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Bottom Liner posted:You’d be surprised how easy Milky Way shots are when you’re somewhere really dark. 90% is that planning and patience with weather. My go to settings those were shot at: 20mm, f/1.8, 13 seconds exposure, ISO 3200. Focus manually and use the timer and bam, perfectly exposed galactic core.  No poo poo, thanks man! I'll give that a shot next time I'm in a dark sky area! Much appreciated!
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Apr 26, 2018 04:21
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SimplyCosmic posted:This Milky Way Exposure Calculator may help as well.  If you're in NE Ohio, Mohican State Park actually has some pretty great night skies! Up by the backpack campsites on the North side, there's a big mowed hill with an oil pipeline site that's got a phenomenal view. (40.621747,-82.293941for reference--it's also free to camp near there, you just have to register at the state Forest offices) The AEP reclamation lands in Southeast Ohio are also apparently pretty good too, the Ohio Amateur Astronomy Club has a private site down there for their viewing. I think it's somewhere by the big muskie bucket
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Apr 28, 2018 01:14
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cheese eats mouse posted:Went out camping at Red River Gorge this weekend. Bit of Rough Trail to loop into Grey's Arch for a nice 6.5 mile half day hike. My phone says I did 51 floors of stairs. 60F and sunny all weekend Nice! I'll be going there in a month. Have you ever done Indian staircase or the secret cave behind cloud splitter? Or Hanson's Point? And most importantly, did you get Miguel's Pizza? So much great stuff there, yet so many places I haven't explored even after going there every year for the last decade. Also, do you know if Tunnel Ridge Road is still closed for repairs? Last I heard was 4-6 weeks on that, about a month ago.
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May 1, 2018 12:16
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Nice! I want to get out to Hoosier later this year. Hey cool! You saw one of these critters too!  I saw one at Wildcat Hollow last weekend, which is in Southeastern Ohio  Visited the abandoned general store:  Poked around some really cool formations known locally as Ohio Caves:  Springtime hiking is amazing with all the local Flora, such as these Jack in the Pulpit:  Some Flocks:  And I loving love Trilliums:  Random bridge over Sunday Creek in the middle of the woods:  And these guys, which I don't know what they are:  Really appreciated having boardwalk over the swampiest areas:  Speaking of Burr Oak/wildcat Hollow, any goons here doing the Eggs hike? Debating on what to sign up for, tempted to go for the 40 miler this year, which I think starts out at midnight Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 04:12 on May 11, 2018 |
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May 11, 2018 04:08
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Verman posted:
One of my hiking buddies has a great story about this. Basically him and his wife were staying at this campground in Tennessee, and it was getting late. Most of the other people had already turned in for the night except for another couple across the way, who were sitting in their tent, playing cards. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a big black cat with a stripe down its back waddle up to his camp and start sniffing around. Realizing it was a skunk, they just left it alone until it lost interest and wandered off to the next camp, where he hears someone yelling "Honey, get the broom!" Thankfully, even though that very nearly ended very badly for everyone in the entire campground, Jeff was able to talk the guy down. A few minutes later he sees a light bobbing down the trail and shining at people's campsites one by one, so he walked over to see what the deal was. Soon as he walks up, the guy with the lights goes, "Have you seen him mister? I've been tracking the biggest black bear I ever seen!" Soon as he said that he looks at the tent with the couple playing cards and notices a big black shadow snuffling beside the tent, so he decides to go over and tell the couple just in case they have food or something inside the tent. He walks up to the tent and says "Excuse me". The guy unzipped the tent and poked his head out, and Jeff said "Look, I don't want to freak you out, but just so you know there's a bear sniffing around your campsite." Soon as the lady in the tent hears this, she drops the cards, and goes "Bear?!?!" and rips open the zipper, fleeing into the night with her white gown flowing behind her. The guy turns around, looks the bear right in the eye, puts his fist right up in the bear's muzzle, and says "Do you know how many years it's taken me to get her out here?!" Bottom Liner posted:You guys have me paranoid now. Is there any prevention for lyme other than "don't get bit/unlucky"? Has anyone else here tried picaridin? One of my hiking buddies was talking about it, says that the clothes he's treated with it he sees bugs turn away mid dive bomb. It's also apparently much less toxic than permethrin (specifically to pregnant women, cats, kids), and I guess it's just been a European thing for awhile so that's why I've just never really heard much about it before? You guys ever try it or use it?
