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Here's the theoretical route up Ipasha for Sunday: Crux is likely at that equals sign, the Iceberg Notch.
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Jun 27, 2015 04:56
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So I've gotten some good experience in backpacking with my University, done a week long trip in California and Utah and several shorter trips here where I'm from in The Great Smokey Mountains. I've been acquiring gear slowly and now I wanna get out and plan my own trip for my friends with less experience. Basically, I've had all my trips planned for me pretty well, because I've done then with Outdoor Programs, so I'm wondering what the best way to plan a trip is. I'd wanna go in the Smokies, and I just don't really understand well the logistics of planning a backpacking trip. How do you make sure there will be water along the way? How do you plan for reaching shelters / campsites on time, and what is the best way to go about this planning? I'd like to go out for maybe two or three nights, and am having trouble getting started I guess. Can anyone here give me some advice? Is it as simple as looking on the map or are there some other resources I should know about?
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Jun 27, 2015 15:43
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Motley posted:So I've gotten some good experience in backpacking with my University, done a week long trip in California and Utah and several shorter trips here where I'm from in The Great Smokey Mountains. I've been acquiring gear slowly and now I wanna get out and plan my own trip for my friends with less experience. Basically, I've had all my trips planned for me pretty well, because I've done then with Outdoor Programs, so I'm wondering what the best way to plan a trip is. I'd wanna go in the Smokies, and I just don't really understand well the logistics of planning a backpacking trip. How do you make sure there will be water along the way? How do you plan for reaching shelters / campsites on time, and what is the best way to go about this planning? Planning isn't hard, don't over complicate it. Figure out what you want to do, look at trail maps to find a route that achieves that. Read recent trip reports if it's on an established trail. Make an assessment of the fitness of the people you want to bring with. Have a pace in mind that you generally need to stick to. Figure out optimal pack weight if that's what you're into. Accept that once your on the trail your plan may fall apart entirely, which is ok. What kind of outdoor program were you participating in that had you on backpacking trips that didn't teach you about how to plan?
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Jun 27, 2015 17:51
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Motley posted:So I've gotten some good experience in backpacking with my University, done a week long trip in California and Utah and several shorter trips here where I'm from in The Great Smokey Mountains. I've been acquiring gear slowly and now I wanna get out and plan my own trip for my friends with less experience. Basically, I've had all my trips planned for me pretty well, because I've done then with Outdoor Programs, so I'm wondering what the best way to plan a trip is. I'd wanna go in the Smokies, and I just don't really understand well the logistics of planning a backpacking trip. How do you make sure there will be water along the way? How do you plan for reaching shelters / campsites on time, and what is the best way to go about this planning? Figure out where you want to go and get a map, the one I drew on up there I downloaded for free from http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod/ go to the topo map section. Think back on your previous trips: how much food did you need each day? how far did you hike, and how far can the weakest member of your crew realistically go? Did you have to hang a permit on your tent so the ranger knew you should be there? Stuff like that, you've gotta have the details nailed down if you're leader. Make a list of gear, write an itinerary, submit it to the thread if you're concerned. I can't vouch for this particular title, but their other books (Freedom of the Hills etc) are brilliant: http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Climbing-Expedition-Planning-P260.aspx
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Jun 27, 2015 17:53
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Trip report! Kind of. Last Saturday I went up to Lake Agnes in a small cirque above Lake Louise. I've been there before and we just wanted an easy hike for my brother-in-law who shattered his ankle over the winter and just needed to get out to the mountains for once. There was a small rainstorm at our destination. The rest of the sky was sunny.  Lake Agnes  We spotted a Steller's Jay!  The Mt. Whyte/Mt. Niblock cirque from the back of the lake. That's a wave of sleet coming down.  Looking back through sleet at the teahouse and Bow Valley in the distance. It was late evening so no one else was there. It's normally a super crowded busy tourist destination.  Clouds around Mt. Whyte's slabby ridge.  The weather cleared up when I headed back to the teahouse.  My husband and his brother did a higher objective called the Big Beehive, but I stayed back because I was having trouble with my knee and I had an even bigger hike two days later. I will post about that when the pics are ready.  The best part about hiking the evening of June 20 at our latitude is long, long days. I took this picture at nearly 9:30 pm. That's Mt. Fairview on the left (easy hike to summit) and Mt. Aberdeen (a true mountaineering summit).
