Small Adventures: A Hiking and Climbing Thread

[RThoe]

Barb, when you did Saint Helens did you go the Monitor Ridge route, starting at Climbers Bivouac? Are you aware of any alternate routes? This seems to be the only one I can find.

Num and I are talking about linking up for climbing it this month, before the permits are required.

We are talking about meeting up the night before and camping at/near the trail head. Any advice?

[barbrox]

Barb, when you did Saint Helens did you go the Monitor Ridge route, starting at Climbers Bivouac? Are you aware of any alternate routes? This seems to be the only one I can find.

Num and I are talking about linking up for climbing it this month, before the permits are required.

We are talking about meeting up the night before and camping at/near the trail head. Any advice?

Good morning! I'm aware of two routes on MSH. There is the summer route: Monitor Ridge that starts at the Climbers Bivouac. The road to CB is currently closed:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giff...a/?recid=31516


So... You have to use the winter route, which is called the Wormflows route, which is a couple miles longer and slightly steeper:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giff...a/?recid=71937



There wasn't much snow when we went in May 2015, so while we prepared for the Wormflows Route, the summer route was open when we arrived.

Now, you still need a permit when you go, but I think they're free and you just need to pick them up in Cougar, Washington.

Also, Washington is terrible when it comes to passes. Check to make sure you have the appropriate pass to park or camp.

[JurassicPakBrah]

The second mountain I climbed in Mexico was La Malinche (14,640 ft)

This one isn't technical at all, it's just a hike over scree at high altitude. It's perfect for acclimatization before Pico de Orizaba.




It was very cloudy on the way up.








Taking a break from the strong winds before getting on the more exposed section of the climb. Some very motivated American guy made it up to this point wearing only a pair of shorts and a T-shirt but he couldn't bear the cold any longer and had to turn back.




The view from the ridge would have been nice without the clouds but the eerie ******ce caused by the fog was really cool.




The summit. Although 100+ people were on the mountain that day, most turned around at some point and no more than 10 reached the summit. It's not a hard mountain, but because it is considered easy many people underestimate it and go there totally unprepared. I don't have a pic but there was 2 mexican soldiers on the summit at the same time as us. They looked really badass with military trench coats and fur hats. They had a dog and one of them was carrying a skateboard with him (wtf!)




On the way down the sky began to slowly clear up.




Once we got down we went straight to the Don Julio. Best tacos I had in Mexico and very cheap. The equivalent of 6 USD for the three of us, including the beer and coffee.




This cute pupper adopted us and slept just next to our tent while we were at the Centro Vacacional Malintzi, which is the basecamp for this mountain.

[Bar182]

Once we got down we went straight to the Don Julio. Best tacos I had in Mexico and very cheap. The equivalent of 6 USD for the three of us, including the beer and coffee.

Fuk I love third world countries.

[TheDarkseid]

This thread is amazing, I thank you all for sharing your experiences. As someone who has only just found a passion for hiking I can definitely see myself getting into mountaineering some day. Shame we don't have the mountains that you have in the US or Mexico, but that's all part of the travel and adventure. I look forward to sharing my own experiences in here some time.

The general photos look amazing too, can I ask what cameras people are using for these pictures?

[barbrox]

This thread is amazing, I thank you all for sharing your experiences. As someone who has only just found a passion for hiking I can definitely see myself getting into mountaineering some day. Shame we don't have the mountains that you have in the US or Mexico, but that's all part of the travel and adventure. I look forward to sharing my own experiences in here some time.

The general photos look amazing too, can I ask what cameras people are using for these pictures?

Welcome to the best thread on the Misc. Lol

[JurassicPakBrah]

This thread is amazing, I thank you all for sharing your experiences. As someone who has only just found a passion for hiking I can definitely see myself getting into mountaineering some day. Shame we don't have the mountains that you have in the US or Mexico, but that's all part of the travel and adventure. I look forward to sharing my own experiences in here some time.

The general photos look amazing too, can I ask what cameras people are using for these pictures?

Canon EOS 70D with a 15-85mm lense. I really love it, but I think it's too big and heavy for mountaineering. I might get a mirrorless Olympus or Sony someday.

[Bar182]

This thread is amazing, I thank you all for sharing your experiences. As someone who has only just found a passion for hiking I can definitely see myself getting into mountaineering some day. Shame we don't have the mountains that you have in the US or Mexico, but that's all part of the travel and adventure. I look forward to sharing my own experiences in here some time.

The general photos look amazing too, can I ask what cameras people are using for these pictures?

I used to use a Canon 600D with a 24-105 L series lens, and a gopro.

Now I just use my iPhone.

