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Dream lake, first Waldo shot taken here in the summer. Emerald lake, also first Waldo shot taken in the summer.  The plan was to do Andrews glacier and Sky Pond today, but 2 hours of sleep and lingering smoke haze squished that plan. Did this as a consolation prize of sorts.
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Aug 25, 2020 21:52
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Another long hike, another one hour night of sleep afterwards, dunno why my body keeps doing this. Anyways, did Glacier Gorge with my brother. Same route as I did four years ago, but I tacked on Italy lake since I didn't know it existed when I did this last. Weather was windy and mostly sunny but we got rained/hailed on a few times. Thankfully the hail was small. Was boots on trail with headlamps at 5:40AM, not back to the car until 8:40PM, also with headlamps. Had to start from the Bear Lake parking lot since Glacier Gorge was already full that early in the morning. Was nice that there is a connecting trail, but at the same time it meant that the last 0.4 miles of the day was uphill which sucked. Mills lake.  Jewel lake.  Shelf lake.  Shelf lake from above.  Solitude lake.  Black lake from above.  Frozen lake.    Italy lake. Was very visibly low. Of course I've never been to this one before, but the bathtub line is very visible on the rocks, and the outflow creek leading to a waterfall into Green lake was dry.   Green lake.    Blue lake, with Mills lake beyond.  Black lake at shore level near the end of the day. After all the rain/hail, no one was there when we were coming back down. Was unable to get a shot on the way up due to the amount of people. 
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Aug 31, 2020 20:45
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My fiancé and I hiked the Mount Mitchell Trail this past weekend, and it was an excellent view from the summit, for somewhere on the East Coast at least. The only downside was that there’s a road to the summit, so when we got to the top, it was absolutely packed with tourists. We still lucked out with the weather though, sunny skies and 60 degree temps. It was about 3500’ elevation gain over 6 miles, but as someone who lives in the flat low country of SC, it was brutal. My last bike ride around home was 30 miles and maybe 100’ of elevation gain, most of which came from the bridge I crossed twice.  This was our first real trip away since COVID hit, and was incredibly relaxing, except for the nasty blisters I got on the descent.
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Sep 8, 2020 18:21
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loving gorgeous. That scenery is extremely my poo poo.
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Sep 8, 2020 23:38
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Your scenery is so much better than mine. I did two hikes last weekend. One of them had okay views  But the other one was straight rear end. Unless you like rocks. And smoke  
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Sep 10, 2020 03:09
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Those are still some gorgeous views. Some of those look like hidden rock glaciers in the valleys. Everything here is on fire and horrible right now 
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Sep 10, 2020 03:13
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Form 1 finally dang cleared!
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Sep 11, 2020 18:50
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What's the best resource for land nav/orienteering for someone who is interested in learning it? Around Jax, florida if that matters. E. To clarify: lensatic, map, protractor lessons and putting it all together. King of Bees fucked around with this message at 03:04 on Sep 15, 2020 |
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Sep 15, 2020 03:00
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King of Bees posted:What's the best resource for land nav/orienteering for someone who is interested in learning it? Around Jax, florida if that matters. take an introduction to field geology at the local community college or [State] State University extension. You'll get instruction on reading contours, use of Brunton compass (which is a lensatic compass but with levels, a protractor and a few hardware features that allow it to take measurements of interest to mapping geologists as well as shooting very precise azimuths) and go out in the field to make your own map from geologic features, giving you lots of opportunity to identify topographic features and practice finding your way with map and compass. e: you will probably have to take Rocks For Jocks or GEO 101 or whatever at least e2: probably also your local REI will have classes like that US Berder Patrol fucked around with this message at 05:09 on Sep 15, 2020 |
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Sep 15, 2020 05:07
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Thanks!
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Sep 15, 2020 05:31
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King of Bees posted:What's the best resource for land nav/orienteering for someone who is interested in learning it? Around Jax, florida if that matters. It’s not exactly the same, but if you’re a scuba diver there’s a specialty course for underwater navigation that also touches on everything mentioned before. You even get a bonus spatial dimension to float around in while you’re lost!  The distances involved are shorter, but the ideas are all the same (kick count per 100ft instead of pace count, shooting azimuths, terrain association, etc). I say that because you’re in FL and it’s likely easier to find a dive shop than anything else, depending on how far the water is.
