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Sooo I can park at an ungated Northwest Forest Pass site without a pass; right?  Since there are no feds and all.(Yeah I just tried to buy a pass but the USGS website displays only an outage message.)
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Jan 2, 2019 21:48
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PhantomOfTheCopier posted:Sooo I can park at an ungated Northwest Forest Pass site without a pass; right? Go for it! https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/12/31/some-parks-overwhelmed-with-trash-during-shutdown/ People are awful
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Jan 2, 2019 23:26
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George H.W. oval office posted:Go for it! People like this are why we cant have nice things
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Jan 3, 2019 00:52
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Yeah we can't do those fun things here. I have a Jeep aaand all the gates are always closed anyway, so no driving on DNR roads. I suppose I know one FS road that's ungated. Trailheads here with pit toilets aren't generally emptied over the winter from what I've seen, presumably because use rates drop considerably. If I see approaching issues in Feb, I usually let the ranger district know since it might be another month before they check. Please tell derpy people to stop being jerks if you catch them. I was waiting until the start of the month to get my pass. I got screwed out of my trip to Rainier (closed, pass expired). I don't expect to be able to hold out until Feb without a nwfp, so I'll get one at REI. tldr: I leave no trace and obey rules, but know when to buy passes for maximum utility.
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Jan 3, 2019 01:06
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If the question is, will the iron ranger get mad if I don't pay? U a bitch but go camp. If the question is, can I go buck wild and OTV in old growth groves and poo poo in a river and shoot bears? Kill ur self.
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Jan 3, 2019 05:12
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for real, if you're visiting the parks during shutdown donate time and/or money.
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Jan 3, 2019 05:25
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I attempted to do the hike to Rabbit Peak in the Santa Rosa Mountains on Wed/Thurs but ran into problems due to snow. So my 24 mile overnight turned into 14 miles to a spot just shy of Villager Peak. The trailhead is just off Highway 78 about halfway between Borrego Springs and Salton Sea and starts around 1000' above sea level.  Whole lotta stalks growing this time of the year.  First break at ~2400 feet or so.  The last time I tried this hike there wasn't any snow reported on Villager Peak but this year it was ~3000 feet when I started seeing it.     Since I'm dumb and didn't prepare for 2-3" of soft snow I stopped 0.25 miles from Villager Peak since the trail is along the ridge and covered in snow and I was still going for 20 minutes after sunset. Though I was rewarded with this view in the morning at ~5600ft up.  
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Jan 5, 2019 01:50
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We're taking a ~11 day trip through Utah national parks (+ Grand Canyon) at the start of February. Government shutdown situation could change that, but currently we're planning with the naive hope it'll all work out (lol). We're renting a campervan and hopefully doing mostly dispersed/unimproved "camping". While we have the gear for cold-weather camping, a week and half of sub-freezing tent camping didn't appeal. Main goals are to hike, see sights, and avoid crowds as much as possible. Obviously we won't be in the middle of wilderness areas, but hopefully the winter months will help us get in some more secluded adventures. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to split our time among Grand Canyon (south rim only in winter), Arches, Canyonlands, Grand Staircase, Bryce, and Zion? I've been roughly thinking 2 days/nights for each, except maybe splitting 3 days between Arches and Canyonlands. I'm really not sure how much time to allot here, though. Any advice is appreciated. Also, while we're used to picking out hikes, any must-do suggestions are welcome. We'll probably alternate days between small sightseeing walks and longer 8-12+ mile dayhikes.