[TheDarkseid]

Welcome to the best thread on the Misc. Lol

I'm very excite! *Borat voice*

Canon EOS 70D with a 15-85mm lense. I really love it, but I think it's too big and heavy for mountaineering. I might get a mirrorless Olympus or Sony someday.

I used to use a Canon 600D with a 24-105 L series lens, and a gopro.

Now I just use my iPhone.

I've had a look at some mirrorless cameras, looking good so far.

I'm waiting on results for the half dome permits lottery, I have a July trip to the States planned. I figure I'll be able to grab some nice shots as I road trip from LA - Miami whilst doing some day hikes in between.

[TheDarkseid]

The Castle - 6.83m - 2657'
February 2017 - Budawang National Park, NSW, Australia

View from summit - not my pic


The Castle track located in the Budawangs National Park on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. This was my first hike featuring a poorly established trail, as the majority of it was overgrown, and exposed scrambling. The Castle is a plateau 2657' high and offers panoramic views of the surrounds within the national park. I spent three days here exploring but the highlight was the climb of The Castle, unfortunately I didn't reach the summit as it began to rain and the scrambling up near vertical cliff was dodgy at best. There's always next time!

The Approach


Established rope at the left of the pic to haul yourself up


Selfie shortly before the surprise showers


Quite bleak in comparison to some of the awesome posts in here!

[mudrock]

i want to start off simple like runyon canyon in LA but i don't want to pass out

[EnriqueBrah]

6 hour drive to ADk mts in NY.
excited but dreading the drive

will post pics tomorrow or monday when i come home

[ceizer1985]

glad i found this thread...what kind of cameras do you use while hiking?

not looking to get DSLR's or anything but something that's more compact.

[TheDarkseid]

glad i found this thread...what kind of cameras do you use while hiking?

not looking to get DSLR's or anything but something that's more compact.

On the previous page when I asked that same question a recommendation was Compact System Camera (Mirrorless) and I found this link to be helpful.

http://www.techradar.com/news/photog...eviewed-960832

[santic121]

On the previous page when I asked that same question a recommendation was Compact System Camera (Mirrorless) and I found this link to be helpful.

http://www.techradar.com/news/photog...eviewed-960832

I use an Olympus OM-D E-M5. small little mirrorless camera that is weather resistant. Great picture quality as well. Currently only have a 12-55mm lense but im trying to convince myself that I need and can afford a bigger landscape lense.

[RobParks2M]

glad i found this thread...what kind of cameras do you use while hiking?

not looking to get DSLR's or anything but something that's more compact.

Just gotta get yourself an Iphone... not srs lmao

[lmnopotts]

Saw this today and lolled, Jeff seems like he's not sure why they're interviewing him but he's happy to help. Looks like he's answering the question, "so ah... tell us if you think bears are cool."


https://youtu.be/n1egrzuL8to

I'm still divided about this. I'd love to say I was around when they re-introduced the grizzly but I don't want to lose areas I can visit in the North Cascades.

[TheDude8734]

6 hour drive to ADk mts in NY.
excited but dreading the drive

will post pics tomorrow or monday when i come home

I'm interested to see the conditions up there,

It's a 2.5 hour drive for me to get to Keene, NY (Lake Placid)
Can imagine the weather being extremely brutal if it's anything like the cold/strong winds we're having a few hours south.

[Bar182]

Still deciding between climbing Aconcagua in December or January. Once I can lock in a date I can start looking forward a bit more.

Just finished week 3 of training, things are picking up quite nicely I hadn't done much cardio for a very long time. I am glad I started this far out because I have a lot of work to do. Need to clean up the diet now.

This is my very rough plan right now (some crossover on training blocks):

24 weeks - Foundation
5 weeks - Power
5 weeks - Cardiovascular Power Endurance
4 weeks - Cardiovascular Extensive Endurance
4 weeks - Muscular Endurance
2 weeks - Taper
1 weeks - Rest
3 weeks - Peak

I also want to add deprivation training throughout.

[JurassicPakBrah]

Still deciding between climbing Aconcagua in December or January. Once I can lock in a date I can start looking forward a bit more.

Just finished week 3 of training, things are picking up quite nicely I hadn't done much cardio for a very long time. I am glad I started this far out because I have a lot of work to do. Need to clean up the diet now.

This is my very rough plan right now (some crossover on training blocks):

24 weeks - Foundation
5 weeks - Power
5 weeks - Cardiovascular Power Endurance
4 weeks - Cardiovascular Extensive Endurance
4 weeks - Muscular Endurance
2 weeks - Taper
1 weeks - Rest
3 weeks - Peak

I also want to add deprivation training throughout.

Are you following Steve House training program?

