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SubponticatePoster posted:If you've got a little extra time to spare, see if you can make Zion or Bryce in Utah. Weather is fantastic this week/weekend. I actually live in Salt Lake and while I love visiting Southern Utah I was hoping to try something new. I am half tempted to make the trek south this weekend since it's a 3 day weekend and I think President's Day is a free national park access day.
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Feb 12, 2014 23:01
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Well poo poo, hah. Try Lake Mead maybe?
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Feb 12, 2014 23:16
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Just throwing this out there, I recently bought two lightweight down jackets from Uniqlo. I ordered a parka and a vest and they were delivered today. They are pretty warm despite being extremely light weight and very packable. I bought them to wear under a wind jacket or at night to add some warmth to my bag or to use as a pillow. They're on sale and pretty cheap for a nice down jacket you can toss in any pack for unplanned cold weather on a trip.
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Feb 13, 2014 00:45
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I have a Sawyer water filter that I tried out today and I was really disappointed in it. No matter how hard I'd squeeze the bag, I couldn't get more than the barest, most meager trickle of water. Actually, more like drops than a trickle. I know it takes a bit of water to get the filter primed, but after ten minutes I gave up. Anyone have any thoughts?
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Feb 13, 2014 05:30
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Oxford Comma posted:I have a Sawyer water filter that I tried out today and I was really disappointed in it. No matter how hard I'd squeeze the bag, I couldn't get more than the barest, most meager trickle of water. Actually, more like drops than a trickle. I know it takes a bit of water to get the filter primed, but after ten minutes I gave up. Anyone have any thoughts? Gravity filter and don't look back
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Feb 13, 2014 05:55
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Bottom Liner posted:
Their sizing chart is fairly accurate so check that. In general prana fits on the small side. I bought some pairs one size bigger than usual based off their chart and they fit fine. Based off the recommendations in the thread I kept my eyes peeled for some sale pairs and found some cheap and they are the most comfortable pants I own, also dry very quickly. You can get them in convertible style too which is handy. Steep and cheap restocked their warehouse with some prana stuff recently I think because the last few weeks the price was down around $39.00, if you keep your eyes peeled they'll probably come down that low again for larger an smaller sized pairs that don't sell as well. Yiggy fucked around with this message at 11:44 on Feb 13, 2014 |
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Feb 13, 2014 11:42
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After doing the JMT with a few friends last year, we're looking for a new long-distance hike. Any special recommendations? We live in Northern California, so there's other Sierra hikes, like the Tahoe Rim Trail. We were also looking at Denali and the Grand Canyon.
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Feb 13, 2014 19:30
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Verman posted:Gravity filter and don't look back Probably, but since I already own a Sawyer, I'd like to figure out what is wrong with it rather than buy a new one.
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Feb 13, 2014 19:53
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Is anyone here trying to collect all 50 highpoints in the US? I've never been a hiker but lately I've been wanting to get out and get some exercise, and this seems like a fun and attainable goal over a long period of time. Also, it seems that highpointing has a large and very informative online community. Being from the Southeast, I've already bagged some of the hardest peaks. These include: Alabama Cheaha Mountain (Elevation 2405 ft) Florida Britton Hill (Elevation 345 ft) North Carolina Mount Mitchell (Elevation 6684 ft) I have the next 6 days off and rather than sitting around and getting fat, I'd like to make a roadtrip and conquer some more peaks. I'm going to try and grab some or all of the below, and if anyone has some insight or trip reports on them, I'd love to read them. Arkansas Magazine Mountain (Elevation 2753 ft) Georgia Brasstown Bald (Elevation 4784 ft) Kentucky Black Mountain (Elevation 4139 ft) Louisiana Driskell Mountain (Elevation 535 ft) Missouri Taum Sauk Mountain (Elevation 1772 ft) South Carolina Sassafras Mountain (Elevation 3554 ft) Tennessee Clingmans Dome (Elevation 6643 ft) Virginia Mount Rogers (Elevation 5729 ft) I am very much an out-of-shape novice hiker and climber but these seem attainable in my present condition and would be a great way to spend some free time. Also, I plan on flying out to Colorado for a month this summer for vacation and looking at the peaks there. An entirely different beast of course. Hughmoris fucked around with this message at 20:55 on Feb 13, 2014 |
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Feb 13, 2014 20:52
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Colorado's highest is a really easy one, you'll see lots of eight year olds day hiking it on your way up. Really pretty too. Of course some people have real issues with altitude, but that's uncommon.
