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Verman posted:gently caress there's so much to see out west. My first time out west was Yellowstone/Tetons/Badlands and it blew my mind having lived in flat rear end Illinois my entire life. I honestly question why I still live here... IL might be my home state, but it is not where I feel at home. I am really hoping to do a Glacier NP/Banff/Jasper trip next year, I need more mountains in my life.
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Jul 27, 2017 13:20
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:What options are available for lightweight, durable musical instruments? It would be cool if there was something like a mandolin at half the weight. I found this Pocket Sax, looks like an interesting option (basically a recorder with a less wimpy voice?) Harmonicas are often pretty annoying but maybe one could become good with harmonica somehow. "Durable" and "string instrument" don't really go along well. Travel ukes can take a reasonable degree of beating, but a wood one is gonna suck up moisture, you have to worry about strings, and if you're strapping it to a pack you're probably going to want to be in the "intonation is total garbage" price range. I've seen some plastic ones but they pretty much sound like something you'd buy a toddler. Plus, you're gonna be just another douche with a ukelele. Harmonica is my travel instrument of choice because it's really small, really light, really durable, and really easy to learn the basics. While that pocket sax looks kinda cool, if you've never played a reed instrument you're gonna need some serious practice with it... a flute would probably be a better idea in that case.
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Jul 27, 2017 13:57
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:What options are available for lightweight, durable musical instruments? It would be cool if there was something like a mandolin at half the weight. I found this Pocket Sax, looks like an interesting option (basically a recorder with a less wimpy voice?) Harmonicas are often pretty annoying but maybe one could become good with harmonica somehow. https://youtu.be/PUQ-0-wMKQc ?
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Jul 27, 2017 14:34
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I assume we all day dream about moving to places where we traveled. After my trip out west there were many places I would never live, and few that during my brief interaction looked awesome. My favorite towns were: Flagstaff, AZ - I love mountain towns like this. It feels like a bigger Boone, NC. Cedar City, UT - A little college town that is within driving distance to so many national parks. Plus the people we dealt with there were pretty cool. That said the town (city) that won us over was Boulder, CO. Pearl Street Mall, Golden Gate State Park, the Rockies, the outdoor stores everywhere (I would be so broke), and the people just felt like my people. My wife and I actually talked about possibly moving there after our youngest graduates from high school next year. That said I saw that Boulder is over 100% more expensive to live than my current location, Knoxville, TN. Still one day I may move somewhere on the west side of Colorado. So for now I will just be content that Denver Life called Knoxville, TN the 'Boulder of the East'. http://denverlifemagazine.com/2016/05/boulder-of-the-east/ It is a stretch (Pearl Street is like 5 times bigger than Market Square), but I see what they are getting at. liz posted:My first time out west was Yellowstone/Tetons/Badlands and it blew my mind having lived in flat rear end Illinois my entire life. I honestly question why I still live here... IL might be my home state, but it is not where I feel at home. I have a hiker friend who moved from Illinois to Tennessee, and he tells me that Southern Illinois has some decent hiking? That said I can never live in a place where I can't be in the mountains within hours. One of the main reasons I moved to Knoxville was it is located between 2 national parks (Smokies and Big South Fork). nate fisher fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Jul 27, 2017 |
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Jul 27, 2017 16:40
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Has anyone ever done the Barr Trail to Pike's peak? Is it advisable to do it in one day or will I regret that decision? I tend to move very quickly while hiking and have a lot of experience at altitude with multiple climbs up to ~20k feet. The length (13 miles) and elevation gain (7300 feet) has me slightly concerned. I would start at like 6AM, hoping to make the summit by 12-1PM when I would be picked up by someone driving. Hopefully this would avoid any storms. I will be spending 3-4 days in Colorado Springs beforehand to acclimatize.
