|
From what I hear the bullshit about the Smokies is that they don't charge cars for entrance but they charge AT hikers  Anyone been up to Yosemite lately and checked out the snow level?
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 17:57
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 26, 2024 09:53 |
|
|
I just read through the article was just posted about a hiker getting lost and dying. Super sad.melon cat posted:I'll be day-hiking in Colorado's National parks with my wife in mid-June. We've done hiking trails before, but usually in parks with clearly marked trails and lots of worn paths. Is it overkill to buy a Delorme inReach for this kind of outing? I'm just thinking of an emergency situation. Or maybe we'll get into an argument and she'll march off in a huff, which is basically the same thing. Then saw this question and a bunch of people say that inside National Parks the trails are well marked and you won't have a problem. My wife and I are still new to backpacking and don't have a lot of experience under our belts. We have been to Yosemite and RMNP, and the trails at the state parks we have been to were better marked. For us, one of this first thing we did was buy a Delorme inReach. I know they are not perfect and there is still a risk if you get lost, but something like the Delorme inReach probably would have saved that lady's life. The fact that it does emergency beacon and two-way SMS is great. We use it to check in with our contact (usually one of our parents) at night when we set up camp. Rescuers can also reach out to you if needed, instead of just "here I am, come find me." I know there are downsides. It's expensive, has a monthly fee (which is actually pretty flexible), needs battery, can instill a false sense of confidence, etc... but I personally think it is worth it.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 18:18
|
|
|
BaseballPCHiker posted:http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-national-parks-have-never-been-more-popular/ It's crazy to me how many visitors Olympic gets. I know it's mostly people driving to the beach or lakes or Hurricane Ridge but it's so easy to be alone in the park.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 18:54
|
|
|
Internet Explorer posted:I know there are downsides. It's expensive, has a monthly fee (which is actually pretty flexible), needs battery, can instill a false sense of confidence, etc... but I personally think it is worth it. Learning how to use a map and compass will be an incredibly valuable skill for you to learn as you do more hiking. Nothing wrong with PLBs but they should be a last resort. Next time you're out try to get a topo map of the area and plot your course on the map with a compass. There are a ton of good materials online to learn, and they should can get you started quickly.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 19:36
|
|
|
That is definitely a good point. We absolutely have to get better at that. We always take a topo map and a compass when we hike and try to practice. We're from sea-level and we learned very quickly that "only a mile away!" is not the same when you are in the mountains. We are planning on going to a more formal class or course soon, because it is definitely a lifesaving skill. But those devices also save you from things other than just getting lost. I still think they are worth it.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 19:51
|
|
|
I used to carry a compass, didn't use it for like three years and threw it out, just dead weight. I look back on all the awful training and poo poo they used to think was "vital" back when I was a boy scout and just laugh my rear end off. Did they actually make me haul a hatchet and a saw and a compass and a backup compass around or was that just a fever dream? All dead weight.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 20:21
|
|
|
Pryor on Fire posted:I used to carry a compass, didn't use it for like three years and threw it out, just dead weight. lmao
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 20:35
|
|
|
I"ve backpacked for most of my life and never used a compass even when I carried one. I think it depends on the area you're in but a good map, a plan, and knowledge of the area your in are far more important things to know and use. There's absolutely zero need whatsoever to consult a compass on a well maintained trail and normal conditions. Where it'd get dicey is snow covered trails and no real knowledge of the area (lose the trail, not sure where you're headed) or a big snowstorm or things like that. Even off trail in the mountains you don't really need a compass if the conditions are good (again, not in the middle of winter or something) and you know how to read your map. I wouldn't dissuade anyone from taking one if they want to, completely your decision and what you're comfortable with, but I'd advocate for a decent GPS app on your phone as being far more valuable and useful if you are worried about getting lost. e: the "carry a hatchet" and all that kind of level of stuff is really more like "survival camping" or bush craft or something IMO. Some people like to do that stuff and it's cool, but not really necessary for straight up backpacking Levitate fucked around with this message at 21:37 on May 27, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 21:34
|
|
|
As a geologist I sometimes take map reading and compass use for granted, but it's definitely a great skill to have.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 21:42
|
|
|
Levitate posted:I"ve backpacked for most of my life and never used a compass even when I carried one. I think it depends on the area you're in but a good map, a plan, and knowledge of the area your in are far more important things to know and use. There's absolutely zero need whatsoever to consult a compass on a well maintained trail and normal conditions. Your location definitely plays a huge roll in things. When I lived in Alaska it was pretty much mandatory, no trails anywhere and at best you could hope for a well worn game trail. Now that I'm in the midwest the only time map and compass skills proved helpful was way up north in Minnesota in some of the state/federal forests bushwacking and hunting. It's still an incredibly useful skill to have though. poo poo happens, weather like you mentioned, or you just completely lose your bearings. That poor woman who died in Maine on the appalachian trail was something like 100m off trail when she got lost!