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Sep 15, 2020 09:45
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Had a small project going to have all the glaciers in RMNP in photos in some way. This is the last one, Tyndall glacier. Could have taken this shot when coming down from my Sprague glacier hike, but I didn't think of it and was rushing trying to catch the shuttle. Whoops. (My shots of Mills and Taylor glacier are from more of a distance, but the rest are relatively close up.)  Tyndall glacier from the head of the gorge, looking south at Hallet peak.  Looking down the gorge itself. Waldo is not well hidden because a) I didn't have much of a break between passing hikers and b) just beyond that second rock, the glacier slopes sharply. Didn't feel like taking an accidental slide. The smoke haze is pretty bad, but not as bad as the west coast right now so I guess that's something. Looking at this picture again now I'm like ugh I should have backed the tripod up more and zoomed in more, but welp, next time. 
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Sep 19, 2020 21:58
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Great pics as always and I am actually surprised at the haze, it's not as bad as I was expecting.
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Sep 19, 2020 23:15
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Flew across the southwest yesterday...haze was pretty bad.
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Sep 19, 2020 23:20
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Counter Terrorists win  
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Sep 29, 2020 17:11
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SO TACTICAL I've got a USP-9 and except for being a bit chonky, it's really, really good.
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Sep 29, 2020 17:38
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how did you fill in the lettering?
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Sep 29, 2020 18:58
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PookBear posted:how did you fill in the lettering? Went by this guide https://imgur.com/a/KDjmY#80TyHnj
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Sep 29, 2020 19:01
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Found a mailbox in a kinda random spot Pretty sure it got tossed off the summit  It was a good hike   
Hotel Kpro fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Oct 13, 2020 |
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Sep 30, 2020 04:07
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gently caress yes them's some views right there!
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Sep 30, 2020 17:25
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So I saw a pack of wolves going after some bison at Yellowstone in the early morning mist and it was quite possibly the coolest thing I have ever seen.
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Oct 10, 2020 03:35
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That is amazing, I am jealous lol! I have seen the wolves there a couple of times but they were being lazy
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Oct 10, 2020 12:25
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goddamn I need to go there
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Oct 10, 2020 17:58
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That's super loving cool, dang
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Oct 10, 2020 20:17
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MonkeyWash posted:That is amazing, I am jealous lol! I have seen the wolves there a couple of times but they were being lazy Yeah! It's something I honestly can't believe I was lucky enough to see—I'm sure that even if I go back a dozen times, I may never see something like that again. Bonus pics:     As some background, I got these photos early in the morning, right after sunrise. It was pretty drat cold, a few degrees below freezing, and the air was filled with mist from the steaming springs and geysers. As I was driving, I saw a bunch of bison off the side of the road, along with a bunch of tourists taking pictures, and decided to join in. I'm glad I did—not too long after, someone spotted a wolf pack on the opposite side of the road, and then someone saw one of the wolves going after a calf in the thickening mist, only to be forced away by one of the adult bison. The last picture I got there was especially cool—I took it after the wolf backed off, and I was just taking a picture of the herd—I didn't even see the wolf until I started going through the photos afterwards, which was an incredibly exciting discovery. anyway, Yellowstone is a super-rad place, and I definitely need to go back.
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Oct 11, 2020 01:10
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That last one might be my favorite picture in the entire thread.
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Oct 11, 2020 02:48
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I wish you had a telephoto, those pictures are great.
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Oct 11, 2020 03:26
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I have to get the hell out of Illinois for a vacation
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Oct 11, 2020 03:46
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The Rat posted:Another long hike, another one hour night of sleep afterwards, dunno why my body keeps doing this. This must be contagious cause I had a rough hike yesterday and only got one hour of sleep I thought I would try some mountain in the Tushar range that usually gets climbed from the other side after going up another peak. But after reading the horror stories of a steep as poo poo scree slope of over 1000 feet I took my chances taking a ridgeline. Started out really well  Saw one lake along the way  The way up was rocky, but passable  It's actually a twin summit with the highpoint on the other side  One signpost says 12082 feet, the other says 12122 feet. Supposedly the taller one is the true height  The traverse to Mt Belknap, the traditional route to where I'm at  Looking northwest I think. The beginning of I-70 is over there somewhere  And then I thought I hadn't had nearly enough adventure for one day. Instead of safely retracing my steps, why not gun it down a scree field, walk down a creek bed full of avalanche debris, and try to find the old mining road that went well up the canyon? Boy oh boy it was gonna be a great time, I mean how bad could it be?   At some point I figured I had to be real close. I had my topo map and it seemed like I was right there so I broke off the creek and ventured uphill a bit to try and find the clearing that I had seen earlier from above. Well poo poo suddenly got steep, I mean loving legit steep like if I wasn't hanging on to some aspens I was gonna have a bad time. Progress was slow and next thing I know it's less than 2 hours to sunset and I'm plowing through a thicket of manzanita bushes. My right leg slips and suddenly I've got a tiny piece of wood making a small puncture in my calf. I'm mired in this bullshit  And then 150 feet later, salvation. And mud too, I was up to my ankles in it more than once  Some first aid care later and I'm on my way out  The old road had washed away in a few parts thanks to a massive flood, probably didn't help that it was in a recent burn scar. I finally got back to the real road and just so happened to run into the only people I had seen that day who offered to give me a ride the last 1.5 miles back to my truck. Hell yes I'll take a ride out. Man that descent was rough 
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Oct 14, 2020 00:19
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Nice, that looks like a fun day! Re: the sleep, do you think it might be related to the time spent at elevation rather than the hike length alone?