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Feb 13, 2014 22:58
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I'm not doing fifty summits, but I'm in the early stages of (hopefully) hiking in every state and eventually every Canadian province and territory. I've done six states so far, and by the end of the year, if the money situation is favorable, I hope to bag another five. That said, Mount Marcy (New York), Mount Greylock (Massachusetts), and High Point (New Jersey) are on my to-hike list. All appear to be decent hikes, though crowded; High Point and Greylock also have roads to the top, with monuments and crap, which might not be too appealing once I get there.
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Feb 13, 2014 23:40
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Bottom Liner posted:Life straws are supposed to be able to handle anything that's water based. The trick to using it easily though is to fill an extra bottle and put the straw in that instead of leaning over and putting the straw into the source. I still carry tabs because in like redundancy, but the straw works pretty well and I would feel safe with it in sketchy situations. I wear a 32 waist, and wear a small. They stretch a bit with use after awhile as well.
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Feb 13, 2014 23:46
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Hughmoris posted:Is anyone here trying to collect all 50 highpoints in the US? I've never been a hiker but lately I've been wanting to get out and get some exercise, and this seems like a fun and attainable goal over a long period of time. Also, it seems that highpointing has a large and very informative online community. No views on Rogers, but in the summer it looks like Maine. There is a shelter on the AT about 1/2 mile from the summit and in the warmer months lots of very forward wild ponies.
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Feb 14, 2014 00:52
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Oxford Comma posted:I have a Sawyer water filter that I tried out today and I was really disappointed in it. No matter how hard I'd squeeze the bag, I couldn't get more than the barest, most meager trickle of water. Actually, more like drops than a trickle. I know it takes a bit of water to get the filter primed, but after ten minutes I gave up. Anyone have any thoughts? Have you tried back flushing your filter? If you have, you might have a dud filter. I use a Sawyer Squeeze mini and it takes about a minute to empty the bag.
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Feb 14, 2014 01:23
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Saint Fu posted:Consider putting down Glacier Point as an alternate trail head. It meets up at the top of Nevada falls so you basically just skip the mist trail. Hell you could even hike down and back up the mist trail on the first day if you really wanted to. http://www.yosemite.ca.us/maps/yosemite_valley_map_2008.jpg Just to clarify, this would be the Glacier Point to Little Yosemite Valley trailhead on the form I assume? Seems to be right...week and a half or so until I need to fax in my form and you guys have me nervous about actually getting a permit
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Feb 14, 2014 02:00
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Mercury Ballistic posted:No views on Rogers, but in the summer it looks like Maine. There is a shelter on the AT about 1/2 mile from the summit and in the warmer months lots of very forward wild ponies. Rogers is an easy hike but not a very scenic one. Grayson Highlands is pretty great overall though and I would recommend heading into Damascus for diner afterward if you have the time.
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Feb 14, 2014 02:31
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PRADA SLUT posted:I wear a 32 waist, and wear a small. They stretch a bit with use after awhile as well. Thanks, went with the small as well. Can't wait to have some good hiking pants.
