stories about hunting, hiking, fishing, and other outdoorsy things

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alnilam

Theglavwen posted:

Nonsense, the earlier a baby comes to know the rapids, the earlier it can master their power!

Or, some kind of harness setup? Baby earplugs?

On at least two occasions, I've been on backpacking trips 1+ days into the bush and seen someone go by with a 9 month old in a front-harness

# ? Oct 11, 2015 16:33

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# ? Apr 19, 2024 01:05

alnilam

Dunno if it's the best idea to take an infant out on a multi day backpacking trip i was just sayin

# ? Oct 11, 2015 17:35

alnilam

One of those trips the lady was breastfeeding as she hiked a really tough 11 mile day with lots of elevation change and some hazards and she told me "man it's like he's sucking my energy away as i hike"

# ? Oct 11, 2015 17:36

Theglavwen: Frankly, I don't know anyone who likes Chinese bronzes, but I have one of the finest collections in the country.

Get them started early

# ? Oct 11, 2015 17:39

Piso Mojado

Here's a few pics from my trip where I tore my ACL. I wish there were more, and but I pretty much stopped taking pictures when I injured myself. I havent looked at this album in nearly a decade because it was such a traumatic experience, but here's a few.

This is basically the trip I took, but I was doing both splits to make another day of it. Highway A is where I got picked up at by the park rangers. These mountains were no joke.
http://ozarktrail.com/planner/tripresultsoverview.php?id=214&activitytypeid=1

The Ozark Mountains (and trail system) is one of the best in the country. Most of the trail is going through mountain forests that come out to these beautiful Rhyolite and Granite glades.

Pretty sure this is the stream i ate lunch at and then subsequently injured myself on

my tent that night. I remember really freaking out because i thought I heard some wild hogs.

# ? Oct 11, 2015 18:06

Piso Mojado

That trip was actually the best thing that ever happened to me. Had it not been for that ACL injury I would have never got into cycling, and eventually Touring. Even though I couldn't backpack up mountains any more, I found that all my lightweight camping gear was perfect for long distance touring cycling, which has become my real passion in life. If anyone is interested I have some real cool stories and pics of those trips.

# ? Oct 11, 2015 18:13

SulfurMonoxideCute: I was under direct orders not to die
🐵❌💀

dogcrash truther posted:

Wow that's a great sky picture. How did you get it? Whenever I try to photograph stars the photos come out terrible.

ISO 2000, 30 second exposure, f/4.5. Then some post work. It was also 4 a.m. during a new moon which helps.

I'll mention something else neat too. At university I'm in a program called ecotourism and outdoor leadership and I also have a minor in physical geography. So I get to go outside a LOT for school. And it's taken me to really cool places all over the world, because I've done field school and expeditions as part of my program. These were all taken during what were either classes, field school, or job shadowing. The outdoors are the best classroom ever!

So I'm basically in school to just do what I always do, which is dick around in nature and maybe make sure clients aren't dying if they're out with me. Ecotourism is really booming now and having people who actually know how to not gently caress things up out there is important enough universities are actually offering degrees in it now. It's awesome.

# ? Oct 12, 2015 05:43

joke_explainer

I don't get cavers. You aren't supposed to enter a confined space in an industrial setting without a rescue team on standby.. I don't know why you'd be less cautious in your recreation. These people take insane risks, especially the ones covering new territory.

# ? Oct 12, 2015 05:47

SulfurMonoxideCute: I was under direct orders not to die
🐵❌💀

Caves are neat.

# ? Oct 12, 2015 09:08

Theglavwen: Frankly, I don't know anyone who likes Chinese bronzes, but I have one of the finest collections in the country.

There's no denying that some people, the people who engage in uncharted cave diving without telling anyone or whatever, are playing fast and loose with their lives. That being said, generally people who are "officially" exploring new ground are doing it with rescue groups and safety precautions in place, and do it in controlled stages, with lots of training. Most cavers will stick to places previously mapped, or will be exploring places that seem relatively geologically stable, rather than squeezing through miles of just body sized unmarked crevices.

And frankly, a cave, a long-standing geological structure of solid stone, is often much safer than an industrial scene. In a factory or whatever, you do things incredibly carefully because there's a chance some nob is going to come by and turn on the thresher while you're inside it or whatever (plus some company is trying to cover their liability), that's not usually a problem in a cave.

