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You could just go a few hours north of GA and do a cooler section of the AT. The section I did in VA around Mt Rogers was beautiful.
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Jul 3, 2022 20:36
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Fitzy Fitz posted:You could just go a few hours north of GA and do a cooler section of the AT. The section I did in VA around Mt Rogers was beautiful. We were planning Shenandoah but it's 2 days travel for him to get there, so that cuts our hiking time down four days total. Whereas Atlanta has direct flights, mornings and afternoons so we're literally only missing like half a day total if we go there. Probably should just plan on Shenandoah next year instead. And maybe do something around him in Iowa in August.
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Jul 3, 2022 21:19
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      Quick stop by Mammoth Cave today. I have a lot more photos but little signal right now.
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Jul 3, 2022 22:46
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RodShaft posted:We were planning Shenandoah but it's 2 days travel for him to get there, so that cuts our hiking time down four days total. Whereas Atlanta has direct flights, mornings and afternoons so we're literally only missing like half a day total if we go there. Probably should just plan on Shenandoah next year instead. And maybe do something around him in Iowa in August. The Shennies are great. It's just a real pleasant hike along the AT during that section. Added bonus with the waysides along the way stop and get yourself a blackberry shake
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Jul 3, 2022 23:28
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George H.W. oval office posted:The Shennies are great. It's just a real pleasant hike along the AT during that section. Added bonus with the waysides along the way stop and get yourself a blackberry shake I moved away from the East coast and one of the things I miss most is stopping for a blackberry shake at Big Meadows.
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Jul 4, 2022 03:34
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Bottom Liner posted:
Looks fantastic! I love that place.
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Jul 4, 2022 03:45
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Take the ferry at Mammoth and you'll have most of the forest to yourself. I think that was the most flying squirrels I've ever seen, and the closest coyotes have ever gotten to my campsite (howling directly outside during the night).
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Jul 4, 2022 14:37
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RodShaft posted:Then does anyone have a recommendation for a decent 7 to 10 day hike around a hundred miles ish? That wouldn't be hell in mid to late August? If you want to stay on the east coast / AT but don't need to be in the south, the 100 mile wilderness in Maine is absolutely gorgeous, and that's around when thru hikers get there. Might be a little cool, but nothing a wind layer won't handle.
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Jul 4, 2022 15:44
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Happiness Commando posted:If you want to stay on the east coast / AT but don't need to be in the south, the 100 mile wilderness in Maine is absolutely gorgeous, and that's around when thru hikers get there. Might be a little cool, but nothing a wind layer won't handle. I'm in Ohio and he's in Iowa. Georgia was an option because the flights for him lined up perfectly.
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Jul 4, 2022 17:02
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Hotel Kpro posted:There's a 102 mile trail in the Uinta mountains in Utah that traverses the whole range called the Highline Trail. If you don't mind elevation it could be good The guys from Zpacks did this trail and posted several hours of footage on YouTube. Take a look. It seems like a good hike.
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Jul 5, 2022 06:41
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RodShaft posted:I'm in Ohio and he's in Iowa. Georgia was an option because the flights for him lined up perfectly. You don't want to be south of the Mason-Dixon line in August for anything outdoor related that is not on a lake. It is just satan's own armpit mixed with bugs. Go north, young man. Preferably upper Michigan/Minnesota/Wisconsin/Maine. I mean it'll still be hot and buggy but at least it might cool down at night.
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Jul 5, 2022 19:33
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I recommend Apostle Islands (Wisconsin/Lake Superior) to escape the dreaded Southern heat.
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Jul 6, 2022 05:25
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OP might as well throw an entry in for an Enchantments permit in WA. TBH your itinerary seems kinda grueling for a "let's see if they like this" trip but I don't doubt that the options here are great.
