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I spent a night in Cortez when we swung through Mesa Verde this august and masks and distancing was not the norm there, if that’s a concern for you. Speaking of nearby fires, the CalWood fire started about a 15 minute drive from me. Took a couple pictures the first night it was going. I’m hoping to be able to get up there this weekend and maybe take some pictures of the aftermath. 
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Oct 21, 2020 04:18
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Internet Wizard posted:I spent a night in Cortez when we swung through Mesa Verde this august and masks and distancing was not the norm there, if that’s a concern for you. I will be wearing a mask and staying away from people. I know there are some risks, but unfortunately no one in Wichita is taking it seriously as the numbers climb. They just voted to open the schools up tonight. Part of the reason I want to get out to nowhere, Those fires break my heart. I have spent a lot of time in Roosevelt NF, and in Medicine Bow. The Cameron Peak and Mullen Fires are insane. Stay safe, hopefully the front coming through will help.
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Oct 21, 2020 04:24
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The Rat posted: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. Important caveat on this: The North Rim closes on December 1st or after the first snowfall, whichever comes first, as 67 doesn't get plowed. In addition, all services with the exception of the general store and gas station shut down after October 15th—so if you do plan to swing by in November, keep that in mind, and keep an eye on the weather and the park website to make sure the park is still open. With all that said, I really like the North Rim. I've only had a chance to get over there once, but it's really different from the South Rim in ways that almost make it feel like a different park entirely. There's also a lot more trails that don't go inside the canyon, which if you're looking for a relaxed or only mildly strenuous hike is a big plus. In short, cool place, would recommend.
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Oct 21, 2020 05:05
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Oh yeah true, forgot about the snow thing. The north rim does have my favorite view of the Grand Canyon, that being of Wotan's Throne.  Hey at least with the Cameron Peak fire being so big now, we're beating Wyoming! Go Colorado!  
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Oct 21, 2020 06:06
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Rocky Mountain National Park is closed until further notice now
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Oct 23, 2020 03:34
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Looking at the Inciweb map of the fire spread, it's made its way down Spruce Canyon and hit Spruce Lake and Fern Lake. Not at all surprised at Spruce Canyon going up at first opportunity, it was dense and full of deadfall when I went through it a couple months ago. I just hope Sprague glacier doesn't get melted from the heat  Looks like the towns of Granby and Grand Lake are getting proper hosed up too.
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Oct 23, 2020 13:39
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The Rat posted:Looking at the Inciweb map of the fire spread, it's made its way down Spruce Canyon and hit Spruce Lake and Fern Lake. I listened to the scanner from Grand County on Wednesday night when the fire exploded. The local firefighters basically made a heroic stand and saved the town of Grand Lake with just the resources they had. The bigger crews weren't there yet. The winds were favorable for the town last night and it's ok so far. The fire was north of the town and went through Kawnauchee Visitors Center and the campgrounds (my favorite) around little columbine creek and columbine lake. You've been there and seen the beetle kill, the fuel was just overwhelming and the fire ran twenty miles overnight. It's crazy.
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Oct 23, 2020 15:25
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Seeing reports that the crews managed to get the Left Hand Canyon fire fully contained last night, and the CalWood fire is 55% contained. The winds are still favorable for me and pushing the fire westward, if it had moved east I would've had to evac that first night.
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Oct 23, 2020 15:46
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Internet Wizard posted:Seeing reports that the crews managed to get the Left Hand Canyon fire fully contained last night, and the CalWood fire is 55% contained. The winds are still favorable for me and pushing the fire westward, if it had moved east I would've had to evac that first night. Hope you are ok, I saw the winds had shifted east at 50mph this morning.
