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

awesome weather today for going up Ben Lomond. October in Scotland is rarely so clement.

http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv105/NAPOLEONROFL/DSC00446.jpg?t=1255834188

<3

reminds me of view from the san juans but awesomer

I love Loch Lomond. Less than an hour of a drive from centre of Glasgow and only a couple of hours hike and I was up there at really beautiful scenery. Bonnie, bonnie banks indeed.

up there looking at really beautiful scenery, i don't think i make a post on ILX without omitting a word.

kinda makes me reconsider scotland!

Scotland is really beautiful. The weather is generally terrible.

yeah scotland rules

didn't know there were so many islands in loch lomond!

yeah there are quite a few, though that is a particularly island dense part of the loch afaik. When I was a kid use to go out fishing with my granddad on the loch and often stopped for lunch on an island that had the ruins of some sort of dwelling place that you couldn't see until you got right up to it because it was surrounded by trees. Whoever stayed there was some sort of rad bandit i bet.

weird sights- headlamps of big wall guys 1500 ft off the valley floor at zion at night.

hiked the subway on saturday- best hike/swim ive ever done by far. geological freak show, rappel 3 100 ft drops, swim with trout and canyon tree frogs. highly recommended for the non claustrophobic.

!!!

scotland is so so so beautiful

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/129/350665814_50f1bd98fa.jpg

i've been wanting to go back and see the highlands a lot lately

where the wellies things are

that's me
to my right are some wicker man feet

this link below has some photos that do a good job of capturing the feel of the middle part of subway hike--although like 2% of it. the scope though- the canyon walls above the subway formation go straight up over your head at least 200 feet of pure vert, with spires and slopes far higher.

also, there are so many little weird things. 50 yard long cracks/channels 3 inches wide running in perfectly straight machined looking lines with water rushing through at 20 knots. an almost spherical chockstone wedged 3 feet over your head as you swim through a 24 inch wide pool. a pothole of water with a hidden underwater passage into the pool a few feet away- you can dunk and swim through the tunnel under solid sandstone into the pool.

http://www.citrusmilo.com/zion2005/ilovezion8.cfm

the first pool swim was 49 degree water on saturday. really really cold in a farmer john with no jacket! i wouldn't do the hike without a wetsuit, at least this time of year. we did see a party without them, and two of the hikers were 10 or 11 years old. i will say TOUGH ASS KIDS. the water warms up only a short distance down the canyon, fortunately.

i didnt have my camera, so im waiting on the 3 in party that had them to send then to me.

that looks really awesome!

the chockstone i referred to- i guess its more like 5 feet overhead:

http://www.pbase.com/bjrhodes01/image/85974253

this is looking up the corridor, the direction from which you are swimming. i could just fit in between that narrows, it is shoulder width. just up out of view behind that bowling ball is a short waterfall downclimb. you can't touch bottom in there for most of the way, but its only 60 feet long or so.

wow, dude's antelope canyon shots are impressive. maybe i'll see that someday!

http://www.pbase.com/bjrhodes01/lowerantelope

that is AWESOME.

omg

so im all tryna figure out what other slots might be do-able for a semi-able guy like me and find this tragic and frightening story 8^0 :

http://climb-utah.com/Zion/kolob1.htm

i want to go hiking :(
i need more friends. with cars.

while waiting for our shuttle vehicle at the end of the trail saturday we saw a tandem ultralight plane buzz down the valley and then turn up the adjoining drainage. we all were surprised that was legal in the park, and also that you could tandem an ultralight, and also that it would have enough juice to climb out of the valley-- it was very low and the canyon walls very high. today i read that it crashed, one guy broke his leg. they had to overnight in the park while waiting for rescue team.

exiting the subway formation, back into the light

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr222/Chass3ur/IMG_1810pshop4x6.jpg

last one (for now):

the shower room. there is a waterfall that drops into a fairly large cave/room. this is adjacent to the final short rap into the big subway space

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr222/Chass3ur/PA170133pshop4x6a.jpg

wanna go to there

closest major to zion- vegas.

