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Fitzy Fitz posted:We were in a Hyundai Sonata. Wasn't too bad! The gravel road off of 62 was maintained really well until just before the trailhead. I drove up there last October and I would not take a city car in there. The first five miles were fine, but after that the potholes got progressively more nasty. The last mile looked like someone had carpet bombed it. I did see one guy doing it in a Corolla and I assume he made it but he was going extremely slow, I was behind him for a bit and he kept clanging stuff underneath his car off the rocks. I was in a stock Subaru and it was pushing the limits of my comfort level. I guess it depends on when the last time the road was graded, I got no clue what the schedule might be. So try it out but be willing to turn around if it gets bad. It was pretty though!  Mt Sneffels by Seth Graham, on Flickr (i didn't go to the trailhead, this is in that meadow with the first dispersed camping area)
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Jun 15, 2022 23:56
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Ignore my double posting.
Rolo fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Jun 16, 2022 |
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Jun 16, 2022 00:17
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drat that's a good pic. I'm still deciding what to do based on my car. I'm currently looking at Bridal Veil Falls trail to Blue Lake. I don't see any mentions yet of needing a 4x4.
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Jun 16, 2022 00:19
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Ok Comboomer posted:what do you mean by ankle pain? Are they binding? Chafing? Do your ankles feel squeezed? Bruised, I guess? Like, after I take them off, my ankles turn black and blue (depending on the length of the hike) and are sore to touch. quote:Your boots should absolutely not be adding to your pain, and if they are then they’re the wrong boots for you. Hmm. Every pair of hiking boots I’ve ever tried (I’d say 10-12 over my hiking life) has done exactly the same thing. I’ve never found a pair that didn’t abuse my ankles. Maybe I’m just grabbing the wrong boots?
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Jun 16, 2022 00:24
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If boots are literally injuring you already, what is it about shoes that you think will be worse? Are you using hiking poles?
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Jun 16, 2022 02:01
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newts posted:Bruised, I guess? Like, after I take them off, my ankles turn black and blue (depending on the length of the hike) and are sore to touch. Your boots don't fit you well if you're getting black and blue ankles just after a hike. They are probably too tight around your ankles. Most hiking boots have relatively soft/flexible uppers, and they won't usually cause bruising or soreness unless your ankles are compressed, so maybe try a roomier fit. If you are using very stiff boots, sizing is more difficult. Too tight, they will cause even worse bruising than a softer hiking boot. Too loose, and your foot moving around inside the boot can absolutely flay your foot since the upper has little give. I'd avoid stiff boots and try to get something that feels less tight while still being comfortable. People harp about "ankle support" with boots, but that's mostly bullshit, and a boot that "feels" like it is really "supporting" your ankles may just be a lovely fit. Edit: also, if shoes have been working fine for you is there any particular reason you want to switch to higher cut boots? Morbus fucked around with this message at 02:32 on Jun 16, 2022 |
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Jun 16, 2022 02:27
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I do use poles, but I still feel like I’ve come close to rolling my ankle a few times. Not a lot, but enough to scare me and make me think I need to start wearing something with more ankle support. I don’t know, maybe these shoes aren’t the best fit. I just don’t feel like giving up on them yet. They were expensive (for me) 
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Jun 16, 2022 03:11
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newts posted:I do use poles, but I still feel like I’ve come close to rolling my ankle a few times. Not a lot, but enough to scare me and make me think I need to start wearing something with more ankle support. What’s your sock situation? Do you have a lot of soft, protective sock between your tender skin and the inside of the boot? Hiking socks should extend up over the top of your boot and help prevent friction and sticking.
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Jun 16, 2022 03:15
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Like I’m imagining the kind of bruising you get from compression and torsion/pulling on your skin. Like when kids give each other friction burns by grabbing onto somebody’s forearm and twisting repeatedly
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Jun 16, 2022 03:19
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My foot and ankle comfort changed noticeably when I discovered Smart Wool hiking socks. Lots of padding but my feet stay dry and happy.
