Hiking/Mountaineering

[SmoothG]

Quality posts, diableri.

Saw a few big horn sheep, a moose and first grizzly of the season the other day. Miserable weather so havent been able to hike yet, hopefully next week when I have days off.

[laura22]

Originally Posted by KevinTH

Nice, I was in Lincoln yesterday with a buddy for a day hike. I'm so out of shape. The steep slopes killed me.

It was worth it for the beautiful day it was and eating a pile of nachos at Woodstock Brewery after!

Originally Posted by diableri

It's that first 24-36 hours that's tough for me, after that I am "warmed up" or whatever and do alright and do fine with the pack on, even heavy. Big ups always suck though regardless of how many days in. Nice when they come late int he hike though so you've already consumed a lot of your pack weight.

Day hikes, overnighters or multi day and do you have other people to split up the food?

Feel free to skip all this, it's mostly rambling about food (very near and dear to my beleaguered heart these days). For day hikes and some overnighters I just do GORP (for anyone that's unfamiliar with the term, just google it; there's a million recipes and it takes a while to find the one that works for your body). For full weekends or easier trips I take a mix of GORP, hot chocolate, tea, soup mixes (whichever works for you) and we try to fish. For long trips, anything big calorie and small weight cause I'm now old and fat. This all assumes easy access to water/snow and fuel/stove.

If you can get a (or several) friends to base camp for you, then you can go all out. Look for friends that like the idea of backpacking but not necessarily the full monty. What you do is pick trails that are super easy to day hike and bunny hop base camps. Whitney is a perfect intro example of this for your prospective base camp buddies. Base camp friends and you meet at portal the day before and pack them up with full car camping gear, set up and spend the night before you summit. Base camp friends explore the creek trail pond in the morning, have beers at the store and day hike up to the lake and back while you're doing your summit and back. That way, you get back to portal and have steaks/real food for dinner after killing yourself on pancakes that morning/afternoon when you get back. Also everyone is relatively acclimated for what they are doing that way.

After that, the next day you drive an hour over to the base camp area (horseshoe meadows for Mt Langley and do the exact same thing after restocking in Lone Pine and grab another (easy) 14'er and let your base camp friends explore the days worth of beautiful day hikes around there. Only catch is you can't stay more than a night in the same spot at horseshoe these days but it's not a big deal to move.

Couple days of easy, gorgeous base camp day hikes for the lightweights, incredible food with good friends and pretty stunning sierra mountains. I'm sure most mountain ranges with good park services will offer something similar even if they aren't in thin air.

EDIT: Oh, Justin's peanut butter (double duty for GORP mix), honey (double duty for tea) that kind of thing is pretty great and I prefer it to most power bar type things. Not quite as efficient but a hell of a lot more enjoyable. I put them in those goop tubes a lot for day hikes or keep the sealed packs if bear can stuffing. Anything you can get that hits more than one (or better yet two) functions the easier it all becomes.

thanks for all the information. very helpful!

to the bolded- i was mainly asking for 1-2 night hikes. ill be w/ my bf (he also carries the tent). i LOVE the idea of having friends be at a base camp, that's brilliant. a lot of our trips this summer though will just be us

[laura22]

i borrowed a friends self inflating sleeping pad, thermarest. very comfortable. im gonna buy a shorter one to cut weight, though

if anyone has any suggestions for sleeping pads, id appreciate it

[Route_2]

I've slept on all types of pads and find that a bit of extra weight is usually worth a pleasant night's sleep. That being said I still try to keep it as light as possible. I currently use an Exped Synmat UL 7 (1lb). With an inflatable you run the risk of a puncture, but if you're careful it shouldn't be an issue. If I know I'll be sleeping on snow, I will bring a Thermarest Z-Lite for some extra insulation.

[diableri]

Originally Posted by laura22

i borrowed a friends self inflating sleeping pad, thermarest. very comfortable. im gonna buy a shorter one to cut weight, though

if anyone has any suggestions for sleeping pads, id appreciate it

I'm incredibly lucky in that I have never had much trouble sleeping with just a tarp but dollar for dollar, there's very little that can make as much of a difference than the right pad. I also have a ZLite and a bunch of others. The ZLites get the most use but I do tend to tear them up quickly as I sit on them a lot as well for a rear end pad. If I was more careful, it'd last a long damned time.

Originally Posted by Route_2

I've slept on all types of pads and find that a bit of extra weight is usually worth a pleasant night's sleep. That being said I still try to keep it as light as possible. I currently use an Exped Synmat UL 7 (1lb). With an inflatable you run the risk of a puncture, but if you're careful it shouldn't be an issue. If I know I'll be sleeping on snow, I will bring a Thermarest Z-Lite for some extra insulation.

