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

On the last day of my recent 2 week camping and hiking trip I hiked up to Sky Lake, a small tarn at 8200 ft elevation in the Wallowa mountains of Oregon. It was a 14 mile round trip from the trailhead; I did it as a day hike. Here's a shot:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6194/6044156097_87d7b2d7e6_z.jpg

amazing

so jealous

I saw this lil fella a few days earlier, in the Elkhorn mountains - they're not too far from the Wallowas, but even less visited. He seemed like a young male, kind of hangdog and lonesome, probably kicked out of the herd not too long ago by the dominant male.

At first he bolted when he saw me, but stopped a short distance down the slope and peeked at me from behind a rock. We had a nice five minute conversation. I left him a gift of some salt on a rock, in the form of my urine. I hope he liked it.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6090/6047843467_e086118a1f_b.jpg

Did u name him Aerosmith?

(lol dumb joek soz)

public service announcement: it's free entry weekend at national parks!

Tis the season for a revival of this thread.

Last Wednesday I got my first real hike of the season (no camera, so, no pics). It was a steady climbing hike up the side of the Benson Plateau in the Columbia R. gorge, up as far as where fresh snow had fallen the night before and was now melting and dropping in large amounts off the trees -- and onto my head. That's where I turned around.

I estimate it was about a 2800 foot elevation gain, over a ten mile round trip. Now my legs aren't exactly sore, but they aren't exactly not sore, either. Let's say they are mildly perturbed.

:)

I got my first hike in a while last weekend. Felt so good!

i think i want to go to glacier soon

anyone have any beta on what it's like in may? aimless?

I've never been there in May. I'd check the web to see if the 'Going to the Sun Highway' has been opened, yet, or has a prospective opening date. That would give you one big clue. My guess is that it will still be under snow in the heights, but that you could easily do lower-level hikes such as the shoreline of McDonald Lake.

There's also the alternative of calling a Glacier park ranger station and having a nice long chat about trail access.

xp tza i suppose the hike we did in the marin headlands was just a casual stroll?

I was in Glacier in early June and the highway still wasn't fully open at that time, but that was like 7 years ago. Maybe things have changed since then? It was GORGEOUS otherwise, perfect temps, saw very few other people.

there was still a lot of snow though btw

Which reminds me -- can anyone tell me about Badlands/Black Hills?

thx Aimless! snow is OK by me since part of my scheming involves the possibility of spring skiing. buuuuuut there's a surprising paucity of info out there (which, i suppose, isn't THAT surprising since a no one lives there and b backcountry skiers can be v tight-lipped about their favorite zones). plus i'm v likely to be going alone, and glacier is serious enough as it is that throwing avalanches and injury into the mix is probably not the best idea if yr solo

LaLa- i have only glimpsed the badlands on the way to devil's tower and the black hills. as for the hills themselves: totally beautiful. my knowledge is limited to a couple climbing trips to spearfish, sd, home of the very gorgeous spearfish canyon. both were in May (same school break i have now), and both were unsuccessful due to SNOW. but that area seems great for general dicking around. also, the needles (near mt rushmore) are crazy and fantastic, and even non-climbers would have a wonderful time just exploring that area. and it really is an exploratorium: the goat paths and access trails to the crags make choosing your own adventure (and getting a lil lost) really easy, you can escape crowds and aren't locked into one path.

plus, in the black hills, the presence of rushmore (and gambling) means that everywhere else stays pretty quiet. and unlike yr mountain towns further west, the food/lodging/etc is aimed at the walmart set, which makes things a little cheaper, if a little tacky at times

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