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

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)

Did Chocorua today. Cloudy but the rain ended just as we were setting out. Couldn't believe we only saw 6 ppl all day long. Usually that my is so busy. Lots of fun!

evans notch/rt113 over by the maine border is my main hangout in the whites; north&south baldface, caribou, speckled are all really nice peaks without much as much hiking traffic as the big name ones to the west

Would love to check those out someday. Tmrw is my last in the Whites this year and I am bringing 3 (very hearty) 12-year-olds to hit Mt Washington. We set out at 7. Weather looks perfect. Pumped!

man bondcliff is frikkin great

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/995031_10100299944505606_1136226368780042347_n.jpg?oh=f71e342d4839654bff98740e81819724&oe=5446B99A&__gda__=1413606163_bca2979e3c564c32a48aef66afa7e209

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/t1.0-9/1907413_10100299854416146_6171360858426575833_n.jpg

i have yet to make it out to bondcliff but everyone i know who's been out there has said it's the best spot in the whites hands down

it's pretty great. 360 views, low traffic (though still busy-ish, given that we were there in the highest of high seasons)

man bondcliff is frikkin great

Completely. Can you get in there and back out in a day? I've only done it as part of an overnight.

we did it as part of an overnight, but it'd be doable i think

we did back-to-back days of 13-14mi, and i think that going there and back would be 16ish? big day, but within the realm of possibility

How I spent my summer vacation. This past summer I hiked 140 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. It rained the first two days. A lot. On the third day out I found a big tree.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3939/14926110653_26171ed2b6_z.jpg

A few days later I saw a nice sunset over Mt Adams.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3954/15547130222_a8a401cb5f_z.jpg

When I reached Goat Rocks Wilderness, there were wildflowers to look at.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3933/15522587296_3b166d2914_z.jpg

Also, there were some nice rocks to see there.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3950/15360275077_329a7381eb_z.jpg

I slept in a tent every night. I woke up early. Sometimes it was too early.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3948/15360274637_888ca30151_z.jpg

When I finished hiking after 16 days on the trail, I felt pretty good.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5604/15546282345_c64f562d1e_z.jpg

very cool!

niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice

beautiful! what a nice way to spend a couple of weeks

Today I hiked 12 miles with about 3000 feet of elevation gain and loss up through a lovely forest, near Mt Hood. I hiked to the summit of East Zigzag Mt, which is especially cool because it is named "Zigzag". I'd post a pic, but Flickr has decided I no longer exist and I haven't yet bothered to find a free alternative I can use to link my pics to ilx.

Imgur.com maybe? Would love to see one, your pics are great! I haven't done any hiking really around Mt. Hood, how long of a drive was it to Zigzag? I gather you're in the Portland area? Your dispatches from the Wallowas upthread are fantastic, a quick peek at a map says those are a ways away though, haven't had time to get much further than the Gorge lately, on account of a very small human in my care...

What is your go-to spot in the Gorge? I just discovered the Coyote Wall area last year, and I haven't gone anywhere else since (besides Elowah Falls but that's kind of like my church)

My go-to spot in the Columbia Gorge has been discovered by the masses and no longer is the peaceful backwater it was just a decade ago. The trailhead at Herman Creek provides access to several trails:

• Herman Creek trail
• Nick Eaton Ridge trail
• Gorton Creek trail to Indian Point
• PCT to Benson Plateau
• PCT to Dry Creek Falls

On the right sort of day in October, hiking up past Multnomah Falls toward Larch Mountain is great (once you leave behind the crowds at the top of the falls). Multnomah Creek above the falls is quite lovely and has several more waterfalls worth seeing.

Guess I can't be mad about more people going hiking, though the solitude vibe is a big one for me. Elowah used to feel like my little secret, and the last time I made it out there the row of cars lining the road was straight outta Eagle Creek.

That's another point for Coyote Wall though, tons of trails, very few hikers if any, and plenty of tiny lizards and deer and I even saw a lynx once! Or it saw me anyway, kind of spooky!

Haven't ever ventured further than the top of Multnomah, I will remember that for October thanks!

A great resource for local Portland area hikers is Oregonhikers.org.

best ilx thread title ever

i'm going hiking tomorrow