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Oct 14, 2020 00:23
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I dunno, I've spent hours above 12500 feet and been able to fall asleep just fine. I'm thinking it may be related to being dehydrated, since I'm pretty sure I wasn't drinking as much as I should have yesterday and when I did wake up after my one hour of sleep I was real thirsty. It's a fine balancing act though since I used to drink too much water while hiking and it gave me headaches
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Oct 14, 2020 01:54
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Hooray for new fires 
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Oct 20, 2020 18:12
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Dang fires. Those are nice pics though! The fire here has grown to 205k acres and is like 8 miles away from my house as the crow flies. Haven't been hiking in a month, and running outside has been a no go as well. Sucks.
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Oct 20, 2020 18:49
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I'm thinking of taking off before the election and doing some BLM camping. Covid is uncontrolled where I live and I need a break from people. My wife and I are thinking of heading to the Cortez, Colorado area for a couple days and then on into Bears Ears and Grand Staircase. Maybe passing through Zion and Bryce on the way home. I'd like to camp as much as possible. I have a 4 season tent, -20 sleeping bags, and a Mr Heater. Has anyone been in the area in November, are there any must see area I should go to?
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Oct 20, 2020 21:31
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MonkeyWash posted:I'm thinking of taking off before the election and doing some BLM camping. Covid is uncontrolled where I live and I need a break from people. My wife and I are thinking of heading to the Cortez, Colorado area for a couple days and then on into Bears Ears and Grand Staircase. Maybe passing through Zion and Bryce on the way home. Yeah I have a bunch as far as the Utah stuff goes, I can type up some recommendations when I get home and have a keyboard in front of me. What length of hike do you prefer?
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Oct 20, 2020 21:53
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The Rat posted:Yeah I have a bunch as far as the Utah stuff goes, I can type up some recommendations when I get home and have a keyboard in front of me. What length of hike do you prefer? Oh, that would be great. Much appreciated. I can't hike too far due to health issues, also have two dogs, so short hikes, 4 or 5 miles max. I have been to Moab, Canyonlands, and Dead Horse SP in the past. Hoping to see some more remote areas that are camp-able in November.
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Oct 20, 2020 21:57
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 gonna do another pass due to it being rather shallow and to clean it up
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Oct 20, 2020 22:15
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MonkeyWash posted:I'm thinking of taking off before the election and doing some BLM camping. Covid is uncontrolled where I live and I need a break from people. My wife and I are thinking of heading to the Cortez, Colorado area for a couple days and then on into Bears Ears and Grand Staircase. Maybe passing through Zion and Bryce on the way home. I rambled all over dry-car-camping from Blanding out to Ticaboo then to Boulder, kind of the "back" sides of Bears Ears and Capitol Reef and Staircase this summer and last summer, absolutely rad part of the country. Tons of camping available if you bring your own water. That US 95 through southeastern Utah zone is some of the best scenic driving in the world. If you don't mind wandering dirt roads, there are tons of places where you can be totally alone for a while. If you can, get in or out of Moab on one leg of your trip down the river to the east (Utah 128) rather than coming north or south to or from I-70. The canyon is a much prettier drive.