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Feb 14, 2014 03:01
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I have a month of vacation time saved up for this summer, and I'm trying to decide between the Stein Divide (which I live beside) or the GR20. Perks of the former is that it would be super cheap, leave me more free time for other explorations in the coast range that I have planned, and I'd have the entire trail to myself solo. Downside is there may be a crazy bushman living on the trail. Perks of the GR20 are that I've never left Canada, it looks breathtakingly awesome, and I'd really like a trip which involves some scrambling. Downsides is the trip would cost nearly $2500, the trail is packed with people, it would use 20/30 vacation days and I don't speak french. Decisions decisions. :/
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Feb 14, 2014 05:34
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Hughmoris posted:Is anyone here trying to collect all 50 highpoints in the US? I've never been a hiker but lately I've been wanting to get out and get some exercise, and this seems like a fun and attainable goal over a long period of time. Also, it seems that highpointing has a large and very informative online community. Alaska. Do it.
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Feb 14, 2014 11:12
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Levitate posted:Just to clarify, this would be the Glacier Point to Little Yosemite Valley trailhead on the form I assume? Seems to be right...week and a half or so until I need to fax in my form and you guys have me nervous about actually getting a permit Honestly, I would probably just use Tuolomne Meadows as the second choice, saves a ton of vertical gain and is far less crowded than the valley (this is what I'm using on my permit form). Not technically the entire JMT but we're going for quality, not quantity.
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Feb 14, 2014 14:55
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Yeah camping in the valley is apparently an entire other bunch of permits and all that unless you're just doing one night, then you can use the backpacker campground. I've never been to Yosemite so I kind of want to see the valley though, despite how crowded I know it'll be. Don't mind the vertical myself, so...we'll see. Travel there and timing is going to be the biggest pain in the rear end for me but I'm excited about the general idea of doing the JMT at least!
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Feb 14, 2014 15:22
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The valley is different than little yosemite valley (LYV). LYV is about a mile past the top of Nevada falls. You're right, backpacker's camp in the valley is fine for a night, camping at LYV is a different hassle because it technically isn't "wilderness" yet. What is your transportation situation? Glacier Point is something like a hours drive from the valley and Tuolomne Meadows is 2 hours I think. There are buses available, but keep that in mind. You could certainly spend the first night at the backpackers camp and catch a ride to one of the other trailheads if you aren't lucky enough to get Happy Isles. When are you starting? I'm applying for my permit on Monday to start on Aug 4.
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Feb 14, 2014 16:19
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:After doing the JMT with a few friends last year, we're looking for a new long-distance hike. Any special recommendations? We live in Northern California, so there's other Sierra hikes, like the Tahoe Rim Trail. We were also looking at Denali and the Grand Canyon. The High Sierra Trail? The Pacific Crest Trail? Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim? The Arizona Trail?
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Feb 14, 2014 16:31
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Saint Fu posted:The valley is different than little yosemite valley (LYV). LYV is about a mile past the top of Nevada falls. You're right, backpacker's camp in the valley is fine for a night, camping at LYV is a different hassle because it technically isn't "wilderness" yet. Transportation is a bit up in the air...we have friends in San Francisco so we might try to fly in there and visit them and see if they want to drive us out there and camp a night, but that will involve getting a campsite for everyone. On the plus side it'd mean we would have someone to drive us to any trailhead and we wouldn't have to stay at a more crowded camp area. If that for sure wouldn't work, the next easiest would be to fly into Reno and have my dad swing through and pick us up , but it's more expensive to fly into Reno as far as I can tell. If all else fails we'll have to fall back on public transportation which is doable, but makes the planning more difficult. I'm putting in for August 12th as the start date and will probably put in for the 13th as well if I don't hear back (some people say they hear back by the next morning, some don't, but I guess it can't hurt) and if I don't get either of those I'll shift back a week and try again. Starting on Tuesday instead of Monday will hopefully give us enough time to deal with any transportation issues, and I guess if we realllly wanted to leave Monday and were in position to do so we could try to change our permit. How are you going to handle the stretch between JMR and Mt Whitney? Our default at this point is just to pack 8 days of food out of JMR but I haven't gotten into those details too much yet. Might also meet up with my dad at Onion Valley and he might pack us in some food, but seems like it'd be a tough for him to carry that much in
