|
In honor of the thread's title. My wife and I hiked Bear Canyon (NCAR to Green Mountain for you Boulderites) this morning. Mama Bear blocked the trail for a few minutes until her two cubs  crossed and went up the hill away from us. They were still in the bushes to the right of the path when I took this pic. We were reviewing our options if she decided to come our way...
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 01:20
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 16, 2024 07:06 |
|
|
My wife sounds open to some multi day trips. I need a new tent but would like to spend as little as possible. For the budget minded hiker is something along the lines of a kelty salida 2 good enough?
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 01:26
|
|
|
Ropes4u posted:My wife sounds open to some multi day trips. I need a new tent but would like to spend as little as possible. REI Half-dome is supposed to be the best bang for the buck.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 02:35
|
|
|
beefnoodle posted:In honor of the thread's title. My wife and I hiked Bear Canyon (NCAR to Green Mountain for you Boulderites) this morning. Mama Bear blocked the trail for a few minutes until her two cubs As I'm "still afraid of bears," I'm not sure I would have stuck around long enough to take that photo - I'd rather retreat and try again in fifteen minutes. Well done, cause it's a good one.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 05:36
|
|
|
Last week I went on a 4 day/3 night backpacking trip in the Marble Mountain Wilderness, which is in the Klamath National Forest, near the border of Oregon-California. It was quite remote since I'm used to stuff around Southern California We saw a black bear of our own! Up on a hill about 150 ft away, he/she just stared at us for about 30 seconds then walked away  One of the campsites, about 8000ft. We had a nice view of Mt. Shasta at the top left of the pic but its hardly visible in the pic     Upper wright lake  and Lower wright lake, just a waterfall away!  Lots of different scenery like lakes and meadows and flowers and overgrown areas and hard to find trails and the like. Lots of fun!
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 06:04
|
|
|
Oh, the load of photos made me happy. My favourite places are still mostly closed off due to the flooding damage so I haven't been going out this summer.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 11:25
|
|
|
beefnoodle posted:In honor of the thread's title. drat. I've been hiking the flatirons/peaks almost weekly, and never seen a bear, with cubs no less. I'm both jealous and totally sketched out now. Congratulations on not being gored.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 16:26
|
|
|
Black bears are sissies, especially if you behave correctly.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 16:31
|
|
|
JAY ZERO SUM GAME posted:Black bears are sissies, especially if you behave correctly. Mama bears are not sissies.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 18:15
|
|
|
JAY ZERO SUM GAME posted:Black bears are sissies, especially if you behave correctly. They are the least worrisome of the three types, yes. Cubs add an element of risk.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 19:09
|
|
|
Female black bears with cubs aren't nearly as dangerous as most people think. Just give them space like you would any other bear.quote:Myth: One of the most dangerous encounters is getting between a mother black bear and her cubs.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 19:56
|
|
|
What about grizzlies
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 20:09
|
|
|
Levitate posted:What about grizzlies and thus we have come full circle... the thread has eaten itself.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 20:16
|
|
|
I'm going to Rocky Mountain National Park pretty soon. Can someone recommend some trails?
