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

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).

stop and examine weird lichen or trees or whatever looks interesting to me
ditto!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4434381487_4b553ba278.jpg

that is a great pic imo

The only time I have felt uncomfortable backcountry camping is when we (me + female friend) spoke with a couple of road crew dudes at the trail head before signing in to the trail register. We wanted an opinion on whether or not it was really necessary to scatter mothballs under the car to prevent porcupines from eating through our brake line. Anyhow I'm sure the dudes were completely OK, but late that night we heard what we decided were the dudes signalling to each other via hooting sounds that they had located us and were now ready to move in and rape+kill us.

Of course the hooting was owls, but I was ready with my tiny swiss army knife anyway.

'beware! elk have been charging hikers lately!'

A couple of years ago I was out wilderness hiking just as the elk rutting season was starting (very late August) and off to my right I saw two juvenile males charging up the hill at me! Except they weren't charging at me, except in a purely incidental sense; the one in the rear was chasing the one in the lead, in a not-entirely-mock combat.

Anyway, the lead elk saw me when it was about 30 meters away and swerved away hard. The trailing elk veered after it, but probably was so focused on its rival that it never saw me at all.

The chances that either one of these juveniles would manage to mate that year were approximately nil. Didn't stop them from rutting, though. Kind of like the 14 year olds on my school bus, come to think.

I have only been hiking alone once, and it terrified me - not because of animals, but because I was ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED SOME CREEPER WAS GOING TO JUMP OUT from the foliage and attack me.

Anyway, I am super stoked that hiking season is starting again. Now if I could just get this chronic dizziness/vertigo to go away.... :/

so, in college, my friends and i decided to prank some friends that were leading a freshman welcome-to-lol-college camping trip. we hiked out to the shelter where they were staying in the middle of the night, hauling a boombox and a trash bag of treats. got the shelter within sight, and started playing this creepy music from The Red Violin. then, during a pregnant pause in the score, we all let out blood curdling screams.

it was then that we discovered that the ppl in the shelter were through hikers, and NOT our pals---they had camped somewhere else because they wanted a better view in the morning or something. anyway, these dudes were PISSED/terrified. like, ready to kill us: two were vets, and when my friend Rusty (6'3", 220#) approached to explain, they had hugo fuckoff knives out, and one guy was holding a big rock. we apologized profusely, offered candy, and skedaddled.

creepers beware: do recon before you go creepin

the ppl in the shelter were through hikers

A bit of definition for those who've never heard of "through hikers". These are insane people who undertake to hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail (~2300 miles) or the Pacific Crest trail (~2650 miles) all in one continuous go. Takes them about five months on average.

Old joke: What's the difference between a thru-hiker and a vagrant? Answer: GoreTex!

lol! reminds me of harry partch's book of journal entries about being a vagrant hiking up the west coast <3

thru hikers were staple of my NH college experience. once summer came around, they'd start wandering through town, being dirty, and crashing on students' lawns or in frat houses.

buddy of mine did the PCT a few years ago, and i swear he hasn't really been the same since

not_goodwin, u are awesome, btw!
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_HZNmDETrErM/S7ZrTYfvOnI/AAAAAAAACSU/HGNPdbN9hb4/s512/102_9874.JPG

that elk story reminds me of a hike we went on awhile ago: there were a bunch of cows on the trail, refusing to move, staring at us (ever noticed how the black ones look way more menacing than the other ones?). ytth was SCARED but i insisted we charge right through them.

we made it out alive.

yay!

i actually ended up being more afraid when i was driving in the dark and the ELK CROSSING signs were flashing and i remembered how scared i used to be of hitting a deer when i lived in western ny and then i was like 'oh elks are like deer but BIGGER... shit.' and i drove with extreme caution and then i missed the ferry by like 3 or 4 min and had to wait 1.25 hrs for the next one. lesson: fuck caution, be daring?

no, that is rarely ever the lesson

pansy ass

jk i will stand and contemplate how to cross a creek for 5 min i'm so cautious!

more like YOU are the pansy ass!!

PANSY

http://www.theflowerexpert.com/media/images/growingflowers/flowersandseasons/winterflowers/pansy/pansies.jpg

l-r: tza and her stupid pansy pals

consider the pansies

look at this fukkin pansy

lol

From last August. My campsite after a thunder-and-hail storm:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4494915541_7ee0dac975_b.jpg

wow!

omg the scenery is gorgeous as fuck!

cascades?

it looks like some fantasy dream world

It's the eagle cap wilderness in NE Oregon. Not easy to get to. Yup, it's gorgeous as fuck. One of my all time favorite haunts.

I think you posted a wdyll photo from that spot cause I realized that I live pretty close to the Wallowas and haven't been there yet.

i want to go to there

;_;

xpost

Yeah. I put up a WDYLL pic of me at Wonker Pass in the southern part of the Wallowas, maybe last Sept. I've just been pining away for them lately and thought I'd share part of the reason why with ILX.

some friends have been down there a couple of times but we got snowed out the one time we tried; I really want to do it this summer some time

i have not actually been hiking since getting back to tennessee, but in anticipation of it i went and bought myself the nicest hiking boots i have ever owned in my life. they're still stiff as hell, i'm wearing them around town to break them in a little. so sweet though. i feel sort of guilty about spending so much money, so i need to take some real hikes to justify it.

wowza, nice kicks! i've been hiking in trail runners for so long i can't imagine wearing boots anymore.

don't feel guilty! good footwear makes SO much difference! i think my hikes since i got my current boots have been like 10x more enjoyable just because my feet are happier.

yeah, on one hand at the level i'm likely to use these things there's no real need for them. but also because of that, i figure they should last me a good long time. and feel good doing it.

my hiking boots got took while drying in front of the lodge I worked at :(

sneaker man ever since

wow: http://perpetualweekend.com/wordpress/?p=333

Great shot and place Aimless!

wow: http://perpetualweekend.com/wordpress/?p=333

― caek, Tuesday, April 6, 2010 9:27 AM (49 minutes ago) Bookmark

wowowowowowowowowo

i know.