snappo posted:

OMFG PTSD LOL PBUH posted:

Welp. Sucks for them. If you boys aren't clever enough to make a system that can't be gamed then it sucks for you guys.

Game the system dude, gently caress it man. Besides, your an American taxpayer- your entitled to use the land within the laws. And it's legal to loophole dipshit rangers parks rules and quotas. So that's within the law. Go nuts.

Just, ya know, LNT or whatever.

Gropiemon posted:

Yeah I went up to the San Gabriels once and up to Angeles Crest a few times. I live off the 210 in the north valley so it's super close for me. Any places in Big Sur and Yosemite that you can point me towards? The info on the .gov sites are great but I don't really have any outdoorsey friends here that I can get some anecdotal advice from.

bunnielab posted:

What are people's thoughts on sticking animal skulls on low hanging branches next to trails?

Cuz man, I don't think I could give that up.

Levitate posted:

Since the west side of Sequoia NP doesn't seem to be opening again any time soon because of the Rough fire, looks like my Emigrant Wilderness plan is a go...which I'm fine with, but still kinda sucks. The higher parts of the Sierra in Kings Canyon and all are cool

Cheesemaster200 posted:

Any suggestions for a good backpacking pad for side sleepers? I have had a therm-a-rest pro-lite inflatable foam pad for ages, but my hip and shoulder go straight through it and I hardly ever get any sleep.

I am looking at the Therm-A-Rest XTherm inflatable, but it is quite expensive.

On the food discussion:
A bag of rice with a variety of different spice combinations can last you forever.

theHUNGERian posted:

I'll be hiking Mt. Baldy next week, and I wanted to ask about clothing for a cold day in full sun while being on a strenuous hike (=extra body heat).

When I am out at night in freezing temperatures, I usually wear a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, two sweaters, and one winter jacket. I also have winter socks, gloves, a Seirus face mask/shied (combo scarf?), and a hat. This combo leaves my warm and fuzzy at night in 32F weather while doing minimal activities (star gazing). How do many of these layers do you think I'll need in 32F weather in the full sun and minimal wind while hiking from 6000ft to 10000ft?

Ihmemies posted:

Ok so we went to an overnight hike with a couple of friends. Some lessons learned:

Edit: oh and I'm past using foam sleeping pads. Even with very nice moss and other undergrowth the result is not good. It's very hard to find a flat sleeping surface too so I'd imagine

Rodenthar Drothman posted:

Man, you guys are making me want to camp this weekend. I'll post pics if I do.

The Aardvark posted:

Took my wife to Double Peak Trail in San Marcos, CA yesterday to change up our usual hiking day. She's from Toronto so all the outdoors stuff is very new to her and I hope to ease her into backpacking eventually.



View of the Batiquitos Lagoon and Pacific Ocean.




Looking east towards the Escondido




Parts of San Marcos

Levitate posted:

? What does this mean? how do people know Lyme disease is bad on the trail?

Levitate posted:

The Kelty Cosmic Down 20 has generally been considered a good low cost down bag. It's not actually going to be comfortable down to 20 degrees but mid 30's might be a comfortable range depending on how warm you sleep. It's pretty cheap, pretty light...main thing really is just that it's not going to be as warm as a real good expensive bag, but if you don't need it to handle below freezing temps it should be good

Verman posted:

I loving hate snakes. I've learned to tolerate the non poisonous varieties as I got older but I'm still pretty terrified of the poisonous ones. Pheasant hunting is always a double edged sword for me.

I know the statistics (moose kill more people in NA than most other animals) but give me a moose or a bear any day over accidentally stumbling within striking distance of a rattlesnake.

Josh Lyman posted:

Don't all down jackets pretty much pack into themselves?

Levitate posted:

I need to make plans to go to Yosemite in the winter. Rent a cabin or something. It's a beautiful place but so crowded in the summer...the valley when there's few other people around would be amazing.

Actually headed up there next weekend for some camping at Tuoloumne Meadows. If things are going alright I might try to grab a walkup overnight permit to Glen Aulin or something, but this is our first "big" camping trip with our kid so if night times are a pain in the rear end maybe we won't do it. kind of worried about that and him having a rough 1st night at least but I figure if worse comes to worse and we can't get him to sleep, I'll go for a night time drive for a bit (and hopefully not hit a bear)

Axeface posted:

I'm a city kitty just trying to get into backpacking and camping in a semi-serious way, and financially what seems to work best right now is gradually making decent mid-range investments to slowly build out a kit. I've got cheap, heavy equipment that covers (almost) everything I need so far, so I'm mostly looking to make upgrades that will last me a few years while I figure out what I'm doing and prepare for more intense challenges. My price range for pretty much everything is going to be in the $300 range, but I can push that for particular items that will really last me the distance past my learning curve.

So, I'm looking at backpacks right now. The majority of what I've done so far is long hikes and car camping, but I've recently moved up to backpacking out and plopping down for 4-5 days at a time, and after huffing and puffing like a moron with uncomfortable, overstuffed bags, I'm looking for something that actually fits my purpose. Ideally, I'd like to be able to push my trips out to two weeks or so as well. After doing a substantial amount of window-shopping and research, I'm looking at the REI Flash 65, both because of the price tag and because it seems to check off most of my boxes at the moment. Its capacity seems a nice range for the gear I'm carrying and the length of the trips I'd like to plan.

Any thoughts, suggestions or alternatives before I take the plunge on this one? I'd appreciate any advice you'd all be willing to offer.

Electoral Surgery posted:

Give me your friends. This weekend I was the only person out of six without an SLR. You already got that waterfall from two other positions and we have 15 miles to go

Picnic Princess posted:

marshmonkey posted:

Doing Rae Lakes loop in King's Canyon over 4 or 5 nights next week. Bit nervous as this is only my 2nd backpacking trip after wussing out after only 1 night on the trans-Catalina trail.

I'm much more prepared gear and technique wise this time though, so hopefully it will be a great trip.

Can anyone who has been up there recently report if there is much fire smoke in the area?

22 Eargesplitten posted:

Is there a website that has weather forecasts for trails?

Tsyni posted:

Kayaks are better than canoes, imo. Why didn't you rent some of those?

Bangkero posted:

We also didn't want to portage an extra boat since it was our first time to visit this provincial park and weren't sure how hectic the trails were.

charliebravo77 posted:

What temps have you used one down to and what is your tent/pad setup? I will be likely seeing temperatures in the 20s, possibly even teens. I just don't know that a quilt will keep me quite as warm as a regular bag will, or be as easily used with a liner for added warmth.

Ihmemies posted:

Nice My 20F version was too cold for me without a proper hood. Today also my Aegismax Down bacalava arrived. Maybe $16 from Aliexpress, 1 month shipping time. My head size is 60cm and the hood is large. It fits a beanie inside and still has lots of extra room. Weight is 75g, also the neck portion is very long so it should suit even the longest-necked people. I'm 200cm and my neck is quite tall...

So if you ever feel like your head is too cold with the quilt, I can recommend one of those unethical chinese down hoods. MLD hood would have been $130 incl. shipping, customs and tax.