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Jun 16, 2022 04:17
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newts posted:Bruised, I guess? Like, after I take them off, my ankles turn black and blue (depending on the length of the hike) and are sore to touch. This seems like an abnormal experience to me. I have occasionally had swollen feet from hiking, but never consistently nor to the point of outright bruising and pain. It's possible that there's some sort of lacing issue - you could look up some different ways for tying your shoes. Smartwool socks could be good solutions as well, either of the running (with the ankle extension) or mid calf hiking variety. Do you have this issue with other types of shoes? If I were you, I'd try going on an unweighted hike while using some running shoes, outdoor sandles, or whatever you have that makes sense. Gradually add weight or add ankle support in order to better identify what is going on. It's possible that this experience could indicate some other circulatory health issue, so it would be worth it to try and figure this out. Kaal fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Jun 16, 2022 |
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Jun 16, 2022 05:04
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Ok Comboomer posted:Like when kids give each other friction burns by grabbing onto somebody’s forearm and twisting repeatedly Side note, is there a less racist term for this nowadays?
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Jun 16, 2022 05:22
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Snake bite.
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Jun 16, 2022 05:27
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Pollyanna posted:Holy cock. Uh, okay. This would be daily training? Not to start with, like I said you've got a lot of time to prepare and it's not a huge task to do. 3 days a week with maybe 1 longer walk on the weekend will be fine, just try and slowly increase the distance of the long walk and also before you go to Japan, if you can fit in a few days of consecutive walks to make sure you're not struggling with fatigue from the previous day too much, you'll be good. It's more about making sure you're at a place where you can enjoy the hike instead of tolerating it.
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Jun 16, 2022 08:19
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Ok Comboomer posted:What’s your sock situation? Do you have a lot of soft, protective sock between your tender skin and the inside of the boot? Hiking socks should extend up over the top of your boot and help prevent friction and sticking. I admit I haven’t thought about socks much, except that they fit. I’ll see if I can try some different ones. Kaal posted:This seems like an abnormal experience to me. I have occasionally had swollen feet from hiking, but never consistently nor to the point of outright bruising and pain. It's possible that there's some sort of lacing issue - you could look up some different ways for tying your shoes. Smartwool socks could be good solutions as well, either of the running (with the ankle extension) or mid calf hiking variety. Thanks for the thoughts. I don’t have issues with other types of shoes, but I also don’t ever wear shoes that compress my ankles in any other situation, so I figured a lot of this was because I was putting my feet through a new experience. I don’t have swollen feet or ankles (except for when I was pregnant) so I don’t think that’s the issue. Hiking/backpacking in my trail runners is fine, just some sore toes in the front if I don’t lace them right coming downhill. Ok Comboomer posted:Like I’m imagining the kind of bruising you get from compression and torsion/pulling on your skin. Yeah, I think this is how I’d describe it. Not awesome. Rolo posted:My foot and ankle comfort changed noticeably when I discovered Smart Wool hiking socks. Lots of padding but my feet stay dry and happy. I have a few pairs of these, but they’re all short for using with my trail runners. I’ll see if I can get some cushy socks and try them out. Thanks all! I’ll see if I can try out a few of these things and fix the issue. If I have to try different shoes, I’ll do it.
