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The Guiding Principles and New Rules
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Hiking/ Backpacking thread (Now with more pics!)
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The moral of the story is:
You go on a 2-hour mountain hike to KEEP in shape, not to GET in shape.
Here's some photo's:
Now I realize bears live in this park, but they're black bears. Hanging a stuff sack with a rope has worked for years. Instead, I have to squeeze this awkward plastic barrel into my backpack...
I was a few miles in, taking a break near a stream when this trio of green-shirted rangers stops up short near me. They had been running along the trail at a quick pace, and startled the hell out of me when they showed up. Anyway, the leader starts playing the inquisitor "Are you parked at the Loj? What are you packing your food with? You know there are no fires?"
I've encountered park rangers before and usually they're laid back and helpful, not cops-in-the-woods. But I felt like if I said something wrong these guys would slap on the cuffs and drag me back to the trailhead.
First camp was up in Wallface pond, which was somewhat of a mistake. The trail basically followed a streambed up the mountain to the lakes, but was completely overgrown with vegetation or mired in thick mud. The last mile was nearly impassible, and I took my pack off just to bushwack another hundred or so yards in search of a campsite. Eventually made do in field soggy marsh grass. Morning was beautiful though, watching the sun burn the mist off the lakes.
Day two was a challenge - ascending Algonquin Peak. It was a tough climb ~ 3000 feet over 3 miles, and a good bit of it rock faces and steep climbs. The view was impressive and worth it. There was a ranger perma-camped here to protect the delicate alpine plants. She was a nice enough girl, but the last thing I want to do after I'm breathless from a 3000 foot climb is to be lectured about horticulture. Yes I can read signs - I wont step on the plants.
It's a beautiful park, but I think next time I'll pick a spot that a little more remote, less ranger-infested.
|daydalus.net|
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though I hardly use it anymore. I also have a lightweight, teflon coated aluminum frying pan (see the first pic I posted), but I've been hearing bad stuff lately about both aluminum (maybe linked to alzheimer's) and teflon (possibly cancer and birth defects)
Most times I head out I use a tin coffee can as my all purpose cookpot/ bucket. I have a little one and a big one depending on how light I plan on traveling (see earlier pics) I've looked at the nifty new titatnium gear for sale at REI but right now I can't see it beating the weight (and price) of my coffee can.
edit: said pics from earlier, frypan, big and small coffee tins.
One of the offshoot trails, it's probably the most difficult and hilliest but not the most scenic (booooring!)
D'awwww! Little guy came out of the grass and started running towards me until it realized I wasn't another deer. Was more curious than anything and didn't run until I approached.
Here's a video!
http://iseenothing.com/photos/shorthills/hike/fawn.avi
Found him again after I went around the bend.
Heading into the ravine, creek on the left.
Dry as fuck! Even two days after a pretty huge thunderstorm. The surrounding farmlands pretty much eliminated a lot of the water flow through the park so it only flows in the spring runoff and after a lot of rain.
What is sometimes a 30 foot wide roaring waterfall is now a trickle no bigger than a penny.
The cliffs around the waterfall are pretty cool, they overhang a hell of a lot.
Moving out into the open again.
Dry creek! In the spring it's a fun job of rock hopping to get across.
The fields. Lots of bluebird/swallow houses scattered about.
New path yay!
Moving in...
! What was that noise?! Lawl found u!
Surprisingly I've never held/caught a snake before now, he was relaxed after a few seconds of holding him.
A short video of him.
http://iseenothing.com/photos/shorthills/hike/snake.avi
Further in, this particular trail is through a ravine bottom, so lots of shade/fuckingannoyingbugs.
This is the 'if I don't make it out of here alive this is what I look like' photo. (yes my shirt has 69 on it)
One of the largest climbs, it's about twice what is seen here over the horizon. In a region that is classified as 'plains', this is a pretty huge hill (aside from the Niagara escarpment, but that's more of a deadly straight drop).
This looks like fun, a bench!
Heading down the hill.
On the left is Twelve Mile Creek, being that it's 12 miles away from the Niagara River.
This is from that valley trail, just some of the purty.
The path I came in on and this one are old farm roads, hence the straight/gravel. This one goes down to the lowest point in the park.
Trees in the marsh, which is bone dry.
Twelve Mile Creek again, nearly finished the hike now.
Just over 7km in total it was, took about 2 hours from start to finish.
I did a little hiking in Kauai last September, a couple hikes inland to some waterfalls, and a hike up a mountain called the Sleeping Giant. It's on the east side of Kauai I believe, and it's a pretty easy hike, only about 3 miles up, lots of shade, guavas to eat on the way up (if that's your thing), and great views at the top. I can't find the pics we took from the top, but I'd definitely recommend that one if you have the time.