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Jun 27, 2015 21:22
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Smoove J posted:Here's the theoretical route up Ipasha for Sunday:
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Jun 27, 2015 22:13
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We did a little babby hike today. We've found crossing the border into Iowa gives us more day trip hiking options than staying in Nebraska. Not much exciting scenery but it was nice to see things other than corn and more corn. The black dog crapped out on us after a couple miles and caused us to cut our planned route short, so we'll probably only bring the white dog next time.    This was my first time using my new Camelbak, are there any tips for drying them after cleaning them out? It seems like the way they're designed would be a haven for mildew.
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Jun 28, 2015 01:23
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:This was my first time using my new Camelbak, are there any tips for drying them after cleaning them out? It seems like the way they're designed would be a haven for mildew. The new ones have some kind of antimicrobial stuff that seems to work well. My old ones were totally horrible for getting stanky. They make drying rack things that hold the bladder open to help with drying them out. But, you can just put it in the freezer to stop anything from growing. A rinse with mild bleach solution has fixed nasty smells for me before.
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Jun 28, 2015 01:40
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:This was my first time using my new Camelbak, are there any tips for drying them after cleaning them out? It seems like the way they're designed would be a haven for mildew. I let mine sit with water for weeks and just give it a hot rinse and I go. Just don't put anything other than water in there. My brother put beer in his. Yeah. Echoing the using a bit of bleach to rinse it out with once in a while.
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Jun 28, 2015 02:08
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:This was my first time using my new Camelbak, are there any tips for drying them after cleaning them out? It seems like the way they're designed would be a haven for mildew. Hang it upside down with the prongs at the mouth open to keep the bladder open. If you need to clean it either use a diluted bleach/hot water solution as mentioned above or 2 tbsp baking soda and a good shake then soak for 30 minutes. I prefer baking soda because bleach reminds me too much of new hose taste, but either will work. Like Tsyni I've left mine with water in it for long periods of time and then did the old baking soda and hot water clean, maybe replaced the hose at worst. As someone else mentioned, the interior of the bladder is anti-microbial so as long as you don't put something goofy in it, it should be fine.
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Jun 28, 2015 07:33
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I just store all of my bladders and soft water bottles in the freezer.
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Jun 28, 2015 08:43
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My buddy and I decided to do a little rain-hiking yesterday and being the super smart dudes that we are, decided to hike part of the C&O canal towpath. Which is not at all a flash flood disaster waiting to happen. The section we were on was like Mile 16 to Mile 22-23. The canal is only watered intermittently and this is one of the better spots if you like catching tiny bass.   These were the first almost last bass I caught. we got to the canal at like noon and it rained solidly until like 6pm. So we did get to walk back while drying, which was nice. It took us like 6 hours to go 6 miles in and like 2 hours to hike back out. Fishing and poking around side trailes really uses up the time. I want to start going on longer and longer hikes here until I can do the entire thing (148.5 Miles) so getting a sense of my pace is very helpful.  There are dozens of little feeder creeks that water the canal. Most of them are usually a small trickle, but this is how one of the smaller ones looked at like 4-5pm.  Once we turned around, we discovered that the trail back had many points that had washed over.  The canal is on our left, the right is a 10-20' cliff down to the Potomac River. Which was also insanely flooded. There were much more unpleasant spots where the tree line wasnt there, just a drop off. If it had kept raining we might have been hosed. All in all a good day. I am very happy with my raincoat and very disappointed in some cheap "dry" bags. Also this loving guy: 
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Jun 28, 2015 17:53
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beavers have scared the poo poo out of me more than any other animal.
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Jun 29, 2015 04:48
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Sierra Nevadan posted:beavers have scared the poo poo out of me more than any other animal. Deer meandering around the tent at night and waking me up so I immediately think "oh poo poo bear!" until I hear it grazing on grass stupid deer
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Jun 29, 2015 05:05
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Sierra Nevadan posted:beavers have scared the poo poo out of me more than any other animal. You should be afraid, this was put up in one of the dog parks I work at after a beaver merc'd a dog. 
