Your Trekking/ Hiking experiences

[zelticgar]

3 hours ago, Baltan said:

You're the third person in a few days I hear suggesting Spain (plus Perú, but that's already on my list). Although I've never been interested in Europe, Spain is gaining little by little points.

These kind of threads are the perdition, with people tempting me to travel to all this places  

 

 

I've been watching the Vuelta and Spain seems like an awesome place to explore. The mountains look amazing. Must get there someday!

[zelticgar]

Anyone following the story of Kaiha Bertllini? She is claiming to have broken the fastest known time on a SOBO trip. 45 days and 6 hours on an unsupported hike after flip flopping from a NOBO. Pretty crazy if true. 

The hiking community is flipping out about whether she actually did it. No GPS, sketchy records. Lots of first hand accounts of places and times such that should would need to be pulling 50+ miles per day. If you are hiking nerd, its a great story. 

 

 

 

 

[Unlady B]

Interesting article. Aside of whether she's lying or not, to have hiked so many days (or more) it's an impressive task by itself.

Personally, if I had so much free time to hike around, I would not bother in going faster than my normal pace for any other reason than to reach a safe place for camping before nightfall.

[zelticgar]

4 hours ago, Baltan said:

Interesting article. Aside of whether she's lying or not, to have hiked so many days (or more) it's an impressive task by itself.

Personally, if I had so much free time to hike around, I would not bother in going faster than my normal pace for any other reason than to reach a safe place for camping before nightfall.

Turns out they caught her taking rides along the route. Whiteblaze put together a spreadsheet and it showed she would have had to pull some ridiculous miles in order for her story to add up. Sounds like there is some mental issues going on. 

Most through hikers cover 10 to 20 per day and it is pretty normal to take a zero day once a week or every 10 days. Some people cover distance a lot faster but I agree with you. If I had enough time to through hike the AT I would take my time and enjoy myself. Doubt I'll ever free up enough time to do it myself. Luckily I live near what I think is the best part of the trail (The Whites!). 

 

[Larry of the Lawn]

3 hours ago, zelticgar said:

Turns out they caught her taking rides along the route. Whiteblaze put together a spreadsheet and it showed she would have had to pull some ridiculous miles in order for her story to add up. Sounds like there is some mental issues going on. 

Most through hikers cover 10 to 20 per day and it is pretty normal to take a zero day once a week or every 10 days. Some people cover distance a lot faster but I agree with you. If I had enough time to through hike the AT I would take my time and enjoy myself. Doubt I'll ever free up enough time to do it myself. Luckily I live near what I think is the best part of the trail (The Whites!). 

 

I know some do it faster / or with less zero days... Haven't followed this since it came out but my brother only had one zero day north of Harper's ferry and averaged over 20 the entire northern half of the trail last year... And that was taking a week of 15s so I could keep up!!!  

 

Not disputing whether or not she did it, although I think the idea of setting that kind of place after already hiking most of the trail is kind of unbelievable.  

[DireWolfSpirit]

Spent the wkend hiking the Porcupine Mts in the Northwest U.P. of Michigan. Very scenic, went to 6 waterfalls along 3 different rivers. My favorite site was a place they call "Lake of the Clouds", just gorgeous right now with the autumn colors and aromas coming in. 

Heres a clip of it from someone for last fall, those colors are turning right now, next wknd will probably be peak. 

I was just out here hours ago!

[Larry of the Lawn]

2 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Spent the wkend hiking the Porcupine Mts in the Northwest U.P. of Michigan. Very scenic, went to 6 waterfalls along 3 different rivers. My favorite site was a place they call "Lake of the Clouds", just gorgeous right now with the autumn colors and aromas coming in. 

Heres a clip of it from someone for last fall, those colors are turning right now, next wknd will probably be peak. 

I was just out here hours ago!

Awesome!  UP is in the life list

[Unlady B]

17 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

Spent the wkend hiking the Porcupine Mts in the Northwest U.P. of Michigan. Very scenic, went to 6 waterfalls along 3 different rivers. My favorite site was a place they call "Lake of the Clouds", just gorgeous right now with the autumn colors and aromas coming in. 

