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

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

this week I hiked more days than not, had my 1st encounter w/a rattlesnake (thank god this species in particular rattles as soon as it senses you, cause I would've walked right on top of it), and climbed to the highest point in the area. feel like I'm an official Arizonan now.

Panorama from Capulin Volcano a couple weeks back. Was definitely feeling the 8000 feet.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8278/8701691257_23aa3d5a09.jpg

At the start of August I spent my usual two weeks camping and hiking in the Wallowa mountains of NE Oregon. I spent one night camped in this hanging valley.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3718/9580488102_70257184fb_z.jpg

The elephant heads were blooming.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5492/9577701197_9d877270ac_z.jpg

This was my wash basin.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7283/9580488642_886e2321c0_z.jpg

I walked over a high pass and visited this lake just a couple of hours before a major thunderstorm started. I got back over the pass and to my camp just as the first peal of thunder broke.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7320/9580504716_0577af383b_z.jpg

The weather was pretty gorgeous for this hike. I was feelin' it.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2856/9580495372_0969bf1a99_z.jpg

The gentians were opening up at Upper Laverty Lake on my last day out.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3723/9580512530_cb9175d503_z.jpg

Last week I went out again, this time for four nights with my wife in the Central Oregon Cascades, in the Three Sisters Wilderness. We just got back yesterday. On the way in we hiked through the Wikiup Plain, a pumice desert.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3725/9580592188_e37e6897fc_z.jpg

On the afternoon of the second day a wildfire started just 1/2 mile from where we were camped. We saw the fire spotter plane circle it, then about an hour later smoke jumpers were parachuting into the meadow where we were camped. The smoke made for nice sunsets, but we could have done without the excitement.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/9580591922_ef4c6de53e_z.jpg

We moved to a new site, further from the fire. Water was scarce in the area, but our site had a small spring near it. 100 yards from this photo the water disappeared again. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7448/9580591388_499452b965_z.jpg

I wish I had a good shot of the view from that campsite, though. A huge volcano framed by massive old mountain hemlocks. Sorry, you'll just have to imagine it.

damn

i like your wash basin

Johnny Fever or any other southeastern ILXors, have you been to Dismals Canyon in NW Alabama? Super fun!

http://www.dismalscanyon.com/

Needed to rinse my brain of some bad fam news yesterday so woke at 6 and did a loop including Mt Whiteface and mt Passaconaway in NH. Really cool but I was in a cloud the whole time so zero views. Amazing how much ground you can cover solo!

i did Whiteface in the winter once and started too late so i ended up descending in the dark on an icy trail - probably the most dangerous hike i've done, whoops.

also i've started using aimless's photos from this thread as my PC desktop backgrounds, so thanks for those aimless

i am going to the whites this weekend, p pumped, nice to see a fellow NH person here

I climbed the hills of Hollywood and Echo Park, w/ aid of this guy's book

http://secretstairs-la.com/walks.html

Don't laff, I seem to have lost 8 pounds (that will be back on by the end of the month).

Just in NH a few days, sadly. Making the most of it tho. Chocorua today, maybe something in Presidentials on Fri.

think I'm doing a truncated pemi loop this weekend with a friend

Tomorrow I will take a whirlwind overnight camping trip, during which I shall set out a couple of food caches for a 16-day backpack I'll be taking soon, on a 130 mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail in southern Washington State. WA got a fair bit of snow last winter, so I'll probably be hiking on snow for some of those miles. Too late to adjust the timing of my hike, so I will just adjust myself instead.

(yer welcome ciderpress. sharing my pics is fun & I'm glad you enjoy them)