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Jul 6, 2022 08:08
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RodShaft posted:I'm in Ohio and he's in Iowa. Georgia was an option because the flights for him lined up perfectly. As someone who has taken several of their friends on their first backpacking trips, I suggest you try to lean the trip towards being more enjoyable vs being high exertion/suck factor. Look up places that might have great natural beauty or really good payoffs. If this is a friend you want to potentially hike/backpack with in the future, you want to leave them wanting more. My goal was to try and maximize those "HOLY poo poo THIS IS AWESOME" moments. Dragging them through a moderately scenic trail for 7-10 days (thats a pretty long trip) and 100 miles (thats a lot of miles), is a pretty easy way to turn someone off of their first experience. In my experience, 3-5 days was about the ideal trip length for a newbie. I try not to average more than 10 miles per day on a trip, less if there's any significant elevation or if my friend hasn't hiked much. The other thing to consider is that there are way more factors to someone enjoying backpacking than just being physically able to complete it because they run marathons. If they've never spent much time in the outdoors doing things like hiking or camping it might be a huge adjustment for them eating trail food, being dirty all the time, sleeping in a tent, and hiking every single day. I know a lot of people who are great athletes and can't cope with the poo poo you have to do while backpacking. Your marathoner might be able to run 26 miles in 4-5 hours, but that doesn't automatically mean they'll enjoy hauling a pack for 50 miles in 3-4 days and getting eaten alive by mosquitos. I would have an honest chat with them and see what they want to see and do. Keep in mind some people might try to inflate their abilities just to not rock the boat. This is where your experience comes in to gauge what would be appropriate because they won't know what to expect. There are way too many places to suggest, but I would possibly avoid Colorado/rocky mountain NP if you only have a few days. Going from sea level to 9k' elevation in one day can be pretty brutal for most people flying in and driving to the trail the same day. If you have a first time backpacker, you should try to make the experience as enjoyable as possible for what could be a potentially miserable time for them, and adding altitude sickness is a quick way of making it so. highme posted:OP might as well throw an entry in for an Enchantments permit in WA. TBH your itinerary seems kinda grueling for a "let's see if they like this" trip but I don't doubt that the options here are great. The lottery came and went already. Your only chance at permits are calling up a ranger station to see if there are any new time slots open as people might have cancelled trips. Pasayten is a better option for a great solitude/no permit trip.
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Jul 6, 2022 20:39
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Verman posted:
The enchantments permits are actually available to get on Sunday at random times if you refresh the page. I checked earlier in the season out of curiosity and they went up around 9-10 am, and they were actually available for a decent while. So if you have a free Sunday to refresh a webpage every couple of minutes, getting an enchantments permit is totally doable.
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Jul 6, 2022 20:45
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We've camped and been dirty for 2 weeks before and our friendship is basically built on doing stupid big projects in less time than they should be done. Last year we built a cabin in nine days while living out of tents. That's actually what made us consider doing a long hike together. It's more about accomplishing the thing than anything else. We'll probably find a couple day trail near him so he doesn't have to take off work to do it (he works three on four off). And plan to do Shenandoah in the spring when he has more time off accumulated.
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Jul 6, 2022 20:50
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Verman posted:As someone who has taken several of their friends on their first backpacking trips, I suggest you try to lean the trip towards being more enjoyable vs being high exertion/suck factor. Look up places that might have great natural beauty or really good payoffs. If this is a friend you want to potentially hike/backpack with in the future, you want to leave them wanting more. My goal was to try and maximize those "HOLY poo poo THIS IS AWESOME" moments. Dragging them through a moderately scenic trail for 7-10 days (thats a pretty long trip) and 100 miles (thats a lot of miles), is a pretty easy way to turn someone off of their first experience. In my experience, 3-5 days was about the ideal trip length for a newbie. I try not to average more than 10 miles per day on a trip, less if there's any significant elevation or if my friend hasn't hiked much. I took my teenage nephew (from the Midwest) on his first ever backpacking trip in the Enchantments. Blew his god damned mind. We kept it simple with a base camp at Snow Lakes and day hikes into the core. That took some pressure off having to pack up and set up camp in a new spot each day as a traditional backpacking trip might do. On the upside it completely hooked him on backpacking and being in the wilderness. On the downside, I worry that almost anything else he does will pale in comparison. I half jokingly warned him that I probably ruined his expectations for future trips.
