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Post by Coolkat on Nov 15, 2015 7:25:58 GMT -8
Best backpacking trip would be a toss up between 7 days on Isle Roayle two summers ago and this summer on the North Country Trail hiking along Lake Superior and watching the best Northern Lights show I've ever seen.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Nov 15, 2015 8:12:58 GMT -8
My "best" will be my next one without doubt. Solo, huge odds somewhere in the Sierra, carrying too much photo gear and enjoying wandering around rather than racing to reach the end point. Waking up out there is always "the best". For a specific route suggestion I'd second Zeke on Red Peak Pass and add Sequoia's High Sierra Trail (not Roper's Sierra High Route OR The High Trail above the Merced River in Yosemite, though the latter does offer a nice option for after Red Peak Pass). www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/high-sierra-trail.htm
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Westy
Trail Wise!
Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
Posts: 1,960
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Post by Westy on Nov 15, 2015 9:05:32 GMT -8
It would have to be a 1970 overnight trip in the White Mountains, NH. My first and best backpacking trip was a life altering experience and facilitated positive changes. A good friend recognized that my hippy lifestyle had legal risks and was becoming hazardous to my health and future. He invited me to join him and his hiking partner for a personalized hoods in the woods intervention.
I remember clearly to this day, the sunset and alpenglow overlooking the Pemigewasset Wilderness from the summit of Mount Hale. An aggressive, quest for the 4,000 footers ensued. I abandoned the 60's lifestyle, experienced a backcountry interlude and new hair cut with my Uncle Sam and have been engrossed in a variety of backcountry and alpine pursuits every since.
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tigger
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Posts: 2,547
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Post by tigger on Nov 15, 2015 10:22:59 GMT -8
I don't truly have a "best" trip, but one that sticks out for me was a mid-winter 5 day trip in the Cascades up to the saddle of the Sisters. It took two days to make it up to the saddle and we made it right below Camp lake when a raging storm blew in and dumped 5 ft. of snow in two days and wind speeds hit 100 mph. We just hunkered down and waited it out and then had to bail due to avalanche danger from warming. Luxuries for me...beer, a camera, a candle lantern.
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swmtnbackpacker
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Back but probably posting soon under my real name ... Rico Sauve
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Post by swmtnbackpacker on Nov 15, 2015 10:37:52 GMT -8
Probably the Colorado Rockies at the end of summer thunderstorms, but while there is still enough daylight before Fall. Lake Tahoes Desolation takes close second. Both were solo but very popular so not really isolated - might have to go further in during rain as the unprepared, the cpls, and the families rush out!! I just hike, take pictures, eat well, and sleep with lightweight bug still fully enclosed gear (for any sort of exposed camps, using a MLD Solomid with inner net, inflatable pad, etc..). Camp selection and good food takes a bit of time. Should bring something to read.
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idahobob
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many are cold, but few are frozen
Posts: 198
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Post by idahobob on Nov 15, 2015 11:46:38 GMT -8
you ask leading and vague questions, you'll get varied and rambling answers, and here is mine:
what was everyone's best backpacking experience?
from 48 years of backpacking (started in 1967) the best places have been the Sierra, Enchantments of WA, North Cascades, Sawtooths of Idaho, White Clouds ID, Wind Rivers WY, Grand Gulch UT.
"best specific trips", there were many. JMT for the epic nature of planning and leading the trip with 12 people, 27 days hiking and 17 peaks climbed. Ptarmigan Traverse, for an epic mountaineering trip, Sawtooths for a great local range where many trips with my son and the Boy Scouts took place, Olympic coast hike with the whole family, Kane Lake in the Pioneers of ID with my wife and 3 of my kids, every 9 day hike has been special, last summers Sierra hike with my wife and 2 of my kids, and my friend from our 1971 JMT hike and his daughter, plus climbing big peaks and volcanoes was special and unique. If your interest is where you would enjoy backpacking, I'd say the Sierra, Wind Rivers, and Sawtooths are all great.
comfort or weight? Its possible now to have both comfort and light weight, so its not an either-or-choice. I can have a 12 pound pack and not sacrifice much comfort. At 12 pounds, I don't have a camp chair nor camp shoes. I can live without those.
At 12 pounds I still have some luxury items. A camera, a tenkara fishing setup, real half and half for my coffee, and good food.
What I bring for comfort is a down coat, a down quilt or sleeping bag, a full size neoaire pad, a wool hat, light gloves, a 2 man tent (TT Squall 2). I bring a camp chair sometimes and love love love it. Sometimes I bring a Kindle for reading material, and cell phone for music.