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Oct 20, 2020 22:20
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MonkeyWash posted:Oh, that would be great. Much appreciated. I can't hike too far due to health issues, also have two dogs, so short hikes, 4 or 5 miles max. I have been to Moab, Canyonlands, and Dead Horse SP in the past. Hoping to see some more remote areas that are camp-able in November. All right, back home. So, I've been to Utah/AZ three times in late Nov, Thanksgiving timeframe. Two of those went great, but the last one not so much due to early snowstorms and explosive diarrhea. As long as it's not raining/snowing and turning the dirt roads to a sticky nasty mess, you'll have a good time. Snowstorms aside, the temperature on my other trips was usually mid-30s lows at night, and mid-high 60s in the day. Perfect hiking weather. A little chilly at night sleeping in the car, but nothing an issued 3-piece Army sleeping bag wasn't able to handle. If you've already seen the Moab area stuff and you're looking to go further south, here's what I'd recommend. Zion: the main canyon is usually pretty crowded, but has a few shorter hikes. Angel's Landing is currently closed due to the plague, and a couple other trails are closed due to rock falls last year. If you can do 6 miles on mostly flat ground and the roads don't get wet, doing Observation Point from the East Mesa trail is about a 6 mile round trip and a great view down the main canyon. The road to the East Mesa trailhead is a little rough, but I was able to get there in an Outback. The Kolob Canyons area also has some nice shorter hikes. Bryce: several shorter hikes here, lots of overlooks. My least favorite of the five national parks in Utah, but still totally worth visiting. North Rim Grand Canyon: closes 1 Dec, but if you get in there in late Nov, it's not crowded at all and much different from the South Rim experience. Not as much to do or as many overlooks, but I like it better than South Rim. Capitol Reef: my favorite national park, and there are several hikes there that you could do. Cassidy Arch and/or Capitol Gorge would be my recommendations. Likewise as long as the roads aren't wet and you can handle about 6ish miles on flat ground, the Strike Valley Overlook is a great one. (6ish if you don't have a 4x4 vehicle, much shorter than that if you do.) The Burr Trail switchbacks are really pretty too, from the top looking down. The Capitol Reef/Grand Staircase area is full of BLM land that you can park and camp on. I tend to not even bother planning a camping spot when I'm going there, because I've always found a suitable one just off the cuff. Hwy 12 between Capitol Reef and Bryce is a gorgeous stretch of road with lots of nice overlooks. Near Escalante, there's plenty of good poo poo. I haven't explored it as thoroughly as other places, but there's more than a few slot canyons that would be suitable. Devil's Garden is a nice picturesque little area as well. Some nice burger places in Escalante too. Near Kanab: if you have a 4x4 vehicle or don't mind renting one, or don't mind hiring a tour company, White Pocket is the most feature-dense area you'll ever find. The South Coyote Buttes is amazing as well, though it requires a permit and some kind of 4x4 vehicle. You can get that either a few months ahead of time on recreation.gov, or in person via lottery the day before. This late in the year, you shouldn't have any trouble with the lottery. It's the North Coyote Buttes that people flock to due to 'The Wave.' I have yet to get lucky on that one. There's tons of other neat stuff near Kanab, like Edmaier's Secret and the Paria Rim Rocks. The BLM office in Kanab has spigots outside that you can fill up your water bottles with. There's a dirt empty space of sorts just north of Kanab by the Hog Canyon turnoff that I've car camped at several times without being bothered. Have seen people with RVs and camper vans there as well. Near Page/Big Water there's a dirt road that goes out to Alstrom Point, which is a very pretty view. It's kind of rough, some places say 4x4 is needed. I got to within a mile of it with my Outback before it got rocky enough that I wasn't comfortable continuing and went the rest of the way on foot. If you're going to be around Bears Ears national monument, stop and check out Natural Bridges national monument. Really cool big rear end rock bridges. Then further south of that you have the Moki Dugway that makes for a really rad view. Not much further you have Goosenecks state park, which is great to camp at and get sunrise/sunset shots at, but no hikes there. Western CO: Black Canyon of the Gunnison is super rad, but they close the road past the south rim visitor center once the snow starts falling. Biggest thing I can say about southern Utah is that if the roads get wet, DO NOT GO ON DIRT ROADS. They turn to a sticky nasty clay and you may get stuck and end up with a $500 towing bill like I did last year cause I'm an idiot  Further south in AZ, there's Petrified Forest national park, though that one is more or less a half day drive through. East of that you have El Malpais national monument which is pretty cool. There's so much cool poo poo out there and I've barely seen any of it. I have a short trip planned there this Thanksgiving, short because my gf just got a new job and doesn't have any leave time yet. Still hoping that the weather will stay dry. Hopefully that wasn't too incoherent, let me know if you want some more specifics!
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Oct 21, 2020 01:23
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That's a great write up, thank you so much! I appreciate the tips and thanks US Berder Patrol, I missed that route on my last trip to Moab, that looks sweet!
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Oct 21, 2020 01:52
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