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For years I lived in Idaho and my options were limited on post hike foods. I did Arby's and Subway a lot. In Utah I came back through Evanston, Wyoming a bunch so it was more Arby's, Taco Bell and Costa Vida. If I was getting home at 3am there were all of two options in all of the northern SLC metro which sucked. Now I'm Colorado so ideally there's more food options but the gf wants something too and I can't just chow down at some random location 100 miles away if I'm expected to bring something back. I did find that Poke really hits the spot. When I was in Vegas I chowed down on that for three nights in a row while I did some of the local ultra prominent peaks
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May 19, 2024 04:29
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This is maybe fun, taking a navigation course we were required to reach a predetermined goal for an area we had never visited and hike to it. Use whatever online info we could find to plan things, mark points on a map, then when we got on site only paper maps and compasses were allowed. I logged the whole thing and then when I got home overlaid it on the caltopo instance we used to plan the route, just to see how the plan had to deviate as we dealt with local conditions. I learned compass as a kid but never really used it, and that was about the level of expertise for the whole group. So it was pretty basic. We hiked clockwise. The deviation at the southern end was because it ended up being very rocky (which you couldn't see on google maps as it's also a dense forest) so we had to go wherever the terrain led us. On the northern descent there was still a lot of snow so we ditched the plan to follow the ridge and just pick our way downhill until we hit the trail. At that point people were getting worn out so we jumped over to the road and made it quick back to the cars. https://caltopo.com/m/260PJ I found it pretty interesting and if I ever did something like this again I'd try to be less rigid about picking an exact route and only set a few points and let the terrain and any landmarks I found guide things.
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May 20, 2024 01:27
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I just did my first overnight after some extended time off due to a broken hip. 2 days, 1 night in the San Mateo Wilderness, around 22 miles. It was great, despite 5 or 6 miles of heavily overgrown trail we had to literally push through. 5 types of snake, including my favorite, the California King, horned toads, regular toads, Western Granite lizards, and a kitty. (bobcat) I heard him coming, as it turned out he was chasing a bird. The cat stopped in the trail 10 feet in front of me, saw me, and then slowly made a u-turn and went back into the brush. One of the guys brought a random 6 pack of PBR, hard lemonade and Cutwater Margarita. Into the creek it went at our campsite and they were cold within 10 minutes. All in all, a super fun weekend even if I did end up with several large blisters due to my not used to hiking feet.
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May 20, 2024 01:36
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just curious if anyone has ever driven on Hole-in-the-Rock road near Escalante, UT and had interesting experiences? I did recently and I hit up Peekaboo, Spooky and Brimstone slot canyons and they were absolutely awesome. not a fan of the road, however. it even begins with a seemingly passive aggressive sign that "improvements to this road are delayed due to Escalante National Monument", so there must be a confusing land squabble between the county and the federal government(?) I'll return someday and go further into it, but likely with a rented vehicle!*  by this I mean from a local company that provides vehicles specifically for this sort of thing
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May 20, 2024 16:38
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hello I just found this thread here are some random pictures I took in big bend / guadalupe mtn   more recently I moved to Nevada so stuff like this is pretty close to my house, it's nice  unfortunately have developed some consistent problems with my right leg that I'm trying to figure out, but anything uphill seems to really aggravate it :'(
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May 20, 2024 23:21
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I want to visit Big Bend so bad. Shame it's on the other side of Texas (no matter which direction you approach from). I got no issues with Texas as a place to be, it's just it has jack poo poo for public lands which makes touring it kind of a dead end.
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May 20, 2024 23:24
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xzzy posted:I want to visit Big Bend so bad. Shame it's on the other side of Texas (no matter which direction you approach from). big bend is worth the slog to get to it but yea i would just drive 10 hours from houston to terlingua in a day since I'd pretty much done everything inbetween after a while, then be totally wiped
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May 20, 2024 23:40
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Mokelumne Trekka posted:just curious if anyone has ever driven on Hole-in-the-Rock road near Escalante, UT and had interesting experiences? I did recently and I hit up Peekaboo, Spooky and Brimstone slot canyons and they were absolutely awesome. Yeah we did a combination of car camping and backpacking out there. I didn’t think the road was too bad; at least, I’ve been on worse, but it’s been a few years so maybe it has degraded somewhat. The road to get to the trail down to the Escalante off of Hole-In-The-Rock was pretty bad, though.   It’s easy to tell where the river is: 
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May 21, 2024 01:54
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chunkles posted:unfortunately have developed some consistent problems with my right leg that I'm trying to figure out, but anything uphill seems to really aggravate it :'( Where does it hurt? Have you seen a physio?