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Jul 27, 2017 17:32
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That looks fun as hell, even with a full pack. I've accepted that I probably won't ever get up to Mahoosuc Notch, but this reminds me that I really wanted to do the Ice Gulch up in Randolph this summer, which is supposed to be comparable to the Notch in terms of difficulty, but doable as a loop dayhike. Closest I've ever come to this type of terrain is the Subway in King Ravine, which is comparably pretty easy as it's only a short section and relitively flat, but it was still really cool. I've read if you go off trail in Carter Notch there are lots of boulders to screw around on too.
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Jul 27, 2017 17:55
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Vivian Darkbloom posted:Backpacking musical instruments? The thing with instruments are that they all sound good in the right hands and are annoying as all holy gently caress in the wrong hands. Just be conscious that you keep your noise down enough that you aren't bothering anybody else around. But if I laid down in my tent for the night and heard the sweet melody of Careless Whisper or Baker Street ... I'll be damned if that wouldn't make my night. liz posted:My first time out west ... blew my mind having lived in flat rear end Illinois my entire life. I honestly question why I still live here... I need more mountains in my life. This is exactly why I left. I grew up in michigan and came to chicago for college. After 10 years I really wanted to be somewhere closer to the mountains. Seattle was always high on my list after visiting my older sister who moved out there when I was in high school (15 years ago). She took me hiking in the cascades and I was hooked off my first hike. We moved out here 2 years ago and I only regret not doing it sooner. nate fisher posted:I assume we all day dream about moving to places where we traveled. After my trip out west there were many places I would never live, and few that during my brief interaction looked awesome. We also looked at Denver/Boulder when my wife and I were looking to leave Chicago. They were big enough cities that my wife and I could easily find work but close enough to the mountains so that we could get out often. Having lived in Chicago for so long, expensive housing isn't very surprising anymore but I was shocked by Boulder real estate. The other hard part was that we would likely see a salary decrease in Boulder/Denver versus an increase moving to Seattle. But living somewhere that gives you more access to the things you enjoy is really a cool thing and makes all the differences/changes/adjustment worth it. Eventually when we're older I think I'll want to get further into a small mountain town but my wife is not on board with that. Yet.
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Jul 27, 2017 17:58
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talktapes posted:That looks fun as hell, even with a full pack. I've accepted that I probably won't ever get up to Mahoosuc Notch, but this reminds me that I really wanted to do the Ice Gulch up in Randolph this summer, which is supposed to be comparable to the Notch in terms of difficulty, but doable as a loop dayhike. Closest I've ever come to this type of terrain is the Subway in King Ravine, which is comparably pretty easy as it's only a short section and relitively flat, but it was still really cool. I've read if you go off trail in Carter Notch there are lots of boulders to screw around on too. I'm doing the Ice Gulch for the first time in August! I'm looking forward to it... I'm planning more hikes that don't involve new summits since most of the 4,000 footers I have left are increasingly annoying.
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Jul 27, 2017 18:09
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BRAKE FOR MOOSE posted:I'm doing the Ice Gulch for the first time in August! I'm looking forward to it... I'm planning more hikes that don't involve new summits since most of the 4,000 footers I have left are increasingly annoying. Let me guess, Owl's Head? I ended up enjoying most of the 4ks but there are a handful that kind of suck, not a fan of Hale or the Kinsmans either. Or Cabot really although the loop over the Horn and whatever the other one is was nice. The only one I can see never doing again under any circumstance is Owl's Head. But there are lots of sub-4ks that are worth checking out! Again I haven't been up to the Mahoosucs but heard there's good stuff up there aside from the Notch. Last year I did some trips up in the Caribou-Speckled area and the extra half hour or so of driving is really worth it, less crowded and more remote feeling, I've run into a lot of wildlife there (barred owls, spruce grouses etc). The mountains are shorter but the trailheads are lower, so it's a wash with elevation gain, real pretty area too (especially in fall). Good stuff in the Sandwich range as well (Paugus has a really cool expansive ledge area if you go off trail near the top).
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Jul 27, 2017 23:21
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Kinsman are good in the winter, that AT shelter at the lake is nice for an overnight.
