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Just applied for a permit for backcountry camping in RMNP, trip planned from 5/15-5/18. Should I go ahead and book plane tickets now or is it best to wait for the response? I am afraid of ticket prices being too high if I wait weeks for the permit to be approved, but then again it would be lame if I book my flight and end up with dates not coinciding with the tickets...
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Apr 8, 2015 02:15
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I just did some late March backpacking in Allegheny National Forest, in the minister creek area - an overnighter. We didn't encounter another human once, and there was still some snow on the ground in places. It was beautiful.  But goddamn. Or, god dam. The beaver dams. We camped near a beaver hut  and got to see some beavers playing around  , and then partway through we noticed the "islands" and "natural pools" were in fact 3 enormous beaver-made pools, each 3-4 feet of elevation apart, each bounded by about 100 yards of beaver dam. That's about 300 yards total of beaver dam, each about 4-5 feet high. It was the most incredible, extensive feat of beaver-ing I've ever seen. The pictures really don't do it justice, it was seriously the equivalent of 3 very large swimming pools bounded on half of their perimeter by 4-5 feet of dam. One of the dams was old enough that it was very grown over and established, and we didn't even notice it was originally a beaver dam until after we had spent a while looking at the other two. Once we saw the beaver presence, we couldn't unsee it - practically every piece of wood in sight was beaver chewed. The log we had used to cross one part of a stream for hours had a super obvious beaver chew zone the whole time that we didn't notice until we realized the extent of beaver-ing.  It was cool. Beavers are weird as hell and awesome.
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Apr 8, 2015 03:18
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Is the old folk lore true that if you see a bear you need to be the firs tone to be aggressive? Like if I see a black bear I should run up to it hooting and hollering, establishing my territory. I saw my friends do this once and it worked to great effect.
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Apr 8, 2015 03:50
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Keldoclock posted:Why not get a Silva Polaris or similar small cheap light compass and a map? I don't know how dense the mountains are, if there are more than a couple within 5 degrees of each other you could get a better compass with a sight, and that should do for identifying any mountain you can see. This is a very reasonable and, probably, a better solution than an app in the long run. (We already downloaded the app, though, and have been enjoying it.)
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Apr 8, 2015 04:38
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MOVIE MAJICK posted:Is the old folk lore true that if you see a bear you need to be the firs tone to be aggressive? Like if I see a black bear I should run up to it hooting and hollering, establishing my territory. I saw my friends do this once and it worked to great effect. You need to be firm and confident and make yourself look as big as possible, but you don't need to charge up in their face. Every time we've seen a black bear, we barely get a glimpse of it before it sees us and runs away. I like this bit of advice, "WHOA BEAR!": quote:Stay calm. It's your food he wants, not you. Over the years I've confronted a number of black bears and my nonchalant procedure goes something like this:
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Apr 8, 2015 04:52
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lollybo posted:Just applied for a permit for backcountry camping in RMNP, trip planned from 5/15-5/18. Should I go ahead and book plane tickets now or is it best to wait for the response? I am afraid of ticket prices being too high if I wait weeks for the permit to be approved, but then again it would be lame if I book my flight and end up with dates not coinciding with the tickets... You can probably safely book your flights/rental car. I'm not sure where you're flying from but Denver is pretty cheap to fly to as its huge airport in a central location. Thats going to be shoulder season for RMNP and they probably won't be very busy. You might want to try calling ahead just to see if they can give you any information on your permits. As far as the weather, I went during that time in 2012 and the weather was all over the place. Its early enough that you can always get day of permits when you go to the ranger station and they can give you trail conditions and maybe suggest a different route. We basically had our pick of spots in the park since it was so early in the season but we stuck with Wild Basin. We saw a few people day hiking on the low trails and were basically alone after the first few sets of backcountry sites and waterfalls. Day 1 was really hot (90 in denver, 80ish in the mountains), Day 2 was warm in the 70s and then started to cool off as a weather system came in. We couldn't get all the way up to our designated site because we lost the trail due to waist/neck deep hardpacked snow. After looking for it for a few hours, and almost losing boots a few times from post holing, we turned back and stayed in the last site we passed which was empty for the night (lower Ouzel lake). We woke up to a decent amount of snow on day 3 and feeling nervous about the possibility of even more snow, we decided to hike out a day early instead of getting dumped on. It cleared up a lot as we descended and the sun came out. Everything got a little less white and a little more green. Lucky for us we headed out just in time because as we reached our car the snow started pounding the area and we drove out of the mountains in some pretty lovely weather. Don't get me wrong it was beautiful and now I would probably have just toughed it out but we made the right decision at the time for our lack of experience in the mountains. Day 1  Day 2  Day 3  All in all, have fun, be safe and give yourself time to acclimate. RMNP takes its toll on me when I hike the same day I arrive. And be prepared for anything from summer to winter weather. Verman fucked around with this message at 05:50 on Apr 8, 2015 |
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Apr 8, 2015 05:19
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Last time I saw a bear, I yelled and tried to scare it away and it just went on eating berries. We just kept going, didn't see it on the way back (although it was dark by then).