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Feb 14, 2014 16:52
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I've done public transport from the bay area before and it was pretty nice actually. Took the Amtrak from Oakland to Merced and caught the YARTS bus to the valley. Takes about half a day. Transportation from the end is more challenging. I'm actually considering hiking west from Whitney via the Sierra High Trail so I can hop public transportation to Fresno and fly out from there. But you bring up a good point regarding the long stretch after the Muir Trail Ranch. I think I'm going to rent a Bearikade Expedition and try to hike from MTR to Whitney and then to the Crescent Meadow trailhead in Sequoia NP (my planned exit point), about 150 miles total in 10 days. I hope I'll be able to do 15 miles per day at that point. My other thought is to send a package to Independence and take a side trip out over Kearsarge Pass / Onion Valley like you mentioned. If you have time, you could meet your dad in the Onion Valley and save him the trip up over the pass. This would save you a hitchhiking trip into Independence to get it yourself from the post office. I think if you're ending at Whitney portal, you should be able to do it in one go from MTR without a resupply. Especially if you have a big bear can. How long do you have available to hike?
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Feb 14, 2014 17:12
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I'm only really worried about public transport in terms of the time it takes and scheduling flights and making it to the train and all that, but we'll see. Good that it's an option. I'm almost 100% positive we'll meet up with my dad at the end one way or another to help with transportation from the end..just not sure if it'll be meeting up with him to get supplies and hiking out with him and having my mom pick us up, or just having them pick us up at the end. Since they live out west and I'm out on the east coast, I'd like to at least see them a bit one way or the other. I'm scheduling 18 or 19 days, depending on how things work out. Maybe a bit ambitious since I'm not experienced on that particular trail but I don't think the mileage will be a big problem unless we're hit with altitude sickness pretty hard, and if that's the case then we'd probably need more time to get over it than I have available. We're in pretty good shape and especially if we end up leaving from Tuolumne Meadows, we should be alright. I wish I had all kinds of time to take off and stretch the trip out like it sounds you're doing but I'm probably pushing it taking 3 weeks off of work as it is. The downsides of being a "responsible adult" I guess. I'm not really used to having to plan trips that involve this kind of travel and transportation, usually I can use visiting my parents as a way to get out there and get a car, etc. So, this is something new...but pretty excited vvvv - thanks, I'll keep that in my back pocket. I think we'll be fine but I appreciate the offer 
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Feb 14, 2014 17:36
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Levitate, I live in the central valley near Yosemite and could help you get to/from the trail. If you're interested, twinxor at gmail.com.
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Feb 14, 2014 17:39
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:After doing the JMT with a few friends last year, we're looking for a new long-distance hike. Any special recommendations? We live in Northern California, so there's other Sierra hikes, like the Tahoe Rim Trail. We were also looking at Denali and the Grand Canyon. Come to Colorado! http://www.coloradotrail.org/
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Feb 14, 2014 17:57
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I've been doing enough winter hiking this season that I finally bought some traction devices: http://www.rei.com/product/806475/kako-icetrekkers-diamond-grip-traction-system These own. Buy them and go straight up ice all day.
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Feb 14, 2014 19:36
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d3k0y posted:Has anyone ever tried rip-stop nylon for an overhead tarp? I tend to use a hammock when I go backpacking as it is much lighter to carry, and I don't have to care about the ground conditions when I pick a spot. However I kind of have to have a roof when I do so, right now I just use a crap "light-duty" 12x10 tarp which probably weighs as much as the hammock does and takes up a ton of space. Old post, but I have had really good luck with one of these : http://www.eaglesnestoutfittersinc.com/product/PROFLY.html Really good coverage, easy to use. Only drawback is that it's a little heavy at 22oz. They do a sil-nylon version as well that's 13oz, but it's $150.