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May 13, 2018 04:42
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Flambeau posted:
Not necessarily true, I flicked off two different ticks while in the grand canyon the other week. Nowhere is safe  Alehkhs posted:Don't forget about Alpha-gal allergy! I was just about to mention that! I don't know which is worse, Lyme disease, or stuck being vegan against your will
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May 13, 2018 04:50
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Fall Dog posted:This is the response I got from the Zion National Park: That's basically what we had to do to backpack Grand canyon--fly into Flagstaff, and rent a car for a week so we could drive an hour to the park and back (and store a change of clothes, which I could have happily just bought at Walmart after we got out). Plus a 200$ shuttle dropping us off, way in the boonies, to backpack back to the park. Another really great trip out that way is Southeastern Colorado and Moab. Moab is hands down the coolest place I've been, and you've got arches, canyonlands, and dead horse point all within 45 minutes. In Southeastern Colorado, Durango & Silverton are cool places to stop (especially Durango), and Mesa Verde is right nearby, plus Pagosa Springs hot springs are great. Plus out of Silverton there's this awesome preserved ghost mining town called Animus Forks, and you can take the Durango - Silverton narrow gauge coal fired train and do a whistle stop to backpack Weminuche Wilderness, which is just an absolutely stunning area. Ooh, out of Silverton there's this awesome gold mine tour too, called the old hundred. 110% work a visit out that way! I'll post up some pictures when I get home tonight
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May 20, 2018 12:08
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OSU_Matthew posted:That's basically what we had to do to backpack Grand canyon--fly into Flagstaff, and rent a car for a week so we could drive an hour to the park and back (and store a change of clothes, which I could have happily just bought at Walmart after we got out). Plus a 200$ shuttle dropping us off, way in the boonies, to backpack back to the park. Just wanted to post up the pictures from Southwestern Colorado/Moab area... definitely an amazing place for a trip. I desperately want to backpack Weminuche Wilderness and do a whistle stop on the train. Canyonlands:  More Canyonlands (Island in the Sky)  Garden of the Gods (technically Eastern Colorado near Colorado Springs)  Pikes Peak (also near Colorado Springs)  Train from Durango to Silverton and back (Weminuche Wilderness area)  Another shot of the train:  Colorado National Monument (on drive back from Moab to Denver Airport)  Mesa Verde:  More Mesa Verde (Southwestern Colorado):  Dead Horse Point (near Moab)  Old Hundred Gold Mine (mine tour near Silverton)  Monument Valley (Arches National Park near Moab)  Mesa Arch (Canyonlands) 
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May 23, 2018 03:19
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Bottom Liner posted:I fuckin' love Canyonlands. Here's another view from that spot just to the left with the La Sals in the distance Holy crap that's an incredible photo!! Huh, I never noticed the noise in Moab... We got a cabin at Moab Valley RV and cranked the AC, so that was all we heard. Great deal though, the cabin itself was pretty new, the showers and bathrooms were nice and clean, the pool and hot tub had a neat view of the canyon walls, and it was only freaking 65$ a night! I couldn't even get an econolodge around here for that price! I can't imagine setting up a tent out there and letting it bake in the sun all day...
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May 23, 2018 04:46
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Ruptured Yakety Sax posted:So water filtration, the Sawyer Mini is good? Seems popular and reasonably priced. I had the mini and the amount of work you have to put into getting more than a liter at a time is atrocious. I really love the Khatadyn BeFree filter. It's the same .1 micron hollow tube kidney dialysis filter membrane as the Sawyer, but the key difference is that the filter media sits up in the water bag, so it has exponentially more surface area and filters like you're filling from a faucet, only a gentle pressure required. Plus the water bag is part of the unit and fills much easier with the wide mouth. I love the Sawyer bags by themselves though for hauling water. Like if you need to carry a gallon plus for a dry camp or something, they weigh nothing and are super handy to have on hand when you need to camel water. I used them to carry 2.5-3 gallons in my pack while hiking the grand canyon recently. Oh, also be sure to bleach or chlorine your filter if you're not going to be using it again for awhile. I learned the hard way that stuff grows up in the and clogs it otherwise.
