The Great Outdoors (backpacking & hiking thread)

[ramdomthought]

Not european city backpacking!!!

This is a thread for anything and everything about hiking -- shoes, trails, pictures of where you've been, souveniers you have, patches you've sewn onto a backpack from all of your trips, places you want to go, trail journals, perfect locations to take your dog for a dayhike, things to do to keep yourself sane while alone for a week or more in the woods, or anything else you might want to post about.

[ramdomthought]

Went to Isle Royale at the end of August for various reasons.

It's my favorite national park, due to the isolation you have on certain sections of the island along with how much there is to do there!

The island is beautiful, but as I discuss with anyone who is thinking about going there -- do not think of the island as a place where you'll see Ansel Adams-esque landscapes. It is gorgeous, but not in a "photograph and share with the world" way which really adds to the mystique of it in my mind. The island used to be a bit of a resort up in the cold north that is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (though it's significantly closer to Thunder Bay in Canada...).

My trek was short and sweet, a lot of time to read and relax without a phone to vibrate or people to talk about things I'd rather not think about on a vacation.

Met a few wonderful people as I always do in national parks -- a couple from Minnesota who are running a lobbying group advocating for climate change legislation, the couple who are conducting the study on the wolves vs moose on the island, a person from Detroit who is one of ~20 people able to take advantage of a recent school credit brought forward by our conservative governor (and to great effect!), and a programmer from SF who is touring the world and working for a non-profit now. A lot of advocates who are in it for the betterment of the world and all that -- better people than I and driven in the best ways.

Was also able to pick up Was a very pleasant read -- captured his voice perfectly and a lot of the joy of the island. I highly recommend it, at the very worst you'll get a tiny glimpse of what life for a small number of people in Michigan can be.

Oh yeah, and fuck squirrels. One littler fucker kept trying to get into my bag, luckily I have everything sealed up enough that he wasn't having any luck.


I guess I'll throw a few pictures up -- I didn't take many and they were all taken with my phone.

[zayg]

Did Franconia Ridge in the White Mountains this past weekend. 8 hour 9 mile hike up a 4700 footer and two 5k footers. Wasn't super difficult except for some icy spots on the way up. Definitely tiring though mostly due to the time.

I have hiked a fair amount over the past two summers but I think I want to hike into the winter this year and play around with some easy hikes when it is snowing. I want to start taking the hobby much more serious and try to knock out half of the 48 New Hampshire 4,000 footers next year. I already have a few down, plus many of the other mountains in the state hiked, so I figure this is a realistic goal. I just need a good backpack. I have all good gear except for my backpack...it is an old Herschel bag which has surprisingly held up well that lacks a waist strap. My shoulders killed after this hike so I think I really need to get something more practical.

[wax]

I love hiking and shit it's my jam. I've been all over the US and Aus with my trusty NB1300s. Over 2 years of being submerged in water, snow, mud, dust and sand and still truckin along with barely a lost stitch.



There's a few good tracks near where I live in Queensland. I did the Mt Tibrogargan summit route recently which is hectic, it has an average incline of 60% and you're basically just climbing the whole way up. The warning signs at the start are pretty intense - wear a helmet (though no one does), don't do it unless you have significant rock climbing experience, etc, etc. I was too busy holding on to take any photos of the climb proper, but here's one from google:


When I travelled around the US I just did most of the standard stuff, Arches, Grand Tetons, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone. I really want to go to Acadia next time I take the trip across the pond. Angel's Landing in Zion is probably a standout from what I've done. And the Narrows (?), the canyon walk that's only open occasionally in Zion and it's just going up through the river. Cool stuff.

I really want to start branching out into more overnight stuff. I've only done one full-week tramp in NZ (Hollyford track, South Island near Milford Sound) but that was very cruisey, with cabins and cooked meals each night. The problem with going on longer walks in Australia is that it's kinda easy to die in this country if you get lost or accidentally step on something venomous.

[bird.in.flight]

know any good free day trails in nsw mate? hopefully nothing more than a three hour train ride out as well
not really hiking but i dig walking in the bush round the hills shire

[ramdomthought]

yeah, they've been through yellowstone, tetons, sections of the app trail with me and have been gold throughout

used to use trailrunners but got sick of trashing them every year

[wax]

hey flaxsisters


SO I went down to Bundjalong National Park for a long weekend camping trip with five mates. I didn't take any photos cause my iphone carked it pretty much right off the bat but I'm gonna fill in with some substitutes from google.

