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Vivian Darkbloom posted:Seriously, take a backpacking trip that takes you out at least a few days. I get out to the mountains a few times a year (it really should be more) but three years back I hiked the John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada. It links Yosemite Valley with Mount Whitney, 200 miles south. Some breathtaking California backcountry and hiking, as you might expect. Marie Lake while heading up Seldon Pass I think?  quote:Guitar Lake in the lower right, one of the Hitchcock Lakes on the left, Timberline Lake in the middle background I hiked the JMT in 2014 with my wife, it was pretty sweet. First time I had been in the Sierra Nevada, fun times. It's both a little weirdly crowded at times and very remote at others, plus everyone camps right next to the trail which is kind of strange. If you go a little away from the trail though there's often no one around though. I'd love to do it again, maybe I will sometime in the next 5 years or so, but popularity has really gone through the roof probably due to a few movies that came out in the past several years. Thinking it might calm down a bit in a few more years but you never know. In the meantime I'll just spend some time in the Sierra Nevada in general and take some weeklong and weekend trips. The Sierra High Route is a long distance trip I really want to do. It's roughly the same area as the JMT but mostly off trail and staying in the high parts of the mountains. Seems really cool...cross country travel across the remote areas of the mountains, finding your way up mountain passes with no trails, etc. I'm planning on doing a section of it this summer if all goes well. Might also look to do a long section of the PCT some day, maybe from around Donner Pass to Horseshoe Meadows. Would like to do the whole thing one day but that's probably far far off. Probably either when I switch jobs some day and can take off the entire summer, or when I'm old and retired (assuming these trails are still around at that point). Also sounds like the PCT is starting to get a party atmosphere like the AT but that probably mostly just depends on how you travel and if you want to avoid those people or not. Don't really have any desire to do the AT. The Wind River High Route is something I might try to do in the near future too. Kind of an unofficial route through the Wind River mountain range, which is a really cool place. Basically lots of poo poo I'd love to do but it's tough to take a large chunk of time off of work at this point! A week or two isn't bad but more than that starts getting difficult. I took 3 weeks off for the JMT and could probably do it in 2 weeks since I now live out near there and don't have to travel + I'm sure I could hike it faster than I did last year. Some JMT pictures Camp just below Donahue Pass  Garnet Lake and Banner Peak  Wanda Lake in the morning (loved this area)  Posing at the Muir Hut  Hiking towards the Palisades 
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Jan 8, 2016 17:19
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:Nice spotting. Yeah, I also have an ambition to do some PCT section-hiking. I wonder if I'm really up to spending a month or more on the trail, but the JMT was just so freaking impressive, and I know that much of the Sierra has great stuff to see too. I found the JMT the best vacation I've taken since spending a week in Kauai. Being out there for awhile just made everything feel normal and comfortable and it was great to not have to worry about "real life" stuff. Months long might be different but I think as long as your gear is good and you can clean up every once and awhile it sounds fine. Biggest problem I feel like I had was getting some dry and chapped skin...a lot dryer up there than I would have anticipated. We had to buy some lotion at Muir Trail Ranch
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Jan 9, 2016 20:08
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