Heres a clip of it from someone for last fall, those colors are turning right now, next wknd will probably be peak. 

I was just out here hours ago!

What a beautiful place! Those colors are really amazing.

 

On 9/25/2016 at 7:39 PM, zelticgar said:

Turns out they caught her taking rides along the route. Whiteblaze put together a spreadsheet and it showed she would have had to pull some ridiculous miles in order for her story to add up. Sounds like there is some mental issues going on. 

Most through hikers cover 10 to 20 per day and it is pretty normal to take a zero day once a week or every 10 days. Some people cover distance a lot faster but I agree with you. If I had enough time to through hike the AT I would take my time and enjoy myself. Doubt I'll ever free up enough time to do it myself. Luckily I live near what I think is the best part of the trail (The Whites!). 

 

Oh, I thought she was probably lying about the actual time it took her to hike the whole trail, not that she hadn't walked all of it. If the last one is true it would be even sadder. I know some people are really skilled, but I'm skeptical to the whole veracity of all those stories if proof is not offered.

For the matter, I've met people claiming to have known people that pulled 50 miles per day through mountain/valley trails.

[Ghjhero]

I'm so glad this thread exists! 

I just made plans to go with my Dad for a few days up into the White Mountains in New Hampshire later this month. We plan to summit Washington by way of Huntington's Ravine and possibly continue onto Jefferson and then return by way of Tuckerman's Ravine! 

I am also hoping to journey up into the Adirondacks with a friend from school, possibly in the second week of August. I summitted Marcy last September and am looking to conquer Algonquin this year in a roughly 17.5 mile loop I've come up with! 

What is everyone else planning to do this year?

[zelticgar]

6 hours ago, Ghjhero said:

I'm so glad this thread exists! 

I just made plans to go with my Dad for a few days up into the White Mountains in New Hampshire later this month. We plan to summit Washington by way of Huntington's Ravine and possibly continue onto Jefferson and then return by way of Tuckerman's Ravine! 

I am also hoping to journey up into the Adirondacks with a friend from school, possibly in the second week of August. I summitted Marcy last September and am looking to conquer Algonquin this year in a roughly 17.5 mile loop I've come up with! 

What is everyone else planning to do this year?

Hi Ghjhero - I just went up Mount Washington last weekend. Took Old Jackson to the Auto Road and ran the auto road to the top. I'm running the road race in a couple of weeks so this was a training run. Snow is mostly gone so Huntington should be fine for later this month. I'm working on finishing the NH 4k's so I am planning on a Pemi Loop later in the summer and I'm doing the Wildcat, Carter, Moriah traverse. Outside of that, lots of random day hikes. 

If you do add Jefferson I'm assuming you will do a car spot from Caps Ridge or Ammonousic? 

 

 

[Ghjhero]

4 hours ago, zelticgar said:

Hi Ghjhero - I just went up Mount Washington last weekend. Took Old Jackson to the Auto Road and ran the auto road to the top. I'm running the road race in a couple of weeks so this was a training run. Snow is mostly gone so Huntington should be fine for later this month. I'm working on finishing the NH 4k's so I am planning on a Pemi Loop later in the summer and I'm doing the Wildcat, Carter, Moriah traverse. Outside of that, lots of random day hikes. 

If you do add Jefferson I'm assuming you will do a car spot from Caps Ridge or Ammonousic? 

 

 

We were thinking of leaving the car at the base of the Tuckerman's Ravine trailhead, go up and hit Washington and Jefferson and circle back down to the car. 

I forget who mentioned it upthread, but the Bonds look pretty spectacular as well. We might have to see if we can work those into our trip. 

ETA: Does anyone know where I might be able to print out some maps of hiking trails of the Adirondacks or the Presidentials? I had a copy of the Presidentials that I lent to a friend last summer and never got back. I've tried doing some google searches for some good maps to print, but no luck. 

