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Slimy Hog posted:Buy a bear box plus a bunch of other backpacking equipment and then never go backpacking as much as you want  on a happier note, i was able to get out for the first trip of the season a week or so ago. a lot of the nearby parks burned in the big wildfires last year (christ that was only last year...) but henry coe remains.
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Apr 22, 2021 02:17
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Any thoughts on MSR's hard anodized aluminium vs ceramic coated cookware?
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Apr 22, 2021 04:10
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Chard posted:but henry coe remains.
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Apr 22, 2021 04:41
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Chard posted:
I've been meaning to try Henry Coe, good to see that it appears to be fully open again. How was it? Crowded? Did you do an overnight, i.e. did you have to get a backpacking permit? "First come, first served" generally makes me nervous when the prospect is a decent drive away.
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Apr 22, 2021 04:44
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I have the ceramic coated pot and it's stayed pretty non stick for a few years. I thoroughly recommend it.
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Apr 22, 2021 04:45
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CopperHound posted:I was just there for a few days last week. I am amazed at how the topography multiplies the apparent size of that place. I haven't managed to get any deeper into the park than coit lake. I was there for an overnighter last week too. It's so beautiful right now
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Apr 22, 2021 04:55
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CopperHound posted:I was just there for a few days last week. I am amazed at how the topography multiplies the apparent size of that place. I haven't managed to get any deeper into the park than coit lake. same here. further in feels like water might be sketchy to find, i get the impression the deep backcountry is more for people bringing horses or bikes. Pham Nuwen posted:I've been meaning to try Henry Coe, good to see that it appears to be fully open again. How was it? Crowded? Did you do an overnight, i.e. did you have to get a backpacking permit? "First come, first served" generally makes me nervous when the prospect is a decent drive away. i went mid-week and stayed in the park, and there were a fair number of people in the area near headquarters but fewer further on. i have to guess the weekends are crazy. the visitors center was closed so it's just a sign-up board and the iron ranger. i meant to take a picture; iirc roughly half the campsites seemed to be booked on any given day which is the most i've seen. Chard fucked around with this message at 04:58 on Apr 22, 2021 |
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Apr 22, 2021 04:55
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Chard posted:same here. further in feels like water might be sketchy to find, i get the impression the deep backcountry is more for people bringing horses or bikes. Even then, I was there with a bike this last week and I can't say it did much to extend my range over hiking. To get around you either have do a deathmarch of a grind up several ridges along fire roads or drag/carry a loaded bike thru stuff like the narrows. Just for reference, the fire road going up from poverty flat is a 1200' climb over 2 miles. Maybe one of you saw me pushing/dragging/carrying this thing 
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Apr 22, 2021 15:23
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ehh... lots of trails are "closed" to bikes/and horses and then i spend all day stepping over turds in a two-foot-deep U-bottom waterspout that specific stretch of road definitely sucks tho, i went up it once just to see what that route was like. i think it was in the 80s that afternoon.
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Apr 22, 2021 15:39
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A couple years ago we backpacked out of the hunting hollow entrance and by friend lost his lunch 1/4 of the way up Steer Ridge trail. The topography of the park is absolutely wild. Even the day hikes out of the headquarters you're bound to hit a grade that won't let your heels touch the ground until they've stretched out
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Apr 22, 2021 20:23
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I did a dayhike out of Henry Coe a couple of weeks ago. In terms of crowds, I never see many people much past the visitor center, especially off of the main fireroads or campsites. From the Blue Ridge north, or to the north/east of Poverty Flat, I've almost never seen anyone. When I went, the parking lot at the main entrance was blocked off to half capacity. I was there on a Monday (but it was right after Easter weekend). I think the main thing is to get there early. The Hunting Hollow entrance usually has fewer people and isn't controlled, but I haven't been there in awhile. The entrance off Pacheco Pass I've never seen anyone. Speaking of which, Pacheco State Park never seems to have that many people even on weekends.