[laura22]

i saw my first black bear!!!

i was in the berkshires in western MA. who would have thought

[diableri]

Originally Posted by laura22

i saw my first black bear!!!

i was in the berkshires in western MA. who would have thought

That's awesome and you got a pic too!

[laura22]

spent the last couple of days in grand teton.... holy shit. if anyone has any desire to do backpacking, this should be on your bucketlist. every step was stunning

32 miles in 3 days/2 nights with an 18 lb pack. wasn't as bad as it sounds because there wasn't much elevation change. no bear sightings but saw some moose which was exciting. Alaska basin rocked. on my way to yellowstone! tomorrow is coincidentally the 100 year anniversary of the national parks....Woooooo

[Route_2]

Originally Posted by laura22

spent the last couple of days in grand teton.... holy shit. if anyone has any desire to do backpacking, this should be on your bucketlist. every step was stunning

32 miles in 3 days/2 nights with an 18 lb pack. wasn't as bad as it sounds because there wasn't much elevation change. no bear sightings but saw some moose which was exciting. Alaska basin rocked. on my way to yellowstone! tomorrow is coincidentally the 100 year anniversary of the national parks....Woooooo

Sounds great, nice work! 18lbs is pretty light for two nights.

Happy Anniversary NPs! I celebrated this year with my first summit of Mount Rainier here is Washington State. That one was on my bucket list for a while.

[laura22]

ya my bf carried the tent and the bear canister/food. i carried both sleeping pads, my own bag/clothes and random shit like first aid kit

id eventually like to work my way up to do maybe 7 nights. but with someone else to carry the tent

[diableri]

Yeah, you did great at 18lbs. Hope the partner didn't have a 30 pounder though. But even if they did, good job getting them to mule for ya!

We're going to be doing some snorkeling and day hiking in Hawaii this season so no big trips for us. Probably taking my nephews car camping again in the desert when the temps drop some more around Mono and Coyote so we can see how they do at elevation.

[DMBstandUP1984]

I really want to get into hiking..just no idea where to start or where to go. Also I'd likely be alone and don't want to die in the woods by myself

[cazzie34]

Originally Posted by DMBstandUP1984

I really want to get into hiking..just no idea where to start or where to go. Also I'd likely be alone and don't want to die in the woods by myself

I'm in the same boat. I've got some basic camping knowledge but not enough for me to feel confident out there. Biggest thing is figuring out my pack because my camping has always been canoe based so it didn't really matter how heavy my pack was. We'd only have to carry it for the portages which would be no longer than a mile.

[DMBstandUP1984]

I was in the Army for 8 years so I hope i can figure out the basics of what to pack, build a tent and such. But that's about where it ends.

[Route_2]

I can't hang with you marathon runners in the running thread, but hiking season in full swing up here in Washington State. Been working up to higher mileage the past few weeks and was able to get in a long double peak grab that's been on my to do list for a while on Saturday. Been fun using Strava/Relive apps to create these tracks.

https://video.relive.cc/1689054371_s...2838482712.mp4

Anyone else been out in the mountains this summer? Got any photos/vids/trip reports to share?

[snake911]

Only short, sub 8 mile, day hikes so far. Been spending lots and lots of time with some long distance/elevation bike rides. Its a beautiful summer so far!

[diableri]

I bought an auction house this a few months ago and have been just doing reno work on it so haven't done a damned thing yet this year other than some beach weekend strolls. Next plan is to roam around Joshua Tree and Anza Borrego on little day hikes out of a rented travel trailer in November. I'm also on the hunt for a new pack. Want a smaller internal frame with good ventilation. I have a couple ultralites and a big expid pack but need a framed weekender with internal frame for camera gear and lots of water. We've been taking the GF's dog with us more and more.

[Gene Parmesan]

Recently took a trip out west and did The Narrows hike at Zion. Incredible unique views, but there was a ton of people by the time we made our way back. Was incredibly proud of my 8 year old son who did 8 miles, 6 of it in and out of the river without complaint. He loved the whole in the river thing. Awesome hike, do not miss if you go to Zion. Definitely rent the water shoes if you don't have them.

[Dave G]

Originally Posted by diableri

I bought an auction house this a few months ago and have been just doing reno work on it so haven't done a damned thing yet this year other than some beach weekend strolls. Next plan is to roam around Joshua Tree and Anza Borrego on little day hikes out of a rented travel trailer in November. I'm also on the hunt for a new pack. Want a smaller internal frame with good ventilation. I have a couple ultralites and a big expid pack but need a framed weekender with internal frame for camera gear and lots of water. We've been taking the GF's dog with us more and more.