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May 21, 2024 04:25
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Mokelumne Trekka posted:just curious if anyone has ever driven on Hole-in-the-Rock road near Escalante, UT and had interesting experiences? I did recently and I hit up Peekaboo, Spooky and Brimstone slot canyons and they were absolutely awesome. Did that drive and those canyons. They are indeed pretty great. That road is hot dog poo poo though. We did it in a Grand Cherokee but I saw some other sedans just ripping down it. It’s just a long gravel slog. Re: Big Bend. The national park is great and worth a visit but don’t sleep on the state park next door. The river drive is phenomenal with the high canyon walls and you can even camp right there on the banks and be pretty much alone.
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May 21, 2024 16:23
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I converted my Subaru from the stock 17 inch wheels to a set of 15 inch toyo open country's this spring and hot drat I really should have done that years ago. It certainly doesn't erase the teeth rattling you get with a bad washboard but it definitely takes the edge off, making it a little less agonizing. And if there are no washboards they basically float across random rocks and small divots that dirt roads tend to collect. A little extra puncture resistance is a plus too. I haven't gotten around to playing around with airing down but that's probably something I'll tinker with in the future.
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May 21, 2024 16:53
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As someone who is driving up in the mountains often, tires are single handedly the best upgrade you can make to your vehicle. A good driver with two wheel drive and good tires will go further than a bad driver on bad tires and 4WD any day. You may not notice the enhanced traction on a everyday basis, but when you need it, it's a game changer. Case in point, my friend and I were up a few weeks ago to check snow levels and get the dogs out. Both on new-ish sets of BFG AT KO2s. Not the most aggressive all terrain tire but a classic that always does the job. I'm in my 4runner and he's in his g wagon. We went quite a ways and drove through a lot of snow. Put our lockers on a few times and eventually hit several feet deep of packed snow and turned around. We ran into a guy in a 3/4 ton, very lifted bro truck with 4WD and the large aftermarket rim, low sidewall tires. He was stuck on an uphill turn in 4" of snow. We had both cruised through with no issues. He was spinning his tires and couldn't get any traction. I pulled him out easily and thankfully he turned around and we followed him out. Tires are a huge factor, not just for traction but also comfort.
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May 21, 2024 18:28
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COPE 27 posted:Where does it hurt? Have you seen a physio? pretty much through my posterior chain on the right. I've just made a PT appointment actually. George H.W. oval office posted:Re: Big Bend. The national park is great and worth a visit but don’t sleep on the state park next door. The river drive is phenomenal with the high canyon walls and you can even camp right there on the banks and be pretty much alone. The drive up the river in the state park is fantastic. I'd also love to go into the interior of it one day but speaking of good/bad drivers I'm a little too skittish to do it alone in the subaru.
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May 21, 2024 18:45
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If anyone wants a bonkers river drive, consider the route from Stanley Idaho to Banks around this time of year, using routes 17 and 21. The Payette river is insanely angry during spring melt and is a visual treat. Then cut north along 55 if you want even more of that business. (not comparing it to the one by big bend ranch state part, but it's on topic so I thought I'd  )
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May 21, 2024 19:28
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I’ve made that drive a bunch of times. Even rafted from the confluence of the Payette forks down the main river. But the stretch from I think Banks to Cascade is the longest class V rapids in the world. It is absolutely insane
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May 22, 2024 03:54
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I've done my share of long road trips but I think the segment from Idaho Falls to Challis to Stanley to Banks to Pullman is the best I've done. The climate changes about five times and each area is stunning in its own way. I was never once bored behind the wheel. I should have spent a week doing that drive instead of the three days I had.
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May 22, 2024 04:39
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Really the only bad part about that drive is Lewiston. My gf mostly grew up there and has absolutely nothing good to say about it. I went through maybe 3 or 4 times and going up from highway 55 felt pretty close to going up from highway 95 at Weiser. Also if you swing south from Stanley into Ketchum you get great views of both valleys and can hit up Johnny Gs Sub Shack. And if it's in the summer you can head towards Mackay from Challis but take the turn off for Trail Creek Road, probably one of my favorite dirt roads to take
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May 22, 2024 13:02
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In other news, I spoke to a ranger at Crater Lake and they're partially opening the west rim to cars this weekend, up to Discovery Point. Beyond that it's about 50% asphalt 50% snowshoes to the Watchman parking lot so hell yeah gonna do some spring time milky way photography next week. Summer is coming.. so of course I beeline for a spot where there's still snow.
