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armorer posted:There's a damned good reason why a headlamp/flashlight is one of the ten essentials! I wouldn't consider packing one to be packing heavy. More people should know the ten essentials imo. Amazing how many experienced hikers I know that don't carry them.
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Aug 20, 2020 15:39
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xzzy posted:Don't forget coyotes. The yipping/howling thing they do at sunset is terrifying even though in your head you know it's just one or two collecting the pack for the night and they don't attack humans anyways. But it conjures up images of a hungry horde of wolves preparing to charge over the hill and rip you to shreds, so all those caveman instincts kick in and convince you it's fight or flight time. I've never been as scared as I was when outdoors at night and could hear a pack of wild/feral dogs barking. I was near actual buildings and stuff and I was fairly certain there were fences in between but as you say it was super instinctual.
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Aug 20, 2020 15:54
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The loons of the northeast are terrifying if you've never heard them before. Can also be real fuckers if you're by a lake and the sound is being amplified
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Aug 20, 2020 16:01
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xzzy posted:Don't forget coyotes. The yipping/howling thing they do at sunset is terrifying even though in your head you know it's just one or two collecting the pack for the night and they don't attack humans anyways. But it conjures up images of a hungry horde of wolves preparing to charge over the hill and rip you to shreds, so all those caveman instincts kick in and convince you it's fight or flight time. Coyotes don't bug me too much but hiking a couple moonless miles, alone, above Los Alamos had me pretty concerned a goddamn mountain lion was going to jump onto my back at any moment. I guess I was wearing a big pack so he wouldn't have had such an easy time of it, but it was still unnerving.
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Aug 20, 2020 16:03
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pointsofdata posted:I've never been as scared as I was when outdoors at night and could hear a pack of wild/feral dogs barking. I was near actual buildings and stuff and I was fairly certain there were fences in between but as you say it was super instinctual. When I was a teenager I was bow hunting with my dad, walking across some CRP land we got cornered by a pack of feral dogs. It was legit terrifying. My dad hit the pack leader with a rock and it retreated, thankfully the rest followed.
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Aug 20, 2020 16:50
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Pham Nuwen posted:Coyotes don't bug me too much but hiking a couple moonless miles, alone, above Los Alamos had me pretty concerned a goddamn mountain lion was going to jump onto my back at any moment. A few years ago my SO and I camped at Point Reyes National Seashore just north of San Francisco. Our campsite was on a bluff about a mile inland but we wanted to hike down to the beach to watch the sunset and the trail to do that was about 5-6 miles round trip. We started off down to the beach and about halfway down we passed a trail cam tied to a tree with a sign mentioning that it was part of a big cat study. No big deal, it’s still late afternoon, sun is out, plenty of light and nothing to worry about. We watch the sunset and then pack up to head to camp; as soon as we get out of the dunes our headlamps capture a pair of eyes staring us down about 50 ft up trail and that sign is all I can think about. It turned out to just be deer, but it set the tone for the trip back up!
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Aug 20, 2020 17:00
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BaseballPCHiker posted:Well 2-3 years ago I got smoked out of Glacier by wildfires. Tried again this year, COVID. Backup plan was to visit a friend who lives near Montrose CO. Now it appears that part of the state is on fire. You can generally just go to Washington state and be fine w/ the wild fires. We have a rainforest, which catches on fire more than I ever remember growing up, but it's really big, you'll find a part that's not on fire. All our National parks on the west (wet) side of the state so that helps too.
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Aug 20, 2020 18:08
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Hotel Kpro posted:I did King's Peak, the Utah state highpoint on Sunday This looks super rad and sounds like a burly hike. Good work! Any scrambling involved or is it all class 1/2 stuff?
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Aug 20, 2020 18:20
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My somewhat scary story contibution: hiking in a well know area in southern Ohio after some storms: lots of blowdowns, lots of overgrown patches. Hit a crossroad and the trail to the left has maybe six trees down across it, so I go down what looks like the 'new' trail to bypass the trees, turns out it was a game trail. Hiked about a half mile+ before I realized there were no more blazes and the game trail sort of ended. So I look around and realize I have no clue where I am. Check the map and it looks like I should be near a trail. GPS confirms I'm maybe a quarter mile from the trail but I'm in a dry riverbed in a valley and I'm supposed to be on the hills to the south. So at that point the adrenaline kicks in. The 'Oh poo poo, I'm lost.' so, just decide to backtrack and go back to the crossroads when there is this rustling behind me. Something the size of a dog, black , in the bushes. Rustle. Rustle. So I give it a :Hey Bear:, make some noise, and I back away back down the trail. A few hundred feet back toward the crossroads there was another rustling. So I gave it another :hey bear: and rattled my trekking poles. No idea what it was but I had the sensation that I was being watched for another hour before it faded. Ended up finding the trail easily after scrambling over the trees with only minor scrapes and poison ivy, but that was a weird day. First time I ever got that skeezy 'being watched' sensation.