# ? Oct 12, 2015 09:19

dogcrash truther

Picnic Princess posted:

I'll mention something else neat too. At university I'm in a program called ecotourism and outdoor leadership and I also have a minor in physical geography. So I get to go outside a LOT for school. And it's taken me to really cool places all over the world, because I've done field school and expeditions as part of my program. These were all taken during what were either classes, field school, or job shadowing. The outdoors are the best classroom ever!

So I'm basically in school to just do what I always do, which is dick around in nature and maybe make sure clients aren't dying if they're out with me. Ecotourism is really booming now and having people who actually know how to not gently caress things up out there is important enough universities are actually offering degrees in it now. It's awesome.

Oh wow, ok, I have a few questions about your school/program. Not sure if you want to get more specific about where you are but if you don't mind, where are you getting your degree, how rigorous is the coursework (and in what way), how well-funded is the program, is it multidisciplinary in any ways, is a degree really required for this kind of thing/what advantages are there to getting a degree, what kinds of jobs do people do, what kinds of field work/job shadowing did you do, what's the job placement like for people in your program, how long has it been around, do people often double major/minor in your dept and if so what kinds of things, like is it possible to do a film/outdoor leadership double major, do you have to learn a foreign language...sorry, that's a lot of questions.

# ? Oct 12, 2015 14:48

SulfurMonoxideCute: I was under direct orders not to die
🐵❌💀

dogcrash truther posted:

Oh wow, ok, I have a few questions about your school/program.

I'll answer what I can with a really long post full of quotes!

quote:

where are you getting your degree

I'm in Calgary at MRU. Mentioned it many times on the forums before, so might as well say it here too.

quote:

how rigorous is the coursework (and in what way)

It's not as intensive as other programs but very time consuming. We make a lot of mock-projects like 50 page marketing plans and 30 page program plans, which are graded by people who do it for a living. Group projects are favoured more than any other program, because of the nature of work after graduation. Plus these will likely be your future co-workers so we all have to learn to work together now. There's a lot of practical work in facilitation, and we have classes where we team up with local schools to teach kids outdoor skills and stuff.

quote:

how well-funded is the program,

Surprisingly well, we barely got hit when the school got hit with a massive budget cut from the provincial government a couple years ago. But in all honesty that's because students have to pay for most of the extracurricular costs anyway, such as travel expenses, wilderness first aid courses, etc. We don't get to take any buses to locations, we usually drive our own cars and carpool. Gas money was budgeted into part of our course fees for our expeditions. Whereas in my Earth Science classes, field trip costs for bus rental/gas were provided by the department.

quote:

is it multidisciplinary in any ways

I would say so, some of my mandatory classes include ecology, physical geography, sports history, entrepreneurship, and marketing.

quote:

is a degree really required for this kind of thing/what advantages are there to getting a degree,

Not really required but it really does help if you want to get in on any outdoor job in the Canadian Rockies or a lot of places in BC, which is my plan. Our grads are quickly becoming the majority of business owners, outfitters, and guides in the area. And the alumni are all really close and involved with mentoring us. Sometimes you get to borrow gear for free too if the owners know you're a current student or grad.

quote:

what kinds of jobs do people do,

Short list: wilderness guides (everything you can possibly think of), mountain rescue, trail building, owning outdoor outfitters, training military in swift water paddling/rescue, aboriginal youth outreach programs, operating kids camps, rock-climbing/kayaking/mountaineering etc instructors, teaching what is essentially an abridged version of our program for kids as an optional course in junior high and high schools, park wardens, wildlife and habitat conservation workers, there's a guy who opened a surf shop in Bali. I'd love to get a job with the national parks in the summer then be a tour guide in like Mexico or somewhere in the winter, or doing conservation work overseas somewhere.

quote:

what kinds of field work/job shadowing did you do,

My field school applied to my geography minor, but was very much "ecotourism" related because we did studies on coral reef threats, the issues with palm oil plantations on rainforests, how the big coastal resorts increased damage during the 2004 Andaman Sea tsunami (the coastlines that had mangroves intact were hardly damaged compared to those that cleared them all out to have pretty beaches), mass tourism harming local communities, stuff like that. We basically just traveled all over, went on tours, and wrote about our observations, and our finals were writing reflection essays on what we experienced and how we could apply our knowledge to future hypothetical scenarios.