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 21:05
|
|
|
icecastle posted:I'm going to Rocky Mountain National Park pretty soon. Can someone recommend some trails? (go in the winter it's awesome)
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 21:27
|
|
|
icecastle posted:I'm going to Rocky Mountain National Park pretty soon. Can someone recommend some trails? How many days? Where are you coming from? What do you want to see? I really liked the wild Basin area when I went last year. Not a lot of people, constant supply of water nearby, and great views of waterfalls, alpine lakes, and the continental divide. We hiked from the WB trail head, stayed in Tahosa camp site the first night to get acclimated, then to Ouzel lake and upper ouzel lake campsites. The ranger told us that this part of the park is one of the more secluded due to the southern entrance and lack of nearby car camping sites. The hike itself wasn't too bad and thats coming from sea level the same day. Day one was rough, day two was much better and I felt fine from day three on. There was a lot of pine beetle damage up towards the upper end of the treeline so watch out for widowmakers and standing dead trees so be careful about that. Also, we went in may so there was still snow. There shouldn't be much if any snow at this point so everything should be good. I'm actually going back the second week of august and we're still trying to figure out where we want to try to go but its eventually going to come down to whats available.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 22:02
|
|
|
I.G. posted:Female black bears with cubs aren't nearly as dangerous as most people think. Just give them space like you would any other bear. More relevant to the specific area in which I saw the bear and cubs yesterday. http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&id=2859&Itemid=1016#meet_bear Note that it suggests caution. Is it the most dangerous situation ever? No. But that doesn't make her a sissy.  icecastle posted:I'm going to Rocky Mountain National Park pretty soon. Can someone recommend some trails? I love Wild Basin. Hope you like steps as much as I do.
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 22:11
|
|
|
I feel compelled to tell my grizzly story. There were 5 of us on a day hike, and we hadn't gone very far yet, heading up an overgrown logging road that led to the hiking path. There was a little clearing with a pond that was teeming with larvae mosquitoes so we all stopped and had an obligatory "eeeewwwwww" at it. Then the one girl in our party says "Guys. There's a... bear..." We all looked up and at the edge of the clearing, not many feet away (about the length of a larger room, I want to say) was a HUGE grizzly, clearly very mature, big ol hump on its shoulders. It had just walked out of the trees onto the trail. It looked at us, we looked at it, and then it went "oh poo poo" and spun and tore off down the trail before we all really had a chance to register what we had just seen (I even had my camera in my hand and didn't think to snap a picture of my impending demise...). Everyone pulled out their bear spray. One of our friends had his hunting rifle with him so he pulled that out too. We all stood there, armed, staring at the trail. We eventually decided if it had wanted to mess with us it wouldn't have run in the opposite direction (and we'd be dead...), decided to start making more noise than we apparently had been, and we had no further bear encounters on the hike (although on the way back there was a huge pile of fresh poop at the same spot that I'm pretty sure wasn't there when we passed through. We joked that it had come back and was all "I'll show THEM" and left us a present.) On the drive back down the logging roads we saw six different black bears, AND what we're pretty sure was the butt and tail of a cougar slipping into the bush. It was basically just a silhouette so it was hard to be sure, but it was a very cougar-like tail. Then we had to drive through a washout  It was really cool and equally terrifying at the same time...
|
|
#
?
Jul 15, 2013 22:26
|
|
|
Went on an overnight hike in Seitseminen, Finland. Saw some whooper swans!    
|
|
#
?
Jul 16, 2013 20:37
|
|
|
Does anyone with PCT experience have books they'd recommend? I'm just starting to prepare for it next year.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2013 03:07
|
|
|
Injuryprone posted:Does anyone with PCT experience have books they'd recommend? I'm just starting to prepare for it next year. Yogis books for planning Halfmiles maps/gps waypoints for the whole trail The water report for the first 700 miles and then Yogis pages for water sources after that. I've got logged a few thousand miles on the pct with multiple failed thru attempts if you want any adivce/tips.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2013 16:46
|
|
|
