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I went on a hike of the Highline Trail in Glacier NP yesterday. It could have gone better. I was hiking with my mom, who twisted her knee badly halfway through, so we had to move slowly and lots of hikers were squeezing past us. Then the last 4 miles were a long long downhill with no shade - we didn't run out of water but we were both getting seriously overheated, to the point where I threw up on the shuttle ride back. Ugh. It was only 11.5 miles but it was really too ambitious given the conditions. At least it was pretty and I got to yell at some nards feeding the squirrels and marmots.
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Jul 14, 2017 23:59
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| # ? May 25, 2024 08:11 |
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Has anyone hiked the maroon snowmass capital creek loop?
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Jul 15, 2017 01:56
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Those kayaks are rad as hell and I'm jealous.
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Jul 16, 2017 17:45
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With the current icky and impending ickier weather, I've been pondering sunset hikes. Realizing that it doesn't cool down until about 3AM these days, my pondering has switched to headlamped, pre-dawn ascents. Those of you that hike to greet the morning sun, do you find that the crepusculars or matutinals, or their predators, are out trying to take bites out of your legs? Or are all the scary animals asleep?
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Jul 19, 2017 00:20
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PhantomOfTheCopier posted:With the current icky and impending ickier weather, I've been pondering sunset hikes. Realizing that it doesn't cool down until about 3AM these days, my pondering has switched to headlamped, pre-dawn ascents. The only animal that scares me outdoors is people. and moose
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Jul 20, 2017 03:54
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OSU_Matthew posted:The only animal that scares me outdoors is people. And skunks.
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Jul 20, 2017 03:57
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For me it's just ticks. Moose are big and scary, but usually not a real problem.
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Jul 20, 2017 13:22
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gently caress rattlesnakes. Other poisonous snakes too but rattlesnakes are the only ones near me.
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Jul 20, 2017 16:22
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taqueso posted:gently caress rattlesnakes. Other poisonous snakes too but rattlesnakes are the only ones near me. A buddy of mine was walking along, saw one bathing in the middle of the trail so he stopped. Turned out there was another one right next to him in the bush and it got his leg. His whole leg turned black, calf swelled up to the size of his thigh and he had to go through months of rehab to walk again.
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Jul 20, 2017 18:10
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eSporks posted:Every time I have seen a rattlesnake, I have heard it first. I hear that some of them aren't rattling anymore though. Basically people are hunting and trapping them, selectively weeding out the ones that rattle. Well, that's loving terrifying. [Edit: Especially because I've pretty much stumbled into a moose, can't imagine a rattle-less rattlesnake. And the whole leg part.]
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Jul 20, 2017 18:19
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I loving hate snakes. I've learned to tolerate the non poisonous varieties as I got older but I'm still pretty terrified of the poisonous ones. Pheasant hunting is always a double edged sword for me. I know the statistics (moose kill more people in NA than most other animals) but give me a moose or a bear any day over accidentally stumbling within striking distance of a rattlesnake.
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Jul 20, 2017 18:30
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Verman posted:I loving hate snakes. I've learned to tolerate the non poisonous varieties as I got older but I'm still pretty terrified of the poisonous ones. Pheasant hunting is always a double edged sword for me. Accidentally came within ~5ft of a rattler last month while out hiking. It was near the summit of a peak and he was nestled in some rock crevice just off the trail where I stopped to take a rest. Hopefully that's my one rattler encounter for a few good years. e- here he is (she?)  Was very calm, didn't really move much, never rattled. This is in Griffith Park (Los Angeles). khysanth fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Jul 20, 2017 |
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Jul 20, 2017 19:19
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I've come across my fair share of rattlers and I've always treated them with the utmost respect. Except for the one time I peed off the side of the trail into a bunch of rocks and the rocks started to rattle at me. Sorry about that little buddy! I also came across this juvenile who was warming up in the middle of the trail. This was around 10AM near Big Bear Lake and it was probably about 50 degrees out. He was totally still and didn't react to me at all. The camo is so good!
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Jul 20, 2017 20:09
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I came across a bear with cubs in Shenandoah back in May. That was my first experience with that and it kind of scared the crap out of me. They went straight across the trail about 100 yards in front of me. Also came across a rattlesnake the same trip. Cold as poo poo out, so I doubt he really cared about us: 
Cheesemaster200 fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Jul 20, 2017 |
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Jul 20, 2017 20:21
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I guess since we're doing pictures, here is the moose that my wife and I stumbled upon. He was pretty close to the trail and was being really still, totally missed him. We backed up a bit and then took this picture.