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Jun 4, 2018 17:55
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Any other goons signed up for the EGGS hike this weekend?
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Jun 22, 2018 04:12
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Successfully completed the 20 on the Emma Grandma Gatewood Solstice hike!   For reference, it's an annual hiking challenge on the summer solstice put on by the Buckeye Trail Association to honor a founding member of the Buckeye Trail/first lady to thru-hike the AT. However, the trail around Burr Oak was pretty rough this year from all the rain we've been getting, so pretty much everyone who signed up for the 60 and 80 called uncle after the first 40 mile loop, and I think nearly all of the 40 milers only finished the 20. We also had several rainstorms during the hike, which made conditions even worse, especially when you got to the part of the trail that shared a bridle trail on the last half, or the sections that were outright consumed by the lake (which between the undergrowth and steep slope of the hill, couldn't be avoided).   One section usually served by a boardwalk:  This is basically what a lot of the trail was like throughout the hike:  This is actual trail:  How deep that water was (keeping in mind I'm 6'4")  Crossing Sunday Creek was fun too:  ~250 floors worth of sliding back downhill while trying to climb crappy bridle trails (god how I hate horse people):  Combined with tons of downed trees blocking the path:  The last eighth mile back to the campground was great though!  Fortunately there was lots of cool stuff to see along the way!     
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Jun 26, 2018 19:47
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Ruptured Yakety Sax posted:Thanks for the advice about water filtration. Ended up ordering the Squeeze. Any advice or anything I should know before I start using it? Someone posted on the gear thread a great cleaning mix is 30% peroxide and 70% boiling water to kill all the organic stuff without leaving a taste or buying new stuff. huhu posted:Super stoked that the hammock I've used ~5 times split in half as I was getting into it. What should I know when planning the purchase of my next hammock? Oh gently caress... That's no bueno... What hammock did you get? Was it the 4$ vipon special? Can you just return it and get a replacement, maybe with a heavier weave or something this time?
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Jul 6, 2018 01:15
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huhu posted:I weigh 170 pounds. It was a Golden Eagle $40 hammock. I managed to tear about a 5 foot long hole in it before I was able to get out. Thinking it's not even worth it to get replaced because I would rather not be out on a trip and have this happen again. That's a bummer... Probably just a rebadged one from Guangdong province, like this one: http://m.vipon.com/#/details/4971369 Cheap and great to give hammocks a shot, but you know every corner that could be taken to save every single penny possible was absolutely taken. I'd just see if you could return your defective one wherever you bought it. If I could make a recommendation, I really like my Warbonnet Blackbird XLC, or one of the Dream Hammocks would also be very nice. I literally kayaked with the couple that own/make all the Dream Hammocks just last week, they were really great people and I plan on buying one here soon because I love cottage gear.
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Jul 6, 2018 04:26
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Mokelumne Trekka posted:My goodness have I gotten lazy after my last backpacking trip. I mean well after, like a week and a half. Had an epic 5 day trip in Sierra Nevada that was grueling and agonizing but incredible, now I just haven't been doing my cycling and running routines back home faithfully. also quite sleepy. Sure hope a long recovery period is normal, however honestly I was expecting to return and be a badass after a brief rest. That's entirely normal, I felt the same way after spending a week backpacking the grand canyon earlier this year, and also after doing TOSRV, a double century ride over two days. You'll kick back once your body hits equilibrium That sounds like an awesome trip! Please post some pictures when you get a chance... Which, speaking of, here's some pictures and stuff of my trip Grayson Highlands last weekend:   Thought this was really interesting... Because the recent bear sighting, they closed down the whole park and set up a bunch of solar powered electrified fence food storage areas for the campers, complete with steel strongboxes. Thought that was pretty cool! Funny side story, one of the guys on the trip had to stop at Walmart in the way down and get more food, because he left his food bag in the back of his truck at home overnight, and a raccoon stole everything before he ever left the house        Right before we all went to bed one night, we heard a motor and then to our surprise, this thing pulls into our camp:  Wound up being search and rescue, though how they got that Polaris down the trail we came in on baffles me. They were looking for a lady and her dog, who had gotten lost earlier that day and called in for help. However, instead of staying where she was like the rangers asked her to, she wandered off, away from the scales, which is a central nexus with a with literal road access. The lady in question had actually ran into us earlier that day, and we chatted for a bit, petted her dog, and asked where she was headed. She said parking lot and walked away, which we thought nothing about. She didn't seem in distress, didn't ask for any directions, nothing. Goddamn people are loving dumb. Funny addendum, the search and rescue volunteers were half lost when they stopped and talked to us... One of our guys actually pulled out some maps and gave them directions.