[zelticgar]

National Geographic just put their trail maps online. The interface is not ideal but they have the entire country covered. Honestly, I'd spend the money for the AMC Guides with the maps included. Other options are AllTrails.com subscription or buy the Gaia GPS app for your phone. 

For that trip, if you can go up Tucks, over to Jefferson and back to stay at Lake of the Clouds, that is a fun day. You can head out via Glen Boulder trail so you do a full loop. You could also go from Jefferson down into the Great Gulf and stealth camp. Then head out the great gulf via Old Jackson.

 

Any trip out to the Bonds is well worth the time. 

 

[Dr. Pepper]

This is the hiking thread, but I think there are one or two who might have camping knowledge. Any advice on camping with kids? It's been years and I don't have any equipment so starting completely from scratch and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed on what I actually need and how much I should spend for budget friendly yet quality items.  

I'm planning on a few days somewhere around the Smokies, probably the Gatlinburg area.  I'm actually considering the more commercial KOA campgrounds simply because having kid entertainment at hand will be really important.  But if less commercial campgrounds are just as good, I'd like to hear about it. 

 

[drawkcabi]

When I lived in Hawaii on the island of Oahu, we lived in a neighborhood set up inside an extinct crater. Most days I'd do a 30 minute walk up this huge steep hill that was the crater's rim and around back to our house again, but two to three times a week I walked around the entire crater, around 3 miles. I'm a slow walker so it took me two hours to do that walk.

I really wish I had taken pictures because it was really beautiful. Bright blue skies with great billowy clouds. It'd be sunny and then it would rain and it'd be a warm gentle rain that would cool you off, either way I'd be soaked with sweat so the rain never bothered me, then the sun would come out again and there would be beautiful rainbows. Vivid green lush vegetation with huge dragonflies, mongoose, geckos and other wildlife all over. I could almost imagine I was in a prehistoric world.

[Dejection]

For extreme hiking Pakistan is actually a prime destination; very cheap for anyone since our currency sucks and the security situation is like much better (although it wasn't ever bad in the Northern Areas/Gilgit region to begin with) and we have lots of very high peaks, some of which are highly dangerous. Also the inhabitants of the mountain regions make for good guides. 

[zelticgar]

On 6/4/2017 at 6:02 PM, Dr. Pepper said:

This is the hiking thread, but I think there are one or two who might have camping knowledge. Any advice on camping with kids? It's been years and I don't have any equipment so starting completely from scratch and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed on what I actually need and how much I should spend for budget friendly yet quality items.  

I'm planning on a few days somewhere around the Smokies, probably the Gatlinburg area.  I'm actually considering the more commercial KOA campgrounds simply because having kid entertainment at hand will be really important.  But if less commercial campgrounds are just as good, I'd like to hear about it. 

 

If you could rent an RV from something like "cruiseamerica" that might be a good call. Then you have a ready made place to sleep and cook if you pull into a campground like a KOA.  I've always wanted to do that but have not gotten around to it yet. 

I took a look at the Smoky Mountain site and it looks like they dont have any campgrounds for RV's or more commercial set ups so if you want to really camp out you would need tents, sleeping bags, sleep pads... You would need to look for a "car camping" set up where you park your car and then everything is set up pretty much right outside your vehicle. That way you can bring all your food and drinks with you. The KOA type campgrounds sound perfect if you are cool camping out a little outside the actual forest boundary.  Some equipment ideas on the cheap:

• I just bought my oldest daughter a $25 bag from Ebay. It is rated for 10 degrees but that is marketing bullshit, I would use it down to 40 to 50 degrees. My daughter's is supposed to be here on Friday, cant wait to check it out before our overnight next month. 
• Sleeping pad is a must have, you can use a cheap thermarest closed cell pad. Everyone uses them. $34 at REI. If you are driving I'd bring a blow up bed if you have one. 
• Tents are tricky, I have an REI Half Dome but it probably is too expensive for a first time car camping trip. Backcountry.com is a good site. I just spotted a 4 person tent that is priced at $129. Typically tents can comfortably fit one less than their advertised capacity so a 2 person tent is good for 1, 3 person is good for 2, 4 for 3 and so on. Walmart is another place to look. I would never take one out in the wilderness but those 6 person coleman or ozark trail tents that Walmart carries are so much fun for a campground. We had one up in Maine but it finally fell apart on us. 