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Oct 24, 2020 17:45
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Looks like fern falls and the whole trail up to the fern lake/cub lake parking lot are burned up now too
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Oct 25, 2020 06:09
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The weather was real crap in Utah yesterday, but was slightly less crap in Nevada. On the way there the snow was actually pretty nuts, saw one person had driven off the road on I-80. Went to try and do a mountain called Goshute Peak. The clouds were low in the morning and I parked a long way away to make things harder for myself As the day went on, they disappeared for a bit  There's great views from the top, the problem is that it's eastern Nevada/western Utah which is mostly barren desert/salt flats      Did I mention it was cold? I started out with four layers but quickly shed one and basically went with three layers the rest of the way up. Keeping the blood moving will keep you real warm and I still had three layers at the summit even with 25 MPH winds. But it was definitely below freezing as seen by the ice forming in one of my water bottles  On the way back I may have hosed up and gone down the wrong canyon cause I had to deal with this poo poo for a couple hundred feet  You could go the Arches National Park for arches or you can go to the fabulous Goshute Mountains instead. Guaranteed to be fewer people and fewer arches  I had read a couple trip reports about people following horse trails and I saw an abundance of horse poop everywhere but it wasn't until I was driving back that I saw some wild horses. Supposedly there's over a thousand in the area  As I'm walking back along the road I was hoping things would warm up just a bit. I think it was around 32 when I returned to the trail and it was something like 6 miles back to the truck. But it just got colder. By the time I got back I was in 5 layers including my Omni-heat jacket, a full head covering, and had gloves and hand warmers and it was almost enough to keep me warm. It might not have been so bad but that wind just makes it straight cold. Ended up being 8.9 miles and 4300 feet one way for the day
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Oct 26, 2020 11:20
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Nice pics! I have finalized my plans, my wife and I are heading to southern Utah on Sunday. Plan on staying on BLM land near Canyonlands (Needles) and Bears Ears. We will be staying in my 4 season tent far from people and civilization. We have no itinerary and will visit sites based on weather and crowds. There's so much to to see and do. I was hoping to see Bryce and Zion, but I don't think I'll make it based on time and Covid crowds. We are also traveling with two dogs so hiking is off in National Parks anyways, so we will probably stick to monuments and BLM stuff.
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Oct 26, 2020 15:13
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Hotel Kpro posted:Ended up being 8.9 miles and 4300 feet one way for the day Jesus that's fuckin brutal.
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Oct 27, 2020 19:32
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FYI: New rules let ALL veterans and Gold Star Families have free entry to National Parks https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...ing-next-month/
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Oct 29, 2020 15:45
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I went to an even more remote location in Nevada and found a ghost town on my way up the mountain    The views were pretty good    The benchmark was dated from 1929  Some wild horses checking me out  Found a tire and rolled it back to my truck for proper disposal  All in all it was about 5.25 miles and 3000 feet of climbing one way. Since this was Saturday I was going to plan another hike on Sunday. My original plan of hiking Cascade Mountain in the Wasatch seemed kinda ehhhh knowing that there was tons of stuff out west. I drove past the Ruby Mountains on my way home and looked at some information for them but could hardly find anything for some of their named peaks. There was one called Smith Peak that seemed like it didn't exist outside of maps. I ended up on some website called Peakvisor which essentially gives a 3D panorama of all the terrain from whatever summit you might be on. While playing around with it I could see the ultra prominent peaks highlighted in red. I had done Pilot Peak, Ibapah Peak, and while looking for Wheeler Peak I found another one not too far away called North Schell Peak. It was a super easy climb even though I parked hella far away to try and make things harder for myself. I continued down its southern ridge for a while before doing a super lovely descent into a basin      In 1944 some people were fighting the Nazis, but other people were placing benchmarks on mountains  The descent into the basin  It was lovely and when I say lovely I mean loving lovely. Every step was practically a rock slide. Tons of rocks ended up in my shoes and I couldn't empty them because it would immediately happen again. It was an awful time.  It was 10 miles and around 5200 feet of climbing when I made my descent, so probably another 5 miles back to my truck. A bit more daylight, more food, and more water and I would have kept going down the ridge for a while Hotel Kpro fucked around with this message at 01:30 on Nov 3, 2020 |
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Nov 3, 2020 01:27
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I am betting that rocky climb was even more steep than those pictures make it look.