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 22:13
|
|
|
Yeah, I can't think of a single time that I've used a compass. Map? Plenty of times. Sun to roughly figure out east/west? Sure. Fingers between the Sun and horizon to see how much daylight is left? All the time. Compass though? Meh Knife? Only if I bring cheese that needs cut. Sunscreen and a hat? Nah Bugspray? Never does any good anyways Mylar emergency blanket? I'd rather deal with the cold than the annoying crinkling on top of being just as cold. Fire poo poo? Too much work, I'll leave it at home thank you very much. Ten essentials my rear end
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 22:50
|
|
|
I think I would have gotten in serious trouble last year in the Sierra without the compass on my watch, for what it's worth. Of course it was my own dumb choice to go wandering in a featureless snowfield anyway.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 22:59
|
|
|
Vivian Darkbloom posted:I think I would have gotten in serious trouble last year in the Sierra without the compass on my watch, for what it's worth. Of course it was my own dumb choice to go wandering in a featureless snowfield anyway. I'm pretty sure that's how most of these horror stories start. Moral of the story is don't be a dumb.
|
|
#
?
May 27, 2016 23:46
|
|
|
Also carry a super lightweight compass just in case anyway. Sure. You haven't needed it any other time - but when you need it, you need it, and it's not a significant weight/space addition to carry a super simple small one. Will it be 100% accurate? No. Will it tell you which way north-ish is on a cloudy day? Yeah.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 00:03
|
|
|
Tigren posted:I'm pretty sure that's how most of these horror stories start. Moral of the story is don't be a dumb. Except there are some really cool places with featureless snowfields in between the trailhead and the cool place. Sometimes people want to go to those places and need to be able to navigate through them even in bad weather.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 00:05
|
|
|
Rodenthar Drothman posted:Also carry a super lightweight compass just in case anyway. This is my thinking. You don't need a 1lb metal lensatic compass; a half-ounce clip-on compass/thermometer combo will at least get your map pointed in the right general direction when your GPS batteries die. TerminalSaint fucked around with this message at 01:07 on May 28, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 00:16
|
|
|
TerminalSaint posted:This is my thinking. You don't need a 1lb metal lensatic compass; an half-ounce clip-on compass/thermometer combo will at least get your map pointed in the right general direction when your GPS batteries die. Slightly off-topic: I'm listening to Build Me Up Buttercup, and your AV is perfectly in sync with it.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 00:21
|
|
|
that's a half ounce less liquor I could be packing
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 01:19
|
|
|
*woman hiking well-marked trail gets lost and slowly starves over a month half an hour's walk from several possible points of rescue* compasses are for chumps!
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 02:07
|
|
|
I bring a compass but I find navigating/orienteering to be pretty fun. The USGS has free maps of every single US are available for download, and you can get a black/white 36x24 version of them for about $3 each at FedEx Kinko's. The kind like the military uses: 1:50000 scale with MGRS coordinates and declination given. Fun stuff to take with you and impress your friends with, and really nice for finding camping spots or cool landmarks off the beaten path.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 02:08
|
|
|
That Ken Burns National Parks documentary was pretty good and people have been poo poo to our parks since their very inception. Still glad we got 'em though even if they are getting crowded. Would have been dope to been around John Muir's time.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 05:22
|
|
|
I tend not to bring a compass because I'm so familiar with my area that I can identify pretty much every mountain at any angle just by looking at it. I'm really good at translating topo maps to real landscapes and usually just rely on that. If I were to show up in some place new and unfamiliar, I would bring a compass for sure. But here I pretty much have the landscape memorized completely and I've found it impossible to not know my orientation to the peaks around me at any given moment. There's interesting research being done between sense of direction, navigational skills, and certain areas of the brain. We covered it in a class I took on digital Earth models, mapping, and satellite technology, of all things. That relying on GPS exclusively to tell us where to go could potentially lead to atrophy of brain cells. It was really interesting, and can explain why some people couldn't get lost if they tried while others honestly require tools to help them navigate. I remember it was mentioned that some of the people with the largest hippocampus in brain scans where London taxi drivers, who have to memorize the entire city and are required to know the most efficient routes as part of their job requirements. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-brain-cells-behind-a-sense-of-direction/
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 05:34
|
|
|
The compass isn't as much about being able to see a hill or whatever as a waypoint, it's being able to navigate when a rain or snowstorm hits and visibility is lost, or if you can't orient yourself normally like getting caught out at night.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 06:05
|
|
|
^ that
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 06:09
|
|
|
Levitate posted:From what I hear the bullshit about the Smokies is that they don't charge cars for entrance but they charge AT hikers While I agree 100%, they can't charge for cars (that is unless Tennessee passes something that would allow them to). The land that is now the GSMNP use to be privately owned, and Newfound Gap road was built by the state of Tennessee. When they transferred ownership to the federal government part of the deal was travel would be free. So the park is now forced to come up with revenue in other ways. Sucks, and I think they should stop charging thru-hikers at least. Still most National Parks are under funded as is.