I use a Osprey Stratos 34 for a day/overnight pack and really like it. Carries weight well and the mesh back panel keeps it off your back. Plenty of pockets and lots of adjustability

[diableri]

Originally Posted by Dave G

I use a Osprey Stratos 34 for a day/overnight pack and really like it. Carries weight well and the mesh back panel keeps it off your back. Plenty of pockets and lots of adjustability

Thanks man. Everyone I’ve ever known with ospreys and come across on the trail love them. I’ve gone back and forth with these custom ultralites and my big old dad designs for a couple decades now. Time to get a compromise pack and lose some of the wierder ones I’ve squirreled away.

[jcc522]

Love my Osprey pack

[Route_2]

I'm a big Osprey fan too. I've owned several but currently I use the Exos for my backpacking and Talon for my daypacking.

[laura22]

osprey is okay but IMO there are better bags out there from smaller businesses, just have to do the research

i just got a new bag from gossamer gear. it's pretty sexy. i'm all about the ultra-light equipment. more expensive but makes such a big difference on overnight trips. can't be lugging around useless weight

[Route_2]

I've tried some of the ultralight bags, but I find that the extra weight from frames that get my pack off my back so it can breathe a bit are worth it for me. Exos keeps it pretty light as far as framed packs go (I think Osprey may now have a newer model that's even lighter).

To each their own though. Lots of great choices out there today.

[diableri]

Originally Posted by laura22

osprey is okay but IMO there are better bags out there from smaller businesses, just have to do the research

i just got a new bag from gossamer gear. it's pretty sexy. i'm all about the ultra-light equipment. more expensive but makes such a big difference on overnight trips. can't be lugging around useless weight

Hah, I've got an older GG that's great. It's around a 25-35 but I really only want to take it on super low gear requirement hikes these days. I'm sure it's my age and the 8-10lbs of camera gear I'm lugging around now but I'm looking for more frame support. I've even taken my giant Dana a few times on a weekender when I just said, fuck it: I'm bringing all my lenses and been relatively happy. It weighs a ton but the support is incredible.

My ULA is great as well but again, I'm carrying too much crap around for these super lites these days.

EDIT: I should also add that I'm fat, old and built like a gorilla so the extra pack weight savings doesn't register near as well as just being at a lighter point in the season.

[Dave G]

Originally Posted by diableri

Hah, I've got an older GG that's great. It's around a 25-35 but I really only want to take it on super low gear requirement hikes these days. I'm sure it's my age and the 8-10lbs of camera gear I'm lugging around now but I'm looking for more frame support. I've even taken my giant Dana a few times on a weekender when I just said, fuck it: I'm bringing all my lenses and been relatively happy. It weighs a ton but the support is incredible.

My ULA is great as well but again, I'm carrying too much crap around for these super lites these days.

EDIT: I should also add that I'm fat, old and built like a gorilla so the extra pack weight savings doesn't register near as well as just being at a lighter point in the season. :lol

haha yeah I agree.
Here I am on Cathedral Trail last year on my way up to Katahdin last year (knife edge in the background). It was a piece of cake compared to the day before, when we hiked up to Chimney pond where we were staying.
3+ miles in a heat wave with full LL Bean full pack was pretty torturous, and I was glad I had dropped a few pounds getting in shape

It was worth it once you got up there though CLICK

[SmoothG]

I think I’m going to be going back to glacier national park to work for a couple of months so I’m looking forward to some hiking there!

[laura22]

Originally Posted by diableri

Hah, I've got an older GG that's great. It's around a 25-35 but I really only want to take it on super low gear requirement hikes these days. I'm sure it's my age and the 8-10lbs of camera gear I'm lugging around now but I'm looking for more frame support. I've even taken my giant Dana a few times on a weekender when I just said, fuck it: I'm bringing all my lenses and been relatively happy. It weighs a ton but the support is incredible.

My ULA is great as well but again, I'm carrying too much crap around for these super lites these days.

EDIT: I should also add that I'm fat, old and built like a gorilla so the extra pack weight savings doesn't register near as well as just being at a lighter point in the season.

damn!! i would die! that's awesome though, good for you. i'm a little OCD about what i pack. like instead of bringing a small bottle of sunscreen i'll just put like 2 tablespoons in a plastic baggy

Originally Posted by Dave G

haha yeah I agree.
Here I am on Cathedral Trail last year on my way up to Katahdin last year (knife edge in the background). It was a piece of cake compared to the day before, when we hiked up to Chimney pond where we were staying.
3+ miles in a heat wave with full LL Bean full pack was pretty torturous, and I was glad I had dropped a few pounds getting in shape

It was worth it once you got up there though CLICK

awesome!! katahdin is on my list this summer/fall

Originally Posted by SmoothG

I think I’m going to be going back to glacier national park to work for a couple of months so I’m looking forward to some hiking there!

very jealous

[TypicalBilly14]

https://twitter.com/demianbulwa/stat...82215716413442