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Apr 8, 2015 05:46
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jamal posted:Last time I saw a bear, I yelled and tried to scare it away and it just went on eating berries. We just kept going, didn't see it on the way back (although it was dark by then). Yeah some of them that are used to seeing people will be more like "eh whatever" but black bears really aren't aggressive for the most part. They prefer the "steal your poo poo and run" method if possible
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Apr 8, 2015 12:45
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Verman posted:You can probably safely book your flights/rental car. I'm not sure where you're flying from but Denver is pretty cheap to fly to as its huge airport in a central location. Thats going to be shoulder season for RMNP and they probably won't be very busy. You might want to try calling ahead just to see if they can give you any information on your permits. As far as the weather, I went during that time in 2012 and the weather was all over the place. Its early enough that you can always get day of permits when you go to the ranger station and they can give you trail conditions and maybe suggest a different route. Gotcha, glad I can start booking now. Those are some nice pics man. Makes me even more excited for the trip.
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Apr 8, 2015 15:24
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lollybo posted:Gotcha, glad I can start booking now. Those are some nice pics man. Makes me even more excited for the trip. Where are you planning on going in the park?
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Apr 8, 2015 15:59
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Dang, just read a trip report of a southern Sierra High Route, looks amazing. Basically is coming in through Bishop Pass and then through Dusy Basin, Palisades Basin, down to the JMT for awhile and then back off into Center Basin, up Mt Whitney via the mountaineers route, through Crabtree Lakes, etc. Some of the scenery just looks amazing and remote. Not sure I'm 100% up for some of the scrambling required at times but it definitely makes me want to try some of it...maybe I'll give it a go next year if life permits. The off trail High Sierra country looks amazing
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Apr 8, 2015 16:19
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Levitate posted:Dang, just read a trip report of a southern Sierra High Route, looks amazing. Basically is coming in through Bishop Pass and then through Dusy Basin, Palisades Basin, down to the JMT for awhile and then back off into Center Basin, up Mt Whitney via the mountaineers route, through Crabtree Lakes, etc. Some of the scenery just looks amazing and remote. Not sure I'm 100% up for some of the scrambling required at times but it definitely makes me want to try some of it...maybe I'll give it a go next year if life permits. The off trail High Sierra country looks amazing If you just want a taste go for Joe Devel Peak out of Horseshoe Meadows. You can bag several other peaks along the way and once you leave Army pass and enter Miter Basin its mostly off-trail.
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Apr 8, 2015 22:20
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HarryPurvis posted:If you just want a taste go for Joe Devel Peak out of Horseshoe Meadows. You can bag several other peaks along the way and once you leave Army pass and enter Miter Basin its mostly off-trail. I'm not much of a peak bagger but since I'll be in San Fran for at least a couple of years I'll probably try to check out some stuff like that, thanks! I'm thinking I might be able to add in the trip through Center Basin and over Junction Pass to my planned trip in September. I kind of wanted to stay up at Golden Bear lake last year on the JMT but it didn't really work out. Really hoping to explore a lot of the Sierra while I'm in the area, including a lot of cross country. Tougher to go in on the east side since it'd take longer to drive there but a long enough trip going in from the west is doable. I have a vague feeling I'd enjoy living in Bishop but my wife would hate me for it. Then again small towns can be strange.
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Apr 8, 2015 23:18
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  Spring's breaking out in the Shenandoah NP, with bloodroots starting to blossom last week (from Corbin Cabin Trail). This weekend's supposed to be amazing weather and should start seeing a lot more stuff greening and blooming in the park. Great time to get some spring hiking in.
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Apr 9, 2015 02:54
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Good deal on hydration packs if anyone is looking: http://www.woot.com/plus/high-sierr...099f3-308187081
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Apr 9, 2015 15:22
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Hungryjack posted:Yeah, Ouachita/Ozarks is a good option. Arkansas has some great state parks. I used to go there with my dad when I was a kid. A few thanksgivings ago, my wife and I drove up to Petit jean SP and camped in a cabin, but just the day hiking was great. Those are probably the closest legit (if small) mountains we have to Houston. My Big Bend group is probably going to road trip it up to somewhere in the Ozarks this winter. Since my wife works for Enterprise, we just rent a big 15-passenger fan and drive in shifts through the night so we don't lose a day to travel. This is great info thanks. I've only really just started riding the trails around Houston so I don't have much experience around. Same with camping. I look forward to really exploring the state in the next year.
