UKC

I'm flying into San Francisco on Friday and will be travelling around California and Oregon for 3 week camping and walking around the national parks with my girlfriend who isn't a climber.

I can't for the life of me work out what on earth a grade 1 or 2 UK scramble would convert to in the American grading system or if it even exists, can anybody else shed a light on this?

We haven't really got a specific itinerary planned but during the trip we are hoping to visit Sequoia and kings canyon ( do the rae lakes loop), Yosemite, Lassen, crater lake and mount hood national parks with Kings canyon being the first on the list.

Has anybody got any good ideas for multi day camping walks that are worth a look that may incorporate a good long scramble or a ridge that doesn't require a rope and isn't anything harder than a grade 2 UK scramble


I realise most overnight permits need to be booked months in advanced over there, is it possible to just turn up at like 5am and get to the front of the queue to avoid disappointment .


Any hints on avoiding crowds are welcome but I realise that it's the height of summer so will most probably have to just put up with it.


Thanks

In reply to Jones_88:

Grade 1 and 2 scrambles roughly equate to 3rd and 4th class terrain. On a UK grade 3 scramble most non-climbers would rope up – North Americans would think the same of 5th class terrain. 5th class terrain means 5.0 and upwards on the YDS climbing scale. It's all approximate so exercise caution.

Can't really make too many recommendations on the locations you mentioned other than if Yosemite valley is too busy and hot and you may like to look at Tuolumne Meadows which is higher (cooler) and has some lovely terrain around Cathedral Peak. Anywhere along the John Muir trail will be great.

Also, not sure what permits you are referring to, but I spent ten months hiking and climbing out of a van in North American and the only permit I have stood in line for was a camping permit for Camp 4. If you are heading out on trails where you need the NP wilderness permit, turn up early on the day and you should be fine.

Read up on bear safety before and make sure you follow the advice

You would be better off asking for specific trail recommendations on Mountain Project or Supertopo forums

Cheers

In reply to Jones_88:

In my experience, it's all slightly random!
But I've done class 3 which have felt like 3(S) scrambles, and class 4 which would be Diff in the UK.
For grade 1/2 scrambles I'd be looking at class 2/3 maximum, or something described in a guidebook as an easy scramble.

In reply to Simon Caldwell:

Also my experience... sandbag clearance seems much slower than in the UK.... many 4th class things deserve 5th grades and 5.0 and 5.1 stuff that should be equivalent to Cuillin 3S is often a lot harder. I'm especially speaking as a regular US multipitch leader in the 5.6 to 5.9 range who has been nervous on 4th descents just for the moves ... goodness knows how someone who freaks with exposure would feel on something like the easiest way up and down on Fairview dome.

In reply to Jones_88:

These places are really amazing and you will find plenty to do just by turning up and asking the park staff for advice.. really popular summit tough walks like Whitney and Half Dome need booking but there are alternatives that are almost dead. For example in Yosemite we walked from White Wolf to the grand canyon of the Tuolumne on Labour Day... flat 2 hour cool forest round trip to a great view and saw no one else. Lassen is a good peak hike... several peak options are available from passes like Tioga.