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

ytth, I guess I think of hikes as longer? Although that straight up first part definitely kicked my butt!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7074/7270948604_d94f8cf583_o.jpg

SUP

dang where is that

glacier montana

my tentsite
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8158/7270951664_d0677ff375_o.jpg

sweet hammock - i've always wanted to try one of those but i [embarrassing] exceed the weight limit [/embarrassing]

i think they make clydesdale versions, u should investigate cuz they are hell of comfortable

this trail was neat
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7087/7270947916_bd6802e7f6_o.jpg

Jealous!

so when your kid finally pesters you into a pee break in a very narrow canyon bottom, think twice. i looked for a wide-ish spot with some grass and greenery to shield him and when we got about 15 ft off the side of the trail, the grass 5 ft to my front/left rustled and then "vvvvvvvVVZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!" ay yi yi. RETREAT!

i ride and run in that park a lot and it is busy, and i know there are rattlers, but it still scared the shit out of me and my 6 and 8 y/o. the 8 y/o had a better angle and actually could see it.

on the upside no body peed themselves and the kids were so adrenalized and excited that the next 4 miles were complaint-free.

I signed up for an intro climbing class at what is apparently some sort of nationally-known mega-indoor-climbing gym in Rockville! Excited!

Husband has a jacked up shoulder and thinks climbing may not work for him--ppl who have climbed before, is this true or are there work-arounds?

I've been hiking some more since the start of June. A 15-miler and a 12.5-miler, plus a variety of 6 or 7 mile hikes with my wife. All of them very fun. Looking forward to getting out for multiple nights in July and August.

Just got back from a trip to the UP, where I hiked a lot and saw lots of stuff including this totally upturned root system. Is this common? I've never seen anything like it before.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7255/7556740162_38ca02b361.jpg

here's a better picture
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8025/7556731050_6df091b65f_z.jpg

those are not uncommon

huh. well now i have seen one.

spent the better part of june ridin freight and hitchin and hiking in the northwest. here's an inlet near a forest that we slept in.
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/282708_672452118444_926733131_n.jpg

Hi, LL. Here in the pacific northwest we have tons of Douglas fir trees. When they are blown over their rootballs are less shallow and less spread out than the tree roots you photographed.

ttitt, that is beautiful. Looks to be in WA. Be careful riding those freights!

aimless, it is in washington, outside of Olympia.

and thanks for the well-wishes, it actually isn't *as dangerous* as it is made out to be. driving is actually more dangerous, in all likelihood.

If you ride freight only in safe perches, like inside an empty boxcar or in the seat of an auto you find unlocked on an auto carrier car, and if you only get on and off while the train is stationary, then ok, safe enough. Riding in the open, e.g. on flatbed cars, or getting on or off a moving train are big no-nos in terms of safety!

I took a nice hike yesterday in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness near Mt. Hood. After climbing about 1000 ft of elevation I entered a bank of clouds and stayed there the rest of the afternoon until I got back down. The whole hike was 10 1/2 miles round trip and gained 3100 ft of elevation from bottom to top.

The trail in fog.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8424/7604861760_1553f554e7_z.jpg

My lunch spot at the top of Huckleberry Mt.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8022/7604862680_58486c655d_z.jpg

Some bear grass in bloom at the top of the mountain.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8425/7604862982_55d0be1351_z.jpg

This Washington Lily had a resident spider.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7259/7604861640_a669854dc4_z.jpg

This is probably the most amazingly beautiful fungus I have ever seen!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8016/7604862026_4e1499c979_z.jpg

Finally, a Columbia Tiger Lily in its full glory.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8018/7604861900_9fc3d4657b_z.jpg

amazing fungi!! great pics all around, really beautiful.

Earlier today I learned that the 'fungus' pictured above is actually a 'gnome plant', which is a parasite on detritus. Instead of being a fungus it is a plant and shares the same family as 'indian pipe'. Quite rare, apparently.

cool stuff!

If you want to look it up, the latin name is: Hemitomes congestum. I now feel quite privileged and special, as if I saw an okapi in the wild.

It's me again.

