The Hiking Thread

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JTA
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Re: The Hiking Thread

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Vrede wrote:I never got close enough to research whether it was doable or legal, though it sure looked feasible from the near bank. Now, I'm decades older and have an unreliable shoulder. I pretty much do know unless there's someone that will raft me across and back.

Up next in a couple of weeks - Western Montana, Olympia, WA and Mt. St. Helens.

Did you go to SoCal yet or is that still coming up?
Probably going to head out there sometime in May maybe. I'm definitely looking forward to it. Have fun out there in Montana and WA.
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Re: The Boating Thread

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Vrede wrote:Thanks. In May you can still catch the gray whale migration north. Reserve boat space early and try to do it early in your visit rather than later.
That sounds great, might have to check that out. I love boats and water, but I hate spending money. My wife is the opposite, she likes spending money but hates boats and water, so that may be off the table. We shall see.
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O Really
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Re: The Boating Thread

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JTA wrote:
Vrede wrote:Thanks. In May you can still catch the gray whale migration north. Reserve boat space early and try to do it early in your visit rather than later.
That sounds great, might have to check that out. I love boats and water, but I hate spending money. My wife is the opposite, she likes spending money but hates boats and water, so that may be off the table. We shall see.
Take her to Los Cabos this winter. She can spend money and you can go out on the boat watching whales...
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O Really
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Re: The Boating Thread

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Vrede wrote: Kayaking with them in Magdalena Bay is way better than a boat trip from Los Cabos. I've heard that Laguna Ojo de Liebre (also known as Scammon's Lagoon) is excellent, too, but I've just done Magdalena Bay.
That sounds like fun - but I like the Zodiacs. Still up close and personal, and you don't spend a lot of time finding the whales. I have 'yaked among dolphins, though, and that was really special.

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O Really
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Re: The Hiking Thread

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JTA
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Re: The Boating Thread

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Vrede wrote:
JTA wrote:That sounds great, might have to check that out. I love boats and water, but I hate spending money. My wife is the opposite, she likes spending money but hates boats and water, so that may be off the table. We shall see.
Your post contains the solution. Get your wife to buy you a whale watching boat trip while she goes shopping on Rodeo Drive.
There is one fatal flaw in your plan there, and that flaw is the cash moneys that will hemorrhage out of my wallet.
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Re: The Hiking Thread

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All I can think of when when I hear of Rodeo Drive is this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTsGg6t1dIE
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Re: The Hiking Thread

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Barely counts as hiking, since total mileage was under 5 miles, but today was a great trip down the Cherohala Skyway with side hikes. Totally spectacular. Well worth the time to get there and back. Start at Tellico Plains or go up from Robbinsville. Either way, it will be about two and a half hours to get home when it's over, but geez, what a trip. Depending on what you drive, you can do the Dragon's Tail on the same trip. We did that one a few years ago when we still had something fast and sporty, and would definitely do it if we had Doc's Spyder, but today we were just geezers tootling along in an SUV and having a ball.

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Re: The Hiking Thread

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How's that fall foliage looking up Hendersonville way? Has it peaked yet? Thinking about taking a trip up there this week or next.
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Re: The Hiking Thread

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JTA wrote:How's that fall foliage looking up Hendersonville way? Has it peaked yet? Thinking about taking a trip up there this week or next.
You might be a little late. But it was spectacular for several weeks, starting at the mountain tops and pretty much hitting its best on the downhill slopes and valleys last week. Still a lot of good leaf-peeping, though, with the later-turning trees, like vine maples and some of the regular maples. I'd suggest boogying on up US25 soon. Tomorrow would be good.

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Re: The Hiking Thread

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O Really wrote:
JTA wrote:How's that fall foliage looking up Hendersonville way? Has it peaked yet? Thinking about taking a trip up there this week or next.
You might be a little late. But it was spectacular for several weeks, starting at the mountain tops and pretty much hitting its best on the downhill slopes and valleys last week. Still a lot of good leaf-peeping, though, with the later-turning trees, like vine maples and some of the regular maples. I'd suggest boogying on up US25 soon. Tomorrow would be good.
You guys get hit with any of that snow they were talking about last week?

Yeah man US25 is the road I usually take. I'll probably hit up 276 though this time around and stop over at Caesar's Head. Looking forward to doing some fall/winter hiking in the next few months. The trails are a lot less crowded, plus you have better views.
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Re: The Hiking Thread

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JTA wrote: You guys get hit with any of that snow they were talking about last week?

Yeah man US25 is the road I usually take. I'll probably hit up 276 though this time around and stop over at Caesar's Head. Looking forward to doing some fall/winter hiking in the next few months. The trails are a lot less crowded, plus you have better views.
5 inches or so at my house. But we weren't there. We were down mountain enjoying a beautiful day in the woods.
BTW, do you bike as well as hike? If so, you'll want to know about REEB Ranch... https://oskarblues.com/press/oskar-blue ... -carolina/

You can get to it from the back side of DuPont coming in from Caesar's Head.