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Jun 16, 2022 14:08
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Okay, so here’s what I’m thinking for training. We talked about my commute. My current commute is 15 minutes of walking 2x a day on T-W-R, and the subway in between. I could ramp up the time I spend walking by getting off the subway earlier. So a training schedule could look like this: code:It seems like that may or may not be enough, as I’m also hearing some advice to do walks with rougher terrain and more elevation change. Lemme start with this first and I’ll see what I can do. That said… Aphex- posted:Not to start with, like I said you've got a lot of time to prepare and it's not a huge task to do. 3 days a week with maybe 1 longer walk on the weekend will be fine, just try and slowly increase the distance of the long walk and also before you go to Japan, if you can fit in a few days of consecutive walks to make sure you're not struggling with fatigue from the previous day too much, you'll be good. It's more about making sure you're at a place where you can enjoy the hike instead of tolerating it. I mean, yeah, this can vary wildly and is part of why I’m somewhat suspicious of the predicted times and effort level on the linked PDF. As a homebody who’s never liked walking and avoids it as much as possible because of foot pain since childhood, and who is currently wearing shoes with proper arch support that feel weird and uncomfortable as a result, I might just not be cut out for hiking. My dad is also going to go bugfuck and try and beat us all out on the trail. He was bragging about beating Santiago trail times by a few hours. He’s inevitably going to leave me in the dust. I ain’t going to make a hike that I’m doing partly to appease him, partly to include him in the trip, and partly because I’m curious a race - I’ll stop by all the shrines I want and look at what I want, thank you very much. We’ll see how much I can get done. In the meantime, I need to plan this hike out in a more sustainable manner and figure out emergency bail out points… Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Jun 16, 2022 |
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Jun 16, 2022 15:09
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FWIW a lot of people (including myself) feel that boots don't really do that much to prevent a rolled ankle, but if you have your heart set on them I have noticed that synthetic uppers put less pressure on my ankles and shins compared to leather. Also definitely look at sizing, if it's too small of course it could be causing pain but so could too large if your foot is moving around too much.
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Jun 16, 2022 17:35
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evilpicard posted:FWIW a lot of people (including myself) feel that boots don't really do that much to prevent a rolled ankle, but if you have your heart set on them I have noticed that synthetic uppers put less pressure on my ankles and shins compared to leather. Also definitely look at sizing, if it's too small of course it could be causing pain but so could too large if your foot is moving around too much. The ones I have are synthetic. I had a dude at REI help me fit these. And I know the dude’s probably not a super shoe expert, but they do feel like they actually fit the foot part of my foot. I will try a few things re: socks and lacing and see if I can get better results with these. If not, I’ll just try to be more careful. Might actually be better this year since our kids are finally ready to start carrying their own poo poo. Maybe my pack won’t be so heavy.
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Jun 16, 2022 18:37
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incogneato posted:Good luck and enjoy! That sounds like a great goal to work towards. Oh no, to be clear this isn’t something I want to do - this is a compromise/appeasement to my father. Originally the trip wasn’t going to have hiking at all, and later attempts at carving out some time to do a couple ~4 hour hikes to see some temples were refused. Only a solid 3-4 days of nothing but nature and tough mudding is acceptable. Basically my dad’s gotten into some weird mystical poo poo about pilgrimages and the time spent doing nothing but walking in nature. Something about listening to your own thoughts while surrounded by nature being good for the soul. Frankly, if I had to get lost in my own head for four days straight, I might actually attempt to kill myself for real. As I’m planning this out, I think I can manage and train for some shorter hikes, maybe even a single 7-8 hr hike. But even if I somehow managed to train up for multiple consecutive 10-15km hikes, I’m not going to enjoy it all that much. I dunno, maybe there’s something I’m missing about that hike. Is this something a total non-hiker can or should do? Am I overreaching by saying yes before I’ve determined what I can handle?
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Jun 16, 2022 18:41
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Just do it. Hiking rules.
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Jun 16, 2022 18:48
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That presupposes the individual is 100% on board with the plan already. If there’s baggage around it, doesn’t that poison the well in a way? To be clear, I’d be fine with shorter hikes and even the one or two 7-8 hour hikes I found. But this is a lot and I don’t know if I can handle it straight out the gate.
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Jun 16, 2022 18:50
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A three day mountain hike should probably not be your first outing. With a good guide that knows their poo poo it's 100% possible and safe, but ideally you'd have a year of day hikes sprinkled with a few overnight treks to get your brain in the right place.. understand what you need to bring, your personal limits, stuff like that. You have enough lead time to crunch that experience in if you want, but it might be better to take a step back and do some more casual stuff first. That said your dad isn't too far off the mark, a long hike absolutely does good things to a person's head (and there's even research to back it up). If you completely detest the idea there's no value in forcing yourself.. but if the whole communing with nature and seeing amazing scenery has any interest for you at all it's absolutely a great experience.