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Nov 3, 2020 01:34
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Basic estimating off of google maps terrain mode puts it around 67% grade
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Nov 3, 2020 05:15
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Anybody have opinions on this tripod? https://www.rei.com/product/170490/nikon-compact-outdoor-tripod Or any other recommendations for a decent sub-$100ish tripod for taking pictures on hikes? Or is that budget too small to have any options worth considering? I don't have a tripod right now and would like to get one, but don't have a lot of budget space for it when I'm trying to save up for some other ongoing projects.
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Nov 7, 2020 21:41
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The tripod looks nice, I really recommend a ballhead, which it has. The grip-pan handle on it was a good idea. It doesn't say what its lowest configuration is, so I don't know if that is something important to you. Like my manfrotto's legs have a lock that can let each leg bend up farther so the camera is lower to the ground. The pictures don't seem to have anything like that. It doesn't have a quick release plate and I can't see the bottom to see if you could put a black rapid tripod fastener if you use that system. Rubber feet, I know some tripods have metal spikes so again not sure if that is something you want. The hook on it is nice, if you are in a windy area you can attach something with some weight to weigh it down. For $100 it's decent, bummed it doesn't have a quick release plate though. Just my two cents.
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Nov 7, 2020 22:09
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Internet Wizard posted:Anybody have opinions on this tripod? https://www.rei.com/product/170490/nikon-compact-outdoor-tripod This was my first tripod and it was decent for the price: https://www.manfrotto.com/us-en/ele...FwaAvebEALw_wcB I still use it for my spotting scope, though I've gotten a different tripod for photos.
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Nov 13, 2020 21:07
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It is desert season, so started off yesterday by doing the Domelands in the Coyote Mountain Wilderness, about 90 minutes east of San Diego People like to shoot out here but never pick up their brass.      Did some slot canyons  Halfway  These domes used to be sand dunes that hardened and the winds have carved away at them over time for make the formations  Looking north toward Salton Sea  The top of the mountains used to be a seabed a long time ago so there's some marine fossils if you look. This morning drove up to Mt. Laguna for sunrise and left my phone on potato mode. Oops.    These are all looking east toward Salton Sea and Anza Borrego Desert State Park. The Aardvark fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Nov 15, 2020 |
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Nov 15, 2020 18:35
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Those are some lovely shots. I dig that kind of desert landscape. Boot chat, I've been wearing Merrells for the last few years and I really like their comfort and ability to grip rock. Durability is not great though, as the soles tend to flatten out with use and I end up replacing my summer weight boots once a year. How do Salomons compare?
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Nov 16, 2020 05:12
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I picked up a pair of the X Ultra 3 Mids with Gore-Tex during the last REI anniversary sale, and the wides size pretty similarly to the Merrel wides in the same size. Stiffer through the ankle, go up another inch or so higher, and the toe box is a little more narrow with a more solid rubber cap on it than the Zion Vents.
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Nov 16, 2020 18:20
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How does the rock gripping and durability compare? The rock gripping is critical for me, but what I'd like is a little more durability. There are govt discounts on both brands via expertvoice.com so either way it's not bad. (If you aren't on expertvoice yet, get on there for a lot of good discounts.)
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Nov 16, 2020 19:11
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The soles are more rigid and the corners feel more sharp and firm, if that makes sense. So if you’re on an incline and get just a toehold or an edge hold it feels a bit more secure. The rubber feels about the same as the Merrel soles.
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Nov 16, 2020 22:53
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I bought a pair of X Ultra 3 GTX's during an REI sale in January, and I love them. Even though they're shoes and not boots they outperform most boots I've owned. They're my first Salomons, but since they're so comfortable and grippy (I feel like a mountain goat out in the high desert), they will not be my last. I can't speak to long-term durability since my current pair is only ten months old, but they're holding up well so far. And honestly, even if they don't last that long, that's no big deal since they're half as expensive as brands like Lowa while being just as good.
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Nov 17, 2020 02:10
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I’ll also add i was initially a little reluctant to try out Salomons because of their reputation for being narrower than average, but the sale was hard to pass up on a high quality goretex boot, and the wides fit almost as wide as the Merrel wides.