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Jul 20, 2017 20:55
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I've only encountered a moose once - standing in the middle of the road after dark in northern NH. I'm thankful that he had brown legs or I never would have seen him.
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Jul 20, 2017 21:02
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The only moose I've ever seen was during my bachelor party in northern Michigan about 200 yards off the roadway in a marshy area with a young calf. The only bear I've ever seen was a roughly 250 lb black in the same general area on a two-track driving back to camp at 1am. I've been too close for comfort to a few mountain goats, one with a baby. Those things are aggressive and nothing I would want to gently caress with. Most of the snakes I've seen are usually garder snakes with the exception of the blue racers back in Michigan. Those things are big and fast and have a tendency to be aggressive though not poisonous. I almost stepped on one while bird hunting and stopped because I thought it was a pile of poo poo ... then it moved and made every inch of my skin crawl. One of the coolest things I've ever seen was also while bird hunting, we were driving back and pulled onto this dirt road and saw an osprey (or owl) swoop over our truck and picked up a big snake that was crossing the road ahead of us. It carried the snake for at least a mile as we drive behind it before flying away assumably to eat it. The wingspan was insane, at least 8 feet wide and flapping impossibly slow though gong 40 mph. I love nature. If I could make a decent living (and had no student debt) I would have been a park ranger.
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Jul 20, 2017 22:18
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In Glacier, I was hiking with a party of about 10 when we came upon a moose ambling into a pond and swimming away, about 100 ft from us. Then she (??) cut in front of us and stopped about 20 ft from the trail, very unconcerned with the humans.
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Jul 20, 2017 23:23
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I've also been told that Washington rattlesnakes have stopped rattling due to hunting in the last fifty years, but it'll take a bit to dig up a reference. Mostly we have garter snakes. I worry about scaring fox and such in the wee hours of the morning, but I'll just try to make more noise. Actually I feel really bad when I scare ground birds/mammals that are dozing and have to go running off all scared because they didn't hear me coming. I always say I'm sorry. 
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Jul 20, 2017 23:31
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PhantomOfTheCopier posted:I've also been told that Washington rattlesnakes have stopped rattling due to hunting in the last fifty years, but it'll take a bit to dig up a reference. Mostly we have garter snakes. I scared up a grouse the other day on my hike and it scared the poo poo out of me despite being a bird hunter who intentionally walks through the woods trying to rustle up birds. It was so different than anything I've experienced in the midwest that it caught me off guard. Rather than a low pitched helicopter wing flutter and a quick semi-vertical takeoff like I'm used to, this thing hissed and ran across the trail. I only caught it out of my peripheral vision so I just saw a small tan spotted thing run across the road and feared it was a cat cub. Knowing I was still on the west side of the cascades I knew it wasn't a rattle snake but I'm not used to wild animals making that sound. It was weird and made my heart skip a beat. There may have been a slight pucker. I must have wandered right by its nest because it sat within sight about a foot off the trail puffed up hissing at me and looking like a tom turkey. Definitely one of the bigger grouse I've ever seen.  
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Jul 21, 2017 00:22
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PhantomOfTheCopier posted:I've also been told that Washington rattlesnakes have stopped rattling due to hunting in the last fifty years, but it'll take a bit to dig up a reference. Mostly we have garter snakes. A very cursory search turned up a few articles from years ago. None of them cite anything scientific and they're all based on anecdotal evidence. quote:But some experts say the rattles are going silent. quote:ELLENBOLT: It was Fleming's first encounter with a rattlesnake, which left her alone once it made its famous noise.
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Jul 21, 2017 01:04
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Yea sorry, I should have mentioned that all the evidence is anecdotal. It also stands to reason that if its true, its going to affect populated areas more than back country areas. The place my friend got bit by the silent one was within 1/4 mile from houses.
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Jul 21, 2017 03:53
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Here's a pic of my one rattlesnake encounter in Shenandoah NP. It was an eastern timber rattler lounging right in the middle of the trail and it very much still knew how to rattle. 
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Jul 21, 2017 04:16
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Verman posted:I scared up a grouse the other day on my hike and it scared the poo poo out of me despite being a bird hunter who intentionally walks through the woods trying to rustle up birds. It's that time of year. I scare grouse all the time and they do their jet take-off that always scares the poo poo out of me. But lately when I run my trail there's an angry grouse that just squawks/hisses at me and runs around, presumably trying to distract me from its babies.
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Jul 21, 2017 13:26
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Growing up in the South I have ran into snakes several times, but it wasn't until last year I actually seen a snake hiking. It was right in the middle of the trail on our way back from Ramsey Cascades in the Smokies. I was like well we finally seen a snake, and my son joking said maybe we will finally see a bear now. Well 5 minutes later we got to see a mom and 3 cubs. We had to back track about half a mile (they started to come up the trail towards us).