@Alocksly-Nice to see a hiker from the Pac NW. My dad, a couple of friends and my sister and I just climbed Mount Adams last week, which is complete bitch, but it was a ton of fun, and felt awesome being able to see Rainier, Hood, and Saint Helens from the top. And for anyone else new into hiking, I'm just secconding the "be prepared" advice. We started hiking up, and 5 minutes in it was pouring, turned to snow after a couple hours up, and we were trying to put up our tents in the snow in a whiteout at like 20 degree temps. Shit happens fast up high.
Before that, we climbed Saint Helens, which was cool, though not as scenic. My friend has some pictures on his deviantart profile of quite a few of our hikes over the past year or two, http://orourke.deviantart.com/gallery/
Hope to climb all the Volcanos up here in the NW, probably Mt. Hood next.
Also, to anyone ever in the Mount Shasta (Northern California), YOU MUST FUCKING GO TO CASTLE CRAGS. It's, iirc, the most visited recreational climbing spot in the nation, and it is the most incredible place I have ever been to or seen. It's just massive stone spires that jut out of the ground thousands of feet high, with the kind of rough granite that you climb up, even on 80 degree slopes. Just think of a rock climbing gym, but one that goes on for miles, and goes up thousands of feet into the air. Not to mention the views are spectacular, with Mt. Shasta right in the background.
Anyways, tl;dr, see you all outdoors.
That looks like it would be a lot of fun to bike. Is that a feets-only trail?
A friend of mine brought along some Jetboil cookware on my last trip. I made exorbitant fun of him for buying into shiny brand-name products, but it turns out it worked really well. The weight and size are a big plus, although if you're not concerned about shaving off every excess gram it might not be worth the money. My dad uses the same brand, I think, but he's pretty fanatic about weight.
This is the particular set my friend was using.
I think if I start doing more trips where I set up camp above the timberline I may break down and get one.
BTW, has anyone seen these in use? they look like thay would make a great emergency stove if nothing else, the stove and a flask of alcohol would easily fit in your pockets.
My grandpa had an old Svea brand kerosene stove he used on his fishing boat (his looked like the one in the first pic). It was a little tricky to get going but in addition to cooking he also used it to melt lead for sinkers so it could really put out some heat. Before switching over to the Coleman Peak 1's my old scout troop had about a dozen of these Svea models. That was a sweet little stove but also kind of tricky to use.
The two largest trails are horse/bike as well, the rest are supposed to be hikers only, but I see bike tracks on all of them and a few horseshoe prints. Must be some damn agile horses to get up on one of the paths though...
Clicky for google maps
You'll see 3 lakes to the northwest of here. The trail goes by all 3... beautiful, opaque, blue/green glacier lakes. Also very cold as i swam in the second one (for maybe 1 minute, haha).
pictures!
Lake1, and the glacier in the distance.
The glacier behind lake 3... our 'almost' destination. Lots of people camp here.
I don't think pictures can express how gorgeous this lake was.
Me in the bottom left, checking out the waterfall from the glacier. You can see the blue ice of the glacier in the top right.
Just too amazing.
How often do others go hiking out in bad weather, knowing it will be bad weather for the duration of the time out?
I had an overnighter planned for this weekend, but everywhere within a 2 hours drive and/or 2 hours ferry ride is going to be under a deluge of water. Kinda thinking of cancelling the plans... I do have some pretty hardcore raingear but I use it more to 'be prepared', rather than 'I can go out in anything'
The only one I would even consider there is no.4, because it's the only one I can see with a head cover. That's fucking vital if you are spending any time in close to zero temperatures, hats just don't cut it.
If you are ever looking for a hiking buddy, I'm new to Van and low on outdoorsy friends.
I'm a little out of shape, but not adverse to sweating and cursing to keep up.
This is kinda my feeling to. I just got back from a hike up Mt. Rishiri in what could be called questionable weather and the pics I got (which I will post later) were far cooler than if it have been a clear day. The "rainy cedars" pic I posted earlier was from a hike in a downpour and every little streambed was a full of rushing water. It was like walking through some giant, elaborate fountain.
My old scout troop used to go out once a month pretty much year round. Since this was in Washington state if we canceled for rain we would have ended up cancelling half the trips. The upside of all of this is that we got real good at prepping for nasty weather and were then able to have fun in spite of it. That said if I'm planning a trip where the main activities are going to be playing in a lake or checking out a viewpoint and I know it will be pouring and/or cloudlocked I will probably find somewhere else to go. Spots with running water features (small streams, etc.) can be absolutely transformed in a downpour and you will likely have it all to yourself in bad weather. How many times have you seen a small, dry streambed or waterfall while hiking and wondered what it would look like with the water flowing?
