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a sat phone will not stop you from bleeding out or dying due to a fall. its to stop a broken leg from being a deadly situation, or a serious illness from becoming a severe one with no treatment. and if i am the 1 in a million guy who gets mauled by a bear, id be drat happy to have people looking for me as i struggle back to the parking lot.
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Jul 27, 2021 15:15
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I hiked up to St Mary's Glacier (Colorado) this morning, goddamn I now really appreciate what the NPS and NFS does for trail maintenance because I have never seen a trail so heavily braided before. It's like the hordes scale up that hill in a line a quarter mile wide. As near as I can tell the whole mountain is privately owned (based on the charge to park and all the no trespassing signs) and they give no fucks about establishing a coherent route.
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Jul 27, 2021 16:09
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xzzy posted:I hiked up to St Mary's Glacier (Colorado) this morning, goddamn I now really appreciate what the NPS and NFS does for trail maintenance because I have never seen a trail so heavily braided before. It's like the hordes scale up that hill in a line a quarter mile wide. Yeah that bit of trail is pretty bad. It's private property mostly to the lake although there is a short strip of forest service land you walk through. The lake itself is USFS, and shortly after the lake if you continue up to James peak is more USFS.
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Jul 27, 2021 16:21
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Lovely destination though. The twisty snags looked fabulous and are fun to photograph. But I hesitate to call the snow remnant a glacier.  Nice pre-dawn hike despite the multiple choice routes. The sunrise was slow in getting over the mountains but pretty when it did.
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Jul 27, 2021 17:12
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Verman posted:Adams is pretty straightforward if you choose to do it solo. I know we've talked but I don't recall, what's your crampon/ice axe experience? If you know how to, and have practiced and feel comfortable with self arrest, you should be fine. I've seen kids up there, dogs, people in trail runners etc. The only real tough area is the initial climb after lunch counter to the false summit. It's steep and gets slushy during the day. If there's still snow, get started on it as early as you can so that is hard and your crampons will get better traction. Went for it last weekend and summitted- got in late Saturday afternoon, stopped about a mile shy of Lunch Counter at 9 pm and crashed after melting some snow and making dinner. Headed up at 5 the next morning and summited around 10. I needn't have worried about "soloing" lol, place was packed. There was one especially metal 6 year old powering his way up with his family. It was my first experience with crampons and I was very glad to have them. People were making do with with spikes, but it was a long, icy slog up from lunch counter before hitting the boulders below Piker's. Lots of boulder/scree scrambling to top out Piker's, and the summit was a series of steep switchbacks completely free of snow. Coming back down from Piker's I was able to make good time plunge stepping into the scree, then finally hit some glissade chutes to get down to Lunch Counter. The hike back to the trailhead was an absolute death march though- breaking in some mountaineering boots and my feet were toast. People that do it car to car are a different breed, that's a long day. Few pics. This marks my first WA volcano. My hope is to climb them all before hitting 40, I have a year and a half. Doing a guided trip up DC on Rainier in September, if there's any glacier left to climb by then.  Summit switchbacks. You can just make out a couple parties starting up.  Rainier- September's goal.  Geological survey marker.  Old lookout.
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Jul 28, 2021 05:53
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Jesus loving Christ that's incredible to see that little bit of snow. When I did it a few years ago, in mid August, it was snowy a mile before lunch counter all the way to the top. Weird to see it melted out. Glad you got to use crampons for a bit. Adams is a nice accomplishment and a fun trip for an intro to mountaineering.
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Jul 28, 2021 07:30
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the planet's dyin', cloud
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Jul 29, 2021 06:02
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It died 40 years ago. We're just watching the corpse rot now.