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Jul 28, 2017 00:03
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Until a couple of weeks ago I would have said Hale was my least favorite 4K, but I ran a loop over the Twins, Zealand, and Hale. I really liked the Lend A Hand Trail from Zealand Falls Hut, and descending via the Firewarden's Tail was fun. Both are much more interesting than the short way up. I've finished both the regular and winter list, and I think running them will be my next project. I think that will allow chaining some peaks together into interesting loops, and some alternate approaches. I think that will actually make Owl's head fun since it's a nice flat approach. I've knocked out 6 this month, but that was because my wife and toddler were out of town two weekends in a row.
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Jul 28, 2017 00:54
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The amount of times I’ve heard “Hurt” on the AT is unreal. It’s like this decades wonderwall for stupid rear end party song. Luckily as I moved north the guitars and such have all disappeared. Also since I’m not going to be changing gear any time soon and plan on finishing in mid September unless some sort of wacky injury happens I’ll go ahead and do a gear review of what’s gotten me through so far. Tent: Had a Kelty Trailridge 2 when hiking with the gf. A little heavy but split between two it was fine. The space was awesome. Enough room to have both of us and our bags inside with still a little room to maneuver easily enough. Seams needed to be sealed and experienced a little bit of leaking but before I could do that the gf got off trail. I hastily bought a Copper Spur 2. Absolutely love it. Enough room for one person and gear and I couldn’t be happier. Definitely wouldn’t have worked with two people as it’s a bit tight. Weight is good and everything dries out quick enough. Ground tarp is tyvek that I got at Home Depot. No complaints on the tent front now. Sleeping bag: Kelty Tuck 20 degree. Wanted a cheaper bag since I had no ideas on the range of the temperatures I’d face. Really looked forward to the tuck feature which puts the zipper at the feet on the top so you can sleep with your feet out. Sadly by the time it got warm enough for this it was too warm to sleep in the drat thing. I’ve been using my bag as a blanket more or less recently. I’m happy with the warmth during the spring time and I’m sure I’ll be fine in NH and ME. Would go with a down blanket for any future trips since it’ll make cuddling up with the gf easier as well. Air pad: neo air xlite. Light. Comfy. Loud as gently caress if you move a lot. One shelter I stopped at had all 8 people on a neoair and there has never been a more appropriate use of earplugs than that night. No complaints on this really if you can get over the noise. Bag: Osprey Aether 60. It works and is durable. Seeing osprey everything out here. Notably the exos is hot poo poo right now. It’s not too heavy for me and I like the feature set it comes with. Atoms seems a little overrated for the price. Shoes and socks:Darn tough socks are wearing through but have a free replacement pair on the way. Yay. Saucony Peregrine 5 and 7s. Amazing shoes that lasted me 750 miles each. Super comfortable and light. Drain well. Saucony even has a policy to replace a thru hikers pair for free so I’ve gotten 1500 miles out of my original purchase price. One thing of note is that the design change from the 5-7 makes it a little tighter for wide feet since they added a bit of plastic over what was just mesh on the toes. It helps with the wear and blowouts but takes a little longer to break in. Thermals: REI midweight top and bottoms. Wore them a total of 2 times and sent them home pretty early. Hiking warmed me up too much. Kept my Patagonia Nano Puff as my warm layer/pillow as needed in camp. Had a start date of April 4th and while there were a couple freak cold fronts to come through nothing a puffy couldn’t handle. Water filter: Sawyer Mini. Used this for two people and it was madness. The flow rate is so bad and my frustration was just about at its limit when my gf got off trail. Then something magical happened. I lost my o-ring to it and had to go unfiltered for a week. A random hiker gave me a spare o ring but it was too late; I was freed of the burden of the filtration of the mini. I’ve been drinking unfiltered water for two months now and have been fine. Thought maybe I had giardia? I’ve heard a lot of “YOULL KNOW IF YOU HAVE IT!!!” but really if I did then I was only mildly inconvenienced for about a week. The symptoms lined up though kinda. Probably the blast of dairy at the half gallon challenge and large pizzas I had in the span of a week is what really tore me up. The amount of time and frustration saved by going unfiltered is worth making GBS threads myself at this point. All in all I’m happy with the gear choices I’ve made. Not ultra light but not ridiculously heavy. Heard a story from someone saying even when the weights were double or triple what they are now on average that the completion rate was the same. It’s a mental game people.