if youre into that. we skipped.

dunnit, twice in college on spring break trips to red rocks. camp for 1.5 weeks out in the desert w/dirtbags, descend on vegas for one afternoon of light mayhem

there are things that one should not, uh, ingest before hitting the casinos, looking like a mental patient, and dragging a retinue of under-21 yo college kids

makes me wanna go back to zion. it was my favorite of the grand canyon-bryce-zion trip, but that was also like 14 years ago.

ok hooray i think i am going on this easy hike saturday! it looks v v pretty!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/59/208746564_cdb591650b.jpg

looks cool.

gorgeous and very saturated

when do they get snow at 4000+ feet there?

snowing here in town today :(

;here's a forecast from the hike organizer (guessing that's the top of the crest). based on that i'd say... now! but probably not too much.

ugh i suck at links today.

god i love the west coast!!!
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs070.snc3/13735_158841666588_506836588_2906123_7314721_n.jpg

8)

what the fuck am I doing with my life

I don't live in mega-awesome hiking country, but I did have a very nice fall hike today in Sky Meadow State Park (VA). Am vowing to do more of this throughout the fall/winter.

Oh and who here has Colorado hiking recommendations? In late July. Near, uh, Littleton?

damn it missing a rainier skyline loop hike tomorrow because last min decision to go meant it was too late for me to reschedule my stuff for tomorrow. grrrrrrrrrr!

quincie, depends what your hiking parameters are, and your available transportation. im not a big hiker, i do more bike stuff, but:

deer creek canyon park- 15 minutes away by car, a couple of good loops, but vertical involved. the lower loop is about an hour with 500 feet of ascending. i used to do this with my little kid in a backpack carrier, so obv it's not too difficult. if you opt to go to the loops on the top of the mtn, you'll get probly 1000 feet additional of elevation. good venue, rather lots of ppl. in late july, you'll want to start early to avoid the heat.

elk meadow/bergen peak park- 30 minutes by car in evergreen. plenty of long open gentle nature-walky stuff in the meadow below the mtn, with a couple of different routes to the top of the mtn. this will take you from about 7500 ft up to 9500 ft or so with good views. some mtn bike traffic. whats nice is once done evergreen is nearby for food etc.
http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=HGR254-047

golden gate canyon state park- 45 minutes, this is a nice, more remote feeling area to hike around.

kenosha pass- 1 hour. i really like this area, its pretty remote, but offers good views of south park (yes, that south park) and the mosquito range, and has a several route options. on foot, it might be better to hike from jefferson lakes area, which is farther away, but the hikes from the highway are pretty good too. best thing about this in july is that you start at 10000 feet, so it is typically much cooler than down in town.

grays and torreys- 1 hour. wanna do a 14er, or two at once? this is the best nearby 14er imo, easy walkups as 14ers go, but you'll need to get a very early start because you want to summit before noon to avoid thunderstorms. total hike time will vary widely with fitness/ability.
http://www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=gray1&peak=Grays%20Peak
http://www.14ers.com/photos/peakmain.php?peak=Grays%20Peak

Oh thanks so much! v. v. helpful info. Neither Mr. Que nor I are super duper hard core hikers but I've done several Adirondacks high peaks so am not a total wuss (tho as swamp inhabitants we will not be used to the altitude). Cooler weather and fewer crowds are definitely a preference.

getting ready to do so much stupid hiking to complete my goals for the year

Hunt3r do you have Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park recommendations? Am thinking we should go big before we go home. Of course the altitude may kill us--we were feeling it even at Bryce.

sorry, but actually i dont. ive been here 19 years but have never hiked rmnp.

I'm seriously worried about the altitude. Like, that I won't be able to do hikes I would normally have no problem with. Am I overly concerned?

what is the elevation?

Highest is 14,259.

I'll becoming from my home below sea level :(

yikes! you should acclimate for a day or two before attempting anything that drastic but wow... i don't know. the highest i've done any hiking was 10,000 i think, and it was definitely a lot more challenging. but i think you'd be ok if you are in good shape and remember to pace yourself/rest occasionally.