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Jan 6, 2019 21:06
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I did a 14 day trip 2 summers ago (Knoxville to Tulsa to Grand Canyon to Las Vegas to Zion to Byrce to Arches to Canyonlands to Boulder to Knoxville) in an Outback. We camped most of the time. Some random thoughts that may or may not apply to you: - Spend more time in Zion, and also hike other places besides Angel Landing/Narrows (hike them too of course). Hidden Canyon and Observation Point are both great (and both start at the Weeping Rock Trailhead). - When you are near Zion look up Red Hollow Slot Canyon hike in Orderville, UT. Be warn make sure you have good directions before you go into the middle of nowhere. Still it is worth it. - The Grand Canyon is cool to see, but I wish I would have spent more time at other places. For an easy sunset hike (away from people) I would suggest Shoshone Point. - Mix in a night or 2 at a RV park. You get hot showers, washer and dryer, etc, and they not too bad price wise if you are not using a RV spot. One of the best decisions we made. - My biggest disappointment was that we only got a one day at Canyonlands. We did several small hikes, and the stand out was the Aztec Butte hike - At Arches I would do the Fiery Furnace hike. Be warn this is a ranger led only hike and you most reserve yourself a spot(s) as soon as possible (you can do it online). That said I would guess you would have to wait until the government opens back up. About time? Hmmm if I had to do 11 days I would do 1 day Grand Canyon, 3 days Zion, 3 days between Bryce and Grand Staircase, and 4 days Moab. nate fisher fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Jan 7, 2019 |
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Jan 7, 2019 19:24
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If you’re doing Zion definitely do Angels Lansing and The Narrows. They’re both unique and iconic for a reason.
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Jan 7, 2019 19:39
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I’m pretty sure there was a long post a while back responding to someone doing a similar trip. Does anyone have that? I remember it being a really solid itinerary
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Jan 7, 2019 20:49
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Splinter posted:Bryce and Capitol Reef have free, easy dispersed camping right outside the park borders (before you even hit the surrounding town). The park visitors centers are usually happy to tell you about the dispersed camping in the area.
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Jan 7, 2019 20:56
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nate fisher posted:I did a 14 day trip 2 summers ago (Knoxville to Tulsa to Grand Canyon to Las Vegas to Zion to Byrce to Arches to Canyonlands to Boulder to Knoxville) in an Outback. We camped most of the time. Thanks, this (and the other quoted itinerary) is really helpful! We're definitely mixing in a shower or two. Probably at least one hotel night in Moab to do laundry and be warm.
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Jan 7, 2019 21:15
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https://twitter.com/johnupton/status/1083387896403505153 Hope you guys are ready for all the national parks to be hosed up because shutting them down during the last shutdown was a "political stunt".
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Jan 10, 2019 20:34
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It amazes me how fast the parks get hosed up when no one is there to watch them. poo poo sucks
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Jan 10, 2019 20:43
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People are animals. All the people who complain about NPs being busy, expensive, having too many rules etc ... this is what happens when you let those people do what they want. Don't get me wrong, I have a few issues with NPs but the system keeps these places worth coming back to. The older I get the more I hate humanity.
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Jan 10, 2019 21:50
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This is why we need to bring back capital punishment.
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Jan 10, 2019 22:51
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Verman posted:The older I get the more I hate humanity. Please send your warm feelings of love to the trees and the mountains. Say hello as you pass. Rain makes happy mountains, but it's always nice to help. But no aggressive hugging since that's bad touch and possibly destructive. (Yes I probably say "hello happy tree" or "hello fuzzy tree" --- PNW moss, you know --- at least once or twice each hike. When I leave the national forest I wave and thank it for a nice day. Yeah I'm sane, go figure.) * Hence qualified to post and a stark hater of people.
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Jan 10, 2019 23:50
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I went hiking in El Yunque National Rainforest, Puerto Rico and it was cool.     
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Jan 13, 2019 17:05
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Does anyone know of any hiking/backpacking/mountaineering podcasts or discussions to stream? I'll try to be a little more specific though I'm not picky. I imagine there's something like old school mountaineers coming on and reminiscing about past trips, or current hikers chilling and chatting about the latest gear and their recent trips.
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Jan 14, 2019 20:12
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Rolo posted:I went hiking in El Yunque National Rainforest, Puerto Rico and it was cool. Looks like a beautiful place, great pictures! Mokelumne Trekka posted:Does anyone know of any hiking/backpacking/mountaineering podcasts or discussions to stream? This might not be exactly what you're looking for since it's YouTube, but I've been watching Dixie's triple-crown thru-hiking series, and this Darwin guy also seems to have solid gear reviews. I would definitely also be interested in more story-focused stuff if anyone has some of those!