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Apr 23, 2021 00:31
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Hey folks, not sure if I should ask this here or in the Hiking & Backpacking thread, but I imagine there's a lot of overlap. I'll be driving from New Orleans to LA in early July (lol), and I wanna make a few stops in west Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. I'm imagining some dispersed camping (most likely within a mile hike of the car,) on BLM land, but I definitely want to avoid other people, particularly the RV crowd. I'm hesitant to rely on campsite registrations as well, because I don't want to rush earlier parts of the trip to ensure I make it to some random square inch of the desert on time. Are there any parks/forests, spots, sights, etc that people like down there? Been also thinking of hitting some ghost towns, old mines, caves, and corny old-west re-enactments in addition to more straight "hiking" type activities. What about routes west? I've ridden I-10 plenty, but I'd love something more scenic. I've done some day-hiking in Moab in the summer, but my only real camping experience, was a 3-night trip in New Hampshire's White Mountains my experienced-hiker-buddy took me on last summer. This time, I'll be traveling with MY GIRLFRIEND, who hasn't done any hiking and will need to pick up some non-cotton clothes, a headlamp, a sleeping bag and pad, etc. Besides a gallon of water per person, UV clothes, and lots of sunblock, is there anything else I'll need for this particularly hostile climate ? Can I just roll out a sleeping pad under the stars, or will the scorpions take me a way to their crag cities (are there effective repellents against such pointy and bitey critters)?
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Apr 24, 2021 00:23
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July sounds dang miserable to be outdoors in the SW but there's certainly no shortage of places to go. I made a trip from Amarillo -> Logan -> Wagon Mound -> Red River -> Valles Caldera a handful of years ago and loved it. It's mostly a road trip but I liked the scenery and there's camping and hiking in the caldera. From there I headed north to US64 (NM126 is a dirt road but I did it fine in a Prius) and drove west to Page which is a pretty desolate drive. But then you're pretty close Zion and the north rim of the grand canyon so you got some great options. From there I went to Las Vegas which was the end of that particular road trip. If you don't want to drift that far north I got nothing, I've never done the southern US border.
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Apr 24, 2021 00:51
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Head Bee Guy posted:Hey folks, not sure if I should ask this here or in the Hiking & Backpacking thread, but I imagine there's a lot of overlap. I'll be driving from New Orleans to LA in early July (lol), and I wanna make a few stops in west Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. I'm imagining some dispersed camping (most likely within a mile hike of the car,) on BLM land, but I definitely want to avoid other people, particularly the RV crowd. I'm hesitant to rely on campsite registrations as well, because I don't want to rush earlier parts of the trip to ensure I make it to some random square inch of the desert on time. This sounds incredible... I’ve been wanting to get down that way again and would love it if you could post what you guys wind up doing! Moab is such a cool place. I’d only caution water water water, because it’s a pain to find places to get it sometimes, even in parks. Something like this water jug would probably be a solid investment to throw in the trunk as an extra source, and it’s nice for camping. I’d also get a battery powered clip on tent fan to help ventilate the tent in the evening and give some air movement if things are stagnant. A solar charger would be excellent where you’ll be going as well. Something like this packs down to nothing and is great to charge your battery packs at wall wort speeds. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend Big Bend, though be careful what roads you’re taking your vehicle down if you don’t minimally have good clearance. I also have a thousand NOLA recommendations but it’s hard not to find something amazing down there. Definitely hit up San Antonio, lotsa cool stuff to see and do there and good food, and the riverwalk is neat! Austin is worth the detour too, even the gas station BBQ is amazing (I’m so happy Torchey’s is finally coming to my city  )A few hours North for you, but Flagstaff is also a great destination, lotsa really good breweries, and Petrified NP/Grand Canyon are a stones throw away. A different route takes you through Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and both of those are fantastic places to visit, lotsa neat stuff nearby. I have no idea how BLM camping works, I’ve always thought it was pretty much pitch a site wherever so long as you’re not living there, unfortunately I’m on the east coast so I’m more familiar with National Forest policies (which is usually pretty much the same thing). If you go up north through southern Colorado, Durango-Silverton is really cool, and there’s the old hundred gold mine that’s a really cool tour down into the mine, and old abandoned half preserved ghost towns like Amity Forks, and Mesa Verde is in the neighborhood. Plus the train and hot springs in Pagosa are real neat. E: how many days is this trip? Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Apr 25, 2021 |
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Apr 25, 2021 02:52
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^^ this is good advice. If you cut north at las cruces up to Santa Fe there is a lot of national forest land to camp plus cool towns like Hatch (cheeseburgers) and Truth or Consequences (refresh at the hot springs), then you can cut west over to Route 66 and and see petrified forest, the meteor crater, Grand Canyon if you have time to spare. There’s tons of BLM camping in the Mojave/Death Valley area: Rainbow Basin north of Barstow is a decent desert camping area not far out of the way but you have to drive on plowed dirt roads. In the BLM outside of Death Valley e.g. Panamint Valley you’re more in danger of getting stuck in the sand. I highly recommend seeing Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico if you haven’t before. It’s one of the most beautiful spots in the US.
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Apr 25, 2021 03:21
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The Wiggly Wizard posted:In the BLM outside of Death Valley e.g. Panamint Valley you’re more in danger of getting stuck in the sand. Ah yes, the Death Valley Germans.
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Apr 25, 2021 13:03
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The Wiggly Wizard posted:^^ this is good advice. If you cut north at las cruces up to Santa Fe there is a lot of national forest land to camp plus cool towns like Hatch (cheeseburgers) and Truth or Consequences (refresh at the hot springs), then you can cut west over to Route 66 and and see petrified forest, the meteor crater, Grand Canyon if you have time to spare. There’s tons of BLM camping in the Mojave/Death Valley area: Rainbow Basin north of Barstow is a decent desert camping area not far out of the way but you have to drive on plowed dirt roads. In the BLM outside of Death Valley e.g. Panamint Valley you’re more in danger of getting stuck in the sand. There is BLM camping not far from Carlsbad Caverns, too. https://goo.gl/maps/HnBCVccTvtBkcvoS7 Be aware that it is primitive as hell and kind of dusty, but it's free. If you're down in that area, I'd recommend trying to get into one of the nicer campsites first, but that's a fine backup. Carlsbad Caverns is cool as hell but definitely go to the website before the trip and see if you can sign up for additional guided tours. The self-guided tour is great, but there's a lot of area you can only reach on the guided tours, and those require a reservation. Other New Mexico stuff to see:
If you end up going through Albuquerque, I can recommend a long list of restaurants and pleasant day hikes. Hell, I can drop some GPS coordinates to some logs that yielded lots of oyster mushrooms last year, since I don't live there anymore and don't need to guard my secrets. Pham Nuwen fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Apr 27, 2021 |
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Apr 27, 2021 22:00
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Pham Nuwen posted:There is BLM camping not far from Carlsbad Caverns, too. https://goo.gl/maps/HnBCVccTvtBkcvoS7 Be aware that it is primitive as hell and kind of dusty, but it's free. If you're down in that area, I'd recommend trying to get into one of the nicer campsites first, but that's a fine backup. Just want to add - Be there for the bats at dusk. White Sands is cool. Don't take a detour to Roswell, there is nothing there at all, not even tourist trap poo poo. And back to the OP, I don't know anything about camping in the area, but Tombstone, AZ has some awesome corny old west reenactments. Opposite direction from the Grand Canyon though.