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Apr 9, 2015 16:48
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When I came face to face with a black bear, and it started to approach, I said sternly "No bear! You get back bear!" And it sheepishly disappeared into the alders. That was in Waterton National Park, I had just solo hiked 22 km from Cameron Lake to Waterton town site while bagging the summit of Mt. Carthew, and the bear was within the last 500m of the trail. Which is why I came face to face. I figured I was out of bear territory at that point and stopped making noise. Serves me right!
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Apr 9, 2015 20:38
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alnilam posted:(late march backpacking in northwest PA) By the way, does anyone know what plant this is?  There was almost no other green vegetation out, nor much wildlife, at this time of year in that location. Just moss, some conifers, and a lot of very dormant trees and shrubs. But the forest floor was made fuzzy and green by these little guys in a lot of patches, and it was really lovely. It almost looks like baby firs, but they were growing in a funny way that doesn't seem like baby trees. Sometimes there were multiple of these little shoots coming out of one vine that looked the same as the shoots themselves. Plus they were growing way far away from fir/conifer stands sometimes. I know ferns have multiple life stages that can look very different from each other, could it be a baby fern? I know these western PA woods are absolutely covered in ferns come summer. My best guess is either a baby fern, or some kind of short-lived spring plant that is doing its business and then dying/going dormant again. You see the brown stalk coming out of the top? That could either be new growth that isn't green yet, or it could be the reproductive arm of a short-lived spring plant 
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Apr 9, 2015 21:06
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No idea what those are, but they are very common in northeast PA and central NY.
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Apr 9, 2015 21:34
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Verman posted:Where are you planning on going in the park? Bear Lake area, We're thinking of trying to summit Hallett Peak and then taking the trail from bear lake to fern lake TH- Is this enough stuff to do for 3 days? Any other suggestions? http://www.rockymountainhikingtrails.com/hallett-peak.htm http://www.rockymountainhikingtrails.com/bear-lake-fern-lake.htm We originally wanted to summit Mt. Ida, however I read that the road connecting the east and west parks of the park are closed until mid May.
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Apr 9, 2015 22:23
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alnilam posted:By the way, does anyone know what plant this is? Ground pine, aka lycopods. Really cool stuff if you get off on paleobotany, like me.
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Apr 9, 2015 22:33
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Super ancient, yeah.
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Apr 9, 2015 22:41
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So for my program at uni, I need to do a 52 hour job shadow in a field of interest. This summer I'm going to assist with hiking trips for elementary and junior high students to learn the geology of the Canadian Rockies. Stoked!
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Apr 9, 2015 23:26
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lollybo posted:Bear Lake area, We're thinking of trying to summit Hallett Peak and then taking the trail from bear lake to fern lake TH- Is this enough stuff to do for 3 days? Any other suggestions? You could stash most of your gear in the woods right at the junction of the trail up to Hallett then come back down and go to one of the closer backcountry sites, it looks like Sourdough is the closest. Then the second day you could go to Cub Creek and then come back out at Bear Lake or Bierstadt on the third day. The first day would be pretty long but the next two would be easy.
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Apr 10, 2015 02:46
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Plantchat? I went to Washington State Park (Missouri, not Washington) this past weekend and the trail was bursting with little rue anemones: I know this is its name because I showed the picture to my mom, who insisted on finding out what they were. We spent a good 15 minutes puzzling through a 70s-era wildflower guidebook and finding nothing, and then roughly 30 seconds on the internet. Thanks, internet. WSP's a pretty gorgeous little park down in total redneck country, an hour away from St. Louis. The longest trail tramps through the hills around a river valley and for the most part it's the sort of pretty but unphotogenic scrubby Ozark forest, but the trail also takes you up on top of bare bald hills and around the remains of old farmsteads. It was rainy and grey and wild the day I went out, and it's just a great place to be alone in the woods while brooding.     Near the end is a little observation post with a view that looks like a medieval Flemish painting:  But then you have to go down. In the 80 years since CCC built the park, the stone stairs have ceased to be anything other than downhill torture devices. gently caress you, stone stairs. (Should have brought trekking poles.)  I can't even be angry at what I presume is moss vandalism  One of these days I'm going to figure out how to get my phone camera to focus, I just know it.
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Apr 10, 2015 04:45
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Hello, I'll be for a week from 20 May in Los Angeles, first time in US and first vacation solo :/ I was thinking of some sightseeing or trekking in Angeles National Forest or Santa Monica Mountains? which one is better? and is anybody around that area and up for some hiking or sightseeing ? 
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Apr 10, 2015 18:11
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Someone please recommend me a 3 season sleeping bag under $200. Preferably closer to $100,
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Apr 12, 2015 18:34
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Thoren posted:Someone please recommend me a 3 season sleeping bag under $200. Preferably closer to $100,
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Apr 12, 2015 19:08
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^^^ LOLThoren posted:Someone please recommend me a 3 season sleeping bag under $200. Preferably closer to $100, I generally find Wes Siler to be mostly like-minded in what he says and his opinions on things. He wrote an article for Gizmodo a while back designed for the budget-conscious adventurer. He suggests the Kelty Cosmic Down 20, which Amazon has on sale for $170 with a great rating.