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Feb 14, 2014 20:00
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Levitate posted:People who have applied for permits for the JMT...when the application asks for 2nd and 3rd choices, does anyone know how that works if you put down a different date? Like I'm thinking of starting August 11th...if I don't get that, starting the 12th would be fine, even starting the 13th as my third choice would be fine. Do they just put it on the top of the pile for that days reservations if your first choice isn't available or should you also throw in individual applications for those dates as well? You are, but that's ok Here's what happens: if your first choice is filled up: they try to give you your second choice permit (technically, an early application date if your second choice is after your first choice). If for some reason that is full already, they try your third choice. If your third choice is *also* already full, they call you to talk about your options. (I have had this happen, and it all worked out in the end). Since you said (in a more recent post) you are aiming for Aug 12 as hike-in date, this is what you do: After 5pm PST on Feb 24, FAX your form in. This means you will be among the first to apply ON Feb 25 (for an Aug 12 start date). I believe they randomize the ones get during the night, but those are the applications who are almost guaranteed to get their first choice. It is Not Hard to get your first choice if you do it this way. IF you select Aug 13, 14, or 15 as your second/third options, and they can't give you your first choice, your application is treated with priority. Meaning, they do NOT set your application aside until the application date for your second choice comes around. They file it the day you submit it, so you would be the first person to apply (and get) a permit for that other day. HOWEVER, if your second/third choices are hike in days BEFORE your first choice, you are much less likely to get your second/third choice if your first is filled already, because others have already had a chance to apply for those days. You are better off listing either a day (or two) later, or a nearby/different trail head as second/third choices. I would actually recommend NOT applying for an Aug 11 hike in because it becomes slightly more complicated. Because Feb 24th is a Monday, you are allowed to fax in your form after 5pm PST on Feb 21. Basically, the pool can be much larger, so there is a greater risk the spots will fill faster than they would on a normal workday where the pool is only for the next day.
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Feb 15, 2014 02:45
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Cool thanks, yeah August 11th was my first thought but I decided I wanted another day to deal with travel/altitude acclimation
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Feb 15, 2014 03:09
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Anyone else having problems in submitting to the lottery for The Enchantments at the recreation.gov website?
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Feb 15, 2014 13:39
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BaseballPCHiker posted:Anyone else having problems in submitting to the lottery for The Enchantments at the recreation.gov website? The opening of the 2014 lottery application period previously scheduled for February 15 has been temporarily delayed. Please check this web page for future updates.
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Feb 15, 2014 17:58
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mastershakeman posted:The opening of the 2014 lottery application period previously scheduled for February 15 has been temporarily delayed. Please check this web page for future updates. Yeah I saw that when I logged in at midnight last night, said it was going to be delayed until 3 AM. I gave up went to sleep and was hoping to get in the lottery this morning. Oh well, guess I'll have to wait. I'm itching to go out and get some hiking done. Starting to get cabin fever. Snowshoeing only does so much for me.
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Feb 15, 2014 18:10
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Long shot but does anyone know if a place within an hour of the SF Bay Area where I can hike off-trail? Ideally with some trees?
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Feb 16, 2014 19:54
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Oxford Comma posted:Long shot but does anyone know if a place within an hour of the SF Bay Area where I can hike off-trail? Ideally with some trees? Hmm. Can you make it to Reno?
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Feb 16, 2014 20:12
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agarjogger posted:Hmm. What's in Reno 
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Feb 16, 2014 20:16
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Hiking off trail is a real pain in the rear end and dangerous to boot in mountainous areas. Why would you want to do it? Trying to find a place to jerk off outside?
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Feb 16, 2014 21:11
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Pryor on Fire posted:Hiking off trail is a real pain in the rear end and dangerous to boot in mountainous areas. Why would you want to do it? Trying to find a place to jerk off outside? That's what frontcountry port-a-potties are for.
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Feb 16, 2014 21:20
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