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Jul 6, 2022 21:10
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incogneato posted:I took my teenage nephew (from the Midwest) on his first ever backpacking trip in the Enchantments. Blew his god damned mind. We kept it simple with a base camp at Snow Lakes and day hikes into the core. That took some pressure off having to pack up and set up camp in a new spot each day as a traditional backpacking trip might do. Thats another great tip for people introducing newbies to backpacking and I've definitely implemented it into a few of my trips in the past. Part of me really enjoys it personally as I like scrambling nearby peaks. My nephew is right at that age (13) where I'm going to start taking him on real trips that aren't just short day hikes. He's super excited about it and I'm happy to share my passion for the outdoors with him but I wanted to wait until he was a little older and capable of carrying a pack. Plus he's in year 2 of boy scouts so it won't be jarring to be outside and away from his devices. incogneato posted:On the upside it completely hooked him on backpacking and being in the wilderness. On the downside, I worry that almost anything else he does will pale in comparison. I half jokingly warned him that I probably ruined his expectations for future trips. Yeah I sometimes worry about this, even for myself, but then I realize all of the cool poo poo I've seen is just the tip of the iceberg, and thats just the state of Washington. The enchantments are super beautiful and popular because of it, but there are tons more that are just as breathtaking if not more, they just happen to be less popular or harder to reach. Verman fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Jul 6, 2022 |
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Jul 6, 2022 21:35
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I hate this so much https://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/news/viral-plastic-wrap-hammock-bad-idea/
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Jul 8, 2022 02:59
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In my experience it’s viral because everyone is calling her a moron, even on Instagram. Edit: quote:If I were determined to do that much pointless damage to the planet, I would cut out the middleman and just strangle a porpoise
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Jul 8, 2022 05:44
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Rolo posted:In my experience it’s viral because everyone is calling her a moron, even on Instagram. the cool thing about the algorithm is that it doesn't care whether they're really saying boo-urns only that they're there
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Jul 8, 2022 05:52
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FAUXTON posted:the cool thing about the algorithm is that it doesn't care whether they're really saying boo-urns only that they're there there’s a low-key epidemic of social media channels that will deliberately post “animal husbandry” videos that juuust skirt the line of obvious abuse but are obviously meant to raise the hackles of viewers, and then rake in a bunch of cash from the “engagement” before their eventual/inevitable banning. Probably just enough to make a couple thousand USD. Then wash, rinse, repeat with a new account and IP. You’ll go into the comments and just see thousands of people going “I reported this” and the uploader’s just hearting/thumbs-upping every single one because that’s what the algorithm likes to see
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Jul 8, 2022 11:40
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Ok Comboomer posted:there’s a low-key epidemic of social media channels that will deliberately post “animal husbandry” videos that juuust skirt the line of obvious abuse but are obviously meant to raise the hackles of viewers, and then rake in a bunch of cash from the “engagement” before their eventual/inevitable banning. Probably just enough to make a couple thousand USD. Then wash, rinse, repeat with a new account and IP. strangely this is constantly observed but rarely applied by folks who seem like they could really use the money though, and that's a bummer. E: found a wonderful new use for the REI Flash 18, and that's as a handy little daypack for traveling. I rolled that puppy up, stuffed in a side pocket on my carryon wheelie, and had a blast given it's somehow super comfy despite looking like it's a child's backpack sizewise because I'm 6'4" FAUXTON fucked around with this message at 14:40 on Jul 8, 2022 |
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Jul 8, 2022 14:37
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FAUXTON posted:strangely this is constantly observed but rarely applied by folks who seem like they could really use the money though, and that's a bummer. I don’t know what this is supposed to mean
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Jul 8, 2022 15:31
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Ok Comboomer posted:I don’t know what this is supposed to mean basically "why is it always douchebags doing the scamming, and for douchey reasons" that said, I'm thinking about doing a weekend trip over to the driftless area, up around where IA/MN/SD/IL meet. Has anyone been around there before, have any recommendations? I plan on taking my car and also a kayak, but if folks recommend any great trails I'd be grateful.