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Apr 12, 2015 19:11
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Hungryjack posted:^^^ LOL Looks like you're in luck today too because Amazon has it marked down $.08!!!
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Apr 12, 2015 20:16
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I would agree with this *if you want down if course). Its one of the best deals out there for a solid three season down bag. Rei was just having a sale too but not sure when it expires. Both of my hiking partners have it and never complain about cold nights.
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Apr 12, 2015 23:46
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Are there any equally as good deals for synthetic bags? My wife is allergic to down and it seems a lot harder to find a synthetic good bag.
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Apr 13, 2015 00:44
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Hungryjack posted:He suggests the Kelty Cosmic Down 20, which Amazon has on sale for $170 with a great rating. Thanks guys. Looks like this is the best bang for buck bag, eh? Will a bag at that temp be okay in the summer though? How does the "upper" range of sleeping bag temperature work? I'm definitely going for versatility here--I'll be traveling all over the USA next year. Also I nabbed this bad boy on ebay. Anyone have experience with it? 
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Apr 13, 2015 01:55
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Mt. Washington was looking fine today. I'm going to stand on top of that some day soon. 
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Apr 13, 2015 02:28
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Its time to stop bumming a gear setup for this summer. I'm a side sleeping 6'2"/220lbs and looking for an inflatable pad. The reviews all seem to point me towards either the Neoair Xtherm or the Big Anges Q Core SL. This thread seems to love them both, so a couple of questions. 1) Is the noise of the Xtherm really an issue? 2) Is the extra weight of the Big Agnes worth the jump to 3.5 inches or will I be fine with the 2.5 of the Xtherm? I'd like to buy one tonight with the 20% off REI members coupon, send help!
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Apr 13, 2015 03:09
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cheese posted:Its time to stop bumming a gear setup for this summer. I'm a side sleeping 6'2"/220lbs and looking for an inflatable pad. The reviews all seem to point me towards either the Neoair Xtherm or the Big Anges Q Core SL. This thread seems to love them both, so a couple of questions. I've never had a pad other than the Big Agnes Q Core, but my wife and I both love ours. We're not avid backpackers so I can't comment on the extra weight, but I can't imagine sleeping on anything less comfortable. Would be hard to sleep.
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Apr 13, 2015 03:17
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Internet Explorer posted:Are there any equally as good deals for synthetic bags? My wife is allergic to down and it seems a lot harder to find a synthetic good bag. Down is great for lightweight and small size, and I've got down quilts from underground quilts for my hammock that are just awesome, but for a synthetic sleeping bag I think you'd be hard pressed to do better than a Wiggy's bag. It's bulkier and heavier, but Wiggy's bags: -Have no baffles, so there's no cold spots -Use a proprietary anti-static fill so fibers don't break down and will always stay fluffed, even after being stored compressed (unlike regular synthetic bags) -oversized full length draft tube, so cold air doesn't leak in via the zipper/hood -Largest YKK zipper available, so it's easy to zip and doesn't pinch -Work even when wet (which is synthetic's advantage over down) He also makes these jackets, which are fantastic--warmest jacket I've ever owned, like wearing a sleeping bag. It's so good, it's the only outer layer I usually wear in winter. For a small, lightweight synthetic bag I've always been curious to try the big Agnes bags with the integrated sleeping pad pocket-it's a really clever idea, since there's little point to sleeping bag material under you when it's compressed. Edit: Thoren posted:Will a bag at that temp be okay in the summer though? How does the "upper" range of sleeping bag temperature work? I'm definitely going for versatility here--I'll be traveling all over the USA next year. Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Apr 13, 2015 |
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Apr 13, 2015 03:19
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cheese posted:Its time to stop bumming a gear setup for this summer. I'm a side sleeping 6'2"/220lbs and looking for an inflatable pad. The reviews all seem to point me towards either the Neoair Xtherm or the Big Anges Q Core SL. This thread seems to love them both, so a couple of questions. I honestly haven't had a bad night's sleep with the Agnes Q Core. It might be slightly heavier but there's nothing worth more than a good night's sleep on the trail.
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Apr 13, 2015 03:46
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I wish inflatable pads weren't so heavy. I use a foam Thermarest pad which weighs 14 oz, and it doesn't look like I'd save much weight moving to inflatable, though not having to carry a big rolled-up pad is nice of course.
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Apr 13, 2015 04:38
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OSU_Matthew posted:Down is great for lightweight and small size, and I've got down quilts from Thank you for these suggestions. They seem pretty awesome. May look at picking one or the other up.
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Apr 13, 2015 04:45
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