Friday

Bundjalong is about three and a half hours south of Brissy, or would have been if we hadn't stopped for some cheeky dirty bird at Tweed and then again at Ballina for groceries, and a case each of rumbos and fat yaks. As it was we left around 1:30pm and got there about five hours later, but we got to see the Big Prawn, so, you know, that was neat.



Myself, Maverick and Merlin came down in car one, while Wolfman and Jester were coming down in a ute with the kayak, canoe, and surfboards. Iceman had the worst drive, having finished a DIDO job up north and pulling about 8hrs by himself in the company ute to get down by Friday night. The road through the park was 45mins unsealed - we spotted a few wallabies (one alive, even), an echidna, and an abandoned crashed sedan.

We all got there about the same time, which was also when the rain turned up. the forecast had been pretty grim so that wasn't a surprise, but luckily it did stop awhile so we only had to put up camp in the dark, instead of the dark and rain. Nevertheless, there was some confusion and Wolfman managed to drive over Iceman's surfboard, somehow managing (miraculously) to break only the fins and not the board itself. Everyone was pretty amused by this, and so we laughed it off and set to cooking some snags on the electric barbie at the campsite. Sadly the barbie gave out a heat only marginally above room temp, so that took about an hour and a half. Another side effect of the shit bbq was that all the snags ended up mangled as hell. However, by 10pm we all had hot food and some approximation of accommodation so that was that. As tradition dictates, we then proceeded to get drunk before hitting the hay.

Saturday

Saturday cleared up nicely so we headed north to Jerusalem creek and the emu walk. Bundjalong is apparently home to the rare coastal emu, and I can confirm they are rare because we went on the 45min emu loop and saw nary a feather the whole time. we did spot another wallaby and some fuck-off huge bull ants though.



They also built some target practice bunkers in budjalong during WWII, which we saw, and which were a bit of an anticlimax.

Nevertheless we got back from the walk and the sun was still shining so we launched the kayak and canoe into Jerusalem Creek to follow the paddle route. Wolfman had the kayak, having provided both of the craft, which left the remaining five of us to fit in the two-man canoe. I use "in" pretty loosely here, as on the way up I was perched on the prow like some kind of pasty ginger figurehead, and on the way back I sat on the stern facing backwards, legs off the back, and provided some service as the rudder. What with the canoe being dangerously unstable we made slow going, but the creek was actually pretty nice, and we spotted a bunch of birds including some kingfishers. We all had a go at rowing, save Merlin, who is largely averse to exercise. We also managed not to capsize at all, which I figure was pretty impressive.



We got back to find Goose at the Jerusalem Creek carpark, having decided to drive down Sat instead of Friday. None of us had taken phones out so he'd been driving around the campsite aimlessly and lucked out by driving by at exactly the right time. Good on him. We went for a swim at the beach and Iceman spotted a snub-nosed shark (not dangerous, though someone had got bitten by a proper shark only an hour or so North the weekend before), but it was pretty cold so we headed back to camp to get stuck into the rumbos and play some cricket. I managed to accidentally crush Merlin's Raybans underfoot, which meant that we'd really achieved some impressive results on the 'destroying each others property' front. Also spotted a land mullet down past slips which was carrying some ballooning cattle ticks, which was pretty depressing, but not much to be done about that.



Better prepared this time, we started the barbie early and managed to get a good start on the snags. Not kidding, they looked great. Unfortunately, the sky clouded over in a matter of minutes and before we knew it we had a massive storm tearing up the campsite. We abandoned the sausages half done and dashed for cover. Maverick and myself ended up stranded at the drop dunnies, which was pretty shit (heh), while everyone else went for the cars. At the earliest break we made the dash back to the cars as well.

From there we spent about four hours in the cars eating chips and marshmallows while the storm went over. Goose, unbeknownst to us, had got bored in his car by himself and had proceeded spend the entire storm hotboxing. When the storm finally cleared we emerged to find that he'd eaten a kilo of pistachio nuts and some of the half-cooked sausages that had been soaking in the rain for hours.

Sunday

unsurprisingly Goose spent all night and all of the next day throwing up and trying viciously not to die.

he had to drive back by himself sunday as well, which reportedly took almost six hours as he stopped to vomit bile at a large number of picturesque Northern NSW family rest stops. The rest of us had planned to stay a bit longer on the sunday, but were pretty wrecked and ended up leaving fairly early.