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Jan 14, 2019 20:25
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My wife swears by The Dirtbag Diaries. I haven’t listen to it (I stopped my podcast addiction about 3 years ago), but she loves it.
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Jan 15, 2019 02:13
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nate fisher posted:My wife swears by The Dirtbag Diaries. I haven’t listen to it (I stopped my podcast addiction about 3 years ago), but she loves it. My recommendation too. It’s basically This American Life for outdoors types. Huge variety of content and lengths too.
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Jan 15, 2019 02:25
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Mokelumne Trekka posted:Does anyone know of any hiking/backpacking/mountaineering podcasts or discussions to stream? The Firn Line is a great podcast where a dude interviews mountaineers, mostly guys who climb in Alaska, and mostly oldtimers. Some of the episodes aren't great if the guests aren't good storytellers, but some are fantastic. My favorite was the one with Roman Dial, who used to be one of the big early Alaskan ice climbers but then started a family and switched to long distance hikes, bikes, and packrafting through the Alaskan wilderness. http://thefirnline.com/episodes/episode-21-the-firn-line-live-roman-dial/ It's a great listen, some of his other early ones are fantastic as well. I'd started with the Dial ep and then go back to the beginning and start from Ep 1. Enormocast mostly interviews rock climbers but they do some mountaineers as well, both new school and old. Stuff like the Jack Tackle episode are incredible. You'll have to skip most of them if you aren't into rock climbing though. https://enormocast.com/ Also the American Alpine Journal's new Cutting Edge podcast does great update date interviews with people doing super badass alpine climbing right now. https://americanalpineclub.org/cutting-edge-podcast/
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Jan 15, 2019 03:07
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I like and listen to: Backpacking Light Podcast Backpacker Radio by The Trek The Trail Show Cascade Hiker Podcast
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Jan 15, 2019 06:21
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Thanks everyone. I listened to Dirtbag Diaries "2019 Resolution" program and it's the kind of thing I had in mind. Will check out the others too. Need intermittent breaks from listening to the news.
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Jan 15, 2019 22:10
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I am trying to find an app that will ask me simple questions about a plant I'm looking at (shape of leaves, flowering y/n, region, etc.) and help me determine its taxonomy. Something roughly equivalent to the Merlin Bird ID app. So far all I've been finding are apps where you take a picture and some nebulous group maybe eventually gets back to you about what it is - not very useful on a hike. Has anyone found something like this, ideally for Android?
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Jan 24, 2019 21:31
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Chard posted:I am trying to find an app that will ask me simple questions about a plant I'm looking at (shape of leaves, flowering y/n, region, etc.) and help me determine its taxonomy. Something roughly equivalent to the Merlin Bird ID app. So far all I've been finding are apps where you take a picture and some nebulous group maybe eventually gets back to you about what it is - not very useful on a hike. Has anyone found something like this, ideally for Android? iNaturalist might be closer to what you're searching for. It doesn't really ask you questions, but you can narrow down the list of flora/fauna in each location by color, type, etc and usually find whatever it is you're looking at.
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Jan 24, 2019 23:16
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fknlo posted:https://twitter.com/johnupton/status/1083387896403505153 To play the devil's advocate here, this poo poo happens even when the parks are fully staffed and a national parks advocacy organization is probably going to exaggerate the impact of a polarized government shutdown; just like everyone else involved. People are animals, but even a full park staff can only keep them in line at the developed areas. I also think the lack of other visitors is contributing. If you are the only person at the park, the tendency of people doing what they shouldn't goes up due to a lack of self-policing; e.g. people don't vandalize things when there are other people around.
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Jan 25, 2019 09:34
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I don’t know, it sounds like you’re agreeing with the fact that the shutdown is causing harm to the parks due to them being unstaffed.
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Jan 25, 2019 18:48
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Cheesemaster200 posted:To play the devil's advocate here... Cool, just what we need here in TYOOL2019.