[EnriqueBrah]

I'm interested to see the conditions up there,

It's a 2.5 hour drive for me to get to Keene, NY (Lake Placid)
Can imagine the weather being extremely brutal if it's anything like the cold/strong winds we're having a few hours south.

VERY cold, negative degrees. not much wind

[Bar182]

Are you following Steve House training program?

As in Training for the new alpinism book?

I have that book somewhere but don't know where it is, I have just taken a rough outline from Extreme Alpinism by Mark Twight.

[RThoe]

Good morning! I'm aware of two routes on MSH. There is the summer route: Monitor Ridge that starts at the Climbers Bivouac. The road to CB is currently closed:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giff...a/?recid=31516


So... You have to use the winter route, which is called the Wormflows route, which is a couple miles longer and slightly steeper:

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giff...a/?recid=71937



There wasn't much snow when we went in May 2015, so while we prepared for the Wormflows Route, the summer route was open when we arrived.

Now, you still need a permit when you go, but I think they're free and you just need to pick them up in Cougar, Washington.

Also, Washington is terrible when it comes to passes. Check to make sure you have the appropriate pass to park or camp.

Sweet thanks! I didn't even think to look up a winter route, but I'm surprised my searches didn't bring that up initially. Oh well.

Are you familiar with the winter route at all? The Summit Post page for it has a harness under essential gear, but no mention of a glacier or needing any other glacier travel gear. I'm assuming it was added by mistake and that we won't have to rope up.

This cute pupper adopted us and slept just next to our tent while we were at the Centro Vacacional Malintzi, which is the basecamp for this mountain.

Awesome pics as always dude.

Still deciding between climbing Aconcagua in December or January. Once I can lock in a date I can start looking forward a bit more.

Just finished week 3 of training, things are picking up quite nicely I hadn't done much cardio for a very long time. I am glad I started this far out because I have a lot of work to do. Need to clean up the diet now.

This is my very rough plan right now (some crossover on training blocks):

24 weeks - Foundation
5 weeks - Power
5 weeks - Cardiovascular Power Endurance
4 weeks - Cardiovascular Extensive Endurance
4 weeks - Muscular Endurance
2 weeks - Taper
1 weeks - Rest
3 weeks - Peak

I also want to add deprivation training throughout.

Mirin hard

I need to start doing cardio to get ready for the spring and summer season.





I'm really looking forward to two climbs I have planned this summer. I have tentative plans to climb Mt. Baker with a dude I met on Instagram, that looks like an awesome climb. I'm also climbing Eldorado Peak with the veteran group in June (the following weekend after Eldorado we are also going to climb Glacier Peak). Baker and Eldorado look awesome, especially the summit ridge of Eldorado.





And as always, if anyone wants to meet up for any climbs in the PNW I'm down!

[Smevans21]

glad i found this thread...what kind of cameras do you use while hiking?

not looking to get DSLR's or anything but something that's more compact.

I use my iPhone when I don't want to drag out the DSLR. It takes good pictures. Have a mini Joby tripod for it too.

[RThoe]

I was looking for a midweight baselayer top and wanted to get one made by Stoic, as my lightweight baselayer top is Stoic and I really like it. Realized they were a Backcountry.com brand after looking into it and they've since been discontinued. I can only find their midweights in S or XXL.

I'd like a quarter zip and if possible a small chest pocket, but the pocket is not necessary. Definitely want quarter zip though.

Looking at these three

https://www.rei.com/product/884920/p...rwear-top-mens

https://www.rei.com/product/110618/a...layer-top-mens

https://www.rei.com/product/834630/s...rwear-top-mens


Any specific midweights you guys would recommend?

[envisu]

Bought a mountain bike on the weekend.

Time to blitz past poverty hikers

@RThoe - My base layer is an Icebreaker Tech Top 260. My favorite piece of gear actually, very versatile and has the quarter (or maybe half, don't remember) zip. I feel the 200 would be a bit too thin when it's cold. The Icebreaker brand sells itself, no need to tell you how quality their gear is.

[MrBungle11]

Bought a mountain bike on the weekend.

Time to blitz past poverty hikers

what did you buy? I used to race way back in the 90s and rebuilding an old bike at the moment

[envisu]

what did you buy? I used to race way back in the 90s and rebuilding an old bike at the moment

Scott Aspect 950. My ass is super sore. Stock seat sucks.

inb4 "Stock seat.... sure"

[ContrarianIndi]

Anyone ever do any adventures through NOLS?

Thinking about doing one of their 50 day ones this Summer.

[colonelcross]

Here's a pic dump from my last weeks worth of travels. Indian Creek, Utah for some climbing and then the rest was in various spots within Colorado. Really sad about the ski season ending so quickly, but just got my mountain bike tuned and new tires put on er, so time to shred some trails and keep taking the paint off my new trad rack!