Last week my wife and I camped at Newberry Crater National Monument in central Oregon. The monument comprises the collapsed caldera of what was once the largest volcano in Oregon. There are now two huge lakes inside the caldera, much like Crater Lake, but not quite as spectacular -- and much less well known. We hiked some each day we were there.

Here is a photo of some whitebark pines growing up on the rim of the crater.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8150/7660073594_bf86214ce6_z.jpg

aimless, next time i'm up there, i'd like to take a short hike with ya.

RMNP
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr222/Chass3ur/IMG_0151.jpg
dream lake
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr222/Chass3ur/IMG_0141.jpg
inhabitant, one of scores hanging by the shore (10-13")
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr222/Chass3ur/IMG_0144.jpg
on the trail
http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr222/Chass3ur/IMG_0137.jpg

I went out for my first real hike of the year today, an 8 mile loop with 2600 feet of elevation gain. Very nice blue-sky weather, although I climbed up to where there was still snow on the ground and the wind chill was probably close to freezing. I was up in the mountains flanking the Columbia River Gorge, at a place called Nick Eaton Ridge.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8528/8543168307_0c91192624_z.jpg

I came home and made my wife a mushroom-and-thyme souffle, steamed brocolli (sry vg) and baked potatoes for supper.

Went to Deep Creek hot springs on the north side of the San Barnardino mtns yesterday, 2 miles each way, with only a 1000' elevation gain, but I was exhausted doing the uphill on the way out. 4 hours of soaking beforehand didn't help.

This is the river next to the springs.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/nickn/DCHS1a.jpg

As is this. We crossed here - mid-thigh deep, and cold.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/nickn/DCHS2a.jpg

And this is some of the group in the pools. It's really a nice area, water is not sulpherous, and the hot ones are nicely hot.
There are more pools, and I hear they get 5-60 people here in the summer.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/nickn/groupatDCHS.jpg

San Bernardino, that is. It's about 80 miles from where I live.

I'm the guy in the white hat.

i've been there! think it was in february, we had the place to ourselves and were, uh, not wearing bathing suits iirc.

Nude is the way to go, though most people there weren't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGV2ADbKpcQ

Done any good hikes or climbs lately, milo?

Sounds like a good day, Aim! I've hiked pretty much every weekend since I moved to AZ in December, sometimes squeeze one in during the week after work.

There's hikes that are so crowded it's not feasible to say hello to everyone you pass, there's hikes where you encounter few people and so say hello to each one...then there are the borderline ones. I tend to err on saying hello even if it's every 30 seconds esp by the trailhead, but kinda awkward when others have decided the hike traffic level has crossed the "no hellos" threshold.

On last week's hike I saw about 25 people in 5 hours, so everyone got a 'howdy'. I always head for uncrowded trails, so 25 was a high number for me. I know what you mean about the threshold, though. Cities are just like that. No way around it.

There's only 10k people in town, but it's a tourist destination and hiking is what the area is known for so even non-hikers tend to hit the trails. Not looking forward to high season, which is coming up shortly. I've at least accumulated enough local knowledge at this point to know which trails to avoid.

i am so pumped to be moving back somewhere with readily available hiking/climbing

You going to be near the Presidential Range, by chance?

bigtime

I hiked two days ago, from the Columbia River up to the top of Benson Plateau. 12 miles round trip with 3600+ ft of elevation gain and loss. Strange to say my legs were not sore the next day, but yes, I was a bit tired. It was my most challenging hike so far this year.

Nice! I never wake up early enough to do hikes that long, I max out at 10 mi.

Wank (German pronunciation: [ˈvaŋk]) is a mountain in southern Germany, situated in the Loisach valley close to the Austrian border in the southwestern Ester Mountains range near Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

^ tomorrow!

I like the next sentence that mentions a grassy summit and spectacular views. Have a great time. I hope it the skies are clear, but not too warm.

tomorrow:

http://forecast.io/#/f/47.4929,11.0868/1368828000

clear, mid to high 60s. perfect.

going to get squiffy at the top and ride the wankbahn to the bottom rather than hike down

we're up all night to get squiffy