Haven't used them myself, but I've heard nothing but good things about this guy's stoves:
http://www.minibulldesign.com/index.htm
took out her barrettes and her hair spilled out like rootbeer
It is pretty cool to see a landscape change in a big rain. One minute you're humping your gear along a dry, stony valley floor a hundred feet wide in dry heat, the next you're in the middle of a downpour, so you set up camp and call it a night. Pop your head out the next morning, and you're looking down the hill at rainwater creeks and waterfalls and creeping fog like it's a different continent.
They're apparently really hard to find, especially out in the open (right on the path I was on)!
And they're so cute!
I've spotted one of those as well (only once) in the rock garden (earlier pic). Though the only one there who had a camera was the Japanese exchange student I was escorting and I never thought to ask for a copy.
ed: For my next camera I want to get something with a bit more zoom capability for snapping pics of the critters I run across. My current little Canon works fine for scenery shots but to get a clear shot of a critter I have to be darned close, at which point they tend to scamper away. (also not advisable for bears, cougars etc.)
here are some highlights:
The view for most of the hike was limited to about 50 yards
going up
like the view from an airplane without the plane
clouds were blowing all around
looking (way) down on a rainbow
candle rock (and current wallpaper)
big finish
Anyway, photos
From our base camp (just on the edge of the Pecos Wilderness of NM):
The trees in NM in the fall are breathtaking (as are trees in most places in fall, I suppose):
We camped near Lake Stuart:
We had to freeclimb for quite a ways before reaching the summit on day 2:
Overall, it was beautiful and a lot of fun. It was a great escape from TX (where I go to school), and only 8 hours of driving (with a crowd of 20 or so, I'm sure it'd be much shorter with a smaller group).
Jeaaaaalous.
We stayed inland for all of our hikes. The park has two islands (North and South Manitou) but due to time constrains and lack of experience we stayed off of. Day hikes can be done to the islands but like I said we lacked sufficient time to fit it into our schedule. Plans are to return some day and actually spend a few days exploring the two smaller bears!
Now the pictures (I took a lot and posted a lot...)!
Our campsite with a picnic table to the left that is not pictured.
How we ate for the five days we were camping. Was actually quite tasty to my surprise. Granted its not backpacking food :P
One of the first trails we did which we dubbed "El Diablo Trail" which had lots of steep climbs up dunes and into a ghost forest that was hotter than hell. Hard to see but that is a long incline that gets pretty tiring considering its dunes.
It was quite foggy all day and you can see that here when looking down at the ghost forest. The trail was 2.8 miles long and was up dunes that lead down into 3-4 of these dune blow outs
A nice image that presents how foggy it was that day. If you came to this spot on a clear day you'd be able to see a nice sizable lake...
Another image taken later in the day of Lake Michigan. Only had around 20-30 feet of viability. This image was actually taken from a trail that lead to the lake from our campsite! Pretty cool in my opinion.
The Old Indian Trial (1.5 miles) starts out in the woods and runs out to the dunes. This trail was moderate that allowed for some nice imagery.
This is the dune part of the Old Indian trail which eventually leads to the beach (we wore our suits). The dunes portion was a few hundred yards and didn't even compare to the "El Diablo" trail mentioned above.
Here is a image featuring a nice 450 foot bluff and the lake mentioned above in the fog. We're actually hiking up a nice short trail that leads to Empire Bluffs that over looks Lake Michigan.
Empire Bluffs are featured in the background here, the bluff we hiked up to in the previous image. On the left is Lake Michigan and the right is a creek that runs into the Lake, in between which a sand bar is forming.
Alligator Trail was an old road that lead up to a very nice overview of the two islands. The trail also had some of the nicest, easiest forest hiking in my opinion.
This overlook shows Michigan on the left and the South Manitou on the right.
This is what we saw a lot of on our way out.
These two pictures speak for themselves; the third shows the slope.
Fools!
Just a few pretty lake pictures I was able to get.
And a picture of myself and my girlfriend taken from Pyramid point, another bluff that overlooks the two islands we hope to get to eventually!
League of Legends (your friendly neighborhood support): PAPRPL8
Green Linen Shirt is the best gaming shirt I've ever seen. Jealous.
I
From the road today:
I got this one.
http://fantasy.premierleague.com/my-leagues/
The join code for the CLASSIC league: 214755-65927
The join code for the HEAD-TO-HEAD league: 5294-3346
2. When your guidebook says '2wd should be fine', it might be lieing. Now, I want a new truck/jeep.
3. If you have gators and are going to a wet area, bring them. wear them. your boots and pants and toes and socks will thank you. Now, I need new socks.
4. Before you let someone navigate, make sure they know where they're going. Or, at least bring a compass so you can say 'wait a minute...'
5. If someone offers you a ride the last 2km and 200m of elevation to your car, don't say "but we're super muddy"... just hop in.
6. Miles or kilometers? this is VERY important and could save you hours of driving time.
Crazy.
It's called Mt Rushmore.