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Jul 28, 2017 01:04
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Cheesemaster200 posted:Has anyone ever done the Barr Trail to Pike's peak? Is it advisable to do it in one day or will I regret that decision? I tend to move very quickly while hiking and have a lot of experience at altitude with multiple climbs up to ~20k feet. We have hiked Barr trail a few times one way, and once up and back. Its very doable if you are in decent shape, start early, and the lightning doesn't cut your trip short. 6am is later than I would want to start but doable.
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Jul 28, 2017 02:42
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talktapes posted:Let me guess, Owl's Head? I ended up enjoying most of the 4ks but there are a handful that kind of suck, not a fan of Hale or the Kinsmans either. Or Cabot really although the loop over the Horn and whatever the other one is was nice. The only one I can see never doing again under any circumstance is Owl's Head. All of the above, plus Waumbek, Cannon, Carrigain, North Twin, Tom, Field, and Isolation. Some of those are perfectly fun, but I've been neglecting interesting hikes for the sake of peakbagging and I've kinda cooled on getting all of them ASAP.
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Jul 28, 2017 03:09
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I'm trying to round out my hiking gear now that I'm not broke as gently caress. I'll be going on a group camping trip this weekend so some stuff I have, but I'd like to not be completely useless. I realize I won't have pots and pans and such but I'd like to otherwise be good with gear. As far as sleeping, I've got a hammock and sleeping bag. I was planning to get a tarp to keep me dry and a pad to keep me a bit warmer. Is there a better way to stay warm? For eating, I have a multi-tool and water bottle. I was planning to get a cup/pot combo and a spork. Anything else I should be getting for food/sleeping?
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Jul 31, 2017 00:13
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huhu posted:I was planning to get a tarp to keep me dry and a pad to keep me a bit warmer. Is there a better way to stay warm?
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Jul 31, 2017 00:20
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huhu posted:As far as sleeping, I've got a hammock and sleeping bag. I was planning to get a tarp to keep me dry and a pad to keep me a bit warmer. Is there a better way to stay warm? Sleeping bag and pad is fine, especially if you want to test hammock camping before going all in. I used those for a few months before I got an underquilt.
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Jul 31, 2017 09:34
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Don't all down jackets pretty much pack into themselves? Like my TNF Quince has never advertised that feature, yet...
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Aug 2, 2017 17:33
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Josh Lyman posted:Don't all down jackets pretty much pack into themselves? No?
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Aug 2, 2017 19:56
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khysanth posted:No? I mean, why else did TNF never advertise it on my jacket? Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Aug 3, 2017 |
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Aug 3, 2017 03:26
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Josh Lyman posted:It seems like as long as the hand pockets aren't super small, the rest of the jacket will pack into it. Because the zipper isn't reversible.
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Aug 3, 2017 04:39
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Reformed Tomboy posted:Because the zipper isn't reversible.
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Aug 3, 2017 05:38
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Long trip upcoming and I'm planning to drop the newer Osprey bladder and just stick with my 2L Platypus (lighter) plus a collapsed 2L platy to fill with filtered water. Now then, where do I mix my protein powder? I was thinking I could slice the corner of a ziplock and coerce it into the small opening of the platy, but haven't tried it. I kinda don't want to take the wide 500mL Nalgene because of all the empty space. Pack it with bags of peanuts?
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Aug 3, 2017 07:58
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I don't use bladders for anything other than water. And that's the biggest down fall off the cheaper platypus bladders is that the opening is small so washing and drying them can be tough as is. I would avoid pouring anything else in there as you are likely to have a hard time getting it clean. Bacteria and other funks can build up way quicker when you start using powders and mixes. For mixed stuff I usually bring a nalgene bottle or Gatorade bottle as its lighter and keep my bladders running clear water.