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Jul 20, 2018 17:52
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single-mode fiber posted:The last time I was in the Grayson area, I was trying to get to Rhododendron Gap from Elk Garden in a relative hurry, and at a narrow point on the trail a couple ponies blocked my path and began licking all the sweat off my arms and legs, I guess for the salt. They have generally not messed with my tent, but I don't know how many times I've woken up because they were grazing nearby at 2 AM. Exact same thing happened to me on the way back to back to Elk Garden, one of ponies started using my legs as a salt lick, which was kind of adorable until I'd walk away a few steps and it would follow me and resume my tongue bath. Also I was a bit worried about sleeping, because I just had a bivy, and I'd wake up in the wee hours of the morning with a heavy clomping and deep ripping & crunching noises. I was freaked a pony or bull would trample me since I don't have a nice big tent occupying the area, just a body bag with me in it
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Jul 21, 2018 05:19
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Happiness Commando posted:Just a reminder that even though they are cute, the Grayson ponies are totally wild and you should be careful and cautious at the very least Rule #1 - never stand behind a horse. But if you approach them from the front and are very gentle you can absolutely gently pet them on the nose and the mane. Some of them will happily eat grass out of your hand if you have your wits about you and treat them very gently and not confrontationally. They aren't really wild ponies. Each one is rounded up for veterinary care every year, so most are pretty well used to people. Every so often, the excess population is auctioned off to maintain a sustainable herd, and they're just left to their own devices otherwise. Again, don't stand behind a horse, don't try to ride then, and most of all just don't antagonize the poor things and you'll be fine. It's not like they're a native species in some untouched wilderness. The land has been ranched and denuded, and what we see is the recovery from that clear cutting and overranching. LNT and all, but there's no harm in petting the ponies.
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Jul 21, 2018 19:50
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Splinter posted:I'm gonna be road tripping from California to New Mexico soon and am going to detour through Utah to hit some national parks along the way. Probably at least Zion, Bryce and Arches, maybe a few others if we have time (Canyonlands, north rim Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon area, Capitol Reef and Grand Staircase are some other spots we're considering). Is there a lot (or any) free, undeveloped camping in these areas (like just pick a spot wherever on the side of a dirt road -- I do this in Los Padres NF south of Big Sur a lot), or should I plan on having to stay mostly at actual campsites and motels? If I you're going to be out near Arches, definitely spend a day or two in Moab and visit Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point. Canyonlands is great to experience as a drive with the audio tour from the visitors center. I stayed at Moab Valley RV resort in a cabin, and that place was great--65$ a night for a nice cabin with AC and a nice pool/hottub. Moab is just such a cool town, I can't recommend it highly enough! Also be sure to hit up Mesa Verde on your way down to New Mexico, it's an hourish or two from Moab (Arches). That's the home of the Peubloan (modern day Hopi) Cliff Dwellers, and there's just so much to see out there. I think you can pretty much do whatever you want on BLM land, shouldn't be an issue to camp there. National Forests are generally free to dispersed camp as well. North Rim of the Grand Canyon it's also a great idea, I think it gets about 10% of the visitors as the South Rim. If you can get up to Southwestern Colorado, that's also an incredible place--especially out near Durango. Pagosa has hot springs tapped and pooled near the river that runs through town, the Durango - Silverton railroad is awesome, and the Old Hundred Gold Mine tour near Silverton is well worth a trip out there. If you've got time or a 4x4 vehicle, Animus Forks Ghost town near Silverton is absolutely worth a day's excursion.