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Aug 20, 2020 18:31
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armorer posted:There's a damned good reason why a headlamp/flashlight is one of the ten essentials! I wouldn't consider packing one to be packing heavy. I wasn't referring to the headlamp as the "heavy load". My bag has the essentials, so every hike I go on I have a pretty good load on my back. Usually most of the weight is in water (two 32oz water bottles, and one 12oz water bladder for my dog), and on some of the hikes all of this gear feels a bit overkill. It would be nice to just hop right up a hill, but that's made harder when you have a bag of stuff on your back. But it's nights like last night that remind you why you have all that poo poo, you just never know what may happen. xzzy posted:Stick to well worn trails, have a good headlamp, and even if there are no bears in the region call out "yo bear" every once in a while because the sound of your own voice is soothing. Or bring a friend and talk with them. Also have enough stuff on hand to hole up overnight if it goes bad. A GPS track on a phone is also handy for a little peace of mind to know you aren't wandering off and getting lost. My headlamp has 300 lumens and I found it just barely adequate. It's rated with an effective distance of 65 feet, and while that was good enough last night it was just barely good enough to pick up some of the distant trail markers. I'm now looking at a 400 lumens lamp that has an effective distance of 150 feet. Maybe that's overkill, but last night while I was walking I thought to myself that I would never regret having too much light. When I was looking at headlamps originally, the advice seemed to be that 300 lumens would be all you'd ever need, but after last night I wasn't overly impressed. I mean, it did it's job and I was able to get home safely, so I don't want knock it, but I'm not sure that 300 lumens at 65 feet is preferrable if you're navigating in the deep woods.
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Aug 20, 2020 19:43
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Yeah I use a Petzl Tikka, which is also 300 lumens. When I actually expect to be out in the dark, I often pack a small flashlight as well that's 1000 lumens, so I have something that's really bright if I need to scan for a blaze or something.
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Aug 20, 2020 19:47
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armorer posted:Yeah I use a Petzl Tikka, which is also 300 lumens. When I actually expect to be out in the dark, I often pack a small flashlight as well that's 1000 lumens, so I have something that's really bright if I need to scan for a blaze or something. We probably have the same headlamp. It's probably a good idea to carry a badass flashlight, but it's just one more thing to pack.
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Aug 20, 2020 21:05
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SpitztheGreat posted:We probably have the same headlamp. It's probably a good idea to carry a badass flashlight, but it's just one more thing to pack. I got caught on the side of a cliff in Kalymnos, mid descent, looking for the next rap station on a sort of shrubby ledge system in the dark. My headlamp was okay, but not good enough for that. We were a party of 4, all with headlamps, and none of us could find the rap station. We ended up eventually finding an old rap station that the guide book didn't show. We could at least tell where on the topo we were so we took it and it all worked out fine, but there was a lot of brush growing off the cliff on that route and the rope got caught when we pulled it after the rap, and required us to wrestle with it a bit before we got it to come loose. The other rap station, wherever it was, probably had a much cleaner run and was likely put in because the old one was sub-par. After then I've tried to have a nice bright light on hand if I think it's likely I'll be out after nightfall. It's too battery hungry to run all the time, but it's great for occasional spotting tasks.