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Aug 3, 2017 13:31
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I'm taking my first multi-night backpacking trip in a month (Yosemite) and I'm wondering how large of a pack I'll need for three days and two nights. My current daypack (35L REI brand) is good for a single night, but will not hold enough gear/food/water for three days and two nights. I've been looking at https://www.rei.com/product/894563/osprey-farpoint-55-travel-pack, but I"m not sure if that'll be enough or is too much.
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Aug 3, 2017 14:42
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JUST MAKING CHILI posted:I'm taking my first multi-night backpacking trip in a month (Yosemite) and I'm wondering how large of a pack I'll need for three days and two nights. My current daypack (35L REI brand) is good for a single night, but will not hold enough gear/food/water for three days and two nights. I've been looking at https://www.rei.com/product/894563/osprey-farpoint-55-travel-pack, but I"m not sure if that'll be enough or is too much. I have the bigger farpoint and I wouldn't recommend it for backpacking. I've used it before for backpacking, but I much prefer my 55l Atmos because of the external storage and loops and so on. Farpoint is nice for traveling though. Anyway, in terms of just size, 55l should be totally fine unless your gear is massive. I use mine on week long trips (with lots of stuff hanging/strapped off of it).
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Aug 3, 2017 14:58
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I had a 40l on the AT and that was perfect
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Aug 3, 2017 14:59
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In Yosemite you'll need a bear can, so plan for that. It completely changes the way you need to pack your bag and not in a good way. Also, just because it really hosed up our plans when my wife and I went, and just incase you're a flatlander like we were, be sure you're okay at elevation and plan accordingly. A route that's 2 miles can be surprisingly brutal if it's up and down 1500 feet in that time. But Yosemite us an amazingly beautiful place. Was like a religious experience for me. Internet Explorer fucked around with this message at 15:17 on Aug 3, 2017 |
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Aug 3, 2017 15:06
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Verman posted:I would avoid pouring anything else in there as you are likely to have a hard time getting it clean. Bacteria and other funks can build up way quicker when you start using powders and mixes. Whelp, Nalgene it is and I'll stuff it with a few baggies of powder for efficient packing.
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Aug 3, 2017 15:14
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Josh Lyman posted:Meh, not a big deal when you have zipper pulls. I agree, and do the same on my jackets, but that is why it's not a feature. Pretty silly if you ask me.
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Aug 3, 2017 18:05
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Internet Explorer posted:In Yosemite you'll need a bear can, so plan for that. It completely changes the way you need to pack your bag and not in a good way. I need to make plans to go to Yosemite in the winter. Rent a cabin or something. It's a beautiful place but so crowded in the summer...the valley when there's few other people around would be amazing. Actually headed up there next weekend for some camping at Tuoloumne Meadows. If things are going alright I might try to grab a walkup overnight permit to Glen Aulin or something, but this is our first "big" camping trip with our kid so if night times are a pain in the rear end maybe we won't do it. kind of worried about that and him having a rough 1st night at least but I figure if worse comes to worse and we can't get him to sleep, I'll go for a night time drive for a bit (and hopefully not hit a bear)
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Aug 3, 2017 18:07
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Levitate posted:I need to make plans to go to Yosemite in the winter. Rent a cabin or something. It's a beautiful place but so crowded in the summer...the valley when there's few other people around would be amazing. My wife and I are thinking the same thing. I think Yosemite in the winter next year. We spent a good amount of time in Tuolumne Meadows and it was great. The valley is beautiful and everyone should spend some time there, but like you said it is super overcrowded and can get pretty drat hot in the summer. Getting up to Tuolumne Meadows is a great escape from the crowds and gives you a chance to cool off.
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Aug 3, 2017 19:13
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Yeah I camped up there a couple of nights before starting the JMT from there. Just excited to get up into the mountains 
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Aug 3, 2017 19:46
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Levitate posted:I need to make plans to go to Yosemite in the winter. Rent a cabin or something. It's a beautiful place but so crowded in the summer...the valley when there's few other people around would be amazing. Do you have reservations at Tuolomne or are you just going for the first-come sites? Two years in a row I haven't been able to get reservations for the weekend I want. They fill up literally the minute reservations open and I'm really unlucky. And the drive is pretty far (5+ hours) for me to attempt a first-come site I think...