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Apr 27, 2021 23:19
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Pham Nuwen posted:Carlsbad Caverns is cool as hell but definitely go to the website before the trip and see if you can sign up for additional guided tours. The self-guided tour is great, but there's a lot of area you can only reach on the guided tours, and those require a reservation. There are also other caves on the park grounds to explore beyond the main one on those tours. I did one through Spider Cave a few years back that was awesome. I’ll let you guess why it’s called Spider Cave. (There are a bunch of paths that break off from a main chamber so a map looks like a spider. But also the entrance is chock full of harvestmen) quote:Other New Mexico stuff to see: These are all very rad and I heartily endorse them. Just make sure you take plenty of water with you if you walk out on the dunes at White Sands and know how to get back. I’ll also add Wheeler Peak near Taos if you want to bag the highest summit in the state; it’s a pretty easy hike and you get some good views from the top. I also really like Rio Grande del Norte National Monument too. Both are about 2 hours from Santa Fe though. FogHelmut posted:Don't take a detour to Roswell, there is nothing there at all, not even tourist trap poo poo. The International UFO Museum says screw you too buddy  It’s true though, my family is from there and I love it for nostalgia purposes, but there’s really nothing to do there.
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Apr 28, 2021 00:13
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FogHelmut posted:Just want to add - Be there for the bats at dusk. Oh, hell yeah, this owns. Freaquency posted:These are all very rad and I heartily endorse them. Just make sure you take plenty of water with you if you walk out on the dunes at White Sands and know how to get back. Knowing how to get back is CRITICAL. If you don't already have a preferred mapping app, even Google Maps should let you save your current location without needing a cell signal. Do this before you leave your car. Sand dunes can look really different from different angles, and you can be completely out of sight of the road and any other people in about 5 minutes of walking. There's only one road in the park as far as I remember, and if you lose track of it and head off in the wrong direction, you could easily die.
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Apr 28, 2021 00:18
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Pham Nuwen posted:Oh, hell yeah, this owns. It really can’t be stressed enough. You have to respect any wild area obviously, but the combination of high heat and the shifting sand can really throw you for a loop if you’re not prepared for it. It unfortunately kills people all the time. vvv yes, a basic Garmin eTrex is $100 or so and absolutely invaluable if you’re going out into the desert at all. Freaquency fucked around with this message at 01:25 on Apr 28, 2021 |
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Apr 28, 2021 01:05
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If you're using your phone for a map/gps, please bring a small battery pack/charger in case it dies. I personally really like using Avenza or Gaia on my phone but for hiking etc still use my standalone garmin unit but to each their own.
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Apr 28, 2021 01:20
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Pham Nuwen posted:Cool NM Places Added all of these to my travel list, gracias! That actually reminds me of a few more interesting NM places to check out if anyone is in the Santa Fe area— Los Alamos National Laboratory (where the US developed the atomic bomb before dropping it on Japan after they found out Japan was trying to surrender). Might be the same nuclear science place you listed? Very cool museum The town of Madrid (old mining town turned artist colony outside Santa Fe, lotsa cool galleries and textiles) Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe (Famous artist who painted desert scapes and, uh, flowers*) Also seconding Bandolier National Monument (Puebloan village remnants) Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 02:51 on Apr 28, 2021 |
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Apr 28, 2021 02:48
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OSU_Matthew posted:Los Alamos National Laboratory (where the US developed the atomic bomb before dropping it on Japan after they found out Japan was trying to surrender). Might be the same nuclear science place you listed? Very cool museum It's also the eastern gateway to Valles Caldera, which is a great place to visit. It's riddled with trails and due to being fairly high altitude (9k feet I think) it should be relatively cooler than the surrounding deserts. And if you head west from there, you'll be somewhat close to the Bisti Badlands which has some amazing stone formations. And further west from that is Shiprock, which is hard to visit these days (it's Navajo land and is closed to visitors) but you can get a good view of it from the public road that goes near it. If one goes to Bandolier, don't miss Madonna's Peaks. It's a simple day hike but it's got some cool formations in it.