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Jul 30, 2018 00:19
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Bottom Liner posted:Anyone have any tips for Mammoth Cave? Have potentially 2 days to spend there. That's funny, I just spent three days down there! Paradise Point has the best food (especially breakfast) down that way... Otherwise the food isn't much to speak of. The four hour grand avenue tour was excellent, as well as the two hour historic tour. I would've liked to do the lantern tour, but it was an booked up. Make sure you buy your tour tickets as far in advance as possible, they sell out fast. The self self Discovery tour followd the same route as the last part of the historic tour, you can probably skip that. If you're going in about a month here, look out for the river Styx tour, it's been years since they offered that one and it's only going to be open for a month. If you're going through Louisville, make sure to stop and go a couple distillery tours along the bourbon trail on your way to/from. Have fun! There are some trails along the surface, such as the entrance to the river Styx spring and ferry, and sand cave that are also worth doing. Otherwise the top side isn't that interesting around there. I thought about renting a bike or something, but Mammoth Cave had the worst air quality rating of any national park because all of the coal fired power plants down there.
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Jul 30, 2018 12:34
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cheese eats mouse posted:Oh my goodness I must do this trip. How long of a weekend? Just 2 days? Sorry, fell behind in the thread... We just did a three day weekend, but there are so many trails and loops you can do any amount of time you want. Heck, the AT runs right through the area, so you could hike that for awhile even. Tons of photos incoming, but just wanted to post a couple from my trip out to Mammoth Cave and Kelley's Island during the last few weeks. Here's a few from Mammoth Cave (we stayed at an Air BnB on a nearby dairy farm which was awesome):  River Styx Spring:   Ferry Landing:  Grand Canyon:  Frozen Niagra:     Just how massive the chambers are:   Bourbon tasting in Louisville after a distillery tour:  And a cow at our Air BnB dairy farm: 
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Aug 10, 2018 15:53
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Here's a few quick shots of Kelleys Island as well. It's car camping, but we stayed right on the beach for 34$ a night, just a freaking incredible place! I've been to the other islands in Lake Erie and was pretty underwhelmed, but there's so much to do and see at Kelleys Island, I could have easily spent a whole other week there. Can't recommend this enough if you're in the area     Next time we're going to try and paddle to Canada since you can see Pelee Island nearby  This is an old quarry, and if you look closely, you can see the lines and ties from the railroad tracks under the water:   Good only knows what were in the barrels... There was an old rusted truck sitting in the woods nearby, probably circa 1930's   I forget what the name of this ecosystem is but it apparently only exists on Kelleys Island and somewhere on the Baltic sea:  Unfortunately I missed the petroglyphs this time, but my girlfriend said there wasn't too much left to see... Guess it's an excuse to go back
Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 16:09 on Aug 10, 2018 |
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Aug 10, 2018 16:05
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greazeball posted:Looking for advice on avoiding heel blisters. This isn't really a new thing, I've been getting them from lots of different types of shoe for a long rear end time. But now, in my 40s, I want to be more outdoorsy and where I live now, in Switzerland, there are lots of mixed trail/alpine stuff that boots are useful for. I got a cash gift from a relative a couple years ago and bought some boots and a daypack and we've been using them a couple times a month since then so they're well broken in. Here are the boots: drat! That's a spectacular looking hike! I'm not an expert on foot issues, but Internet Wizard had some really great advice in the Gear thread about better locking your feet into shoes. Try cutting out a piece of blue ccf foam and putting it under the laces on your boots (above the tongue). That'll lock in your feet and prevent them from slipping around. Also how you lace your boots matters... You can lace them depending on what kind of issues you're having to selectively lock in different parts of your feet. I think this is the video that discussed that: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SOE28brAcEc
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Aug 13, 2018 14:36
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Bottom Liner posted:Holy poo poo Mammoth Cave Oh cool! Was that on top of frozen Niagra on the historic tour? Which tours did you all do? We were only able to hit the Grand Avenue and Historic tours while we were there, plus a few surface hikes to the River Styx spring and sand cave collapse. Im looking forward to seeing your shots... I really struggled to get anything decent in there, one because of the dark and the lighting, but mainly because it was tough to pause for more than a second or two as you're hurried along in a throng of a hundred people. Probably would've been a lot better to carry a DSLR instead of my phone, lol.