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Jul 8, 2022 15:36
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FAUXTON posted:basically "why is it always douchebags doing the scamming, and for douchey reasons" Kinda answered your own question there
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Jul 8, 2022 17:39
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alnilam posted:Kinda answered your own question there yeah, like—good people don’t look at “abusing animals to game YouTube algorithm mechanics and squeeze out a four or five-figure sum before the banhammer comes down” as an income stream to pursue
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Jul 8, 2022 17:44
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FAUXTON posted:that said, I'm thinking about doing a weekend trip over to the driftless area, up around where IA/MN/SD/IL meet. Has anyone been around there before, have any recommendations? I plan on taking my car and also a kayak, but if folks recommend any great trails I'd be grateful. The area around Prairie du Chien, WI is nice assuming you mean WI instead of SD. Wyalusing State Park (WI), Pikes Peak State Park (IA), and Effigy Mounds National Monument all have decent trail systems with bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Wyalusing has a marked canoe trail but that is not something I am familiar with.
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Jul 8, 2022 23:18
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RodShaft posted:We've camped and been dirty for 2 weeks before and our friendship is basically built on doing stupid big projects in less time than they should be done. Last year we built a cabin in nine days while living out of tents. That's actually what made us consider doing a long hike together. It's more about accomplishing the thing than anything else. We'll probably find a couple day trail near him so he doesn't have to take off work to do it (he works three on four off). And plan to do Shenandoah in the spring when he has more time off accumulated. Any reason you're not thinking Shawnee National Forest/Garden of the Gods (should be about equidistant for both of you, I think) in S. Illinois? Oracle fucked around with this message at 23:59 on Jul 8, 2022 |
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Jul 8, 2022 23:57
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Oracle posted:Any reason you're not thinking Shawnee National Forest/Garden of the Gods (should be about equidistant for both of you, I think) in S. Illinois? No. We were going to do Shenandoah, and when that fell through, we just looked at other places on the Appalachian trail. Because we thought it'd be cool do a section of each of the big three. But since that's not going to work out I'm up for any suggestions.
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Jul 9, 2022 02:01
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Has anybody here done Borah in Idaho? Just moved to Idaho late last year and was thinking of trying it later this summer if I felt up to it.
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Jul 10, 2022 06:02
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Came back to say that I simultaneously love and hate the white mountains! My bf isn’t a big hiker so I opted for Pierce for our first summit. What an insanely rocky mess of a trail. But still 100% worth the view because drat the whites are beautiful. We took the train to the summit of Washington and now I’ve decided that I must come back and earn my trip to the top. But honestly I could sit up there for the entire day and watch the clouds pass over and create shadows over all the peaks. Something about being on top of a mountain lights up the happy part of my brain like nothing else.
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Jul 10, 2022 06:35
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LostCosmonaut posted:Has anybody here done Borah in Idaho? Just moved to Idaho late last year and was thinking of trying it later this summer if I felt up to it. I've done it, it's been more than a decade though. From what I remember it was very steep until you got to chickenout ridge where the rocky routefinding starts. There's a small Class IV downclimb at the end of it, then it's fairly easy to the summit. I've done extensive hiking in the Lost River Range and the Pioneers, plus a few climbs in many other ranges nearby, if you'd prefer something less ridiculous I can probably throw out a few more to do. Or if you want a more ridiculous climb they have those too. liz posted:Came back to say that I simultaneously love and hate the white mountains! My bf isn’t a big hiker so I opted for Pierce for our first summit. What an insanely rocky mess of a trail. But still 100% worth the view because drat the whites are beautiful. See it starts with one mountain, then you're looking at a few others nearby, then you look at the tallest in the state, then it's the tallest in each range, then it's the ultra-prominents, then you start going for absurd drives to other states to climb one mountain before going home, then you start planning a move to another state to get closer to the action, then you realize you've done so much it's time to move again, rinse and repeat.