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Apr 28, 2021 03:14
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Are rock plates worth it? They seem to only be in higher end shoes, and I don't think that many trails are made of pointy rocks. Seems to be a niche use case.
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May 3, 2021 03:09
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Entirely depends on the person and the terrain. With lighter shoes like trail runners, I prefer a rock plate or a thick sole because I live in the northwest and we have a lot of rough ground. Stepping on pebbles and roots all day can murder your feet. I want the shoe to still have some flex but not feel like I'm walking on legos all day.
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May 3, 2021 05:15
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As a trail runner in the Southeast, I will not buy shoes unless they have a rock plate or high enough stack height that the rock plate doesn't matter (example of this would be the Hoka Speedgoat). Even on gravel roads, after 10 miles or so you will start to appreciate it.
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May 3, 2021 14:21
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Trying to find some compact window covers for the car, and it's a bigger chore than I thought. Those big foil ones are the most common, but in my experience don't pack down for poo poo. "Bug screens" and "sun shades" are common too, but they tend to only be made for the rear windows or are transparent. So what I actually want is something that's easy to wad up and stuff in a sack and is opaque. I'm thinking I'll have to make my own so this is more of a question about materials.. can anyone suggest a light material that's easy to cut to size? I'm probably going to use rubber coated magnets to affix to the car. (this is for cases where I actually sleep in the car, if that wasn't clear)
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May 3, 2021 15:21
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FogHelmut posted:Are rock plates worth it? They seem to only be in higher end shoes, and I don't think that many trails are made of pointy rocks. Seems to be a niche use case. Lot's of trails/routes in the mountains are made almost entirely of pointy rocks i.e. scree, and it can be rough on your feet to walk really long distances on it without some kind of sole protection. I agree with Verman that there is a sweet spot for each individual & terrain between flex/sensitivity and sole protection. Also depends a lot on how long you are walking...a pair of shoes that seems fine after 5 miles on rocky terrain may start giving you problems after 10 and be unbearable after 15.
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May 3, 2021 16:40
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That reminds me, we finally bought a house which means moving in the next few weeks and I've been packing up all my gear. I'm super excited to have a garage to call my own. The older I get the more gear and tools I've accumulated and being able to organize it will be really nice. Honestly I've put more thought into how I want to organize the garage then anything else with the house. But gently caress I have a lot of stuff.  This is just hiking/camping/hunting stuff and doesn't include my hockey gear, most of my tools or my dirt bike and subsequent gear. Everything has been living in two places (our basement and our rat den dirt floor micro garage) so it will be nice to have all my tools and gear in one place. But one thing stood out as I was packing, my merrell trail runners are dead. The soles are smoothing out, rubber is hard, upper is disintegrating, the heel cup is broken. I love those shoes and haven't found anything like them. Merrells trail runners seen to have lessened in quality. I'm not looking forward to shopping for new ones.
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May 3, 2021 18:41
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I think I need to reorganize my gear.
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May 3, 2021 19:31
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I am at work, but my garage has 2 large shelves full of gear, plus sleeping bags and backpacks hanging from the walls. I am bad for not getting rid of gear. Example I have a North Face Cat's Meow bag and a Peak One tent that are 25+ years old, and I haven't used either of them in 10 years. Hell I am not sure Peak One is even around any more (it was the name of Coleman's high end gear at the time). I think I hold on to it because I am a gear whore, and I am always like what if someone needs to borrow something. Plus it easier to loan out my old Osprey Exos than my Hyperlite pack (that is never going to happen).
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May 3, 2021 19:46
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Speaking of gear whoring, if any Denver folks are searching for an Exped mat I was in the REI in on wadsworth in Littleton yesterday and they had an Exped 10 and 15 in their garage sale room.