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Jun 16, 2022 18:53
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Long hikes on the order of hours or days?
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Jun 16, 2022 19:07
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I primarily hike because it clears my head and makes me feel great. Doubly so when work is stressful. Just being out in nature all day (ideally away from other people or crowds) does wonders for my headspace. I suspect the physical exertion probably also helps, but I'm not the fastest or best hiker by any means. I just love getting out there. For a full day regularly, and for multiple days overnight when I can swing it (which is sadly infrequent these days). To each their own, and definitely do what works for you. But spending long stretches in nature can be fantastic.
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Jun 16, 2022 19:25
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Pollyanna posted:Long hikes on the order of hours or days? Both! If you enjoy it.. that part is critical.
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Jun 16, 2022 19:49
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incogneato posted:I primarily hike because it clears my head and makes me feel great. Doubly so when work is stressful. Just being out in nature all day (ideally away from other people or crowds) does wonders for my headspace. 
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Jun 16, 2022 20:10
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I suppose it’s also partly because this clobbers the plan I had in mind for the trip, and everything else I had wanted to do is either nervously squished or effectively cut, at this point most of our remaining time is spent in some sort of transport. But I don’t really have any good ideas for the trip anyway so gently caress it, my plan probably wasn’t any good anyway. If it was something I had come up with in my own and gone for out the gate, I might be more into it.
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Jun 16, 2022 20:13
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sounds like you have bigger issues to figure out than a training plan
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Jun 16, 2022 20:18
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It’s uhhhh kind of a whole thing, I’ll talk to him. Honestly, it does sound kinda cool. But I might not be in the right shape and definitely WON’T be in the right headspace to actually get into it. Maybe I’ll cut the trip down to just those few days and transfer ownership of it over to my dad, he’s better at planning anyway.
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Jun 16, 2022 20:48
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Pollyanna posted:It’s uhhhh kind of a whole thing, I’ll talk to him. The trip sounds fun, and very doable for your activity level. Your training plan seems solid. It might seem a little overwhelming to you right now, but it will be easier once you start figuring out what to do. The distances between camp sites aren't too bad - 15 km days are pretty normal for tourist sightseeing in DC or New York. The elevation gains aren't terrible, and the paths appear quite well-established, with a mix of dirt, gravel, wood, stone, and pavement. If I were you I'd try to let go of preconceptions and just lean into the adventure of it. Here's some example four day itineraries of your route and some moto images. Let your dad know that you want to go, but are feeling a bit overwhelmed with planning. For what it's worth, in my own experience I've sometimes struggled to motivate myself for trips that I haven't organized from start to finish. My partner has a tendency to spring ideas on me without making much effort to show me that it'll be fun, and yet often expects me to do the planning for it. It can be frustrating, though I think her idea is that by taking part in the scheduling I'll be better able to incorporate my own ideas and be more amenable. So I certainly understand your hesitancy here. What I've found for myself is that I generally have a better time just leaning into the concept rather than feeling unhappy that it isn't something I'd plan for myself. And some of my favorite trips have been ones that I initially was really hesitant about for one reason or another.    https://www.kumano-travel.com/en/model-itineraries/4-days-E1-kumano-kodo-trek-nakahechi https://www.uhrenundtouren.com/en/the-kumano-kodo-1-the-nakahechi-route-from-takijiri-to-hongu-taisha-gps-and-trail-guide/ Kaal fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Jun 16, 2022 |
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Jun 16, 2022 21:04
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I volunteer to go in your place and hike with your dad
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Jun 16, 2022 23:42
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incogneato posted:I primarily hike because it clears my head and makes me feel great. Doubly so when work is stressful. Just being out in nature all day (ideally away from other people or crowds) does wonders for my headspace. Same same same. I was down in the Smokies a couple weeks ago and did an 8-10 mile day hike and it was that happiest I’ve felt in awhile… A solid day of hiking is such a natural high. I don’t know why I live in a major city and am considering moving somewhere I could easily hike on a regular basis. Anyone ever move to be closer to nature? I’m partial to the west coast and got spoiled by the Sierras but I’d love to see the Cascades as well… sincerely, an unhappy city dweller
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Jun 17, 2022 01:06
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Hiked Franconia Ridge. I don’t have much to say about it other than that I love the Pemi Wilderness. This year I’m trying to knock out some trails I’ve never been on despite having hiked about all the 4k footers in the notch. This was the first time I’ve hiked The Old Bridle Path which was pretty good. Next weekend I’m doing some sections of the Twinway I’ve never been on.  