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Jun 29, 2015 05:09
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Levitate posted:Deer meandering around the tent at night and waking me up so I immediately think "oh poo poo bear!" until I hear it grazing on grass haha that's hilarious. From night time trailrunning, my experience has been the opposite. Deer are generally very quiet and you see them before you hear them. If you hear a clattering out in the woods that sounds like a wild buffalo, it's usually a drat clumsy armadillo. The thing that made me jump the most was when my headlamp lit up an owl. Completely silent and then all of a sudden this big white thing right in front of me above my head.
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Jun 29, 2015 11:35
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One more suggestion for water bladders: after each use, I leave my platypus bag on the counter with one of those air pumps for fish tanks. You can get small ones for $10 from pet stores, and it dries out completely in about a day.
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Jun 29, 2015 13:19
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Keldoclock posted:I just store all of my bladders and soft water bottles in the freezer.
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Jun 29, 2015 13:55
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Agree its easier to just empty the bladder and then toss it in the freezer. And don't buy one of those stupid drying racks. Just take a hanger and cut in one of the bottom corners, put some tape around it so the edge isnt sharp and then run it through the bladder. It's the same thing they want to sell you for $10.
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Jun 29, 2015 15:43
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In Pasayten, we were sleeping under one of the brightest full moons I've ever seen. From inside our tents it looked like we were sleeping beneath a walmart parking lot street light. You could probably read a book without a light if you tried. I woke up to the sound of multiple footsteps and heavy breathing (animal not human), as well as a lot of sighing. Then I started to hear ripping and tearing of ground and then could see shapes and shadows through the walls of the tent approaching our site. I was slightly freaking out, woke up my buddy (who assured me he was already awake and heard it too) and we opened the tent expecting a bear going through our poo poo or eating our friend in a bivvy a few yards away. Deer. About 10-15 of them all just ripping at the soil for nutrients within feet of us. We were relieved but it was so loud and annoying. I tried going back to sleep but I was wide awake after the adrenaline rush and the constant ripping and tearing. Eventually we ran around with a flashlight and a metal cup trying to shoo them away. They came back the moment we laid down. I was on a safari in Africa and one of the activities was a nature walk. More for seeing dwellings, small critters, flowers/trees than big game. Its fairly intimidating being out there on foot after seeing all those wild animals nearby for the last 2 days. We saw some rhino tracks as well as some fresh scat and a mud pit. My guide got very dialed in. We started tracking a rhino on foot.  Suddenly the bushes about 20' away started grunting and getting thrashed around. I was certain we were about to get charged by a loving rhino. An impala prances out of the woods. An impala almost made me poo poo my pants. He pulls the rifle down off his shoulder and we both start laughing hysterically. He told me that was the closest he's felt to having to shoot in a while. We returned to that area a few hours later on a drive and saw the rhino we had been tracking.
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Jun 29, 2015 16:14
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Yesterday I started towards Ipasha at 7am and got back at 9pm, long day, 6000ft elevation gain. Iceberg Lake, those walls are 2000ft high and real steep but I'll get over them.  The Iceberg Notch, that's where I went up.  Mt Wilbur, Iceberg Lake. Mt Wilbur is one of five absolutely technical peaks in the park, maybe my favorite climb.  Here's the view from the top of the Notch. As I was climbing there were lots of avalanches around the lake so the icebergs moved around a lot.  Here's what's on the other side of the Notch. Centered are Ipasha and Mt Merritt, with Ahern Glacier and Old Sun Glacier, respectively.  This is the top of Ahern, and is as far as I got. It (Ahern) is the 50th unique mountain I have climbed. Had I attempted Ipasha, I would likely have been climbing down Iceberg Notch at midnight, and I was not up for that. Beautiful day, I'm feelin it.
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Jun 29, 2015 18:08
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Well by god.
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Jun 29, 2015 18:54
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Cross-posting from the bike commuting thread because I also use the same rain jacket for hiking! Need a good rain jacket for daily bike commuting, incl. layering in the winter, hiking, and it'll end up getting used for city use as well. Don't care if it looks good but that would be a bonus.alnilam posted:So my old Novara rain jacket that they don't even make anymore might finally be retiring.
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Jun 29, 2015 21:37
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What's the budget.