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Aug 3, 2017 20:56
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I have reservations. Really haven't had trouble getting them before (only have done it twice though) but I do go through the whole make reservations the moment they become available thing. I haven't gone for popular weekends though
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Aug 3, 2017 21:24
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I'm a city kitty just trying to get into backpacking and camping in a semi-serious way, and financially what seems to work best right now is gradually making decent mid-range investments to slowly build out a kit. I've got cheap, heavy equipment that covers (almost) everything I need so far, so I'm mostly looking to make upgrades that will last me a few years while I figure out what I'm doing and prepare for more intense challenges. My price range for pretty much everything is going to be in the $300 range, but I can push that for particular items that will really last me the distance past my learning curve. So, I'm looking at backpacks right now. The majority of what I've done so far is long hikes and car camping, but I've recently moved up to backpacking out and plopping down for 4-5 days at a time, and after huffing and puffing like a moron with uncomfortable, overstuffed bags, I'm looking for something that actually fits my purpose. Ideally, I'd like to be able to push my trips out to two weeks or so as well. After doing a substantial amount of window-shopping and research, I'm looking at the REI Flash 65, both because of the price tag and because it seems to check off most of my boxes at the moment. Its capacity seems a nice range for the gear I'm carrying and the length of the trips I'd like to plan. Any thoughts, suggestions or alternatives before I take the plunge on this one? I'd appreciate any advice you'd all be willing to offer.
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Aug 3, 2017 21:44
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Levitate posted:I need to make plans to go to Yosemite in the winter. Rent a cabin or something. It's a beautiful place but so crowded in the summer...the valley when there's few other people around would be amazing. The problem is you can't get into Yosemite in winter without snow chains. If you are not from northern California this becomes difficult because rental car companies don't allow you to put snow chains on your car. There is a bus service from Merced, so I am trying to figure out that as an option.
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Aug 3, 2017 22:43
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Cheesemaster200 posted:The problem is you can't get into Yosemite in winter without snow chains. If you are not from northern California this becomes difficult because rental car companies don't allow you to put snow chains on your car. There is a bus service from Merced, so I am trying to figure out that as an option. Yeah I live in the Bay Area. If timed right you can probably get in without having to use the chains but yeah you'd need them just in case.
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Aug 3, 2017 22:49
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Axeface posted:I've got cheap, heavy equipment that covers (almost) everything I need so far, so I'm mostly looking to make upgrades that will last me a few years while I figure out what I'm doing and prepare for more intense challenges. Edit: Yeah, clothes are so expensive that they tend to eat up a bit at the beginning. I hiked for years with cotton shirts and cargo shorts, so when they finally started shredding from too many freezing/thawing cycles, I concentrated my money on clothes and minimal technical gear requirements for the conditions. If you're doing mostly multiday trips, the focus might be elsewhere. Here's something like seven years of mostly being a day hiker; there's only four years between jackets because I was wearing it for around towne as well, which I don't do anymore; the new jacket is holding up much better: Started with a 10yo climbing pack that I used in college, a pair of Danner 9" goretex boots, and cotton. Then the next seven years: Ice axe, microspikes, snowshoes, goretex jacket, fleece jacket, socks, boot laces, platypus, boots, day pack 36L, snowshoes, gaiters, belt, shorts, shirt, laces, mini bottles, goretex jacket, boots, shorts, shirt, socks, tent, sleeping bag, pad, pillow, platypus, backpack 50L. (There's one set of on-sale poles in there somewhere, lots of hiking gloves and sunglasses too...). PhantomOfTheCopier fucked around with this message at 05:52 on Aug 4, 2017 |
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Aug 3, 2017 23:28
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Reformed Tomboy posted:I agree, and do the same on my jackets, but that is why it's not a feature. Pretty silly if you ask me.
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Aug 3, 2017 23:34
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