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May 3, 2021 20:06
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Once I went on a group snow camping trip and my dad convinced me to take his snow boots. The boots that he never used and sat exposed in his garage for years. Upon a few hours into the trip, the rubber cracked into splinters. Thankfully, someone else had leather boots that were a bit big but otherwise perfect so that was a godsend. I think he tried returning it to REI and they gave him store credit. I don't ask him for gear tips anymore. I now have a habit of checking all my gear yearly or every other year. I think the waterproofing has to be renewed on some tents but I think that's it. nate fisher posted:I am at work, but my garage has 2 large shelves full of gear, plus sleeping bags and backpacks hanging from the walls. I am bad for not getting rid of gear. Example I have a North Face Cat's Meow bag and a Peak One tent that are 25+ years old, and I haven't used either of them in 10 years. Hell I am not sure Peak One is even around any more (it was the name of Coleman's high end gear at the time). I think I hold on to it because I am a gear whore, and I am always like what if someone needs to borrow something. Plus it easier to loan out my old Osprey Exos than my Hyperlite pack (that is never going to happen). Someone gave me crap for storing my sleeping bags into those large storage sacks instead of keeping them stuffed in the stuff sacks and I got real mad. I wish I had enough garage space to hang my sleeping bags, though. That's a pro tier move and would free up space in my coat closet. Then again, I've never seen a home in California use a coat closet for actual coats.
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May 3, 2021 21:15
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I keep all of my gear in my basement. It's gotten to -50F here so I don't keep anything out there that could get damaged. Water filters, reservoirs, poo poo anything at those temps.
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May 3, 2021 22:27
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sb hermit posted:Someone gave me crap for storing my sleeping bags into those large storage sacks instead of keeping them stuffed in the stuff sacks and I got real mad. I wish I had enough garage space to hang my sleeping bags, though. That's a pro tier move and would free up space in my coat closet. Then again, I've never seen a home in California use a coat closet for actual coats. Lol. This makes me laugh. I wonder if those same people wonder why their 15º sleeping bag is cold at 40º when their insulation has been compressed for years on end, especially old synthetic bags. I kept my bags in the cotton sacks but now that I'm going to have a little more space to play with in my new garage, I'm going to build a closet/cabinet where I can hang all my jackets and sleeping bags. Thankfully its not too cold here and rarely gets below freezing so having an attached garage should keep my things pretty good. I'm always worried about insects and mice but with my plastic totes I'm a little less worried.
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May 3, 2021 22:40
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I would echo everyone’s comments about rock plates, including the interplay with midsole cushion. I can do runs up to about marathon distances in my Lone Peak 4s (rock plate, medium cushion) but for longer distances I need the padding of my Olympus 3.5s (no rock plate, very cushioned).
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May 5, 2021 05:06
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I’ve got a nook in the den I use for gear storage, with a few wire shelves and clear bins that I’ve been using to sort out car camping and backpacking gear. Been really handy for organizing car camping gear vs bins for stuff such as stoves and cookware for backpacking. Plus, the wire shelves are magnetic, and I can toss up neodymium hooks to store packs and poles on the side With bags and quilts I’ve taken to storing everything uncompressed in mesh laundry bags stowed in a few laundry baskets to contain them up on the top shelf. These bins are nice and light to get up and down, with plenty of space to uncompress and bulk up to the ceiling, and breathe so they can dry out properly What’s been the most useful though, was putting up a bunch of these IKEA ceiling hooks and D-Rings in my storage area to hang up gear to dry after a trip. I can just clip my hammock and tarp up there to air dry for a few days whenever I get back, and if i’s been raining, I just put a box fan in there for extra airflow. It’s great being able to yank stuff out for a trip without having to plan or think much beyond food, especially with car camping where I can just grab the whole bin and go.
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May 5, 2021 21:02
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I put all my small stuff in one of those shoe organizers with lots of little pouches that hangs on a door. I love it.
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May 5, 2021 21:10
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My sleeping pads and bags are all stored under my bed unrolled and unpacked
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May 5, 2021 21:16
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