There are probably some things i missed but if you have a tent, sleeping bag and pad you are pretty much set. 

[Ghjhero]

On 6/4/2017 at 2:37 PM, zelticgar said:

National Geographic just put their trail maps online. The interface is not ideal but they have the entire country covered. Honestly, I'd spend the money for the AMC Guides with the maps included. Other options are AllTrails.com subscription or buy the Gaia GPS app for your phone. 

For that trip, if you can go up Tucks, over to Jefferson and back to stay at Lake of the Clouds, that is a fun day. You can head out via Glen Boulder trail so you do a full loop. You could also go from Jefferson down into the Great Gulf and stealth camp. Then head out the great gulf via Old Jackson.

 

Any trip out to the Bonds is well worth the time. 

 

Thanks I'll be sure to check those maps out!

As for hiking the Bonds what route would you suggest to ascend them? My Dad wasn't thinking of starting on the trail that first takes you to Zealand before continuing south to the Bonds and then turning around and coming back. Is that the way you would do it or is it better to come from the south? Also if we do do this hike it would be after we ascend Washington, how does the terrain compare? Do you think we could complete the hike (looks like it'll be around 20 miles by my Dad's calculations) without being too exhausted?

[zelticgar]

7 hours ago, Ghjhero said:

Thanks I'll be sure to check those maps out!

As for hiking the Bonds what route would you suggest to ascend them? My Dad wasn't thinking of starting on the trail that first takes you to Zealand before continuing south to the Bonds and then turning around and coming back. Is that the way you would do it or is it better to come from the south? Also if we do do this hike it would be after we ascend Washington, how does the terrain compare? Do you think we could complete the hike (looks like it'll be around 20 miles by my Dad's calculations) without being too exhausted?

Go at it from the south, park at Lincoln Woods off the Kanc. The Bondcliff, Bond and West Bond out and back is around 19 miles. It is a long haul but the good news is that the first 6 miles is flat on the Lincoln Woods Trail. It follows an old railroad logging trail before you ascend. The ascent up to the Bonds is not bad at all. Just steady. The hardest part is the mental grind on the way back on the flat section. I'm a trail runner so I've done that hike with a hydration pack and light gear. Got to Bondcliff in under 2 hours and done with the whole trip in less than 6 hours. Plenty of stealth camping off those trails too if you want to set up off the trail and do an overnight. Bondcliff is one of the most amazing places on the planet. When you step out and look into the Pemigawasset Wilderness it is almost a religious experience (and i have no use for religion   )  

[The Mance]

I summited Mt WA when I was 15 with an Outward Bound type expedition camp.  I don't remember which route we took.  I do remember that it was snowing at the top in late June, and the gift store was closed.

Mt WA owes me a "this body climbed Mt Washington" t-shirt.

[Ghjhero]

4 hours ago, zelticgar said:

Go at it from the south, park at Lincoln Woods off the Kanc. The Bondcliff, Bond and West Bond out and back is around 19 miles. It is a long haul but the good news is that the first 6 miles is flat on the Lincoln Woods Trail. It follows an old railroad logging trail before you ascend. The ascent up to the Bonds is not bad at all. Just steady. The hardest part is the mental grind on the way back on the flat section. I'm a trail runner so I've done that hike with a hydration pack and light gear. Got to Bondcliff in under 2 hours and done with the whole trip in less than 6 hours. Plenty of stealth camping off those trails too if you want to set up off the trail and do an overnight. Bondcliff is one of the most amazing places on the planet. When you step out and look into the Pemigawasset Wilderness it is almost a religious experience (and i have no use for religion   )  

I really hope we can make the trip work. What is it about the view from Bondcliff you like so much compared to say the Presidentials?