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Aug 20, 2020 21:19
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SpitztheGreat posted:Had a little adventure tonight while trying to fit a hike in after work. I hope no one minds a little story. This is fairly similar to my adventure on Mt Emmons, except it was something like 28 miles roundtrip. It got dark around 9 and I had something like 4 miles to go. Back at my truck around 11:45 when I had hoped to be done by 9 or 10. Then I drove 3 hours home... Anachronist posted:This looks super rad and sounds like a burly hike. Good work! Any scrambling involved or is it all class 1/2 stuff? There's a real small amount on the way up to King's Peak and a small amount again on the way from South King to Painter Peak. Mostly it's obnoxious boulder hopping. This ended up being my descent route off the last mountain  The Uintas are very flat as far as mountains go. Most of the scrambly stuff is in the Wasatch
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Aug 20, 2020 23:49
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I had reservations to hike up the North Skokomish in September over 4 days, but yesterday it was announced that the access road to Staircase was closed indefinitely. I'm scrambling to make some new plans. Any recommendations for a three night trip? I've looked a little bit at the Duckabush and putting in some miles to keep my reservation at Marmot lake, but am also considering abandoning the area in worry that the Staircase crowds will just start invading there. I've enjoyed the coast in the past, but it sounds like La Push parking lot is full most days. Trying to stay 2 hours drive from Olympia, alpine lakes a big draw for me. I haven't done much of anything around Rainier, and just bought an America the Beautiful pass, so maybe I should look there? Inundated by options.
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Aug 21, 2020 19:57
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SuicidalSmurf posted:I had reservations to hike up the North Skokomish in September over 4 days, but yesterday it was announced that the access road to Staircase was closed indefinitely. I'm scrambling to make some new plans. You need a camping permit to camp in MRNP, so whether you can make it work totally depends on the permit availability, which would probably be non-existent on weekends but worth calling them to ask about it. Consider the Mt St Helens area around Mt Margaret north of the mountain - no need for permits and a lot of land out there. Look at Panhandle/Shovel/Boot Lakes. It might be tough to get a full 4 days out of it and stay in the really excellent zone, but worth looking at. Also Goat Rocks area, no permits there, not really many lakes but some really nice terrain. Both of these should have fewer people than MRNP or most of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area.
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Aug 21, 2020 20:38
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gohuskies posted:You need a camping permit to camp in MRNP, so whether you can make it work totally depends on the permit availability, which would probably be non-existent on weekends but worth calling them to ask about it. Consider the Mt St Helens area around Mt Margaret north of the mountain - no need for permits and a lot of land out there. Look at Panhandle/Shovel/Boot Lakes. It might be tough to get a full 4 days out of it and stay in the really excellent zone, but worth looking at. Also Goat Rocks area, no permits there, not really many lakes but some really nice terrain. Both of these should have fewer people than MRNP or most of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area. Thanks for the suggestions. Mt Margaret has been on my radar in the past, as has Goat Rocks. I'm just starting to get a grasp on permitting. All my backpacking has been in permit areas, I haven't done "dispersed" camping, but if it isn't a permit area it's pretty much wherever you can fit a tent/hang a hammock?
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Aug 21, 2020 21:00
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That's the basic idea, yes. Dispersed camping rules usually come with an instruction to be within a certain distance of a road (or a certain distance away from water) and use existing sites if one exists. If you're just hanging a hammock no one will ever care but it's worth keeping in mind, trample as little as possible.
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Aug 21, 2020 21:05
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Thinking this might be the time to check out Goat Rocks. Verman had a nice route a few pages back that I'm thinking of adapting to an out and back from Lilly Basin trail to Cispus basin, probably stopping at Hart and Goat lakes on a loose itinerary depending on how I feel after the miles. Thanks
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Aug 21, 2020 23:12
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Did an overnight hike in the Adirondacks earlier this week, hit Marcy and Skylight, then returned via Lake Colden. Started Monday night ~6:00, finished up late Wednesday morning. Imgur album: https://imgur.com/a/iR8AOxr (sadly the order of the pictures is borked) Roughly 20 miles total and about 5,000 feet of elevation gain. Sample pics:  View from where Marcy Dam used to be.  Marcy from about 3/4 mile below summit.  Skylight from top of Marcy.  random muddy section of trail  Lake Colden  Mount Colden Trap Dike from across Avalanche Lake
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Aug 21, 2020 23:52
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SuicidalSmurf posted:Thinking this might be the time to check out Goat Rocks. Verman had a nice route a few pages back that I'm thinking of adapting to an out and back from Lilly Basin trail to Cispus basin, probably stopping at Hart and Goat lakes on a loose itinerary depending on how I feel after the miles. Thanks Do it.
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Aug 22, 2020 03:39
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Verman posted:Do it.