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Jul 29, 2021 13:17
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SuicidalSmurf posted:Went for it last weekend and summitted- got in late Saturday afternoon, stopped about a mile shy of Lunch Counter at 9 pm and crashed after melting some snow and making dinner. Headed up at 5 the next morning and summited around 10. I needn't have worried about "soloing" lol, place was packed. There was one especially metal 6 year old powering his way up with his family. It was my first experience with crampons and I was very glad to have them. People were making do with with spikes, but it was a long, icy slog up from lunch counter before hitting the boulders below Piker's. Lots of boulder/scree scrambling to top out Piker's, and the summit was a series of steep switchbacks completely free of snow. Coming back down from Piker's I was able to make good time plunge stepping into the scree, then finally hit some glissade chutes to get down to Lunch Counter. The hike back to the trailhead was an absolute death march though- breaking in some mountaineering boots and my feet were toast. People that do it car to car are a different breed, that's a long day. Welome to WA. Glad to see fellow PWN's enjoying the outdoors. I have only made it to Camp Muir on Rainier last summer and the crater of St. Helens the following month. I would love to summit Rainier but last time kicked my rear end and I'm even more out of shape now. Hopefully I'll find some motivation to get back out there, or I won't and just keep smoking.  St. Helens crater  Camp Muir
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Jul 29, 2021 20:57
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every time sat phone chat comes up I'm reminded I was wise enough to buy a Garmin In-reach, but not wise enough to learn how to use it. no but really, the SOS button brings peace of mind and I have an account but the phone's functionality is a huge pain in the rear end. maybe it's a generational thing but it feels like a junky computer from the early 90s. And having to go to Garmin's website to maintain contact info, etc. was not expected. this dude has a bunch of reviews on sat phones so maybe I'll finally get around to it https://hikingguy.com/hiking-gear/in-depth-garmin-inreach-mini-review/
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Aug 1, 2021 17:32
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The way the Garmin units handle communication across different services, ie WiFi vs sat, was the main reason I am looking at the Zoleo units instead of Garmin. I haven’t dug too deep into it, but with Zoleo you get an email address and number that’s specifically for communicating on that device as a result there’s no weird hiccup when you go back and forth on networks. I don’t have as much of a need of the SOS features, but I’d like to be able to check in with my wife when I’m off grid. Had a weekend last summer where I went camping in the Tillamook State forest and knew I was not going to have coverage where I was planning on camping, but didn’t realize I was losing it as early as I did either. I had sent her map links with “this is where I’m going to be” and let her know I’d be checking back in Sunday AM. I always let her know when I’m dipping out of coverage but since I lost it way earlier than I expected I couldn’t without backtracking and I assumed that since I had explicitly said where I was going and when I’d be back it was fine. I got back into range on Sunday to find out she couldn’t sleep she was so worried. Between situations like that and doing dumb stuff for the Gambler maybe a way to communicate anywhere is a good idea.
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Aug 1, 2021 22:24
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Hiked to Lake Cora in the Mt. Rainer WA area yesterday and took one my best photos ever:
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Aug 3, 2021 19:34
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thats a stunning photo, nice job Vet
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Aug 3, 2021 22:16
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VideoGameVet posted:Hiked to Lake Cora in the Mt. Rainer WA area yesterday and took one my best photos ever: liking how the smoke gives it an almost pastel dreamy quality, great work
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Aug 3, 2021 22:27
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All it takes for a great photo is some good light. Smoke does help a lot with that, the haze looks pleasant.
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Aug 3, 2021 22:29
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FAUXTON posted:liking how the smoke gives it an almost pastel dreamy quality, great work Yes. Sadly true.
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Aug 3, 2021 22:39
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That’s a realized Bob Ross painting if I’ve ever seen one
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Aug 3, 2021 23:51
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VideoGameVet posted:Yes. Sadly true. as someone who has had a trip this weekend in a dark sky area planned for months I'm also a little pissed but maybe observation conditions won't be so bad if the wind is agreeable.
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Aug 4, 2021 04:50
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The smoke map is loving dire right now for dark sky travel unless you can get to Utah. Obviously the local conditions change day by day but there is still so much stuff burning there's always fresh smoke to move in even if the winds are favorable. I have a plan to do the Perseids in a week, and have three general regions picked out and I'll head for whichever one has the best forecast. If BWCA is still socked in, it's gonna be Nebraska's sand hills. If that's socked in I'll get real mad and make do with a shorter drive to a more light polluted area near me. gently caress climate change and gently caress light pollution.
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Aug 4, 2021 05:09
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George H.W. oval office posted:That’s a realized Bob Ross painting if I’ve ever seen one Using a bit of the PANO mode for a cinematic effect, shooting away from the shore and having the trees as borders worked.
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Aug 4, 2021 05:23
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Speak of dark skies the perseids meteor shower peaks next week. Get out and watch some stars!
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Aug 4, 2021 06:00
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George H.W. oval office posted:Speak of dark skies the perseids meteor shower peaks next week. Get out and watch some stars! ooh thanks for the reminder!
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Aug 4, 2021 06:16
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xzzy posted:The smoke map is loving dire right now for dark sky travel unless you can get to Utah. Obviously the local conditions change day by day but there is still so much stuff burning there's always fresh smoke to move in even if the winds are favorable. Merritt Reservoir is where I'm headed, so I've been hoping the fickle currents aloft play ball (it's a state astro society event so if it's not good for the dudes with like 18in dobsonian beasts I'm sure they'll make it known)
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Aug 4, 2021 06:20
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FAUXTON posted:Merritt Reservoir is where I'm headed, so I've been hoping the fickle currents aloft play ball (it's a state astro society event so if it's not good for the dudes with like 18in dobsonian beasts I'm sure they'll make it known) Yeah, that's a popular astro site. But I'm an artsy fartsy nerd with a DSLR that wants some kind of interesting foreground so I keep hunting for cool silhouettes like trees or a rock formation. So I got my eyes on the Bessey unit of the national forest or Toadstool geologic park.