Solid weekend, overall would recommend Bundjalong, pretty decent all round.

[donut_milk]

Hiking is so much fun. I mostly do short, day hikes (30 mins - 2 or 3 hours) and haven't really done anything long or intense (yet).

When I lived in LA I did all the standard hikes in the city - Runyon (ugh), Griffith Park/Hollywood Sign - but there are other great trails outside of the city as well. A couple of friends and I went to places like Vasquez Rocks, Joshua Tree, Angeles Forest, Malibu, Crystal Cove, and many more! While hiking in LA was great, I did find it to be very "samey" as in most of the terrain was desert or coastal. Nothing wrong with that but it does get boring after a while.

I've also done short hikes in Yosemite - things like trekking to or . I haven't done Half Dome, but my bf and his friend have...I believe that is a full-day hike. It is something I'd like to do but I think I'd get too nervous once I get to the cables:



Now that I live in Xanadu, I'm finding that the terrain here is much more varied than Southern California. It's more lush and greener up here and it seems less crowded on trails. Over the weekend the bf and I went to to check out the bouldering spots. It gets really crowded at that area so we weren't able to see it but we did drive elsewhere in the park and found a nice trail to check out.

There are so many other places I'd like to see and try to hike. Definitely visit more national parks outside of CA...

Anyway, the boots I use for the majority of my hikes are Merrell Chameleon Arc II Rival. They're sturdy, waterproof and super comfy. What I like about them is that they go up to my ankles which prevents me from rolling them if I trip. They have pretty good grips on the soles as well in case I need to climb up something. Also, I cannot stress the importance of good socks! I like SmartWool socks...they really do work from keeping your feet tiring out quickly. Plus they keep your feet at a steady temp and prevent blisters.

[JewTurk]

Gear recommendations for solo backpacking for 4+ days? That's where I want to be at this summer, or at least have the gear to be able to. REI Garage sale is this weekend. I'm hoping for a 2 person tent, a decent sleeping bag and then from there I'm pretty unaware. I was recc'd a 60L backpack, but to get fitted in store for sure so I don't know if I'll get lucky with any of the garage sale stuff.

I have a good pair of hiking shoes right now. Just got back from camping with friends in Zion for 3 days, super fun, definitely need to get out more. Huge +++ for my mental state going into finals this week.

[silvaeri]

- This is my friend's gear list from his Appalachian Trail thru-hike last year. It's probably bit overkill for what you're planning to do, but it's a really good list of stuff for longer / thru hikes.

[iralanwitnuk]

I recently went on a 12 day backpacking trip in New Mexico (Philmont). I had loads of fun and learned lots about myself/hiking in the backcountry. Our trek was 67 miles in total, but we probably did more because we got lost one day and probably hiked 3 or 4 miles off. We also changed the itinerary slightly. I rented a pack from there because the only pack I have is something like 48 liters which is good for an overnight trip, but not for 12 days of backpacking. Carrying food and water was the main concern I had in how much space I had (we had to carry 3 to 4 days of meals at a time). Now onto the pics. Descriptions are under spoilers for some...


Obligatory airplane pictures

[meatjacket]

Any tips for camping overnight in the desert? I've heard even the color scheme f my tent will matter.

I plan on going through marfa/monahans, tx for a couple days but only plan on actually sleeping in the desert for one night.

[ramdomthought]

Will you have a guaranteed source of water

If not you need to bring a lot

[ramdomthought]

A real lot

[JewTurk]

Flagstaff AZ is a haven for camping type stuff. And being so close (within a days worth of driving) from every national park in the PNW is absolutely amazing. Feel very lucky to be living here right now.

Currently pretty happy with my backpacking gear right now, lots of used stuff from garage sales and local used sporting good stores. Anyone make their own gear? Really want to make a quilt.

Over the summer and in the past few months I've been able to camp in Yosemite, Arches, Sedona, Zion, and the Grand Canyon. Lots of places more northern on the bucket list, would love to hit up colorado.

[JewTurk]

Got out to the wind river range to escape a bit:





Absolutely beautiful! Smoke rolled in after a few days out there but it wasn't intolerable. We ended up hiking up Fremont Peak (~13,500 ft) and it was relatively casual, just scrambly in parts.