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Aug 14, 2018 18:33
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Bottom Liner posted:Yep top of Niagra in that shot. I did the same two, and spent the rest of the day doing some trail running top side. I got into KY a day later than I had planned so all my plans got shifted but I'll be going back soon to do the full day advanced tour. It was so great. Here's some from the Avenue. I ended up pretty sick from the cold damp air though after having a long week of lots of exercise and being exhausted from that, so take a jacket (I had pants and a hoodie on the entire time) and beware if you have respiratory problems. How did you get so close to the Styx spring? The trail I went down ended at an boardwalk overlook but the signs everywhere said not to leave that trail because of an ongoing restoration project and going off trail in NPs is a big no no. Yeah, I know which sign you're talking about... I looked at it for a few seconds, and it's not exactly clear whether it's referring to the prominent trail right of the boardwalk or the boardwalk itself. Not to mention that judging by how compacted the soil was on the trail, vegetation won't be growing there for years or even decades anyways. Underground is one thing, because a little bit of skin oil will permanently mar the growth of formations down there, but it's not like most of the areas aboveground are a pristine untouched wilderness that wasn't clear cut and farmed for generations. There's one overlook somewhere in the park that has some aging signage with photos from maybe thirtyish years ago showing a nice looking valley in the distance, but is now completely obscured by trees and other growth. LNT and all, not to mention it's the quantity of visitors in the aggregate that damages an area, but I'm not losing any sleep over having hiked down that path.
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Aug 15, 2018 20:46
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Morbus posted:People "tend" to just take a bus or w/e to Shinjuku and do the ascent from there, which is a far more reasonable ~1500m of gain or something like that. Most people doing the whole thing do it in at least 2 days. A 2000+ meter day is what I did climbing out of the Grand Canyon, for perspective, and that was tough enough. I can't imagine a 40 mile day, especially right before an ascent like that, that's insane... seasoned AT through hikers target half that distance for a good day once they're broken in on the trail and have their hiking legs. Hell, it took me drat near ten hours nonstop to do 23 miles earlier this year on the EGGS hike (though a lot of that was slogging through mud, deep water, and up lovely trails). All of this is not to even mention that poo poo is just more difficult when you're at elevation because your body can't oxygenate its blood as easily. Ridiculously cool hike I want to do myself one of these days, but try and set some benchmarks for yourself beforehand so you can plan more realistically.
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Aug 16, 2018 13:39
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^^drat! Phenomenal shots from a phenomenal sounding trip! Do you use any kind of post processing lighting adjustments, and if so what do you do? I'm just curious because I'd like to start working with my shots like thatGeorge H.W. oval office posted:Just wanted to reminisce for a second on my favorite AT memory. This is amazing! I need to get up to the Northeast and do some backpacking... Moments like that are my favorite, early morning alone with a cup of coffee in some incredible wilderness... Splinter posted:That site was amazing. Thanks! We found dispersed spots in great locations every night we camped (which was every night except in Moab). Thanks for the trip report--Sounds like an amazing trip! Did you visit the fossil shop in Moab or the Old Hundred Mine tour out in Silverton? What were your favorite things that you'd recommend next time I go out that way? I didn't get to see much of San Juan national Forest... Would love to see any pics if you don't mind posting You'll definitely have to hit up the Grand Canyon next time you're out that way, that's an experience in and of itself.
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Aug 21, 2018 14:44
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Blinkman987 posted:Question for Patagonia / Torres Del Paine. Haven't hiked the W in particular, but have sperged out about gloves for below freezing and found some stuff I like. For one, just hiking warms up my hands pretty good, and jacket pockets take care of the rest. If it's below twenty I'd say, that's when gloves are nice for me, and I've found that I really love a good pair of wool or alpaca glittens. Both of those fibers are great for durability and have decent water wicking properties, and breathe sweat pretty nicely. Plus, the exposed fingertips are nice for doing detail work like working zippers or camp stuff, and the mitten flap is great if you're just hanging around camp. REI carries these Fox River Glomitts, which are my go-to https://www.rei.com/product/305045/fox-river-wool-glomitts For single digits and below, these leather Kinco ski gloves are skookum as frig, and about 20$: https://www.amazon.com/KINCO-Pigskin-Leather-HeatKeep-Thermal/dp/B01AT2XQ18 Downside is they are pretty clumsy for detail work, but the insulation is amazing on them. They even warn to be careful around really hot poo poo since you may not notice them burning with the insulation. I alternated between these two gloves earlier this winter when camping in 18 below, and I've still got all my fingats, if that's any endorsement. Just re-read your post, and the temps difference probably isn't helpful for you, but maybe the wool ones with a nylon waterproof shell or something? Honestly, wool dries out pretty quick after getting wet and does a good job insulating when wet... It's why old sailors jackets were made of wool. You might also just want some cycling gloves or something for those temps since 40's are just dipping below shorts and tee shirts weather for me.