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Aug 4, 2021 14:00
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xzzy posted:Yeah, that's a popular astro site. But I'm an artsy fartsy nerd with a DSLR that wants some kind of interesting foreground so I keep hunting for cool silhouettes like trees or a rock formation. So I got my eyes on the Bessey unit of the national forest or Toadstool geologic park. That sounds rad as hell but I sure ain't got the chops to make a shot like that work in post (assuming you're stacking exposures to keep things from leaving trails). Wish I did though!
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Aug 4, 2021 18:32
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FAUXTON posted:That sounds rad as hell but I sure ain't got the chops to make a shot like that work in post (assuming you're stacking exposures to keep things from leaving trails). Wish I did though! I tried it a few years ago during the last favorable moon conditions and it was rough.. city glow made blending the shots extremely difficult because as the night went on and the camera pointed more vertical the color of space changed. It just didn't work. Hoping a class 1 site makes it doable. And in other news, we toured an accessible part of the parks ranger district where the east troublesome fire burned last summer. All trails are still closed so we could only hike along CO-4 (dodging constant UHV traffic) but it was still super interesting to see a recently burned forest. I'd rather the forest still be there but it was pretty in its own way. Fireweed is commanding the hills right now.  We tried to visit the burn scar in RMNP too but they are pretty strict about cats being stopped on the road in there and all the turnouts are blocked. So it was kind of a bust hiking in there. Lots of elk though.
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Aug 4, 2021 23:46
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xzzy posted:I tried it a few years ago during the last favorable moon conditions and it was rough.. city glow made blending the shots extremely difficult because as the night went on and the camera pointed more vertical the color of space changed. It just didn't work. Hoping a class 1 site makes it doable. Last I was out there was like 2016 and it was stunning, like "sleeping weird for a week because my neck got all hosed up from looking at the sky so much" stunning, but I can't speak to the real fine details of light pollution because it's been so long. If you want I can just point my Canon off towards Valentine and give it 20s or so to give you an idea of what the glow looks like - might not be able to post until Sunday though
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Aug 5, 2021 00:49
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I did a stupid amount of driving on Sunday to get here, in the end I hiked up Mt Tukuhnikivatz and Mt Peale. Peale was number 8 of 8 ultra prominent peaks in Utah that I've done, so that's pretty cool. It's fairly easy to do both although there's one class IV section on the traverse between the two mountains that I could see scaring people if they aren't used to that terrain. Mt Peale from close to the trailhead  Top of Mt Tukuhnikivatz looking north, yay smoke  On top of Peale looking at Mt Tuk  Mt Mellenthin, just a few feet shorter than Peale  Ended up driving through Moab and past Arches National Park. Maybe I should have planned things a bit better and stayed out an extra day and gone to see some arches, oh well. Also while driving on I-70 I was noticing just how desolate it is there. There's huge stretches with drat near no vegetation whatsoever. There was just... nothing
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Aug 9, 2021 23:08
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Meteors! Right now! Go outside and look up!
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Aug 12, 2021 04:42
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So I got a permit to go backpacking at the Lost Coast this weekend for 3 days, and they just announced an open flame ban - no campstoves allowed. I'm a little lost about what I should be bringing for food, anyone got nice cold soak or no-cook meals? I mean I could just do pb&j and leftover pizza and bars or something, but it'd be nice to avoid eating straight trash for all those meals.
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Aug 12, 2021 07:17
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George H.W. oval office posted:Meteors! Right now! Go outside and look up! I was out there but kept falling asleep like a big wimp. Still saw some cool stuff. Now to rush home and see if anything cool was caught by my camera..
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Aug 12, 2021 11:52
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cerious posted:So I got a permit to go backpacking at the Lost Coast this weekend for 3 days, and they just announced an open flame ban - no campstoves allowed. I'm a little lost about what I should be bringing for food, anyone got nice cold soak or no-cook meals? I mean I could just do pb&j and leftover pizza and bars or something, but it'd be nice to avoid eating straight trash for all those meals. Bring prepared cold foods like chicken salad, kimchi, charcuterie/cheese board, etc.? I appreciate the heads up that the lost coast is permit-only. I'd love to go there, but I'm the wrong coast, so that might take some planning.