|
|
#
?
May 28, 2016 20:16
|
|
|
I'm still about 20 pages behind after reading a page or two a day since forever, but I have a time-sensitive question about trail photography. I think it would be neat to do so eventually, but it's way down near the bottom of my priority list for money and weight. I ran into a massdrop that expires tonight for something called the Intova Duo camera, a 5mp waterproof camera that costs 30 bucks and weighs like 1.6oz. My thoughts are that it's hard to gently caress up a $30 dollar purchase, plus it weighs next to nothing, but I don't know enough about cameras (or have the time to look into it) to know if it's a garbage purchase or not. I'm not expecting some DSLR quality that I could make giant prints out of, but the odd 4x6 would be neat to have. I'll catch up to this page and start posting more meaningful stuff. I'm also moving to Ontario soon and hope to hit up Algonquin park and surrounding areas over the next few years if anybody else is local. Thanks!
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2016 23:02
|
|
|
nate fisher posted:While I agree 100%, they can't charge for cars (that is unless Tennessee passes something that would allow them to). The land that is now the GSMNP use to be privately owned, and Newfound Gap road was built by the state of Tennessee. When they transferred ownership to the federal government part of the deal was travel would be free. So the park is now forced to come up with revenue in other ways. Sucks, and I think they should stop charging thru-hikers at least. Still most National Parks are under funded as is.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2016 23:04
|
|
|
Hitting up San Joaquin and Two Teats (lol) in late July. A coworker of mine also mentioned he was going to scrap his permit for Whitney this weekend due to snow and planned to do it later this July. He invited me along for the full 22-mile trek and mentioned he planned on doing a same-day permit. Is that realistic, the obtaining of a permit like that for a weekend hike?
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2016 23:18
|
|
|
Guest2553 posted:I'm still about 20 pages behind after reading a page or two a day since forever, but I have a time-sensitive question about trail photography. I think it would be neat to do so eventually, but it's way down near the bottom of my priority list for money and weight. I ran into a massdrop that expires tonight for something called the Intova Duo camera, a 5mp waterproof camera that costs 30 bucks and weighs like 1.6oz. My thoughts are that it's hard to gently caress up a $30 dollar purchase, plus it weighs next to nothing, but I don't know enough about cameras (or have the time to look into it) to know if it's a garbage purchase or not. I'm not expecting some DSLR quality that I could make giant prints out of, but the odd 4x6 would be neat to have. I'm gonna say a $30 camera will be poo poo and your cell phone will take much better quality photos.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2016 23:58
|
|
|
Guarantee my phone will be worse lol, it's about 6 years old and cracked to poo poo. I don't intend to have a cell once I move, other than a prepaid burner for emergencies, so phone isn't really an option. e. Compasschat - I stopped carrying a large suuno compass since I don't need to manually direct artillery fires, but there's no reason not to have at least a button compass built into a multifunction something or other imo. Mine weighs like 2 grams and slips on my watch strap. Guest2553 fucked around with this message at 03:47 on May 30, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 30, 2016 02:14
|
|
|
Vivian Darkbloom posted:I think I would have gotten in serious trouble last year in the Sierra without the compass on my watch, for what it's worth. Of course it was my own dumb choice to go wandering in a featureless snowfield anyway. I won't be bringing a compass on HST this summer. I'm sure at least one of the other guys will have one. And I'll bet none of us will check it even once. Officer Sandvich posted:*woman hiking well-marked trail gets lost and slowly starves over a month half an hour's walk from several possible points of rescue* Do you really think she didn't have a compass? Hungryjack fucked around with this message at 03:41 on May 30, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 30, 2016 03:20
|
|
|
What do you guys think about camelbaks vs water bottles for hiking? How do you prefer to carry 3-4 L of water?