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Jul 12, 2022 04:00
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I just had one of the best weekends of my life in recent memory. I wanted to get out hiking for the first time this year, I'm recovering from a disc herniation in my lower back from the end of last year. To put it in perspective, I couldn't walk in September. I couldn't walk more than a quarter to a half-mile by January, and I wasn't comfortable doing it. My physical therapy wrapped up in April but our spring has been super rainy and I was a little nervous to get out. I feel much better than I have in a long time but I'm not fully healed. I can tell it's right on the edge of reinjury. I also still have some numbness and loss of strength in my right leg. Saturday my buddy asked me if I wanted to go flying. I obviously pushed off hiking for this opportunity. He's a professional pilot who just bought a plane and has been asking me to go. He let me take off, fly around for about an hour, we flew to the cascades and circled a mountain lake (Isabel I think), then we flew back pretty low along the river. It was super rad and then he told me I was going to land. It was pretty nerve wracking but I landed us safely. I've only flown once or twice before but landing was not something I've done before. My hands were very sweaty and I think I clinched a permanent groove into the seat.    I woke up late Sunday morning and had that "should I still go hike?" feeling. I didn't research anywhere, had nothing planned, and wasn't feeling very motivated. I picked something short and left around 1. I wanted to go solo and I knew the sun wasn't setting until 930. Hiking is rarely the wrong choice.       It's only 5-6 miles and I got to the lookout quickly. I stuck around for an hour or so and started heading back but then I kept getting stopped in my tracks by the scenery. I decided I was going to stay a few hours for sunset. I had my headlamp and the trail wasn't difficult. It was incredible. https://i.imgur.com/RZbbs1M.mp4 Oh my walk back, I crossed paths with a fox and it made my already epic night. https://i.imgur.com/rFqa1Ht.mp4 https://i.imgur.com/wxYcavm.mp4 Verman fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Jul 12, 2022 |
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Jul 12, 2022 18:38
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That's amazing, both days. What mountain was the hike?
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Jul 12, 2022 18:43
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alnilam posted:That's amazing, both days. What mountain was the hike? That's Mt Rainier
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Jul 12, 2022 18:46
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Heading to Asheville, NC mid-August for vacation, any recommendations for good day hikes around there? I've got a bunch saved in AllTrails but any first-hand recommendations would be great. Bonus points for hikes with fishing spots or swimming spots.
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Jul 12, 2022 20:00
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It was too disgusting to hike when I was in Asheville, but I absolutely loved Blue Heron Rafting (30 min north). Zen Tubing was also great, both locations. At peak times it can be more of a party vibe with cooler tubes and speakers, but when I did the midtown location on a weekday evening, I was almost completely alone and had an incredible time seeing all kinds of birds and fish. I also have a ton of food recommendations from the beforetimes if you like
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Jul 12, 2022 22:07
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i like nice words
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Anne Whateley posted:It was too disgusting to hike when I was in Asheville, but I absolutely loved Blue Heron Rafting (30 min north). Zen Tubing was also great, both locations. At peak times it can be more of a party vibe with cooler tubes and speakers, but when I did the midtown location on a weekday evening, I was almost completely alone and had an incredible time seeing all kinds of birds and fish. Definitely trying to talk the wife into rafting so that's a good call there. Always interested in food as well.
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Jul 12, 2022 22:20
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The Linville area has some nice hikes, and you can take the Blue Ridge Parkway to get there. The parkway itself is worth seeing if you haven't been on it before. Weinhaus is a lot of fun if they're doing live music. Lots of dancing. The crowd is a little older.
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Jul 12, 2022 22:36
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