Hiking season approaching... What's your type of hike?

[JB5812]

Anyone into hiking? What's your typical trip like?

I've always loved just taking short day trips out into the local national forest for some easy going hiking trips, but I'm now getting the urge to step it up and spend some really great time exploring much bigger areas in 2-3 day trips. We have nothing but AWESOME national forests here in Oregon just east of me to go out into and I find myself wanting to plan a lot of trips in these different areas.

I have a buddy that will be my hiking partner for multiple 1-2 day trips, and a 4-5 person group for occasional longer hiking trips. I've been acquiring more and more gear over the last year or so and am now getting my final "luxury" items like a new Jetboil and and other random things like a better compass (Suunto M3 pro) just to update the pack with some better items. By the end of April, it should be nice enough to go up into the Mt. Jefferson/Mt. Hood areas (https://www.google.com/maps?ll=44.995883,-121.766968&spn=1.095438,2.705383&t=h&z=9) for some of the better hiking terrain and scenery.

What do you plan as far as distances each day, favored gear, preferred stopping points, type of terrain you wish to navigate, etc...?

 

[SquidHC]

Hey man, were both in Portland. I hike a lot; from the coast to LaGrande. I typically do 2-3 day trips. For on path trips the Gorge offers some excellent trails.

 

[SFree]

Hiking season is over... starting to get waayy to buggy and gonna be waayy too hot, real soon. Unless you're in an area that doesn't get over 70*

 

[_Windrider_]

Anyone into hiking? What's your typical trip like?

I've always loved just taking short day trips out into the local national forest for some easy going hiking trips, but I'm now getting the urge to step it up and spend some really great time exploring much bigger areas in 2-3 day trips. We have nothing but AWESOME national forests here in Oregon just east of me to go out into and I find myself wanting to plan a lot of trips in these different areas.

I have a buddy that will be my hiking partner for multiple 1-2 day trips, and a 4-5 person group for occasional longer hiking trips. I've been acquiring more and more gear over the last year or so and am now getting my final "luxury" items like a new Jetboil and and other random things like a better compass (Suunto M3 pro) just to update the pack with some better items. By the end of April, it should be nice enough to go up into the Mt. Jefferson/Mt. Hood areas (https://www.google.com/maps?ll=44.995883,-121.766968&spn=1.095438,2.705383&t=h&z=9) for some of the better hiking terrain and scenery.

What do you plan as far as distances each day, favored gear, preferred stopping points, type of terrain you wish to navigate, etc...?

I like any kind. Going to be doing training this year for hiking the Jon Muir trail next summer from Mt. Whitney to Yosemite.


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[user]

Armed hiking is my type!

 

[BapZander]

I did a bunch of hiking/camping in central Oregon years back. The 3 sisters/mt bachelor area is beautiful. I would do long weekends at least once per month and a couple of week pluses (7-10 days). There are a ton of lakes up in there, from fairly easy half day from the trailhead, to multi day in/out hikes. Bring a fishing rig, catch some trout etc.

It does get busy in there at times. It would kind of suck to hike 10 or more miles uphill, come over a crest and see a beautiful little mountain lake with 50 tents already packed around it.

 

[SniperCJ]

Food, and by extension, the JetBoil, is not a luxury item.

We did a 3 day along the Rogue River Trail a year ago. Nice walk, but good camp sites were not as plentiful as I expected.

Couple years ago on our honeymoon we did a multi-day backcountry hike in Colorado. Picked up the trailhead off the Silverton to Durango narrow gauge railroad. Hiked up to Chicago Basin. Beautiful area. Trail was more strenuous than advertised and water harder to access, but really nice.

Good stove, good sleeping pad (at least at my age...), comfortable pack.

 

[JB5812]

Food, and by extension, the JetBoil, is not a luxury item.

We did a 3 day along the Rogue River Trail a year ago. Nice walk, but good camp sites were not as plentiful as I expected.

Couple years ago on our honeymoon we did a multi-day backcountry hike in Colorado. Picked up the trailhead off the Silverton to Durango narrow gauge railroad. Hiked up to Chicago Basin. Beautiful area. Trail was more strenuous than advertised and water harder to access, but really nice.

Good stove, good sleeping pad (at least at my age...), comfortable pack.

Well for me, a Jetboil is pretty awesome and more advanced than I've used for general camping since like I said, I'm now looking to*be mobile for multiple days instead of sttionary just camping. So yeah, I guess not luxury for backpacking, but newer for me in such a small useful form.

I love the Rogue area. Lots of unique terrain down there and awesome fishing.

 

[SquidHC]

Never pass up a chance to hike Eagle Cap Wilderness. Spent six days up there solo. Saw Elk, Bighorn sheep, caught a few nice trout. Some of the most beautiful wilderness in Oregon IMO.