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2016 04:49
|
|
|
^^ I'm personally with the liter/wide mouth nalgene crowd. Camelbacks are nasty, drat near impossible to clean, and you can't flavor your water. Everyone else I know loves them though, so maybe I'm the weird one  .Also see boots vs trail runners, and external vs internal frame packs. Re: Cameras: You could probably make a better camera out of a potato than that one. A 30$ 5 mp waterproof camera would be perfect for a rafting trip or underwater selfie at the beach, but utter poo poo for any pictures you want to look good, or hiking. You can buy older used waterproof digital point and shoot cameras online for stupid cheap if that's what you're after, and those would be a million times better. Fuji, Olympus make some good ones to name a few. Re: compass chat, I've heard that same thing about exclusively using gps actively inhibits your ability to learn how to navigate. Falls in line with my own personal experience too. This is pretty fascinating--there's an indigenous tribe in Australia that has a perfect innate sense of direction, to the point where even their greeting is basically along the lines of "what direction are you facing?" Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 05:08 on May 30, 2016 |
|
#
?
May 30, 2016 05:02
|
|
|
Dutymode posted:What do you guys think about camelbaks vs water bottles for hiking? How do you prefer to carry 3-4 L of water? I also drink a ton of water when I hike, so a full nalgene is a nice back up when the camelbak runs out. As for compass chat, someone just went to market with a semi implanted compass sense Im sure there some mixed feelings, but I think this type of stuff is rad. I'd consider getting one when they get streamlined a bit more.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2016 05:53
|
|
|
Dutymode posted:What do you guys think about camelbaks vs water bottles for hiking? How do you prefer to carry 3-4 L of water? I take both. I have my 3L Osprey pack I move from pack to pack, then I also take a Nalgene or canteen with me for extra.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2016 06:00
|
|
|
Dutymode posted:What do you guys think about camelbaks vs water bottles for hiking? How do you prefer to carry 3-4 L of water? For day hikes more than a few short miles, I carry a bladder in my day pack. It's just easier to slurp and go. And for day hikes I usually go with just water. If it's hot I'll also bring a Gatorade. For backpacking I always use a 3L bladder and bring an empty 20oz Gatorade bottle for mixed stuff. Nalgene bottles don't really fit in any of my packs water bottle pockets and tend to fall out when full of water.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2016 06:11
|
|
|
Those 20 oz gatorade bottles are hands down the perfect backpacking water container. I know too many people that have experienced failures on their camelback, from seals breaking and freezing in winter (drenching their sleeping bag) to the last hike I went on where the lady lost the mouthpiece and her entire bladder drained out but nobody noticed because it was raining pretty heavily that day. Great for a run or short hike, not sure I'd ever trust it in a situation where I was depending on that water.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2016 16:57
|
|
|
I think if you're backpacking where there's easy access to water then there's no need to carry a lot. I carry two 1L bottles and some people just carry one and refill often. Carrying a 3+ L camelback seem like a lot of extra weight and I don't really like how cumbersome they are But again! Do what you're comfy with and what conditions dictate.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2016 18:19
|
|
|
There's not a ton of fresh water in many places in California. Certainly sparingly few that are reliable.
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2016 18:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 26, 2024 09:53 |
|
|
I'm a fan of smart water bottles since they're pretty durable, super light, and have a slim profile. I haven't used my camelpack in a couple years because it's kinda heavy, hard to clean, and annoying to balance out its weight. My wife's water bladder also got punctured once while we were cycling which made us suddenly aware of 1) how comparatively expensive they are to replace, and 2) how screwed you can be if it constitutes all or most of your water storage capacity. Not to mention the whole having wet clothes thing. Water's generally not a concern at the areas I visit though, so one or two 1L bottles on the outside of a pack have been more than enough, plus an empty 1L water bag on the inside just in case. tl;dr: it's okay to like what I don't like!
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2016 20:15
|
|