|
Every cairn in Canyonlands was a little miracle that kept me from getting hopelessly lost.
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2021 17:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 19:26 |
|
|
Actual navigational cairs are usually pretty substantial. No one officially maintaining trails should be relying on an artfully-balanced single column of rocks.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2021 17:42
|
|
|
withak posted:an artfully-balanced single column of rocks. I remember Arches and/or Canyonlands (can't remember which) trails were largely this, the smaller less popular trails at least. Some of them were only 2-3 rocks.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2021 17:48
|
|
|
We have a large endangered salamander that breeds under river rocks and even though there’s signs not to build them the streams in my favorite places are a minefield of cairns. So now I can’t see them anywhere without thinking of the slimy boys losing their houses. HEY BUDDY STOP FUCKN WITH MY ROCKS \ 
Rolo fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Aug 15, 2021 |
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2021 18:13
|
|
|
Rolo posted:We have a small endangered salamander that breeds under river rocks and even though there’s signs not to build them the streams in my favorite places are a minefield of cairns. Salamanders are just one of the reasons they are a big no no in the Smokies (which are famous for their different species of salamanders).. Edit: I assume that is hellbender? That is one of the most famous ones in the Smokies.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2021 18:19
|
|
|
It’s the hellbender yeah, I tried to ninja edit the word “small” out because I’ve only seen babies. They get real big. Straight up Pokémon looking.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2021 18:24
|
|
|
Slimy Hog posted:A couple weeks ago I saw a bunch of cairns on my way to a rock climbing spot that lead the wrong way. The probably led to a different climbing spot, or something at any rate. Cairns in climbing areas from my experience are rarely pointless.
|
|
#
?
Aug 15, 2021 21:48
|
|
|
Cairns are kind of the same problem as people taking small pieces of fossilized wood home. You only took a small chunk, but so did the other millions of visitors to the park and oops now there's no more fossilized wood.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2021 01:35
|
|
|
armorer posted:The probably led to a different climbing spot, or something at any rate. Cairns in climbing areas from my experience are rarely pointless. I realized as I started to describe the cairns to you that they're probably a walk-off for some of the trad routes there? It lead to the top of the crag I was looking for so that's my best guess.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2021 01:48
|
|
|
anti unofficial cairn crew https://www.tiktok.com/embed/6969695030520990982
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2021 02:06
|
|
|
Slimy Hog posted:I realized as I started to describe the cairns to you that they're probably a walk-off for some of the trad routes there? Yeah that would make sense. It's easy to get cliffed out when descending from some long trad routes, particularly if you run out of daylight on the way up, cairns are super useful in those situations.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2021 02:11
|
|
|
I like cairns because they usually tell me where to go while I'm hiking where very few people normally go on the way up to the top of mountains. I almost never see a useless one. Yesterday I drove another stupidly long way to go hiking in Wyoming. First time I've climbed something in the state. Ended up doing Wyoming Peak and its northerly neighbor Mt Coffin. Why it's named that I have no idea, it doesn't look much like a coffin  Wyoming Peak from Mt Coffin  Supposedly there are fantastic views to be had. I saw lots of smoke   The old fire lookout that had collapsed  And then I found the mostly skeletal remains of a ram carcass. Don't often see that  https://i.imgur.com/NvCDx8U.jpg And then on the way out I drove into a storm. The weather forecast hadn't mentioned one, but typical Wyoming weather I guess. And it was some poo poo, lightning struck a hill maybe a quarter mile away from me. And that rain wasn't just coming down in drops, that poo poo was some drat rain bombs. I don't think I've ever seen drops that huge
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2021 14:42
|
|
|
On a given summer day, this was how the lakeshore at the county park just north of my state park looked like:  Tourists are the worst 
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2021 14:53
|
|
|
Small trip report from the Lost Coast. It was great! Totally doable in 2 days if you have a favorable tide during the day. Night hiking any of the tidal zones seems like a terrible idea. I didn't have a great tide schedule, so I had to go like this: Basically I got to the TH mid-afternoon Saturday and hiked for a few hours down the upper section until I reached the first tidal zone, which was basically just walking on a rocky beach with cliffs on the side. It would not be fun getting pinned anywhere here, so I waited for about an hour for the tide to recede to about 4 feet at 7pm so I could start making my way. The official recommendation is 3 feet, but 4 is pretty doable outside of a few short points where you can still get splashed by a stronger wave. I saw some a dad and his two kids that went for it a little before I did, but I caught up to them pretty quickly. By the time I got midway through the zone it was getting too dark to keep pushing on, so I set up camp up a creek. I saw a couple who had gotten there earlier with all their clothes drying on some logs since they had gotten splashed when they tried going even earlier than us. You shouldn't be getting wet on this trail! Second day I got up early and went again on a receding tide around 4 feet