:...I guess my real question is what to climb?...

You've already got a climbing plan:

BrianChase wrote:I will be leaving Pittsburgh mid august with a good friend to hitch around and climb for no determined amount of time, i assume it will be at least untill the spring.

Go forth young man, and let your heart guide you every morning when you wake up.

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