My job shadow was my own personal choice, I approached a place that interested me and asked if I could do it. They accepted, even though no one had ever asked them this before, and I ended up working with kids geoscience day camps and going on guided hikes so I could see what these guides actually did. I went to a trilobite fossil bed which is banned from public access and is normally $130 per person to go, but I got to go for free. And log in 8 hours of shadowing. It was awesome.

quote:

what's the job placement like for people in your program, how long has it been around,

The program has been around for 13 years now. It was once an applied degree through a college but was upgraded to a full bachelor's in the faculty of health and physical education at my school 2 years ago. More than 90% of graduates get a job in the field of their choice but with such a huge range of options it's no surprise really.

quote:

do people often double major/minor in your dept and if so what kinds of things, like is it possible to do a film/outdoor leadership double major, do you have to learn a foreign language

Most people seem perfectly happy to have just this degree, but a geography minor is really common. I was thinking of seeing if I could actually get a double major or minor myself in either communications, earth sciences, or ecology but I don't know if it's possible at my particular school. I need to talk to my advisors.

It can help to have a second language because of the nature of tourism, we are urged to learn Spanish because one of the program heads works very heavily in facilitating good ecotourism practices and community outreach in Latin American countries and is trying to mold a few students into taking up his work. It helps to know French because it's an official language here because it's an official language in Canada and the Parks often have it as a requirement for employment. I'm currently learning Spanish because I go to Mexico every year, and I might try to learn French too. Being able to communicate with more people is just a good skill to have regardless, IMO anyway.

quote:

...sorry, that's a lot of questions.

No problem, I love what I do and it's fun to talk about.

# ? Oct 12, 2015 22:22

GoodbyeTurtles

I wanted to post about my recent surfing adventures here but there is a thread for that already

# ? Oct 13, 2015 23:00

Piso Mojado

GoodbyeTurtles posted:

I wanted to post about my recent surfing adventures here but there is a thread for that already

I can't imagine anyone in byob complaining about too many surfing posts.

# ? Oct 14, 2015 00:14

alnilam

*pulling gooey surfing posts off of skin* ugh, too many of these man

_{ty manifisto}

# ? Oct 14, 2015 00:33

dogcrash truther

Picnic Princess posted:

Thanks, that was really informative! For some reason I thought you were in the States, but I guess you've just done trips down?

# ? Oct 14, 2015 00:33

SulfurMonoxideCute: I was under direct orders not to die
🐵❌💀

dogcrash truther posted:

Thanks, that was really informative! For some reason I thought you were in the States, but I guess you've just done trips down?

My expedition through school was 10 days in the Moab area. We did three days mountain biking at Slickrock and Dead Horse Point State Park, then canoed the entire section of the Green River that flows through Canyonlands National Park.

I highly suggest people go to Moab, it's otherworldly out in the desert and completely awesome. Especially if you're into rock climbing, the sandstone cliffs are perfect.

# ? Oct 14, 2015 04:56

the unabonger

i found an old picture of me and my friend when we were camping in the snow in yosemite. its a scan of an old faded picture so dont expect the best quality. half dome is the background and you can see some snow:

we would go camping and then snowboard, it was always alot of fun, except for the snowboarding parts... I never really minded the snow or the cold, but then again, I used to spend hours in the ocean without a wetsuit so the cold has never really bothered me. This was a trip where i slept through a bear ripping apart the car in the campsite next to ours and my friends dad scaring it away by banging pots and pans and shouting at it.

we would actually go to yosemite kind of often. once we hiked down from glacier point to the valley along a trail that was basically 4 miles of switchbacks that terrified the gently caress out of me. heights have never been my thing. heres a pic of us doing that trail, i think. yes i had frosted tips.

GoodbyeTurtles posted:

I wanted to post about my recent surfing adventures here but there is a thread for that already

more surfing is better.

# ? Oct 15, 2015 05:33

SulfurMonoxideCute: I was under direct orders not to die
🐵❌💀

Yeah post about surfing.

# ? Oct 16, 2015 06:22

GoodbyeTurtles

I jave no time, im a busy boy

Will post more + pics soon but here's me surfing a <1foot wave on what was supposed to be a surf holiday (there was no surf)

# ? Oct 16, 2015 13:12

the unabonger

its been about chest to head high and its building here, im excited for the weekend

# ? Oct 16, 2015 16:45

Theglavwen: Frankly, I don't know anyone who likes Chinese bronzes, but I have one of the finest collections in the country.