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Sep 4, 2018 04:05
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Woof, that ledge... Gives me a twinge of anxiety looking at those loose rocks underneath you...
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Sep 11, 2018 00:22
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Verman posted:It actually looks pretty tame in photos because they rarely do justice to exposure shots. There were a few parts of the ridge that were legitimately pucker worthy where the slope of the trail was working against you as if to encourage a slip and fall down a 100+ foot fall onto sharp rocks below. There were 3-4 narrow spots where a fall would have mostly likely been deadly. Goddamn if I don't love a a good vista just as much as the next guy, but I've had my fill of really bad exposure for a good long while after coming up the Boucher Trail in the grand canyon. When we hit the developed park trails benched in a foot or two from the cliff by the Santa Fe railroad, I wanted to drop to my knees and kiss the ground. The lady who leads the Wednesday hikes here in town recently lost her very experienced friend to a ledge like that, so that data point is stuck right at the forefront of my brain now.
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Sep 11, 2018 12:29
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MMD3 posted:I've never tried hammock camping but I'm thinking of picking one up. It seems like ENO is the most popular brand I see everywhere but does anyone have recommendations on the best entry point for hammock camping? A friend told me getting a double-wide one was important for tall-ish people he felt. I wouldn't buy ENO... At that level you might as well check vipon.com for deals on the finest hammocks from Schenzen Province. With some poking around there, 15$ on Amazon could net you a hammock and a tarp and see if you even like the dang thing. Eno is expensive and there's just really nothing all that good about it, especially at that price. I do second Dutchware, I absolutely love all his stuff and he has a lot of really clever ideas that will make your outdoor life better I personally use a Warbonnet Blackbird, which has a shelf, built in bug net, and a footbox so you get a flatter lay. If there's one thing I've learned with camping gear, either go super cheap or spend at the high end. Nothing sucks worse than rebuying marginal gear and spending even more money Also try asking in the gear thread, there's a couple of hammockers in there: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3817829&pagenumber=1&perpage=40 Also seconding hex cut tarps, it's the perfect compromise between weight and coverage. Honestly the hammock itself is the least important part of the whole thing, your suspension, tarp, and insulation are just as, if not more, important.
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Sep 14, 2018 03:33
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PhantomOfTheCopier posted:Hey friendly goons, what's the word in heating up water for an overnight or two these days, without having to carry around 25# of propane? I don't drink coffee, so this would only be for meal rehydration and a random warm drink, but nothing as consistent as 20oz of hot water every 4hr. I really quite like the newer smaller canister stoves, like the pocket rocket 2.0 or the olicamp ion and XTS pot, which has a built in wind screen/heat absorber like the jetboil. If you want simpler, lighter, and cheaper though, alcohol stoves are great, and the simplest, lightest, cheapest and most reliable are esbit stoves: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001C1UGVO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_5UNNBbRZVGFTS I just don't like the smell, the residue they leave on pots, or the difficulty lighting tabs, especially in high winds, or the time they take to boil. Canister stoves are what I've settled on. honda whisperer posted:I'm planning a camping trip at red river gorge a week from today. It's going to be a test run for future backpacking trips. I'm looking for a secluded spot that's close enough to the road to be effectively car camping without being a fully prepared campsite. Awesome choice! RRG is a perfect first time trip for backpacking... It can be as easy or difficult as you want, and I've been going there for ten years and still discovering new amazing things every time. You can't go wrong anywhere in that park. Protip, visit the Shell gas station in Slade to buy your permit. The visitor's center is inconsistent... last time I was down the ranger wasn't there and the interns weren't allowed to take money so I couldn't buy my permit there. Plus, that gas station has great jerky and other stuff. Also visit Miguel's after your hike, they have phenomenal pizza! You can camp anywhere in the park, but my favorite spots are on social trails that lead to great outlooks. There's great camping up at Hanson's point, and on the rough trail/221 from Gray's Arch. Camping down in the gorge means easy access to treatable water. If you're on top, you'll need to camel up a gallon or two to camp out up there. Most of the easy to find sites are down in the gorge. Suspension bridge is