I have taken up doing a multi-day hike/backpack trip to Red River Gorge in Kentucky every year for the last four or so. The first time I did it I didn't really have the money to pick up any decent footwear, ended up having blisters all over my ankles after only 9-10 miles of hiking. Ever since then I have been wearing my Vibram, the ones meant for trails, and they work surprisingly well. I tend to prefer them for RRG since nearly every trail will have to cross a stream that usually doesn't have more than a couple rocks to jump across and I usually miss or lose my balance with 40 pounds of gear on my back. Even wet the Vibrams have decent enough traction going up 50-60 degree rocks mounds that also frequent a lot of trails. I really need to work on my endurance during hikes however, I tend to get demolished around the 20 mile mark. I guess that has a lot to do with my pack as well actually since I don't have a lot of low weight gear that I can afford, so as I said before my packs tend to be ~40 pounds. I usually pack: A (crappy) 4-person tent (not made for backpacking) A paper based water filter. So I don't have to carry multiple gallons of water A single change of clothes. In case I fall in water A pair of socks. I only need the one to keep my feet warm at night since I use Five-Fingers on the hike A sleeping bag. I can't actually fit inside the thing completely since my shoulders are too broad, I need to switch to a quilt Enough food for the trip + 1 day. These usually end up being MREs since they take less water than freeze dried and are easier to eat on the walk. Three day hike = 4/5 MREs Random safety gear. First Aid, Solar Powered Radio/Cell Charger, (rape) Whistle, couple separated packs of matches Headlamp with another set of batteries The tent is my biggest weigh down (~8 pounds) but I can't find an smaller tent that I can afford since most tents under 4-person start getting into ultra-lights. Also if anyone know of any decent backcountry trails within 200 miles of Cincinnati I would be grateful. I tried Wayne National Forest but their backcountry setup is stupid as all get out.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2013 18:05
|
|
|
Picnic Princess posted:Oh, the load of photos made me happy. My favourite places are still mostly closed off due to the flooding damage so I haven't been going out this summer. Can you recommend some good beginner hikes around Calgary that aren't still closed?
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2013 18:40
|
|
|
Anyone ever sew their own tent? I was thinking this would be a fun, cheap project. http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/jones-tent2/jonestent2.pdf
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2013 19:50
|
|
|
d3k0y posted:The tent is my biggest weigh down (~8 pounds) but I can't find an smaller tent that I can afford since most tents under 4-person start getting into ultra-lights. Vibram is a rubber, widely used on climbing & casual shoes, hiking, monutaineering, & work boots, and sandals. VFFs (Vibram Five Fingers) are a silly toe shoe. Please don't cause confusion by vague terminology. Tents can be expensive. But I wouldn't want anything that had an MSRP of less than $170 - that seems like a recipe for failure.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 02:17
|
|
|
Canna Happy posted:Yogis books for planning Thanks for the recommendations! I just ordered Yogi's book; I'll get it a read through and let you know if I have any questions!
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 04:58
|
|
|
d3k0y posted:
Are you backpacking on your own? Or with others? If it's just you, you might consider saving up for a lightweight, two-person tent. Not sure how tight your money situation is, but if I were in the market, I would probably go for a Tarptent Double Rainbow. 2.5 pounds, 275 dollars.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 14:14
|
|
|
Business of Ferrets posted:Are you backpacking on your own? Or with others? If it's just you, you might consider saving up for a lightweight, two-person tent. Not sure how tight your money situation is, but if I were in the market, I would probably go for a Tarptent Double Rainbow. 2.5 pounds, 275 dollars. That looks like a pretty nice tent actually. A bit over what I was hoping I could spend on one, but I might be able to manage. I do tend to backpack with friends actually so the 4-person isn't a huge problem as long as I have time to shift some of my burden onto them to balance out the fact that I am carrying the tent. I have also tried using a hammock I made which is significantly lighter and smaller, but turns out that I am not a back sleeper so it isn't particularly useful for sleep.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 15:12
|
|
|
d3k0y posted:I do tend to backpack with friends actually so the 4-person isn't a huge problem as long as I have time to shift some of my burden onto them to balance out the fact that I am carrying the tent. Unless you can guarantee that you will be with 4 people every time you hike, don't get a 4 person tent. If you only go out with 1 other person, you will be carrying excess weight for nothing. Its much easier to just pick up a 2 person backpacking tent and let everyone else take care of their own gear. Also tents dont have to be outrageously expensive, I picked up an REI passage 2 during a sale for just a little over $100 and its been amazing. Full price is around $150 and its stood up to rain, snow, 50+mph wind and sleet. Verman fucked around with this message at 16:31 on Jul 18, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 16:03
|
|
|