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Jun 29, 2015 23:14
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Cross-posting from T&T because nobody actually goes south of Buenos Aires: About to book my December 2016 Antarctica trip on the Sea Spirit with AdventureSmith, and I was considering doing some time in Patagonia before or after. It would be a shame to travel all that way to skip it. I'm doing the Sierra Club WTC so I'll feel prepared and will at least have one real camping trip under my belt in addition to the WTC time before I leave for Argentina. Right now, I'm looking at doing the W in Tierra Del Fuego as the idea of crazy, wild winds really excites me. It's about an 8 hr bus ride from Ushuaia. Does anybody have experience with that trail or with the area in general? Do I actually need a synthetic bag as opposed to a down bag due to the everchanging weather?
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Jun 30, 2015 01:07
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Smoove J posted:Yesterday I started towards Ipasha at 7am and got back at 9pm, long day, 6000ft elevation gain. That looks like an awesome climb.
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Jun 30, 2015 08:07
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Blinkman987 posted:Cross-posting from T&T because nobody actually goes south of Buenos Aires: Here's a couple short films about trail running in Patagonia. It's the closest thing I could find. My dad went down there a couple years ago to do the Patagonia and Antarctiva half marathons, but he was on the CHile side of the mountains. He said it was beautiful. I'm going down there with friends next December most likely. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryasKmNBJEc Hmm, looks like the other one, which I saw at a trail running film festival isn't available for free online.
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Jun 30, 2015 11:21
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Blinkman987 posted:Cross-posting from T&T because nobody actually goes south of Buenos Aires: Unless you expect your bag to be wet, down should be fine, though it might get wet if you're sleeping up in the clouds. Just be sure to bring a very good waterproof compression sack for it. I know very little about the area, just that it can get real wet and cold up in the Andes, so I'd be very careful about preparation. Do you speak much Spanish? Otherwise getting around and following signs might be difficult, especially in a remote, rural area. The Wildnerness Travel Course is a great idea if you haven't done much stuff like this before. Probably wouldn't hurt to go out a few times to state/national parks around you and make sure you and your gear are up to snuff too. I definitely wouldn't make my first trip something so far out of the country someplace so unfamiliar and presumably not very accommodating to foreign tourists. Seems like a recipe for disaster if you've not done this kind of thing before and don't know exactly what to expect.
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Jun 30, 2015 11:58
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evil_bunnY posted:What's the budget. Could go as high as 200, would def prefer closer to 100
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Jun 30, 2015 12:31
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So I hate my life right now and I want to change things for better so I'm seriously considering doing a thru hike of Pacific Crest Trail next year after reading a PCT book which led me to reading blogs. I originally wanted to go do John Muir Trail later this summer but no permits available so I'd have to wait a year anyway. I should be able to save up enough money and buy a decent amount of lightweight gear and be able to take the time off next year to do so. Has anybody in this thread done the PCT or a similar long distance hike and if so, was it worth it? Would you recommend it to other people? Why did you do it? (you don't have to answer that one if you don't want) I don't know if I'm crazy for wanting to do this but holy poo poo, I really need a positive change in my life and it'd be a good goal for me to work towards and it would make me less of a goony goon. I'm not a complete newbie to backcountry hiking either as I've done 3 day in the past along with a bunch of day hikes in the Yosemite area. My dad is a big time hiker - did the JMT and more back in the day and is going to do some trips with me like the High Sierra Loop since he's never done that one. Any other suggestions for cool hikes in the Yosemite/High Sierra area? I probably can do other hikes in norcal but it'd be way easier for me to stick with that area since my dad lives there. Bay area day hike suggestions that's not fake!edit: Doing the W trek in Tierra Del Fuego is one of my dream trips too. My friend's friend did it and I'm eternally jealous.
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Jun 30, 2015 12:36
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Backpack question. I need a backpack that'll fit a sleeping bag and 2-person tent that I have (I apologize, I don't have the compressed tent's dimension details but it's not very large), and space left over for two day's clothing change and toiletries. It's not entirely for hiking- I'm doing the Seattle to Portland bicycle event in a couple weeks, and I'm hoping I can fit all my junk into one pack, as that'll make it a lot easier to put on a truck to the drop-off point for the next day. I am looking for recommendations, thank you!