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Jun 17, 2022 01:36
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liz posted:Same same same. I was down in the Smokies a couple weeks ago and did an 8-10 mile day hike and it was that happiest I’ve felt in awhile… A solid day of hiking is such a natural high. I don’t know why I live in a major city and am considering moving somewhere I could easily hike on a regular basis. Anyone ever move to be closer to nature? I’m partial to the west coast and got spoiled by the Sierras but I’d love to see the Cascades as well… There is something serious about the high. I thought at first I only got it while hiking because of the exercise but I get it a little bit while camping and even just sitting in a cabin in the mountains. Nature is crack to me. I’m in a Telluride hotel on the porch, looking at the mountains and sighing every 3 minutes like I just got into a hot tub.
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Jun 17, 2022 01:51
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Fitzy Fitz posted:We're entering at Blacktail Creek trailhead, crossing the Yellowstone River at the bridge, and then following the river southeast for a few nights before heading north on Hellroaring Creek and then back south across another bridge to the Hellroaring trailhead. It's four nights but at a casual pace. The area looks beautiful. I'm going to try to come back with a lot of photos. Hey Fitz, did you manage to get this trip in before the flooding? I'm due in Yellowstone in 3 weeks and it looks like the whole north half of the park will still be out of commission then.
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Jun 17, 2022 01:59
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My hometown, Bryson City, is pretty much in the Smokies. When I go home I experience exactly what you guys are talking about pretty much every day. If only I had realized what I had when growing up.
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Jun 17, 2022 02:12
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cryptoclastic posted:My hometown, Bryson City, is pretty much in the Smokies. When I go home I experience exactly what you guys are talking about pretty much every day. If only I had realized what I had when growing up. I grew up at the base of the Chugach mountains in Anchorage. I did maybe two bike rides back in there in 10 years. Kids are stupid, youth is wasted on the young, life is all regrets, etc.
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Jun 17, 2022 02:19
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newts posted:The ones I have are synthetic. I had a dude at REI help me fit these. And I know the dude’s probably not a super shoe expert, but they do feel like they actually fit the foot part of my foot. I will try a few things re: socks and lacing and see if I can get better results with these. I looked back and didn't see anyone ask, how tight are you lacing the shaft of the boot? It sounds like you're lacing too tight and it's restricting natural movement of your lower leg and ankle.
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Jun 17, 2022 02:21
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funkymonks posted:Hiked Franconia Ridge. I don’t have much to say about it other than that I love the Pemi Wilderness. This year I’m trying to knock out some trails I’ve never been on despite having hiked about all the 4k footers in the notch. This looks exactly like the kind of trail I'm trying to find this summer - does anyone have suggestions for similar day hikes in NH, VT or NY? With that kind of elevation I'm good for 15-20km a day. My only hiking in the US was Mount Marcy and The Gothics so it's all new to me.
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Jun 17, 2022 02:47
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Screama posted:Hey Fitz, did you manage to get this trip in before the flooding? Oh yeah, we did the planned route along the Yellowstone River and Hellroaring Creek but in two nights instead of four. After we hiked out we left the park via Lamar and the NE exit, then through Silver Gate. And then a few days later all of that got obliterated by the flooding. I wouldn't plan on that area being reopened anytime soon. The park was great. Saw like 10 grizzlies, some avalanches, newborn calves everywhere, etc. Are you having to change your plans much?
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