worth a visit, and there's a great spot down the trail to go swimming and jump off a huge slump rock that's a lot of fun. If you want an easy hike down into the gorge and back up, either start at Gray's Arch or the parking lot at the intersection of route 10 and 221 (rough trail). Take that down into the gorge, and there's great camping there. Otherwise, if you keep following the rough trail, hang a right to keep following 221, then left as it merges with the sheltowee Trace trail. Everything is very well marked there. Hike back up the gorge on the other side and make your next right to keep on 221. Hanson's point is then to the right, a couple hundred yards after the big bald rocky top with all the carvings (you'll know it when you see it), and the trail dives right into a young dense pine forest and goes back roughly a kilometer to some sweet camping spots. Hanson's point it's further on of you follow the trail right when you get into the camping area. Very worth it, do some googling and I can see if I can sketch out the route on the map for you. There's a similar lookout on the opposite side of the gorge, if you start at grays arch trail head and go down along 221. Gray's Arch is definitely worth a visit, even if it's just by itself.
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Sep 16, 2018 17:09
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Bottom Liner posted:I use this stove with a Toaks Ti pot (750) and I'm much happier with this setup than with a Jetboil that costs and weighs twice as much I had one of these for about two years, and I really liked it until one windy day, the pot support buckled from the heat, and very nearly dumped a liter of boiling water over my feet. The pot supports are directly in the path of the flame, and it there's wind blowing the heat towards one side, it'll get hot enough to buckle. It's an otherwise nice stove with a crappy built in design failure. Next time you use it, see how red hot the supports get in the center. Just spend a few extra bucks and get an olicamp ion or pocket rocket 2 and never buy another stove again.
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Sep 18, 2018 20:49
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knox_harrington posted:Camped up in the mountains above the Lac de Moiry for the weekend. drat, for a second Google maps directed me to Moira Lake in Canada and I was all gung ho to get a passport and schedule a trip since that's within driving distance for me. Switzerland though, not so much  For content, I really really hate pit toilets. The campground I was in over the weekend had a facility with a clear roof which illuminated the contents of said toilet, and there was a huge stalagshite (at least 4 ft tall) poking straight up from the pit. It was both revolting and weirdly fascinating at the same time Also, the Moonville Tunnel is pretty cool... My group was everywhere so I wasn't really able to compose good shots, but just to give you an idea:   It's an old railway tunnel abandoned over a hundred years ago, which served the iron furnaces in the area which supplied much of the high quality iron for the union army, including the armor plating for the Monitor. Supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a brakeman that died in the tunnel. Best part of the trip was a bunch of Pawpaw trees nearby, so we ate really good that night
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Sep 24, 2018 13:38
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PhantomOfTheCopier posted:... if you're hiking in the desert and not a heavily wooded area. That depends... Pine forest, you're hosed, you can't see your hand in front of your face and the trees creaking and rubbing up against each other is creepy as poo poo. Deciduous woodland? Usually not so bad, especially as most of the stuff out east here is second or third generation growth and not so dense.
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Sep 30, 2018 05:28
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incogneato posted:We're considering a little trip through the Utah national parks and sights (plus Grand Canyon). Our plan is to do it in January, partly because of our schedules and partly to avoid crowds. We're looking for (day) hiking and sightseeing, not backpacking. Winter is a perfect time to visit, it's not broiling hot and you'll avoid all the crowds. I would add Moab to your list--Arches, Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point, and Mesa Verde are right nearby. I just did Grand Canyon earlier this year and I think you'll have a great hike virtually anywhere you go in the park. I think that during the winter you can even drive out along where the shuttles normally run to hermits rest and visit the scenic pulloffs and hikes there if you wanted to avoid Bright Angel, which is probably the most used trail in the park. I would avoid the Boucher Trail though, especially in the winter:   I believe the hermits rest trail is the one in the distance, just to give you an idea:  This is what snow in April looks like:  The view from right under Yuma Point: 
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Oct 30, 2018 19:44
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