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May 22, 2024 14:16
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xzzy posted:You're more likely to get hit by lightning.. significantly so. I have come across bears and mountain lions (and moose, which scare me more than the other two combined), but I have never experienced sheer helpless terror like being stuck in a really bad lightning storm while coming down a mountain.
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May 24, 2024 03:18
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Ah yup, never forget that feeling of running down a trail as the timing between the lightning and thunder decreases from around four seconds to less than half a second in just a few minutes
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May 24, 2024 03:25
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xzzy posted:It's hard to turn off the self preservation part of the brain, but wikipedia has a page for all fatal cougar attacks in the US and the numbers are actually down for the past couple decades. There's been only one since 2020. Not sure on the number of "close encounters" though, those probably don't get logged unless there's some amazing cell phone video to go with it. A bobcat ran out in front of me biking on a trail yesterday like he was a loving squirrel tempting fate with a car. I had to swerve off the trail and bounced off the seat and kinda hosed up my leg and pulled a muscle or something to keep myself from crashing. Also had a stare down with a big cat at 2 am coming down the Delicate Arch trail. I put my tripod out in front of me and made some noise until it decided to walk into the brush. gently caress big cats!
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May 24, 2024 17:04
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Bottom Liner posted:gently caress big cats! There’s a sizable community online that is desperately trying to
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May 24, 2024 21:33
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Thanks to everyone who chimed in with info about redwoods The northern coast of california is just loving spectacular. i live in nyc and grew up in the middle of the country; i've seen some photos of that part of the pacific coast, but holy poo poo, nothing prepares you (i've been to the olympic peninsula a couple of times) I got lucky and the marine layer showed up overnight (after being largely absent for nearly a week) before my hike on Damnation Creek. it was everything i wanted. i couldn't believe it. And the beach at the end is jaw-dropping Tall Trees Grove: Beautiful Grove of the Titans: Worth it (even though it's busy) Grieg-French-Bell Grove: Like a loving movie Long hike through Bull Creek: we were there before the bridge was in at Rockefeller Grove, so after wading through the stream we saw literally no one for the whole 9 miles until halfway at another day use area, then no one again Fern Canyon: Cool, but definitely more of an instagram thing if you ask me. Very accessible, so probably why it's so popular It's just baffling how large redwoods are The coast though, I was totally unprepared for. my wife and i spent so much time at beaches, on cliffs, in tide pools. We were near so many little california state parks like sue-meg state park. Just wonderful, lots of day trails. I'm usually more of a long solo hiker, but the area is made for people just doing day hikes and they're just great. We took the (very) long way back to san francisco via california route 1. jaw dropping coastline. Here's a couple pics. thanks.  
JAY ZERO SUM GAME fucked around with this message at 01:03 on May 26, 2024 |
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May 26, 2024 00:45
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Hotel Kpro posted:Really the only bad part about that drive is Lewiston.. The only good thing in that town is riding a road bike down the grade north of town on 95, or doing it on the old highway if you don’t feel like traffic.
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May 26, 2024 01:15
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Can anyone recommend an LED light stick that lasts for 10-12 hours? A built-in rechargeable battery would be nice since I could power it from a power bank which I always have with me, but I guess I could also use rechargeable AA or AAA batteries too.
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May 26, 2024 02:17
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JAY ZERO SUM GAME posted:Thanks to everyone who chimed in with info about redwoods Hell yes glad you had a good trip Literally camping at Jedediah Smith right now, good stuff
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May 26, 2024 02:26
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JAY ZERO SUM GAME posted:
Now you gotta see Sequoias!
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May 26, 2024 04:38
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Yeah, looking into that now for next year. I’m not happy about how much more crowded that’s going to be; will probably have to target whatever the off season is
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May 26, 2024 17:20
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I'm due there in five days. I better get some fog. Were any rhododendrons blooming yet? Bonus: I did get to do some late season snowshoeing in Uintas NF this morning.  To be fair it was only about six inches deep so the shoes weren't strictly necessary, but I had em in the car so they are gonna get used.