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Aug 22, 2020 04:19
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SuicidalSmurf posted:Thinking this might be the time to check out Goat Rocks. Verman had a nice route a few pages back that I'm thinking of adapting to an out and back from Lilly Basin trail to Cispus basin, probably stopping at Hart and Goat lakes on a loose itinerary depending on how I feel after the miles. Thanks Plan to climb Old Snowy, you'll regret it if you're in the Goat Rocks and you don't.
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Aug 22, 2020 04:25
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LostCosmonaut posted:Did an overnight hike in the Adirondacks earlier this week, hit Marcy and Skylight, then returned via Lake Colden. Started Monday night ~6:00, finished up late Wednesday morning. Love the Adirondacks, my family has a farm not too far off from there and we'd spend a lot of what free time we had in the summers going up there camping. Great pics! On a different note, anybody spend much time in the black hills? I've got a three or four days up there to camp, fish, hike, and bike and wouldn't mind hearing some must do stuff.
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Aug 22, 2020 05:25
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I'm on the hunt for a four season three/large two person tunnel tent for hiking in the north Nordics. I must be able to sit upright and cook inside the inner tent. It should be easy to erect. Fjällräven and Hilleberg have some great tents that fit the bill but they are quite pricey so I'm looking for a cheaper option.
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Aug 22, 2020 22:02
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What's a pair of boots or shoes or what have you that will keep my feet dry if I walk through wet grass or step in a small puddle? That's all I want. I don't care about whatever else and can deal with some drawbacks as long as those are fulfilled. But doing boot shopping is pulling teeth to me.
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Aug 23, 2020 19:59
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Kawalimus posted:What's a pair of boots or shoes or what have you that will keep my feet dry if I walk through wet grass or step in a small puddle? That's all I want. I don't care about whatever else and can deal with some drawbacks as long as those are fulfilled. But doing boot shopping is pulling teeth to me. I love my Merrill hiking boots, but not every style is waterproof (all are water-resistant from what I can tell).
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Aug 23, 2020 20:06
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Kawalimus posted:What's a pair of boots or shoes or what have you that will keep my feet dry if I walk through wet grass or step in a small puddle? That's all I want. I don't care about whatever else and can deal with some drawbacks as long as those are fulfilled. But doing boot shopping is pulling teeth to me. I use a pair of Salomon Quest 4D from 1 or 2 update cycles ago and I've been happy with them in that regard. It takes a pretty prolonged exposure to water, either standing in a body of water for several seconds, or brushing through wet plants for a few miles before I notice any dampness getting in.
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Aug 23, 2020 20:14
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single-mode fiber posted:I use a pair of Salomon Quest 4D from 1 or 2 update cycles ago and I've been happy with them in that regard. It takes a pretty prolonged exposure to water, either standing in a body of water for several seconds, or brushing through wet plants for a few miles before I notice any dampness getting in. Also, if you are wearing a non-breathable boot like a leather boot then you can spray it with waterproofing spray to substantially improve its ability to resist water. There are silicone sprays like kiwi camp dry that work pretty well. Just keep in mind that it's going to get in around the tongue and shoelace area as well as that big hole where your leg goes in regardless so this really will only help with the water resistance to the sides of the shoe.
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Aug 23, 2020 20:25
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Thanks for these suggestions. When I'm birding my biggest pet peeve is when I walk through a small patch of wet grass and even with my boot being waterproof bam I feel dampness and it just bothers me the rest of the time. Or if I am crossing a stream and miss the rock which I am bound to do because I am a clumsy person. I had a pair of Scarpa boots way back when that were probably the absolute antithesis of what someone would suggest for birding but MAN they did the job. I didn't care if they were stiff or heavier than typical light hiking stuff I dealt with it cause they were impenetrable. But I ruined them because one summer I forgot about them in the sun for a long time and they warped and my feet didn't fit in them anymore. I don't remember what they were and I don't think they make them anymore. I saw about the Salomon on my research and maybe they're my frontrunner now. They don't have to be like those scarpa boots just as long as my feet stay dry through grass we are golden.
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Aug 23, 2020 20:37
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Betazoid posted:I love my Merrill hiking boots, but not every style is waterproof (all are water-resistant from what I can tell). I wear trail runners most of the time, but when I want waterproof or actual hiking boots I love my Merrell Moab Adventure Mid Waterproof Boots. I like the look plus they are comfortable.