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Jul 21, 2017 13:53
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Verman posted:I scared up a grouse the other day on my hike and it scared the poo poo out of me despite being a bird hunter who intentionally walks through the woods trying to rustle up birds. I was hiking in GSMNP last year by myself, noticed a ruffle in a bush that I thought was a bear, and like 2-3 of these things fly out at me. Scared the gently caress out of me.
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Jul 21, 2017 20:25
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I probably already told this story, but the scariest I had was walking along a forest edge when, after I was six feet past, from ten feet within the forest and underbrush, and having to pass through it all and making a scuttlebutt of noise far surpassing anything I've ever heard from a herd of deer coming out of a forest, this single wild turkey took off and flew over the field.
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Jul 22, 2017 01:04
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Has anyone else found that squirrels are disproportionately loud to their size and I guess general status as a prey animal? Every time I hear a big rustling in the underbrush I'm always convinced a deer or a beaver or something big is going to pop out, but nope, 99% of the time it's a squirrel.
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Jul 22, 2017 21:26
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:In Glacier, I was hiking with a party of about 10 when we came upon a moose ambling into a pond and swimming away, about 100 ft from us. Then she (??) cut in front of us and stopped about 20 ft from the trail, very unconcerned with the humans. Was this over around Fishercap Lake? I seem to see moose like clockwork there.
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Jul 23, 2017 01:22
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single-mode fiber posted:Was this over around Fishercap Lake? I seem to see moose like clockwork there. I think we were on the trail around Swiftcurrent Lake, not far from there.
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Jul 23, 2017 01:40
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bongwizzard posted:Has anyone else found that squirrels are disproportionately loud to their size and I guess general status as a prey animal? Every day out here on the AT. The bears are straight up stealthy compared to these assholes. They scare me when rustling right off the trail.
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Jul 23, 2017 02:17
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I woke up a bunch of times on the trail to find loads of nuts stashed in the front pocket of my bag. You silly squirrels!
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Jul 23, 2017 06:29
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Alan_Shore posted:I woke up a bunch of times on the trail to find loads of nuts stashed in the front pocket of my bag. You silly squirrels! I have a coworker who does this, like her thing is reverse pickpocketing pistachios into people's pants pockets. It's weird as hell but kind of endearing.
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Jul 23, 2017 12:56
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Spent last week on vacation in CO. Now I'm sad because I'm back in Chicago     I only got to do a ~2 mile hike since my wife was not doing well with the elevation but it was still pretty cool. charliebravo77 fucked around with this message at 23:18 on Jul 26, 2017 |
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Jul 26, 2017 23:15
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Where did you go? Also, yes thats a hard adjustments from Chicago to CO. I've done that a few times where we were at sea level in Chicago that morning and 10k feet in the same afternoon. Its interesting how altitude hits everyone differently. My buddy who is a tall skinny guy that wasn't doing much cardio exercise noticed zero effect. I'm a cyclist, I stay in really good shape and it hit me hard around 10k. My other buddy who is more muscular and hits the gym was having the hardest time. That was always the hard part about Colorado. Its so close to Chicago but takes time to acclimatize.
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Jul 26, 2017 23:32
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We were pretty touristy, went to RMNP, Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, and some spots along Poudre Canyon. We also took the long way back and hit Rushmore and the Badlands. South Dakota or Glacier will be a tough choice for the next trip. If I knew how cool the Badlands were going to be I'd have planned for a couple days there instead of a couple hours.
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Jul 26, 2017 23:50
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I wish I had gone to Garden of the Gods while I was in Colorado but we never seemed to have enough time. We mostly stuck to RMNP. Badlands were cool but I don't know that I could have spent more than a day and a half there. It was way too hot to hike (around 100º) and it was still in the 90s all night long. I really wanted to go to Glacier or Teton but our movers hosed up our dates and we were on limited time when we moved from Chicago to Seattle. gently caress there's so much to see out west.
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Jul 27, 2017 01:10
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What options are available for lightweight, durable musical instruments? It would be cool if there was something like a mandolin at half the weight. I found this Pocket Sax, looks like an interesting option (basically a recorder with a less wimpy voice?) Harmonicas are often pretty annoying but maybe one could become good with harmonica somehow.
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Jul 27, 2017 01:56
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soprano ukulele?
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Jul 27, 2017 02:33
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Kazoos are very light and not annoying at all.
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Jul 27, 2017 06:20
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