 

[packratt]

Putting in 8-10 miles a day at work kind of takes the fun out of hiking

 

[Emergencynrse]

Just spent 5 days in Yosemite. Hiking is as awesome as the views. Put it on your bucket list. It's a "must do".

 

[Maggot]

If you can get away for a bit, I would recommend the Grand Canyon. Its got to be one of the most spectacular hikes in the world. From the top of the North Rim to the river is 7 miles and a 6000 foot change in elevation. Do it before memorial and after Labor days. DO NOT, do it the way I did at 21. I left from the rim at about 7:00 am, walked to the bottom, spent a couple hours, and hiked back out all in 24 hours, alone...ouch. You should take 3 days...one ,day down a day to rest and enjoy, and one coming back. It is truly magnificent and not to be missed in this lifetime. Its hot, and dry, so be sure to have plenty of H2O.

I have not been to Yellowstone, but that's next on my list. I understand they have something like 90% of the worlds geysers there.

 

[Anvil_X]

" Armed hiking is my type! "

Armed and also w/ a small 2 piece ulta-light rod / reel in the pack. Love those little 8" native trout from off the beaten path!

Hell yeah, I got a 3 piece five weight and a tackle box the size of a wallet, full of flies. throw that over the shoulder with the M1903 while walking the rivers.

 

[Blue3]

Adirondack region in north central New York. Working on the 46 but might take 46 years.

 

[45.308]

Off trail alpine above tree line. i like to get on a ridge line and go. Glacier hiking/skiing a very close #2. I also prefer fall / winter over spring / summer. Thick forest and brush worse because I like to see or have a view when out there. I routinely stop and just take it all in, that is why I am out there, not to beat feet down to get somewhere in a hurry. No people best. I do not like groups either, mostly comes from guiding and having to be on point center for all the different personalities and abilities. This is what shake downs are for so the group can recover and get their team building skills working so when we get to camp or the instruction part of their trip, they open up to both me and their peers for a better trip.

As for as kit, too much to cover but light is right and lighter is righter.

Jet boil, get it yet? If not, I suggest going with MSR Superfly with ti pot. Find or build a hanging kit. Its just as light, holds more, boil time shorter, more efficient, takes up about the same space.

If you havent, always use a trekking pole, worth its weight on the knees, legs and whole body.

 

[JB5812]

Off trail alpine above tree line. i like to get on a ridge line and go. Glacier hiking/skiing a very close #2. I also prefer fall / winter over spring / summer. Thick forest and brush worse because I like to see or have a view when out there. I routinely stop and just take it all in, that is why I am out there, not to beat feet down to get somewhere in a hurry. No people best. I do not like groups either, mostly comes from guiding and having to be on point center for all the different personalities and abilities. This is what shake downs are for so the group can recover and get their team building skills working so when we get to camp or the instruction part of their trip, they open up to both me and their peers for a better trip.

As for as kit, too much to cover but light is right and lighter is righter.

Jet boil, get it yet? If not, I suggest going with MSR Superfly with ti pot. Find or build a hanging kit. Its just as light, holds more, boil time shorter, more efficient, takes up about the same space.

If you havent, always use a trekking pole, worth its weight on the knees, legs and whole body.

Good advice, thanks. I am planning a Mt. Hood climb this summer (we'll see if it comes together) and am buying some more basic equipment. It's the 2nd most climbed mountain in the world with over 10,000 people a year, so TONS of info on routes and times to go. Not a super hard climb as long as weather cooperates. Storms sneak up pretty quickly, hence the hundreds of rescues performed each year.

But I'm going to be doing hikes pretty much every weekend around the Mt. Hood/Santiam forest areas. LOTS of documented hikes and trails that are easy to find online then take part in. Some crowded, but a lot that is not due to remoteness. But it's nice to have a known loop route I think.

Haven't bought the Jetboil yet. Still kinda browsing at my options as far as things like that. I still need to buy a better lightweight sleeping system as my 4 piece Marine Corps one is NOT something I want to carry backpacking. Good for camping, but not backpacking. I "backpacked" enough with it that I've grown to hate the sight of it on a pack. I'll probably go with a Snugpak as almost all of the British SF I was attached to used them and I was jealous every time they pulled them out and I was stuck with my monster.