again since it looked very doable, and I didn't have to do much waiting. The worst part was towards the end of the zone, but by then the tide was below 3 feet and was completely passable. The rest of this stretch was nice and flat and alternated between some rocky beach and clifftop plains overlooking the sea. I couldn't go any further past Big Flat because even though the next tidal zone was only 0.5mi away, by 1pm the rising tide was already above 3 feet and it wouldn't be below 3 feet again until 9pm. Final day I only had a low tide of 2.7 feet, so there was only a 3 hour window in the morning with a tide below 3 feet. I went for it again at 7am around 4 feet so I would hike along a receding tide, but there were a few points where I had to wait out the tide or run around a rocky point with the ebbing tide. It was slow going here, but once I was past the first 2 mile stretch it was much faster since the tide was lower, exposing wet sand that I could go along faster. The rest of the hike was just going along a sandy beach that turned to pebbles for the last 2 miles, which was a slog. I would say the views were the best at the first upper stretch, with the wildlife (seals, otters), abandoned lighthouse, and dramatic rocky cliffs. The flat section midway through was very nice but August isn't the right time to go, it was really dry - probably spring when those coastal plains are nice and green would be much nicer. The final stretch was basically just 8-9mi of beach hiking, which is fun but repetitive, and the views are similarly repetitive too. In terms of difficulty, there isn't really anything physically difficult about it other than going carefully over rocks. So it's a great beginner trip for people new to backpacking if you have to spread it over 3 days like I did, or you can go for it over 2 days with a good tide schedule if you are in better shape. For me it was nice going a little slower on a flat trail since I hurt my left knee a few weeks back and I didn't realize it hadn't completely healed, so it was a bit painful bending it. The main challenge is just the logistics, with having to time the tides and stick to a schedule. I brought a chair and book with me to pass the time and I'm super glad I did, here's how I waited out the tide on that first day (ended up starting and finishing the whole book on the trip with all the downtime):  Sorry I don't have more pictures, they're all on film that still needs development and scanning. cerious fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Aug 17, 2021 |
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2021 19:36
|
|
|
There was some pretty crazy weather out on the Lost Coast on Saturday. Very warm but strong winds. I think you lucked out on that front, since springtime can get quite rainy out here.
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2021 22:14
|
|
|
late to cairn chat but they're all over the alpine zone in the White Mountains and nobody minds because they keep people off the alpine vegetation. you can't really blaze the trails because they're all rocks the weather is poo poo. some of them have been there for many decades by now.
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2021 22:25
|
|
|
The hiking community should probably just use two terms to describe the different things. Cairns are made for trailmarking, and they're good. Rock stacks are made for fun, and they're bad.
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2021 22:47
|
|
|
kreeningsons posted:anti unofficial cairn crew  
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2021 22:52
|
|
|
Greatest Living Man posted:There was some pretty crazy weather out on the Lost Coast on Saturday. Very warm but strong winds. I think you lucked out on that front, since springtime can get quite rainy out here. Maybe in the morning? Saturday afternoon was a little cloudy and grey, with a pretty decent wind, but it got real nice later into the evening. It not raining was pretty nice. It was also nice to not have to worry about mosquitoes, I forgot how nice it was not wearing a bugnet.
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2021 23:16
|
|
|
Kaal posted:The hiking community should probably just use two terms to describe the different things. Cairns are made for trailmarking, and they're good. Rock stacks are made for fun, and they're bad. Need to be careful that your anti-rockstack campaign isn't going around kicking over cairns.
|
|
#
?
Aug 17, 2021 23:27
|
|
|
withak posted:Need to be careful that your anti-rockstack campaign isn't going around kicking over cairns. Cairns are generally way bigger than rock stacks, and are often constructed using stones brought in via mule, so they really are only superficially similar. If you can just kick it over, it probably isn't a cairn.  
|
|
#
?
Aug 18, 2021 00:31
|
|
|
for every rock you stack i'm going to eat three wait
|
|
#
?
Aug 18, 2021 00:39
|
|
|
Kaal posted:Cairns are generally way bigger than rock stacks, and are often constructed using stones brought in via mule, so they really are only superficially similar. If you can just kick it over, it probably isn't a cairn. This is certainly true in some places, but a lot of alpine trail markers are just a few stacked stones making up a small cairn.
|
|
#
?
Aug 18, 2021 00:44
|
|
|
truly a land of cairntrasts
|
|
#
?
Aug 18, 2021 01:05
|
|
|
armorer posted:This is certainly true in some places, but a lot of alpine trail markers are just a few stacked stones making up a small cairn. It depends on the area of course, but there's a lot of alpine areas using wire or even concrete to harden against the elements and differentiate their cairns from rock stacks. If you're up high enough that the routes need rebuilding every season, then you're already in an environment where people should be experienced enough to tell the difference. Fitzy Fitz posted:truly a land of cairntrasts https://youtu.be/TwjDXwHbLfc Kaal fucked around with this message at 01:23 on Aug 18, 2021 |
|
#
?