[Julio]

I quite like hiking and such, but it's not something I get to do as often as I'd like (moreso now as the Philippines is not handling this pandemic well at all, but hey).
I figured I'd take some time today to reflect on one of my most interesting hikes (was about three years ago, though) if anyone's open to reading about that.
Seem to have misplaced photos from the trip (also wasn't pulling my phone out much as I was taking notes and recording audio), so I'll just throw on some photos c/o google.

Some context before I talk about the hike:
A required subject offering in my school is PI 100; Philippine Institutions 100: The Life and Works of Jose Rizal. Jose Rizal is a notable (and frankly, controversial in some circles) figure in Philippine history, and a national hero.
I'm not going to dive into the history, but will tell you that there are a surrounding him.
The TL;DR would be that it's a type of Folk Catholicism (this country is over 80% Roman Catholic, not counting these kinds of movements + protestants, etc) which frames Rizal as the Second Coming (as it were) and combines his writings and beliefs (of a sort) with the Bible, and also works some other national heroes into it.
It's actually pretty interesting and while it's considered a cult by some, it's also a very fragmented movement with different sub-sects who approach it rather differently.
I recall that at least the first church we visited has a matriarchal structure, the second one was a little more fire & brimstone-y.

Anyway, I ended up in a group assigned to report on the Rizalistas, and the class took a day trip out to , considered a holy mountain. This whole area (towns around it and all) holds most of the members of this religion.


A large part of the tour they'd set up was centered around several trails and some caves, starting with a sort of a large outdoor shrine (I think it's called Jerusalem?), that leads to the (Cave of God The Father):
This is a small network of easily traversed caves, which I believe have been dug out into a series of shrines.
The main cave is the largest shrine, and as far as I can recall photos weren't allowed inside due to it being a sacred space to the locals.
Didn't really feel like caving, nothing crazy, with portions that have water about knee high or so depending as there's nearby waterfalls and creeks (lots of this in general) and another point you have to crawl through on your knees if I'm not mistaken.

Where the trip got really interesting to me was on the trail to what the locals simply call Husgado (Tribunal/Court), aka the Cave of Justice.
This was an easy enough trail through the forest, can't recall how long the hike was tbh. Elevation is gradual, at some point you'll reach a stop where you need to leave your shoes if you're heading to Husgado.
Barefoot is the polite way to go as it's another sacred space to the locals. Then you take a branching trail off this point to the cave; interesting having to do a quick jaunt barefoot tbh.
Husgado is supposed to be a test of your purity or a measurement of your sins, it's said that struggling to make it through the cave or wounding yourself while moving through it are signs of sin and such.

So the trail is nice, but Husgado was... Quite the experience. I don't go spelunking much, but I recall going through the (far north from Manila) with my dad and brother when I was somewhere between 11-13 I think? That was several hours long if I'm not mistaken, but Husgado is technically a far more difficult cave even if it only takes an hour, give or take. Unless someone gets stuck (it happens).
You need to be mindful of your entry as right at the entrance is a sheer drop that's about 20 or 30 feet down (according to the guide). I remember being at the back of the line of people moving through the cave, just chilling with the guide and one or two other people. Someone got stuck for a bit so we sat there by a candle, just talking about what life was like in that area. I distinctly remember the guide telling me sometimes people go into the cave at night to sleep on the landing.

So you lower yourself into the cave, right by said sheer drop, and then it's a straight crawl for a bit before the cave curves to the right and up a bit, before you squeeze yourself through a curve on the left and come out another landing where there's a tight opening you need to pull yourself up to, then kind of weave through it. I think this is where most people struggle, I recall having to hold myself up to the cave ceiling then kind of pull myself through as there's a rock that juts up pretty much right in the middle of this opening. that opens up to the .
I might be misremembering the geometry, but it was an interesting experience to sit in the dark and silence like that, having to move through the spaces and leaving candles at key points.

I think the last stop after were the nearby Santa Lucia Falls,

It's pretty beautiful though, and quite nice to sit here and bathe in the water (holy water according to the locals) after everything before it.

If you're doing this hike with the intent of going to the peak, it'll actually take two days (I think?) but that's framed as more of a pilgrimage, and I believe it starts at the Sta. Lucia falls then moves through the trails and caves.
Husgado is one of the later caves you need to pass if I'm not mistaken. I was hoping to do the full trek sometime this year, but said pandemic has derailed my plans some.

When the chance presents itself, then.

[can-]

Black dome in catskills and mt kineo in moosehead lake