 

[Sniper Uncle]

Haven't done many in the last 20 years, but in my younger years through my teens, we hiked several times a year as a group, and I hiked every week for several hours on my own. I would love to do a couple guy hike some time, and spend several days. My wife isn't as outdoorsey as I am, so doing it with her isn't much of an option. We went to Switzerland with my 70 year old Uncle and my 66 year old Aunt, and I gotta admit--to my shame--my uncle can walk me under the table. I can do several miles in rough terrain still, but he can do it better---we did about 7 or 8 miles that day from Gornergrat down to Zermat. Now, for the excuses---I bought a pair of Merrel Hiking Boots for this trip, and made the unpardonable mistake of not breaking them in first. I also am so used to wearing slip on wellingtons, that I bought them to fit sorta like I do my boots----wrong! They should have been a half size smaller, so I got blisters that day. (Add to that, he is Swiss born, and for some reason, he comes alive in Switzerland and becomes the Energizer Bunny.) Next day we had planned to go up to Edelweiss House, but I couldn't do it, so we trammed up to Klein Matterhorn and back down, then Gondolas to another peak just under the Matterhorn an hiked down to Zermat again. Later that week we were in Appenzell, and we hiked up to Sea-Alp-Sea and back down. I was doing much better by then. I have to go back again with Uncle Denis and do the EdelWeiss House hike with him, even if I have to carry his urn up there before we bury it near Basel.

I hope to move from the burbs around Filtha-Effin-Delphia and live in the country once more, and then I shall hike much more often. I live for hunting season when I get into the woods again.

I got a funny story though. When I was in my teens, some folks I knew who were just a little peculiar---you'll see why--- got married. They were in their fifties at the time. They decided to hike part of the Appalachian Trail for a week as a honey-moon. They chose a part in northern New Hampshire for this trek and when they came home they told us of their adventures. It seems that one night they hiked off the trail a ways into the woods and pitched camp in a secluded glen. After it got dark they were in their tent having a sponge-bath, and they hear a noise outside that sounded like a rather large animal crashing through the woods. Hugh decided he needed to investigate, so he exited the tent stark naked to follow this animal through the woods. His new bride, Charity followed suit, also stark naked. They followed the unseen but very much heard brute for about 15 minutes but didn't ever see it. I'm not sure I want the mental image of two-fifty something-ish love birds running through the forest as naked as jay-birds holding aloft a Coleman lantern and trying to see a mysterious beast as it ran away from them! No wonder it ran.......

 

[ZLBubba]

I like ultralight hiking when I can find the time. The east has so many good trails that are all free, and while they may not have the vistas and challenge of some of the western trails, they're usually only a couple hours away. Doing day hikes on the Appalachian Trail is a really good time.

 

[45.308]

Good advice, thanks. I am planning a Mt. Hood climb this summer (we'll see if it comes together) and am buying some more basic equipment. It's the 2nd most climbed mountain in the world with over 10,000 people a year, so TONS of info on routes and times to go. Not a super hard climb as long as weather cooperates. Storms sneak up pretty quickly, hence the hundreds of rescues performed each year.

But I'm going to be doing hikes pretty much every weekend around the Mt. Hood/Santiam forest areas. LOTS of documented hikes and trails that are easy to find online then take part in. Some crowded, but a lot that is not due to remoteness. But it's nice to have a known loop route I think.

Haven't bought the Jetboil yet. Still kinda browsing at my options as far as things like that. I still need to buy a better lightweight sleeping system as my 4 piece Marine Corps one is NOT something I want to carry backpacking. Good for camping, but not backpacking. I "backpacked" enough with it that I've grown to hate the sight of it on a pack. I'll probably go with a Snugpak as almost all of the British SF I was attached to used them and I was jealous every time they pulled them out and I was stuck with my monster.

If you want synthetic filled sleeping bag, check out Integral Designs. My favorite is the Renaissance, I used mine down to single digits. For pure weight nothing beats Western Mountaineering Versalite or Ultralite.

Jetboil, its just a Primus burner attached to jetboils system. Their test is 1 cup of 70f water timed to bubbles on the bottom of their cup. My Superfly with 1.5l ti pot will produce bubbles within a second or so side by side jetboil. My system holds a full liter+ and weighs 1.5 ounces more, minus the hanging system. My kit packs inside 1.5l pot that is about the same size as the jetboil. Use MSR Isopro as the most efficient cartridge full to empty and in cold weather or Primus fuel as the second most efficient I have used. If you want to go superlight, Pocket Rocket and ti mug.

Mountaineering kit for Hood, what you got?

 

[user]

" Armed hiking is my type! "

Armed and also w/ a small 2 piece ulta-light rod / reel in the pack. Love those little 8" native trout from off the beaten path!

Heck Ya MtnCreek!

 

[Honky]

My favorite hiking is day trips up relatively short, but steep mountain hikes. Good views and tough terrain make for a good challenge with a quick payoff. For instance, Chimney Tops or Mt. LeConte in the GSM National Park are two of my favorites. Mostly due to my busy schedule not letting me take multi-day trips all the time. I'd love to get out West or on the Appalachian Trail and do some real backpacking this summer, though.

 

[Honky]

Oh, and I carry a Hill People Gear Tarahumara pack. This thing is absolutely perfect for a daypack.

http://www.hillpeoplegear.com/Produ...uctDetails/mid/1916/ProductID/25/Default.aspx