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Re: The Hiking Thread

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O Really wrote:
JTA wrote: You guys get hit with any of that snow they were talking about last week?
5 inches or so at my house.
Wow. We haven't had even a dusting of snow yet here in Winnipeg.

That'll end soon. We're shaking our pom-poms for global warming.

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Re: The Hiking Thread

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It's not that unusual to have October snow in the mountains, but it's usually a dusting, followed by some high 60's days. This year was more than usual, and, for the amount, earlier than usual. Today was a good golfing day, however, with snow gone and temp around 65. Weekend back to snow. Nice to have such a stable climate.

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Re: The Hiking Thread

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I sometimes hike to the convenience store about a quarter mile down the street when I run out of beer and always take note of the scenic surroundings.

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Re: The Hiking Thread

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rstrong wrote: "We're shaking our pom-poms for global warming."
Your butt's in a rut now! You wait'll Vrede gets back! You done went and tumbled the enviromentalist's apple cart fer shure! :lol:

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Re: The Hiking Thread

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vrede wrote:Olympic Park, central WA, western Montana, days and days of hiking, perfect or nice enough weather, ahhh.
Nice! :thumbup:

Any trails that were particularly impressive?
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Re: The Hiking Thread

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O Really wrote:
JTA wrote: You guys get hit with any of that snow they were talking about last week?

Yeah man US25 is the road I usually take. I'll probably hit up 276 though this time around and stop over at Caesar's Head. Looking forward to doing some fall/winter hiking in the next few months. The trails are a lot less crowded, plus you have better views.
5 inches or so at my house. But we weren't there. We were down mountain enjoying a beautiful day in the woods.
BTW, do you bike as well as hike? If so, you'll want to know about REEB Ranch... https://oskarblues.com/press/oskar-blue ... -carolina/

You can get to it from the back side of DuPont coming in from Caesar's Head.
I do not bike. Sounds like fun though. I thought about getting one to ride around town so I'm not stuck driving my car everywhere, but there's not a whole lot of places with bike lanes around here. Croft state park around these parts has some decent trails from what I hear. If I ever get into mountain biking I might have to check it out. That place you posted looks awesome though.

Let me ask you this - is it necessary to get an expensive bike, or could some cheap bike from wal-mart do if I don't really care for doing more extreme things like taking it off sweet jumps and stuff?
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Re: The Hiking Thread

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Vrede wrote:
JTA wrote:
vrede wrote:Olympic Park, central WA, western Montana, days and days of hiking, perfect or nice enough weather, ahhh.
Nice! :thumbup:

Any trails that were particularly impressive?
Tumwater Falls State Park in Olympia, smallish but way cool.

Olympic Park:
All woods trails are fantastic for the big trees and other flora. We were on the Skyline Trail in the Quinnault area, Hoh River Trail, Madison Falls, Marymere Falls, Sol Duc Falls.
We wanted to visit Hurricane Ridge but the road got closed by an early snow.
Rialto Beach to the Hole in the Wall and La Push Beach 3 are excellent. Ruby Beach and Kallaloch Beach 4 are nice, too.
Next Summer (?): Backpack Skyline Ridge for the best views of Mount Olympus.

We stayed at the nice and reasonably priced Forks Motel in Forks. I'm no wuss about camping, but what's the point when it's raining, the days are short and the World Series is on? I wanted the Giants, but it's pretty cool that Game 7 was so close after the earlier blowouts, whatever the outcome.

Central WA:
Ginko Petrified State Forest.
Lake Lenore Caves.
Dry Falls - amazing, we walked the length of it at the base.
Steamboat Rock.

North ID:
The rail-trail west from Mullan would be great for biking, but it's not my kind of hiking.

Western Montana:
Throw a dart at a map, they're all fantastic.

We also went to the movies - The excellently disturbing Gone Girl and the uber-graphic and well made Fury.
Checked out some google image pics, looks awesome.

Prime habitat for samsquanches though. Did you see any while you were out there?
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Re: The Hiking Thread

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Vrede wrote:My brother has been using Google Earth to find abandoned quarries in the Atlanta area, then we and my nephew sneak onto them for strolls. They're pretty cool and we haven't been caught yet.
Oh, man, that reminds me of a long-ago almost forgotten story. One summer in college I was dating this girl from Billings Montana, who was a student at American. She and some of her friends (and their friends) wanted to go out to some quarry - I think it was out toward Frederick, but I don't remember for a variety of reasons. Anyway, there was a fairly large crowd of skinny-dipping college kids and the cops arrived, attempting to round up the trespassers. While most everybody was trying to grab their clothes (and getting caught in the process), she and I just booked it back for the car, climbed in naked and hauled ass. Of course there were no mobiles at the time, so it's not like we could call somebody to bring us clothes, but fortunately there were some towels and jackets in the car and I dropped her off at her sorority. Nobody really got into real trouble - the ones that got caught were just hauled in for general intimidation and harassment and turned loose.

That was a fun summer with her - she definitely rode on the wild side. Could drink more than any three people I knew.

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