still fuckin with climb cuz climb pays: the ILX hiking thread

table rockin tomorrow!
wanted to do pinnacle loop but i think we are abbreviating so as to include some less hikingly inclined family members.

went on an xmas ramble with my bf. it was nice, like a ~4 mile gentle rolling hills thing. hilariously, it led up to this vista that i swear looked out over on a nuclear power plant-esque thing. "ITS BEAUTIFUL," we screamed. this was at ijams nature center in south knoxville.

did yall hear about that hiker that held on by his fingertips to an icy ledge for 6 hours?!

!!!!!!!!!!

maybe it was the sleep deprivation but i found this hilarious today
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs175.snc3/20269_221064296588_506836588_3296159_1772404_n.jpg

</3rd grade>

today's hike up in mt tamalpais state park:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/821832/east%20peak%2C%20mt%20tam%2C%20jan%20%2710/P1010982.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/821832/east%20peak%2C%20mt%20tam%2C%20jan%20%2710/P1010985.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/821832/east%20peak%2C%20mt%20tam%2C%20jan%20%2710/P1010992.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/821832/east%20peak%2C%20mt%20tam%2C%20jan%20%2710/P1010998.JPG

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/821832/east%20peak%2C%20mt%20tam%2C%20jan%20%2710/P1010994.JPG

oh man, awesome!

table rock has so many awesome boulders

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs195.snc3/20269_221064281588_506836588_3296157_6490617_n.jpg
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs175.snc3/20269_221064231588_506836588_3296151_1452983_n.jpg

view from top
http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs195.snc3/20269_221064306588_506836588_3296161_616047_n.jpg

it was v nice but kinda doesn't hold a candle to the west coast! but now i get why they call them the blue ridge mtns:
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs175.snc3/20269_221064291588_506836588_3296158_1420967_n.jpg

i kinda love the more gentle nature of the eastern ranges. they feel more ancient, and the vistas are more infrequent, and well-earned

better foliage thats for sure

i dunno bc like in winter pnw is still green whereas se is brownnnn

love the south's clear skies, tho!

but NE is snowy!

east tn/west nc/southern va is like, still green and all kinds of shit in winter

rockies--clear skies AND green AND snowy. except for the beetle kill lodgepoles-- that's v. brown. :(

how is west nc green if west sc is brown?
tricky.

its a different region iirc

is it???

iirc a trip up the watershed takes you through both wsc and wnc but maybe your wnc is a different area than mine :D

The mans and I walked up to the Greenbriar school and the Walker Srs. homesite in the middle of the night (and snow) the other night. It was so beautiful! It looked like no one else had been up there since the snowfall, and there were soo many cool, identifiable animal tracks in the snow (bear, BABY bear, raccoon, squirrel, rabbit, deer). The snow was so glittery.

aw.
i had a dream about hiking last night that was pretty lol.

so far star trek v is worth it just for these:

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp95/tza/rock.jpg
http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp95/tza/sigg.jpg

hahahaha actual lol

Joshua Tree last weekend, on the 49 Palms trail.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4472704504_1cd36192cb_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4472704642_fb65dcd09e_o.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4471925891_d4b4b45759_b.jpg

so cool

damn time constraints prevent me from going to the olympics this weekend. can only go thurs, when hurricane ridge road is not open :(
i will still trek around the rain forest a bit, though. not climb, tho :(

Few shots of recent visits lake district
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4464762410_4944c305b7.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4022/4409162112_1fd891a6a7.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2576/4461428583_5d6fdda902.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4034/4432384239_cb9855a6e9.jpg
Would go every weekend if i could.

that last one is incredible!

that last shot is awwwesome

Apparently that lake is well known for the air force training its jet pilots there. The planes fly below you, didn’t see one that day :(

how high is treeline there? must be really low because arent the valleys almost sea level?

It's around 1500ft, nothing crazy.

just weird cause when i look at mountains here and see south facing treeline i think "ok, thats about 11000 feet."

i was totally weirded/thrown by the fact that the mountains in WA were as short as they were. i'm used to CO/MT mountains, so yeah, it's a little weird to hit a 4k treeline, or see rugged-ass peaks that i know are "only" 6 or 7k

yeah getting lots of vert over the valley always adds something-- why sopris looks so 0_0

beautiful shit yall

joshua tree is the park i most want to visit in the states

got a fancy backpack finally

The JT trail is actually called 49 Palms Canyon (I forgot the Canyon in the first post). It's very well constructed, with stone "staircases," and is obvious enough that it'd be hard to get lost. No shade along the way, so best to do it outside of Summer.

I've been out for a few short hikes this past month. My current fun is in firming up my plans for a 150 mile hike on the Pacific Crest trail at the end of July.

how do you all feel about hiking alone?

love it

me too. Have not done backcountry camping alone tho.

me either, am doing it 1st time sat night. if i dont post by midnight the following night, call NPS plz

k

don't wear cotton. COTTON KILLS

I also love it. The risks are minimal and relatively easy to come to terms with, especially as I have so much accumulated knowledge and experience by now. I've been backcountry hiking and camping, alone, since circa 1973, when I was 18.

The lack of human company is not a problem for me. I've gone as long as a week, hiking 10 or more miles a day, without seeing another living soul. Some people might hate that, but I don't. It just gives me a better chance to see and hear what there is around me, which includes a lot of near-silence, which is a blessed thing after one gets used to it.

This year, for the first time, I own and will bring a Personal Locator Beacon, a device that would allow me to summon Search and Rescue from anywhere I am. That's because I finally realized that when I solo off-trail in the middle of a two-week trek, there's not a snowball's chance that I could be found. My family would like me to come back, if possible, so I will now take a PLB on my long backcountry hikes. Thank god it only weighs 5.5 oz, since I intend never to use it.

did not know about PLBs tbh! I've got an avy beacon but I'm guessing that it's a very different animal

I've camped solo, but never far in the backcountry. all my solo hikes have been long day hikes. v rejuvenating imo

roxy,

if you're doing it for the first time ever, be aware that the night will present you with noises that your mind will not be able to readily identify, because they just don't occur in your normal nighttime indoor setting. As a result, it is pretty normal to be spooked the first few times you sleep out alone.

There are nocturnal animals out there who will be audible. They'll mainly be such visitors as chipmunks, deer, mice, skunks, porcupines. IOW, not one predator in the mix. If anything, your food will be at FAR greater risk than you will be.

You are a big, scary predator yourself in the view of most animals. However, if they can nab any portion of your food, they'll be rewarded with fabulous taste treats, beyond their wildest imagining, like potato chips! Or halvah! Or peanuts! That's a temptation few animals can resist, so expect them to try to invade your food supply at night as you (fitfully) sleep.

BTW, a deer at night sounds like a huge, hooved, ground-pounding behemouth. Just tell it to shoo.

i bring earplugs when i go backpacking... otherwise, i find it almost impossible to sleep.

Aimless, you forgot to say "sweet dreams"

some knob in grand county thought his plb was an avy beacon and kept turning it on in the backcountry around berthoud pass this winter, causing jets to scramble, satellites to swivel, all kinds of mayhem. took them months to find the guy, he'd always turn it off before they could find him.

aimless, you are a font of awesome wisdom!

i went hiking solo today and it was awesome! i wish i'd had a car while i lived here so i could have done it more. i love it because i like to stop and examine weird lichen or trees or whatever looks interesting to me and most ppl find that extremely tedious or boring because they just want to get to the top. i would be scared to go overnight alone at this point though. i tend to get paranoid enough about things like the 'beware! elk have been charging hikers lately!' (this sign led me to spend the first 30 or so min checking my back for elk every 2 seconds, haw).