Demon_Corsair posted:Can you recommend some good beginner hikes around Calgary that aren't still closed? In all honesty, I can't really until I get out myself. As far as I can tell, west of Banff didn't get hit by the storms at all because they formed over the continental divide then headed east, and places along Highway 742/Smith-Dorrien Trial are all headwaters so they weren't really damaged. I haven't heard much about the Foothills at all, but things look grim because it's all low lying floodplains in between rolling hills. For reference, right now only one back country campground is open in all of Kananaskis, which kind of sucks because I have a friend who is supposed to go on her first backpacking trip with me in a couple weeks and all of our beginner's options are screwed right now. If you want to do an easy summit, it looks like Ha Ling Peak is clear and accessible. It's many scramblers' first summit. No hands on work, just a minor steep trail for 2-4 hours, then back down. I think the elevation gain is about 700m. I usually do that one as a sunset summit then hike down in the dark. Last time I was up there we brought a bottle of champagne, it's that easy. Otherwise, head towards the Lake Louise area. There's tons of easy hikes that are all official trails maintained by the government. Fairview Lookout, Saddleback, Plain of 6 Glaciers Teahouse, or Lake Agnes Teahouse are my favourites for easy beginner hikes. I'm pretty sure if you go to both teahouses you can get a certificate for completing the "Teahouse Challenge". For a step up, head to the summit of Mt. Fairview. It's the highest elevation official trail in Canada, and my first summit. You could also do the summit of Mt. St. Piran, which is also just a steep hike, but the trail is unofficial, so maybe get some experience before heading up there. Edit: Yeah, they do reward you if you make a circuit of the two teahouses. I haven't done it myself. I had ulterior motives while passing the teahouses all the times I've been there. Anyway, here's a cheesy video for inspiration! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr0fVeMa4yg Edit 2: That is Big Beehive, not Little Beehive he's looking at at Mirror Lake. Just figured I'd point that out. Both are good hikes but totally different if you're looking at additional side trails. SulfurMonoxideCute fucked around with this message at 16:15 on Jul 18, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 16:05
|
|
|
Water talk! Can anyone give me a rundown of when it's appropriate to use a filter (for example I have the MSR Sweetwater) versus using iodine, and why? I ask because I now have 3.5 out of 5 trips in which I used filter-only and got poop-sick after I got home, and one trip where I used iodine (plus the filter to take out gunk) and did not get sick. 3 of the sick trips were along a small river in the US whose headwaters had some human population. The totally non-sick filter-using trip was on a hill in California with no humans. The "half sick" trip was in extremely remote Brazil and I have a good idea of what else might have made me sick, but I can't rule out the filter. I kept trying to tell myself "maybe it was something else that made me sick," but after the three sick trips in a row, I started to think something more consistent might be up, like bad water treatment. Someone told me that the filter would be good enough pretty much anywhere in the US, but that I might need to worry about viruses elsewhere. Someone else told me that's crazy and they couldn't believe I only used a filter.  edit: also I know boiling is pretty foolproof, but I often hike fireless, so I'm trying to get my non-fire methods straight. Also any further reading on this topic would be appreciated. alnilam fucked around with this message at 16:18 on Jul 18, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 16:11
|
|
|
TBH, I only ever use iodine, no filter (or a coffee filter). It sounds like you may be having contamination issues with untreated water getting into your bottle somehow. If you use any sort of electrolyte powder, that will make such issues worse.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 16:30
|
|
|
In retrospect I'd probably go with the Double-rainbow if I was buying a tent again, but oh well. It seems pretty sweet, there's just a 3 week backorder on them at all times it seems. For water treatment, I've just used Aquamira in the backcountry, which is probably cleaner water than closer to civilization but still plenty of hazard from stuff like giardia, especially in places that allow pack animals or still have some grazing allowed. Never had any problems with it...though they don't exactly claim that it's for treating water either. It's kinda weird but it does kill poo poo, just not viruses. My impression has always been that filters are better for cloudy waters and stuff and should filter more than just treatment alone if you have a good one? Maybe I'm wrong on that.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 16:37
|
|
|
Chlorine or iodine tablets kill the things living in the water. If you follow directions they work in any water, no matter the amount of sediment. Water with lots of sediment clogs filters more quickly than clear water. All filters clog. You get what you pay for, especially in ease of cleaning/backflushing said filter. UV treatment kills the living things, including viruses. It works less well in heavily sedimented water; use a prefilter (a shirt is enough) in those cases. Viruses are not an issue in North America.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 16:52
|
|
|
alnilam posted:Water talk!