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Jun 30, 2015 17:46
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Tomato Soup posted:So I hate my life right now and I want to change things for better so I'm seriously considering doing a thru hike of Pacific Crest Trail next year after reading a PCT book which led me to reading blogs. I originally wanted to go do John Muir Trail later this summer but no permits available so I'd have to wait a year anyway. I should be able to save up enough money and buy a decent amount of lightweight gear and be able to take the time off next year to do so. You should be able to show up and get a walk up permit, no? Some other Norcal ideas: Lost Coast Trail, High Sierra Trail (not Sierra High Route), Big SEKI Loop http://caltopo.com/map?id=526C and I thought Big Sur was pretty neat. Thru hiking is hard work. Its not some easy walk in the park. Some days are great, some days are a grind, some days all you want to do are quit and some days you can't imagine yourself doing anything else. You won't answer any questions on the trail, and you will most likely have more when you're done. Thru hiking will break you (in a good way, in my opinion).
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Jun 30, 2015 18:56
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Canna Happy posted:You should be able to show up and get a walk up permit, no? Permit system was changed this year and most are reserve ahead now. I think there are some available at Tuolumne on a walk up basis but I'd guess competition is fierce Permit system will probably change again next year too
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Jun 30, 2015 20:11
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I blame that drat movie.
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Jun 30, 2015 20:30
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I understand people getting frustrated with crowded trails (and the resultant management systems put in place to deal with them), but there are about a million other trails, and plenty of wilderness, that are just a great without tons of blogs and idie music videos on Vimeo about them.
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Jun 30, 2015 20:32
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More people hiking = more people pushing for conservation, more people pushing for more parks, more people buying gear, which in turn means gear gets better and cheaper. There's tons of places to enjoy, it doesn't all have to be the JMT. If you want private land, go buy some.
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Jul 1, 2015 00:52
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I've taken a bunch of long international backpacking trips and that doesn't answer questions so I'm not expecting any answers or anything. I just want something that will make me keep going and maybe break me out of this rut. It'd definitely get me in better shape. High Sierra Trail looks like fun and it's got Mt Whitney at the end which is a perk. I'd probably do other shorter trails before I tackle that one though, see how I deal with the altitude because I got a short bout of altitude sickness in Cusco (higher elevation than the summit of Mt Whitney) which went away after I went down to sea level and returned to go on to higher altitude for a month or so. I acclimatized and everything beforehand too  I'm not going to even bother with trying to get one of the 10 walkup permits per day for JMT and just focus on other trails for this summer. JMT & PCT might still be a mess next year due to the movie but ah well 
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Jul 1, 2015 01:05
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I'd highly recommend trying out a couple of the harder sections of the PCT before you commit to thru-hiking it. Alternatively, just go for it. You can always call it quits if it doesn't kill you. Crazy question, but what in your life (that isn't fitness related) will improve while you're hiking the PCT, and will remain improved after completion, if you complete it?
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Jul 1, 2015 02:00
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I think it's more about having a goal to keep me motivated to keep doing things. It's big and semi-realistic enough to make me take it seriously versus making excuses. I have a lot of bad habits mostly linked to being lazy and lack of motivation. Discipline is something that would be good for me and I most likely can take that with me after I complete it or something similar to it where I can't take shortcuts. Commitment is something that I need to work on too. That was a good question and I'm glad that you asked it And that's why I want to do either PCT or JMT for section or thru hiking versus something else further away from me, it wouldn't be too much of a pain for me to call it quits if I need to as I don't need to arrange flights and probably can have family pick me up. This is kind of another thing that I need to work on too - I always look for the exit plan before I commit myself to something which is both good and bad, I guess.
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Jul 1, 2015 02:38
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Tomato Soup posted:I think it's more about having a goal to keep me motivated to keep doing things. It's big and semi-realistic enough to make me take it seriously versus making excuses. I have a lot of bad habits mostly linked to being lazy and lack of motivation. Discipline is something that would be good for me and I most likely can take that with me after I complete it or something similar to it where I can't take shortcuts. Commitment is something that I need to work on too. Get a good plan together, get your gear together, and get in shape. Set out next spring.
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Jul 1, 2015 03:06
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