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Aug 12, 2021 13:06
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cerious posted:So I got a permit to go backpacking at the Lost Coast this weekend for 3 days, and they just announced an open flame ban - no campstoves allowed. I'm a little lost about what I should be bringing for food, anyone got nice cold soak or no-cook meals? I mean I could just do pb&j and leftover pizza and bars or something, but it'd be nice to avoid eating straight trash for all those meals. Generally canister stove systems like a JetBoil are not considered open flame and will be permitted during fire restrictions. Unlike homemade alcohol stoves or traditional Coleman liquid fuel stoves, there's an on-off switch and all the fire is contained within the system. It's worth double-checking so give the ranger office a call, but I've never had issues.
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Aug 12, 2021 13:40
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Kaal posted:Generally canister stove systems like a JetBoil are not considered open flame and will be permitted during fire restrictions. Unlike homemade alcohol stoves or traditional Coleman liquid fuel stoves, there's an on-off switch and all the fire is contained within the system. It's worth double-checking so give the ranger office a call, but I've never had issues. Yeah I normally bring a canister setup but the language here seems pretty clear: quote:No campstoves or campfires of any kind are allowed. Please see the full fire restrictions below. So no campstoves of any kind, period. I was planning on bringing some cold foods but I've had issues before with some of them, like a pack of salami I brought that turned into a greasy mess in my bag even before I opened it. I'm gonna try just adding a coffee packet to cold water at home too for breakfast and see if I hate it too much. cerious fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Aug 12, 2021 |
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Aug 12, 2021 15:20
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cerious posted:Yeah I normally bring a canister setup but the language here seems pretty clear: Again, I would check on that by calling the ranger station because that sort of language typically permits canister or white gas stoves. Alternatively there's chemical heaters like in MREs if you still want something warm. As for cold food, there's a variety of options that can be pretty good. You'd be saving weight not carrying any heater so use those kgs on tasty things you might not otherwise bring. Mediterranean food like hummus wraps or hard cheeses can be excellent additions that don't need any additional heating. Powdered chai or matcha is very flavorful and can be enjoyed hot or cold. Kaal fucked around with this message at 15:45 on Aug 12, 2021 |
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Aug 12, 2021 15:34
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Kaal posted:Again, I would check on that by calling the ranger station because that sort of language typically permits canister or white gas stoves. Alternatively there's chemical heaters like in MREs if you still want something warm. As for cold food, there's a variety of options that can be pretty good. You'd be saving weight not carrying any heater so use those kgs on tasty things you might not otherwise bring. Mediterranean food like hummus wraps or hard cheeses can be excellent additions that don't need any additional heating. Powdered chai or matcha is very flavorful and can be enjoyed hot or cold. CA is not loving around with fires this year, the no-flame-of-any-kind ban is real. i'd just go with bars and tortilla tuna/hummus/cheese/PB wraps. throw some nuts and dried fruit in there, gummy candies. that's mostly what i eat camping anyway. cooking is often a chore especially in the morning, and i usually wait a few hours before eating anything so a pocket full of snacks works great.
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Aug 12, 2021 17:06
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A summer sausage and a small block of cheddar will last for days without refrigeration. Technically the sausage will last like a month but if you eat the two together, the cheese may get ugly after about a week so plan for that. Apples keep for a while too. So will a jar of jelly, so make PB&J's! I did oatmeal with water heated from a solar shower the other day and while it could never be called a hot meal, it worked and was decent.
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Aug 12, 2021 17:18
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Cheese & tortilla, peanut butter & tortilla, packaged tuna & tortilla. Nutty Buddy, trail mix, pop tarts, fresh fruit like apples or oranges will last a bit. Some people on the AT would go the whole thing doing cold only meals and it seemed like it would be miserable.
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Aug 12, 2021 17:22
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Tortillas seemingly never go bad in my experience despite no refrigeration as long as you keep them ziplocked. Basically only bread product that is useful for backpacking.
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Aug 12, 2021 17:27
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cerious posted:So I got a permit to go backpacking at the Lost Coast this weekend for 3 days, and they just announced an open flame ban - no campstoves allowed. I'm a little lost about what I should be bringing for food, anyone got nice cold soak or no-cook meals? I mean I could just do pb&j and leftover pizza and bars or something, but it'd be nice to avoid eating straight trash for all those meals. You saw the high tide warning, right? quote:ALERT: Backpackers on the Lost Coast Trail may face unsafe tide conditions in August and September. On the following dates tides will not be safe to pass during daylight hours: August- 4, 17, 18, 19, 30, 31. September- 1, 2, 3, 13, 14, 15, 16, 27, 28, 29, 30. Contact the King Range Project office for more information or route alternatives.
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Aug 12, 2021 17:27
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