Surfing in most of the world seems to require a very ... unique, and dedicated, mind set. Watched some surfers off the east coast of Scotland in October a year or two back, it seemed like the most miserable experience. Raining, maybe 8 degrees, relatively frigid water, pretty anaemic waves, yet there those guys went. They'd paddle for what had to be fifteen minutes, getting out into the waves, before finally finding something that was suitable. They'd get up on their boards, and ride back to shore in a matter of seconds. Then it'd be back to paddling, repeat indefinitely. 15 minutes of 'work' in what most people consider unpleasant conditions, for distinctly less than 30 seconds payoff.

That ride must be spectacular, because, watching it, it just seemed torturous. I mean, I like the cold, I like polar-bear swimming, and I'm happy to just swim around in cold water for ages, but when you couple it with this single-minded focus, this determination to get out as far as you can and force your board upon any wave that will take you and damned well surf, no matter how brief and pitiful the trip, I dunno, it doesn't seem worth it.

But then I've never tried it.

# ? Oct 16, 2015 17:05

my new dog: by Nyc_Tattoo

i effen... love mountains!!

----------------
This thread brought to you by a tremendous dickhead!

# ? Oct 16, 2015 17:40

GoodbyeTurtles

How do you kiss a mountain, to show it your love

# ? Oct 16, 2015 21:04

GoodbyeTurtles

i flunked out posted:

its been about chest to head high and its building here, im excited for the weekend

On the weekend it was about 3-5ft and I got absolutely obliterated by a few of the bigger ones when trying (struggling) to paddle out. Had possibly the biggest wave all day break right on my head and I just tucked and rolled in the wave forever as my board dragged me along.

Some sick surf though, I'll try to get some of the video once I clean the huge amount of wax off of my camera

# ? Oct 16, 2015 21:09

Piso Mojado

GoodbyeTurtles posted:

How do you kiss a mountain, to show it your love

that's beautiful

# ? Oct 16, 2015 21:19

SulfurMonoxideCute: I was under direct orders not to die
🐵❌💀

GoodbyeTurtles posted:

How do you kiss a mountain, to show it your love

Mountains don't need kisses to be appreciated, they like butt contact.

# ? Oct 17, 2015 08:30

GoodbyeTurtles

To kiss the mountain with your butt, it's a beautiful thing

# ? Oct 17, 2015 10:27

SulfurMonoxideCute: I was under direct orders not to die
🐵❌💀

GoodbyeTurtles posted:

To kiss the mountain with your butt, it's a beautiful thing

I have a new motto, thank you.

# ? Oct 17, 2015 11:17

alnilam

GoodbyeTurtles posted:

To kiss the mountain with your butt, it's a beautiful thing

# ? Oct 17, 2015 17:38

GEExCEE

mountain: hey

rznvgirl109: hey what's up

mountain:

mountain: u like?

rznvgirl109: wow

mountain: mm i would love u to climb me

mountain: do u have a pic

rznvgirl109: ummm

mountain: how many layers are u wearing

rznvgirl109: i gotta go bye

# ? Oct 17, 2015 17:41

alnilam

GEExCEE posted:

mountain: hey

rznvgirl109: hey what's up

mountain:

mountain: u like?

rznvgirl109: wow

mountain: mm i would love u to climb me

mountain: do u have a pic

rznvgirl109: ummm

mountain: how many layers are u wearing

rznvgirl109: i gotta go bye

hahaha

# ? Oct 17, 2015 17:43

alnilam

geexcee did you stay in ttouch with kilimanjaro after your brief summer fling with it

# ? Oct 17, 2015 17:44

GEExCEE

mountain: hey whats up im 15million/m/co... i love to be a bottom for beautiful women who let me kiss and worship their big warm asses

biTeen268: u got skype?

# ? Oct 17, 2015 17:47

GEExCEE

alnilam posted:

geexcee did you stay in ttouch with kilimanjaro after your brief summer fling with it

nope...

# ? Oct 17, 2015 17:49

dogcrash truther

GEExCEE posted:

mountain: hey

rznvgirl109: hey what's up

mountain:

mountain: u like?

rznvgirl109: wow

mountain: mm i would love u to climb me

mountain: do u have a pic

rznvgirl109: ummm

mountain: how many layers are u wearing

rznvgirl109: i gotta go bye

# ? Oct 17, 2015 18:11

fuck. marry. t-rex

Picnic Princess posted:

Mountains don't need kisses to be appreciated, they like butt contact.

Pretty cool

# ? Oct 17, 2015 19:28

pig slut lisa: irl is good

pig slut lisa posted:

I have an outdoorsy story.