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 16:57
|
|
|
When I got my filter, which is just a paper filter not the better ceramic filter, that you really kind of need to know the ecology of the area you are going. The filter doesn't do very well with living things, it is mostly for pollution and sediment. I have used my filter numerous times in Kentucky and never had a problem with sickness, but Kentucky (and most areas in the US) doesn't have problems with parasites/viruses in the water. I guess another question would be, what kind of filter are you using and how old is it?
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 17:31
|
|
|
If you're getting sick often, I'd suspect that you're not cleaning your hands with soap or hand sanitizer well enough before preparing food or eating. Either that, or one of your friends isn't cleaning their hands, and then they're touching your food.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 17:51
|
|
|
Thanks for the water tips. It sounds like my filter should, indeed, be working in these situations, so maybe it's cracked or maybe there's some cross-contamination. Perhaps I've been lazy with making sure the clean tube does NOT touch any dirty water ever ever?BeefofAges posted:If you're getting sick often, I'd suspect that you're not cleaning your hands with soap or hand sanitizer well enough before preparing food or eating. Either that, or one of your friends isn't cleaning their hands, and then they're touching your food. Could be. I'm pretty anal about washing my hands a couple times a day when hiking, but I do sometimes snack with unclean hands. But in everyday life, I'm a grungy son of a bitch and I frequently eat with hands that have touched trees, soil, rocks, creeks, etc. when I'm just on a little weekend outdoor jaunt, and it hasn't resulted in me having the runs all the time. Really, those couple of trips are practically the only times I've ever gotten a multi-day diahrrea illness. JAY ZERO SUM GAME posted:If I had to guess, your filter is leaking somewhere. I know, anecdotal, but anything other than the most expensive filters have felt unreliable to me; I don't use one and use a Steripen instead. Three years on, hundreds of gallons of water, some of it from water I KNEW would make me sick if untreated, and I've never had so much as a weary fart. If I decide to replace my filter cartridge, it's $45 and a steripen is $70, so I might consider switching. Anyone else have some steripen love? I've always been wary of them because electricity  edit: vvvv I almost forgot about that... minimal water flow is a reason I prefer to always bring a filter pump, even when using iodine. It saved my rear end twice when the only water turned out to be a lovely little trickle through some rocks. alnilam fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Jul 18, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 18:50
|
|
|
I hate my steripen. It seems like over half the time I try to use it, it just flashes red at the end and I have no idea why. Sometimes it works in the morning but not the night before, with the same water source. Ugh. Also, it's pretty impossible to use where there's minimal water flow - spots where you can pump from are often impossible to scoop water from into a bottle to then steripen.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 18:51
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 16, 2024 07:06 |
|
|
As another anecdote, I never wash my hands while backpacking, and again, have never been sick.mastershakeman posted:I hate my steripen. It seems like over half the time I try to use it, it just flashes red at the end and I have no idea why. Sometimes it works in the morning but not the night before, with the same water source. Ugh. I also use the previous version of this: http://www.steripen.com/ultra/ which doesn't sound like yours. I carry iodine tablets in the case that it bites the dust. As for water flow, I tend to backpack in areas that don't have that problem. It is certainly a limitation of a Steripen.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2013 19:15
|
|