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Jan 25, 2019 19:29
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Cheesemaster200 posted:To play the devil's advocate here, this poo poo happens even when the parks are fully staffed and a national parks advocacy organization is probably going to exaggerate the impact of a polarized government shutdown; just like everyone else involved. People are animals, but even a full park staff can only keep them in line at the developed areas. I also think the lack of other visitors is contributing. If you are the only person at the park, the tendency of people doing what they shouldn't goes up due to a lack of self-policing; e.g. people don't vandalize things when there are other people around. To go along with your anecdote, I've never seen a Joshua tree cut down like this while the parks have been staffed.
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Jan 25, 2019 20:11
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I've hiked and camped in National Parks all over the world. Never abroad have I seen (even in NPs with one ranger total in a one-room visitor's center) spray painted ancient rocks, toppled ancient free-standing miracle boulders, and chopped down endangered joshua trees like I see in the US. Purposefully disrespecting delicate natural formations and ecosystems is not a universal human compulsion in the absence of authority as you say. Right now it seems to be a uniquely American zeitgeist.
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Jan 26, 2019 18:56
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God Hole posted:toppled ancient free-standing miracle boulders If only...
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Jan 26, 2019 22:02
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Yeah... I've definitely seen vandalism in climbing areas internationally. It is absolutely not just an American thing. I would actually say that the US has some of the best national parks in the world to be honest. That is not to say that other countries don't have amazing beautiful parks, just that the formal US park system is pretty excellent.
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Jan 27, 2019 04:38
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God Hole posted:I've hiked and camped in National Parks all over the world. Are you referring to Americans as a people or American parks? Regardless I would disagree with you on both areas. I think Americans as a whole are very conscious and protective of their national parks, which is why this instance is getting so much news coverage. Someone in a nation of 330 million chops down a tree and it gets national headline news coverage. That isn't indicative of a culture of purposefully disrespecting their natural natural treasures. I also think Americans are more mindful then most of the world regarding waste and trash management. Does bad stuff happen? Absolutely. But if you compare it to the visitation numbers to each of these places and I am surprised that more of it doesn't happen. I am just finishing up a three week trip through Indonesia. Parks here are covered in trash and heavily commercialized. Few people hike or camp in parks, and most people go on organized jeep, boat or motor tours that stop at scenic places; all with gimmick selfy setups for a fee. Parks here revolve more around instagram and commercialization rather than protection. It reminds me of places like Gatlinburg if they were allowed to build it inside of SMNP rather than outside the gate. There are larger parks in more remote areas, but only because someone hasn't figured out a market for exploiting it yet. Hopefully the Indonesian view towards conservation changes some before than happens. This is a similar situation to many parks I see in Asia. Cheesemaster200 fucked around with this message at 10:14 on Jan 27, 2019 |
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Jan 27, 2019 09:47
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Anyone have any recommendations on Isle of Skye, or that area of Scotland? Looking for something a bit out of the way, if possible.
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Jan 27, 2019 15:44
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Yooper posted:Anyone have any recommendations on Isle of Skye, or that area of Scotland? Looking for something a bit out of the way, if possible. The Quiraing and Old Man of Storr are very popular hikes but they are honestly great. Just do them first thing in the morning before the crowds arrive. I also liked Oronsay Island, which I had all to myself for hours. There's nothing really out of the way on Skye, you can drive all the way around it in a day.
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Jan 27, 2019 18:06
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Oakland Martini posted:The Quiraing and Old Man of Storr are very popular hikes but they are honestly great. Just do them first thing in the morning before the crowds arrive. I also liked Oronsay Island, which I had all to myself for hours. There's nothing really out of the way on Skye, you can drive all the way around it in a day. Awesome thanks. Enough stuff to do for a small family to spend a week? We're exploring a few different places, Alaska, Minnesota, or Scotland.
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Jan 27, 2019 19:25
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Yooper posted:Awesome thanks. Enough stuff to do for a small family to spend a week? We're exploring a few different places, Alaska, Minnesota, or Scotland. Probably. I was there for two days but I really push myself to do a lot on vacations. Cairngorms National Park is not far from there either. It's on the drive up from Edinburgh and looks really nice although I didn't stop there.
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Jan 27, 2019 19:30
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