ChefG
Trail Ready!
Posts: 10
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Post by ChefG on Mar 25, 2017 13:45:04 GMT -8
I am so glad to have found this forum. I am new here and I am new to backpacking. I look forward to all of your insight and experience as I blaze out this year. I was so lucky to have lived in the Wasatch Mtns of Utah for six years in my mid-to-late twenties. Surprisingly, I never backpacked. We were all into camping and day hikes, skiing, snowshoeing and mountain biking. Loved hiking the Uintah Mtns, our Wasatch Mtns and all of the southern desert parks. Such good memories. Unfortunately, when I left Utah I fell into a workaholic lifestyle which culminated in me owning my own restaurant in the "big city". When I hit 50, I said to myself, WTF! I unwound my life in the city and I am now back in the woods. I live in the Catskills and I am passionately looking forward to getting into backpacking. I welcome your advice.
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Post by autumnmist on Mar 25, 2017 14:14:26 GMT -8
Kudos to you for recognizing that you wanted to make a change in your life, and for going ahead and doing it.
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crawford
Trail Wise!
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.--Edison
Posts: 1,775
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Post by crawford on Mar 25, 2017 15:15:43 GMT -8
You picked a nice place to restart life! The Catskills are beautiful. Welcome, lots of folks here will have good info for you if you have questions. But some advice up front...take none of my advice and accept no fashion advice from tiggerThough, if you take my first advice you'll avoid my second piece of advice (scratching my head). Ok, take only two pieces of advice from me by seeing my former advice. Glad to have you in the asylum.
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desert dweller
Trail Wise!
Power to the Peaceful...Hate does not create.
Posts: 6,291
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Post by desert dweller on Mar 25, 2017 16:59:13 GMT -8
Welcome, ChefG.
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ChefG
Trail Ready!
Posts: 10
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Post by ChefG on Mar 25, 2017 17:43:39 GMT -8
accept no fashion advice from tiggerNo worries, mine are not red.... they are blaze orange... and tigger camps in the arctic?... oh boy! Wow! I look forward to being here. I am a character and glad to see other characters here. Save
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desert dweller
Trail Wise!
Power to the Peaceful...Hate does not create.
Posts: 6,291
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Post by desert dweller on Mar 25, 2017 17:46:28 GMT -8
I am a character and glad to see other characters here. Yep. We're all Bozos on this bus.
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ChefG
Trail Ready!
Posts: 10
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Post by ChefG on Mar 25, 2017 17:59:29 GMT -8
Thanks all! Where is everyone from?
Anyone with experience in the Catskills with backpacking?
I am starting off backpacking in April in the Beaverkill Valley, The Balsam Lake trail etc...
I agree it is beautiful! I have seen more bald eagles here than I have in any state. Unbelievable!
One experience had me driving up Beaverkill Road along the river with a bald eagle flying window level up the river next to the car.
There was a thread on here somewhere titled something like "what is your best wildlife experience not in a car or campground". This didn't count but trumps all of my other experiences. An eagle was flying right next to me for a while as I drove up the BK River, looked at me and then landed on a tree overlooking the River. Holy Cow! I have never stopped the car as much to take pictures out of the window of wild turkeys, deer standing docile on the road, black bears and eagles. Stunning! I can't wait to get out on the trail. I am not from NY and did not know that these "Forever Wild" lands even existed.
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Post by trinity on Mar 25, 2017 18:06:14 GMT -8
Welcome, ChefG. I hail from central Texas. My mom has a place in upstate NY (Thousand Islands), but I don't get up that way much anymore. Beautiful area.
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Post by hikerjer on Mar 25, 2017 19:29:58 GMT -8
Welcome from the Big Sky country (Montana) Gald to have you with us. The folks here have an incredible accumulation of outdoor wisdom and knowledge. You can learn a lot from them. I have and still constantly do. Stay with us.
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foxalo
Trail Wise!
Life is infinitely stranger than anything the mind could invent.---Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Posts: 2,359
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Post by foxalo on Mar 25, 2017 19:37:24 GMT -8
Welcome! I've lived here and there but call Alabama home now. NY was once home. I'm more of a day hiker that's slowly getting into backpacking. I've got the gear but feet that aren't willing to cooperate. There's a lof of great info here as well as interesting people.
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rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,685
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Post by rebeccad on Mar 25, 2017 20:30:26 GMT -8
Welcome! I'm from out west myself. In fact, if I get much farther west I'll have wet feet. An eagle was flying right next to me Never had that kind of encounter with an eagle, but there always seem to be vultures circling overhead when I'm out biking...
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Post by absarokanaut on Mar 26, 2017 6:26:16 GMT -8
Thomas Cole, James Fenimore Cooper, John Burroughs; the Catskills may bet the greatest inspiration for Art, Literature, and Science this country has ever known. You're a lucky person G.
Welcome, come West when you can. Keep Wyoming clean, dump your trash in Utah.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Mar 26, 2017 15:00:22 GMT -8
Howdy ChefG!
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