Aug 18, 2021 01:20
|
|
|
Kaal posted:Cairns are generally way bigger than rock stacks, and are often constructed using stones brought in via mule, so they really are only superficially similar. If you can just kick it over, it probably isn't a cairn. I mean this should be exhibit A for unnecessary cairns. What live-saving navigational guidance are these providing? Destroy all these.
|
|
#
?
Aug 18, 2021 05:29
|
|
|
What hats do you angels wear when hiking?
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 05:31
|
|
|
mid-july i found these stacked next to a big ol campsite in a stream that obviously rises a lot in wet weather, should the hippies who stacked them be drawn and quartered, or merely blown from a gun?
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 05:39
|
|
|
Ornery and Hornery posted:What hats do you angels wear when hiking? https://www.dadbrandapparel.com/products/hat-hat
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 05:42
|
|
|
my dads birthday is coming up and this is perfect, thanks dad brand apparel
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 05:43
|
|
|
take it to an embroiderer and get another hat added to the small hat
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 06:30
|
|
|
Ornery and Hornery posted:What hats do you angels wear when hiking? https://www.decathlon.com/collections/mens-hats/products/mountain-backpacking-waterproof-hat-trek900
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 11:59
|
|
|
Didn't realize stacking rocks was so controversial. Today I learned. What do you guys think of these three itineraries? I've dropped down to part time at work and I'm currently out in Utah so I figured I would squeeze in a few trips. Any additions/subtractions/modifications you'd make? Trip 1: 8/25 Evening - 8/29 Evening 8/25 Drive to Zion 8/26 Stuff in Zion 8/27 Day Trip to North Grand Canyon 8/28 Stuff in Zion & Drive to Bryce 8/29 Bryce and drive home Trip 2: 9/1 Evening to 9/5 Evening 9/1: Drive to Capitol Reef 9/2: Stuff in Capitol Reef 9/3: Stuff in Capitol Reef & Drive to Goblin State Park 9/4: Stuff in Goblin State Park 9/5: Stuff in Goblin State Park and drive home Trip 3: 9/8 Evening to 9/12 Evening 9/8: Drive to Canyonlands 9/9: Stuff in Canyonlands 9/10: Stuff in Canyonlands & Drive to Saddlehorn Campground, Colorado National Monument 9/11: Saddlehorn Campground, Colorado National Monument 9/12: Saddlehorn Campground, Colorado National Monument
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 16:32
|
|
|
huhu posted:
No Arches? I'd make an extra day after Canyonlands for Arches and one less at CNM.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 16:41
|
|
|
How familiar with the southwest are you? It's monsoon season so be prepared for that. I'm not sure how the whole of Utah gets affected, but I know the four corners area gets absolutely drenched. We were all the way up at Ridgway in Colorado a couple weeks ago and the evening storms were pretty epic.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 16:46
|
|
|
huhu posted:Didn't realize stacking rocks was so controversial. Today I learned. There is a fun and short hike not far from Zion and on the way to Bryce (if I remember correctly) called the Red Hollow Slot Canyon. If you ever wanted a slot canyon all to yourself this is the hike. It is worth the stop and ended up being one of our favorite hikes. Random link to some pictures to it I found on Google https://www.utahsadventurefamily.com/red-hollow-slot-canyon/ Edit: In Zion I will give Hidden Canyon and Observation Point a shout out as alternatives to Angels Landing. nate fisher fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Aug 19, 2021 |
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 16:58
|
|
|
Goblin State Park is a 1 day trip if you hit it up in the morning. It's not that big. Playing in the goblin area and goblin's lair are the highlights for sure.
George H.W. Cunt fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Aug 19, 2021 |
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 17:04
|
|
|
huhu posted:What do you guys think of these three itineraries? I've dropped down to part time at work and I'm currently out in Utah so I figured I would squeeze in a few trips. Any additions/subtractions/modifications you'd make? You have Canyonlands on here, so I assume you mean Island in the Sky, but I have to recommend the Needles district if you haven't considered it. Island is majestic, but Needles is otherworldly.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 17:31
|
|
|
In addition, Hole in the Rock Rd. a bit south of Capitol Reef has some neat stuff all along it. Particularly Spooky Slot Canyon and Peek-a-boo. It's day trip worthy to jam yourself through some entirely small spaces
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 17:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 24, 2024 19:26 |
|
|
I have a baseball cap from a park I wear, or a canoe floppy hat with the neck protection in back. One time hiking (while thoroughly sweaty, so I didn't feel it) I had a horsefly bite the back of my neck at the hairline. Rubbed the back of my neck with my hand and my had was just covered in blood. Really not a fan of them, but nothing repels them. So I try to keep my neck covered it bugs are active.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2021 18:33
|
|