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Post by hikerjer on Nov 15, 2015 12:34:51 GMT -8
I've have so many wonderful experiences backpacking that it's hard to narrow them down. However, many of my best experiences seem to have involved wildlife encounters. One in particular stands out. On a four day trip several years ago, I was camped deep in the heart of Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness on the North Fork of the Buffalo River. In the middle of the night I was awakened by the sound of snorting and hooves pawing the ground. Since there was no one else around, let alone horses, I was bit mystified. Then I saw them. Across the creek, in a meadow bathed in moonlight and through a lifting mist was a pack of six or seven wolves walking in single file. They were absolutely silent, almost like ghosts, intent on their task and beautiful. I'm sure they were aware I was there but they payed me no mind. I watched them for a few minutes, totally enthralled, before they disappeared into the forest. It had such a surreal, eery feeling to it that by next morning I wasn't sure whether I had dreamed it or whether it had actually happened. When I examined the area in the morning light, I came across fresh tracks of several elk. That explained the snorting and pawing sounds in the night. The wolves must have been stalking the elk. It's one of the experiences that's indelibly stamped in my memory that will never be erased.
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Post by cweston on Nov 15, 2015 13:59:27 GMT -8
"Best" is impossible to answer, but one of my most satisfying was a five day trip in the Colorado Sangres with my daughter, when she was about 19. It was our first ever trip just her and I, and our relationship had been strained in the teen years, as father/daughter relationships often are. She's not real big on physical affection or saying (or being told) "I love you," so, to me, her wanting me to take her BPing was her way of saying that.
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Post by cweston on Nov 15, 2015 14:01:38 GMT -8
Along similar lines, my wife went BPing with me exactly once. (She likes day hiking, but BPing not so much.) That's a great memory primarily because our daughter was conceived on that trip.
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Post by hikerjer on Nov 15, 2015 15:20:50 GMT -8
our relationship had been strained in the teen years, as father/daughter relationships often are. She's not real big on physical affection or saying (or being told) "I love you," so, to me, her wanting me to take her BPing was her way of saying that. Boy, I hear you loud an clear on that one. I have daughter of a very similar persuasion and have had very similar experiences.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Nov 15, 2015 17:28:35 GMT -8
Most trips have brought memorable moments, and many of these come at twilight. Mist ghosting over a mountain lake, mountain peaks in the distance silhouetted in various shades of purple, the call of a nighthawk or owl, a trout rising to that last cast, absolute silence.
Comfort and weight savings are IMHO closely related. Personally, I carry a small pillow....not an inflatable one, a REAL pillow. It is a bit bulky, but doesn't weight much.
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Post by llamero on Nov 15, 2015 20:04:47 GMT -8
...best backpacking experience? why and where? Like others, I can't pick one single trip as best, but while thinking about your question my memories turn to experiences I've shared with friends: walking on a glacier in the Goat Rocks Wilderness with a buddy that has only backpacked a few times, taking a dayhiker friend into the Eagle Cap Wilderness for a week (he enjoyed it so much we stayed for nine days total), lots of fun times with Lazlo in the Trinity Alps Wilderness and so many other fond memories that it is impossible to choose just one very best. I've hiked and camped a lot on my own and had fascinating experiences, but my best trips -- memories-- are shared with others. ...will you sacrifice your comfort for less weight? Did you bring any " luxury" item with you? what is that? and why? Weight vs. comfort isn't a big concern, llamas carry my gear. My companions and I eat well, sit in chairs and sleep on cots. In the cold months I use a Kifaru tipi and wood stove. There are limitations on where I teather the llamas, but I don't see it as a sacrifice. Even back in the day when I was huffing my own pack I would carry a light chair and be more comfortable in camp.
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Post by xiaolichen1988 on Nov 17, 2015 1:22:28 GMT -8
I've done several spring time trips to Henry W. Coe State Park (California, near the bay area), a really wonderful place in the spring, can you share some more information about this place, i am thinking about visit this place next spring , it so close to san francisco. how long did you stay there usually? what exactly time during spring? is there bugs during spring? thank you.
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jay
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Post by jay on Nov 17, 2015 6:13:30 GMT -8
Much like cweston's post, my best trip was with my daughter, taking her on her first trip. It was mostly an average trail, both in difficulty and scenery. The true joy and beauty for me was in the sharing of it and seeing how much she enjoyed the experience.
As far as little luxuries, I would recommend a small pillow. It may not sound like much but can make a huge difference in getting a good night's rest.
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tarol
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Redding, CA
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Post by tarol on Nov 17, 2015 7:54:21 GMT -8
The longest trip I did was on Isle Royale NP - hiking across the island - that was one of the best.
The trip I did with justdropin where we climbed Mt. Langley, which was my first 14'er, and explored off trail in Miter Basin. That was one of the best.
My first solo off-trail excursion was to to a pair of lakes near Mt. Silliman - that was one of the best.
The trips I've done with the WWWW on the Appalachian Trail, in Zion, and in Joshua Tree - those were some of the best.
The last few years I've been taking my son with me - he's done 5 trips now, and he's not even 4 yet. Those trips have been especially rewarding.
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