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Aug 23, 2020 20:49
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Anybody have any recommendations for hiking underwear? I have massive upper thighs because of sports so I chafe like hell every time I walk for more than an hour or two. Preferably something skin tight and that ends just above the knees.
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Aug 23, 2020 20:57
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Ghosty posted:Anybody have any recommendations for hiking underwear? I have massive upper thighs because of sports so I chafe like hell every time I walk for more than an hour or two. Preferably something skin tight and that ends just above the knees. consensus for most people is ex officio, I wear their give n go sport mesh but other people just prefer the regular boxer briefs. I also have massive upper thighs and it turned chafage down to basically never, even though I'm walking most days. I don't know if they still have it, but I think I got the 9" boxer brief sport mesh which ended up just above my knees. I think at some point they stopped making the 9" and only made the 3 and 6"
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Aug 23, 2020 21:10
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thatguy posted:consensus for most people is ex officio, I wear their give n go sport mesh but other people just prefer the regular boxer briefs. I also have massive upper thighs and it turned chafage down to basically never, even though I'm walking most days. I don't know if they still have it, but I think I got the 9" boxer brief sport mesh which ended up just above my knees. I think at some point they stopped making the 9" and only made the 3 and 6" Seconding this! Ex officio sport mesh is a lower rise, which is better for a lot of people (I personally like it better also) but the regular give and go is still miles ahead of anything else.
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Aug 24, 2020 00:04
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Colorado goons I need a recommendation for a 2-4 day round trip or loop backpacking trip for my wife and I. We live in the springs, can make weekdays work, low hiker density, and away from the smoke would be nice. Based on our experience in the San Isabels this weekend low density may be impossible.
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Aug 24, 2020 00:15
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I just got back from a weekend hiking the Comanche-Venable Loop in the Sangre de Cristos. We encountered only a handful of other groups on the loop and the smoke wasn’t too bad - visibility was greatly reduced but it didn’t feel like it impaired breathing. Plenty of spots to camp around either of the lakes and it’s a fun hike if you like gaining altitude quickly.   
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Aug 24, 2020 01:07
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That looks nice, did you hike it in two or three days? We were camping near Salida, and I now need a break from the Texas / Cali crowd. I was born in Cali and lived in Texas but we experienced the worst of both this weekend.
Ropes4u fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Aug 24, 2020 |
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Aug 24, 2020 02:44
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We only did it as a long day hike since this was our first time out there and we weren’t sure of the conditions or how our dog would handle the elevation gain, but will probably do it again this season as on overnight staying at Comanche Lake. For this trip we got a front country site at the Alvarado campground which we reserved a few weeks ago, but there were also quite a few open walk-up sites. The trailhead parking lot was decently full at 7am but we ran into only one other group for the first 4 miles or so and then maybe half a dozen for the rest of the route, so I think you should be in the clear to avoid the crowds, especially if you can do a weekday. We also did an overnight trip last weekend on the Tanglewood Trail in the Mt. Evans Wilderness. It wasn’t too crowded either, but the smoke situation was pretty rough out there so I can’t recommend it right now.
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Aug 24, 2020 05:18
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Kawalimus posted:I saw about the Salomon on my research and maybe they're my frontrunner now. They don't have to be like those scarpa boots just as long as my feet stay dry through grass we are golden. Based on your use case though it might be wise to get a pair or those mini gaiters. Grass and underbrush hold a great deal of dew. Five minutes in that and your soaked upper socks will wick downward into your footwear. For anything else a little bit of water won't matter, but once every few years I'm on a goat path where this happens but don't notice until it's too late. Last time, changing my socks made it worse; feet turned to blocks of ice, nerve damage kicked up three notches, dry socks felt like sandpaper, etc.
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Aug 24, 2020 12:24
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PhantomOfTheCopier posted:Based on your use case though it might be wise to get a pair or those mini gaiters. Grass and underbrush hold a great deal of dew. Five minutes in that and your soaked upper socks will wick downward into your footwear. This was my thinking. A lot of times, especially with heavy dew, what seems like water soaking through my shoe is actually getting in through the top of my shoe. I was never a gaiter wearer but this happened to me for the Nth time recently and I thought it's finally time to try them out so I bought a pair of small/short ones. Then I moved to the PNW which is in its dry season right now, so I haven't gotten to test them yet, but soon... soon.
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Aug 24, 2020 19:30
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