In college I spent a couple summers out at our geology field camp in northwest Wyoming. It was a really cool experience because most of the learning came on hikes or driving tours through really beautiful and interesting places.

One summer we had a project that required me to spend several hours a day standing in a river taking measurements. I was basically living in my swimsuit for 3-4 days. This was one of those swimsuits with a mesh liner, and I guess after wearing that for multiple days in a row it irritated my skin and gave me kind of a rash on my inner thighs. It was somewhat but not terribly uncomfortable. I also wasn't showering during this time because we were out camping. Everyone was gross and stinky but also happy and really loving the project.

The project ends and we drive back to the main camp. That night, like every night, there was a bonfire where people from all the different classes could hang out. One of these people was Mary, who I knew from back at college. Everyone is beautiful to someone, but Mary was not beautiful to me. Quite the opposite. Pretty much everything about her looks and personality was just not my thing. Mary was drinking pretty heavily at the bonfire, while I was a little dehydrated so I was just drinking water. It wasn't too long before Mary began very obviously hitting on me: putting her hand on my leg, leaning close, etc. I was sending pretty strong vibes that I was not interested but she was undeterred. I announced that I was going to go check my email in the computer lab, got up, and left the bonfire.

About 10 minutes later the computer lab door opens. It's Mary. She's come to find me, and she keeps up her efforts. It's very distracting and annoying so I say "Well I think I'm just going to head back to my cabin. Bye Mary." I walk back alone.

I'm in my cabin rearranging some of my stuff when Mary comes in. I don't really know what to do, so I just keep up what I'm working on. The cabins don't have shelves so all my stuff is in my big backpack on the floor and another bag. As I'm bent over Mary walks over, kind of grabs my shirt, and pulls me in and kisses me. It's the only time in my life I've been kissed when I don't want it and it is really unpleasant.

However, I was also a 19 year old boy and had not had any release in like 3 weeks because there's no privacy in camp, so while my rational human brain is trying to figure out how to express how uncomfortable I am, my horny lizard brain rears up and takes control. I sigh, say "hold on", reach down to bag to grab a fifth of vodka, stick it in my hoodie pocket, and say "let's do this".

We leave the cabin. Mary says she "has a spot". I follow her, trying to swig as much vodka as possible so I can get drunk and get into this a little more. We walk past the rows of cabins. We walk past the doublewide where the cooking staff lives. We walk behind the dumpsters and it is this place, smelling of food waste and on the soft slope of the hills ringing the camp, that is Mary's "spot".

We get down on the ground together. I can't drink any more vodka. I hope it takes effect soon. Mary and I start making out. It's not good. Soon Mary says "I want to do something for you" and pulls down my swimsuit. She goes down on me. It's less good than the making out. I look up at the stars. It's a clear night. I can smell the trash and hear the sounds of the bonfire. The cool air feels good on my rashed thighs. The pine needles on the ground are making my butt itch. The vodka is worthless. I bear down and will myself to finish.

Mary moves back up next to me. I try to find as tactful a way as possible to say that I don't want to reciprocate. She's cool with it. We talk a little and go our separate ways, promising not to tell anyone about this. The next day multiple people ask me about last night with Mary. She told everyone. It was the farthest I got with anyone that summer.

Here are some nice pictures of my time in Wyoming, including one where I'm about to jump out of a tree into a river.

The postscript to my story is that my wife "J" was also at camp that summer. We were good friends, although there was no romantic interest between us at the time. Some people thought there was though, including Mary. Apparently that night Mary asked J if she could make a move on me. J said "go for it, I'm not interested." I have still never forgiven her for giving Mary the green light.

UPDATE

I have a friend here in town who went to the same college at the same time, although we didn't know each other back then. We were talking last night and discovered that he also hooked up with Mary under similar circumstances--i.e. didn't really want to, she was kind of aggressive, etc.--about 4 months after my story. It was an indoor adventure but otherwise very similar :spooky:

# ? Oct 18, 2015 03:43

dogcrash truther

Mary sounds cool, let me talk to her.

# ? Oct 18, 2015 04:15

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# ? Apr 19, 2024 01:05

alnilam

lol that mary...

# ? Oct 18, 2015 04:38

The Something Awful Forums > Main > BYOB: BYOB BYOB BOYB BBOY YOBB YBOB BBYO?? > stories about hunting, hiking, fishing, and other outdoorsy things

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