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Nov 17, 2020 02:15
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Yeah I've got these https://www.rei.com/product/127770/salomon-quest-4d-3-gtx-hiking-boots-mens as well as a similar winter version and they both own. Will definitely be buying more Salomon boots. There's a super solid military discount on them too.
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Nov 18, 2020 01:04
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I feel like going out yesterday might have been a mistake. There's this mountain not too far away that's the high point of the Oquirrh mountain range. But that's not why people climb it. They do it cause it apparently has more than 5000 feet of prominence, putting it on the ultra prominent list of the lower 48. There's no official trail to the top and the drifts of snow I encountered made things not so fun. The views were A+      This tree was doing some weird stuff  Just under 6 miles one way with 4100 feet of climbing. I haven't been able to sleep and I start a new job today so this will only end well
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Nov 30, 2020 11:34
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That tree is neat as gently caress. Brutal rear end hike you did there too. I just got back from my first road trip in a year. Went to Utah, slept in the car and hiked for a week, was socially distant as gently caress. Which I guess isn't at all different than my usual road trips, other than masks and hand sanitizer after refilling my gas tank. Will have pics processed sometime in the next few days. Almost considered going out to see the mysterious monolith while we were out there, but after learning that it was just some sheet metal thing, lost interest. Would have been a long and bumpy road for what was essentially an internet meme.
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Nov 30, 2020 16:26
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It disappeared anyway, I guess.
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Nov 30, 2020 19:42
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Shortly after taking this shot, I fumbled my lens cap, heard two near bouncing sounds, and then nothing. Rest of the trip was without a lens cap on that lens.  Natural Bridges national monument   Petrified Forest  The Maze petroglyph site. (Best said in a drawn out haggard Ed Harris Westworld tone.)  Grand Canyon north rim just past sunset in the blue hour  The dragon at Edmaier's Secret  Brain rock field at Edmaier's Secret From up on West Bench   Coming back down Buckskin Gulch  Yant Flat   Cassidy Arch trail   Hickman Bridge   Tower Arch   The weather was not especially cooperative on this trip. Precipitation on the forecast caused me to cancel going to the South Coyote Buttes, which I had a permit for. So that's a downer. Lots of chilly weather, and lots of clear blue skies with zero clouds that made for some harsh glare on the rocks. Hopefully it'll be better next time.
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Dec 4, 2020 20:40
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That trip looked rad as hell
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Dec 5, 2020 00:27
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A quickie at Dream lake after finding that the trail to lake Haiyaha was entirely snowed in and undefined past the first 100m. Was trying to get as low as I could on my tripod to show the ice texture. Would like to get back sometime and get this angle or a lower angle at sunrise, but the next week or so is looking like nasty snow.
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Feb 5, 2021 17:20
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The Rat posted:A quickie at Dream lake after finding that the trail to lake Haiyaha was entirely snowed in and undefined past the first 100m. Was trying to get as low as I could on my tripod to show the ice texture. Would like to get back sometime and get this angle or a lower angle at sunrise, but the next week or so is looking like nasty snow. Thank you. I needed this today.
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Feb 5, 2021 17:21
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gorgeous, love that classic glacially eroded topography, nice u shaped chute
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Feb 7, 2021 04:37
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Work called a day off today due to excess cold. So I bundled up and tried to get up to Dream lake for a nice sunrise shot. Unfortunately, wind and snow at the lake itself was such that visibility was <200m. So I took this one as I was coming back down the trail instead.  And then I got down to Bear lake and still no one was around, so I wandered around to see if I could find a good angle, since I had not previously Waldo'd Bear lake. Found this and couldn't resist. 
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Feb 15, 2021 18:07
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I might be quitting my job come July. I'm pondering doing the oregon portion of the PCT. Anyone have any good stroller recommendations?
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Feb 17, 2021 15:19
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Feb 17, 2021 17:37
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Sweet Will post thread soon
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Feb 17, 2021 20:15
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