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May 26, 2024 20:42
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they were, it was great. part of what made grieg-french-bell so wonderful. as i know you understand, photographing inside a sunny forest is almost impossible. so yeah, hope for fog. get up early. you usually know the evening before if the marine layer is gonna be present the next morning.
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May 26, 2024 21:26
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Had a blast at Mt St Helens today. Started off with a trip through Ape Caves yesterday, then had a nice car camping spot at the Marble Mountain sno park. Got up for an early morning start and got to the summit a little before noon. No views at the top but pretty sweet to glissade a huge chunk of the way down as a non-snow sports person. I did go a little too hard and overshot the trail and went down a pretty steep and powdery slope and had to really dig in for a self-arrest, but it was all good fun.
cerious fucked around with this message at 16:48 on May 27, 2024 |
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May 27, 2024 04:10
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About to fly out to Washington for a friends meetup at a cabin, taking an extra trip myself to do a day hike in the Hoh rain forest. I did 7 lakes loop years ago be we missed the Hoh proper, excited to cross it off the list.
WoodrowSkillson fucked around with this message at 15:10 on May 27, 2024 |
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May 27, 2024 13:15
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I am still sad that my Hoh rainforest trip 2 years ago got nuked by COVID. Learned the hard way that air b&b unlike hotels are unlikely to give you any refund. First person in the house popped positive 4 days before we were supposed to fly out for a week.
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May 27, 2024 14:54
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WoodrowSkillson posted:About to fly out to Washington for a friends meetup at a cabin, taking an extra trip myself to do a day hike in the Hoh rain forest. I did 7 lakes loop years ago be we missed the Hoh proper, excited to cross it off the list. Queets requires a river crossing and so deters some people. consider it north fork of quinalt river is also just as amazing, with fewer people as well just some things to consider cape flattery is also very much worth the drive and small fee to the tribe.
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May 27, 2024 15:34
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I'm trying to visit a west coast old growth every spring and I think the Olympic peninsula is my target for next year. I might have to skip some of the stands in the cascades though, they got a lot of them. I guess I could do two or three per trip. Old trees are just so fuckin rad.
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May 27, 2024 15:41
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Be aware that north fork quinault may be closed not too far in due to wildfires from last year, I think the burn area was pretty small but they had most of it closed still last I checked
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May 27, 2024 18:03
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Agreed re big old trees. I’ve got an AllTrails list of big tree hikes in Washington with like 40 trails to do on it, love those big trees
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May 27, 2024 18:04
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since we're talking Pacific Northwest and I intend to do a big trip out there next year, I was surprised to learn that North Cascades National Park gets only 40,000 or so visitors per year. has anyone been up there? did not expect something relatively close to Seattle to be deserted. seems like it might be similar to Kings Canyon NP where there are few main roads. I never hear anyone talk about it
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May 27, 2024 19:31
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Mokelumne Trekka posted:since we're talking Pacific Northwest and I intend to do a big trip out there next year, I was surprised to learn that North Cascades National Park gets only 40,000 or so visitors per year. has anyone been up there? did not expect something relatively close to Seattle to be deserted. seems like it might be similar to Kings Canyon NP where there are few main roads. I never hear anyone talk about it Spent a couple days in North Cascades back in August 2019 as part of a larger trip. Definitely worth visiting! Camped at Gorge Lake and did day hikes to Sourdough Lookout and Blue Lake. Sourdough was a physically demanding hike, but the vistas were great. Not sure what things will look like now after the fire that rolled through last year. Wish we had another couple days to explore more of the park while we were there.
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May 27, 2024 20:09
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alnilam posted:Hell yes glad you had a good trip Trip report: the boy scout tree trail was definitely the best of the bunch, in Jedidiah Smith SP. The name really undersells it, makes it sound like it's mainly a trail to one special tree, but in fact the entire hike is 2.4 solid miles of some of the best redwood grove I've seen (although the eponymous tree is quite spectacular). It rivals Humboldt imo. But you really can't go wrong with any of the hikes in the area. Also at 4.8 mi total it ties for my 5 year old's longest hike, but unlike the last one, she did it in 3 hours with no dada boosts (short carry length). No complaints either, happy as a clam the whole time, so proud of her.
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May 27, 2024 21:21
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