i dont know how to calculate elevation gain but it was mostly an easy hike with a couple uphill climbs, i.e. definitely climbed straight up pine mountain
― (b)admin (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:16 (fifteen years ago) link
xpost i did not know that
i want to hike the Tennessee Valley at some point, but the other parts of the headlands i saw weren't super exciting
― "the whale saw her" (gabbneb), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:17 (fifteen years ago) link
guys!http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m163/bl82/ColcaCanyon.jpg;omg
― ricardos montalban (tehresa), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:21 (fifteen years ago) link
it's true that hiking the smokies is not like hiking the tetons or rockies (or i assume so, i haven't done any western hiking except walking up camelback mountain in phoenix). a lot of southern appalachian/cumberland hikes are sort of just uphill walks in the woods with occasional spectacular views. but they're really nice walks in the woods.
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:22 (fifteen years ago) link
i dont want to hike a place that isn't woodsy!
― (b)admin (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:23 (fifteen years ago) link
i suppose 20 miles isn't that bad if you've got real boots and just a daypack
― "the whale saw her" (gabbneb), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:24 (fifteen years ago) link
that's one thing i love about the southeast! on christmas day we went on a little light hike/walk on paris mountain in the afternoon. it's nice to have that easily accessible.
mt. mitchell (in the apps) is the highest point east of the mississippi. i don't know what my point is there...
― ricardos montalban (tehresa), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:24 (fifteen years ago) link
well, i dont have boots, i have tennis shoes, and my ankle was pretty fucked afterwards
lesson learned
i do have a very light pack though
― (b)admin (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:25 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, the woods are nice, but i'm spoiled by early exposure to alpine scenery and i want some wow views when i go hiking. i imagine smokies vistas are a little better than most new york area hikes, though.
― "the whale saw her" (gabbneb), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:27 (fifteen years ago) link
alum cave bluffs views are O_O
― (b)admin (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:27 (fifteen years ago) link
were those just something like skechers (sp?) you were wearing for 20mi???? U CRAZY
― where we turn sweet dreams into remarkable realities (just1n3), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:28 (fifteen years ago) link
yeahhhhhhhh i will not do that again though!
― (b)admin (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:32 (fifteen years ago) link
smokies have great vistas
charlie's bunion:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/18/24124971_7c24732bd9.jpg
mt. leconte:
http://www.outdoornewswire.com/v/current/htdocs/publish/public/2008/06/1213742981/cliff%20top.JPG
but then on the hikes up you also get things like this:
http://greek.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/g/guardian75/435.jpg
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:35 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah, those don't do much for me
katahdin and maybe jay peak are probably the most interesting things in the east, as far as i can tell, but it's probably just as easy to go west as it is to get to them from where i am
― "the whale saw her" (gabbneb), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:36 (fifteen years ago) link
thats the kinda stuff i love, the interior stuff
― (b)admin (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 06:36 (fifteen years ago) link
do y'all use poles at all? i never have
― (b)admin (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 07:01 (fifteen years ago) link
also:
esbit stoves: yay or nayrecommend a camp stove?
― (b)admin (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 11:40 (fifteen years ago) link
jordan asked me if i wanted poles, since i'm fairly clumsy over rough terrain, but i refused since only corny old ppl use them
― where we turn sweet dreams into remarkable realities (just1n3), Sunday, 17 May 2009 16:50 (fifteen years ago) link
btw: jordan says nay to esbit stoves (they stink and take a long time to boil water); the optimus crux or the MSR pocket rocket are 2 of his recommendations - super small stoves, fairly cheap for what they are.
― where we turn sweet dreams into remarkable realities (just1n3), Sunday, 17 May 2009 16:52 (fifteen years ago) link
if hiking poles are corny, that's what i want to be
never used one myself tho
― "the whale saw her" (gabbneb), Sunday, 17 May 2009 16:53 (fifteen years ago) link
Was meant to be going up Ben Lomond yesterday but the weather was rubbish, will do it next time the weather is half-decent on a Saturday. Summit view looks nice:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/13462/Ben%20Lomond%20018.jpg
― languid samuel l. jackson (jim), Sunday, 17 May 2009 16:55 (fifteen years ago) link
I've never used poles, but my hiking buddy does, and says they distribute the work load of hiking all around your body so that you don't end up with gargantuan legs and skinny arms.
― phil ochsymuzak (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 20:23 (fifteen years ago) link
so that's why
― "the whale saw her" (gabbneb), Sunday, 17 May 2009 20:27 (fifteen years ago) link
i guess! he might be nuts
― phil ochsymuzak (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 20:34 (fifteen years ago) link
I should really get a pole, last time I went hiking my calf muscles were absolutely pummeled. I've got a sweet walking-stick but it was my granddad's and I don't really want to take it up a mountain in case I lose it or whatever.
― languid samuel l. jackson (jim), Sunday, 17 May 2009 20:35 (fifteen years ago) link
Poles are also supposed to take some of the impact off of your knees, which is why they interest me as my knees are completely shot.
― problem chimp (Porkpie), Sunday, 17 May 2009 21:07 (fifteen years ago) link
My left ankle is the only thing that gives me any real trouble, although after a very long hike my whole lower left side is sore in the joints (ankle, knee, hip). I am certain that I walk stupid.
― phil ochsymuzak (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 21:09 (fifteen years ago) link
hahaha
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/tt313/rutherfordmills/881of1.jpg
― phil ochsymuzak (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 21:52 (fifteen years ago) link
i want to hike breakneck ridge some time in the next coupla weeks
― "the whale saw her" (gabbneb), Sunday, 17 May 2009 22:14 (fifteen years ago) link
aw that was one of my friend's favorites when he lived in beacon!i never went :(
― ricardos montalban (tehresa), Sunday, 17 May 2009 22:17 (fifteen years ago) link
out shufflin, same clothes for days
― "the whale saw her" (gabbneb), Sunday, 17 May 2009 22:41 (fifteen years ago) link
!!!!! hahaha
― phil ochsymuzak (roxymuzak), Sunday, 17 May 2009 22:43 (fifteen years ago) link
i always use poles when i'm backpacking. i usually don't take them if i'm just going hiking unless i know the hike is going to be especially rocky or steep.
― hokey pokey squiggle tops (ytth), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:04 (fifteen years ago) link
also, i always use a hydration pack... tza said that makes me lame, but i can't stand carrying water bottles.
― hokey pokey squiggle tops (ytth), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:05 (fifteen years ago) link
i was always jealous of my friends' water packs. carrying bottles sucks.
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:17 (fifteen years ago) link
i dont get the water packs, how can that work
― phil ochsymuzak (roxymuzak), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:17 (fifteen years ago) link
not trying to be tuomas here
― phil ochsymuzak (roxymuzak), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:18 (fifteen years ago) link
it goes on your back, eazy-peazy. less hassles than nalgene bottles knocking around. (whoa rei is selling a 70-oz.er for cheap. i think that's what my friend has.)
anybody use portable water filters? one of my friends had one that we all used, it seemed to work fine. (i.e., nobody ever got sick.)
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:22 (fifteen years ago) link
lol i didnt say it made you lame! i just noticed it in the picture and loled bc my dad and yuppie sister are all 'ooooh camelbacks!' i see their benefit - mostly for my dad, who bikes a lot. actually kinda sad that if i wanted to use one hiking in peru it'd require filling a pack with bottled water. oy.
― ricardos montalban (tehresa), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:22 (fifteen years ago) link
where did you use it, tipsy?
― ricardos montalban (tehresa), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:23 (fifteen years ago) link
oh nm i understand that i thought yall were talking about those weird hydration tabs
― phil ochsymuzak (roxymuzak), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:24 (fifteen years ago) link
used the filter in the smokies and in big south fork. just stuck it in some creeks. water looked clean, tasted clean. pretty handy.
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:26 (fifteen years ago) link
i used an MSR miniworks for a while, but i just replaced it with a platypus gravity filter (half the weight, and way more convenient to use). i'm paranoid about drinking unfiltered water, and i even carry chlorine dioxide tablets in case the water looks really nasty (i've only ever used them one time, though).
― hokey pokey squiggle tops (ytth), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:28 (fifteen years ago) link
i'm guessing most water filter Cos would tell you their filters are fine for south america but somehow i do not trust that so i suspect i will just stick to bottled water as wasteful and annoying as that seems.
― ricardos montalban (tehresa), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:28 (fifteen years ago) link
xp to tza- i know you didn't say that, but it actually sounded kinder than "tza laughed at a picture of me wearing my hydration pack."
― hokey pokey squiggle tops (ytth), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:29 (fifteen years ago) link
also, filters don't filter out viruses (no companies claim that they do), so if you really were going to drink from a water source you found, you'd need some sort of chemical additive as well.
― hokey pokey squiggle tops (ytth), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:30 (fifteen years ago) link
(or you could boil it.)
― hokey pokey squiggle tops (ytth), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:31 (fifteen years ago) link
well i'd definitely not drink from still water. running water though i guess doesn't freak me out too much. partly because i grew up playing in the woods and drinking out of creeks (even though my mom said not to).
i think we used this filter, but i don't remember for sure.
and yeah, i'd be more paranoid in south america too i guess -- even though there might not be any logical reason to be. (i don't honestly know. everything you hear about bad water in the south seems to be to do with public water systems. is mountain water in peru really dirtier than mountain water in the u.s.? i have no idea.)
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Monday, 18 May 2009 05:34 (fifteen years ago) link
ohhhh mannnnnnnnnn you guys i wanna cry suddenly my family is like 'altitude is too bad we can't hike colca we have to do it on a bus tour' and i want to cry :(
― ricardos montalban (tehresa), Tuesday, 19 May 2009 01:24 (fifteen years ago) link