desert dweller
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Power to the Peaceful...Hate does not create.
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Post by desert dweller on Nov 14, 2015 10:42:18 GMT -8
I came across this blog entry whose author lists 15 benefits to hiking. It's detailed enough to inspire someone to take up hiking. He presents his reasoning in a way that renews the passion of those who may have let backpacking slip from their life. link
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2015 11:03:42 GMT -8
I'll add:
Benefit Sixteen — Snow and more snow.
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Woodsie
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Colorado
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Post by Woodsie on Nov 14, 2015 16:43:46 GMT -8
I'll add: Benefit Sixteen — Snow and more snow.
I love snow, but have only snow camped one time. Just about froze my butt off! This was back in 1978 or so. It got down to -10 that night. But day trips on snowshoes - life doesn't get any better for me
Benefit Three – Be Happy! Yep, I am happiest when I am wandering around in the mountains.
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Westy
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Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
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Post by Westy on Nov 14, 2015 19:49:27 GMT -8
Benefit Sixteen — Snow and more snow Thinking ski touring will be very soon. Breaking trail is great exercise going up and skiing back on your tracks is fun coming down. Benefit Three – Be Happy! Yep, I am happiest when I am wondering around in the mountains. I'm with Woodsie on this one!
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Post by tipiwalter on Nov 22, 2015 12:57:50 GMT -8
Tip 6: Hike with weight in your pack and work up to 30 or 40 lbs.
Tip 12: Keep your pack as light as possible.
Strange.
These tips seem geared to the Dayhiking crowd, those Done-In-A-Day types. Which is wonderful for those not wanting to sleep overnight in the woods although I never could understand how a person would drive all the way to a trailhead and then dayhike a loop and then drive all the way home in the same day without somehow stretching that hike into a single overnighter and leaving on Day 2.
But the link probably isn't directed solely at dayhikers.
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Post by Lonewolf on Nov 22, 2015 17:49:56 GMT -8
I love snow, but have only snow camped one time. Just about froze my butt off! This was back in 1978 or so. It got down to -10 that night. But day trips on snowshoes - life doesn't get any better for me
Benefit Three – Be Happy! Yep, I am happiest when I am wondering around in the mountains. I also wander while I wonder.... :( There's nothing like snugged down in a sleeping bag in sub 0F with a blizzard blowing and knowing you're the only one out there.
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tigger
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Post by tigger on Nov 22, 2015 18:33:38 GMT -8
Tip 6: Hike with weight in your pack and work up to 30 or 40 lbs. Tip 12: Keep your pack as light as possible. Strange. These tips seem geared to the Dayhiking crowd, those Done-In-A-Day types. Which is wonderful for those not wanting to sleep overnight in the woods although I never could understand how a person would drive all the way to a trailhead and then dayhike a loop and then drive all the way home in the same day without somehow stretching that hike into a single overnighter and leaving on Day 2. My winter pack for five days up in the Cascades is 26 lbs.
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Post by tipiwalter on Nov 22, 2015 19:13:25 GMT -8
My winter pack for 21 days is around 85 lbs, but I like my Hilleberg 8 lb 10 oz tent and my 3.5 lb WM down bag and my 5 paperback books and my 44 oz of white gas fuel and my 8 lb pack and my 2+lb down parka and of course my 40+ lbs of food, just food. Once I burn all my books around Day 5 things get a little more normal.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2015 19:32:39 GMT -8
So what are we saying here: "My way of backpacking is better than your way?"
I don't care how long someone stays out or how much their pack weighs. My "trips" have lasted from a few hours to 2.5 months — with only one resupply. This topic area gets down to the essence of Hike-Your-Own-Hike. The length of their hikes and the amount of weight they carry is none of my business — as long as they follow the land-manager rules, regulations, and LNT.
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Post by tipiwalter on Nov 22, 2015 19:40:06 GMT -8
Is backpacking better than dayhiking? For me it is, obviously not for dayhikers. Just expressing my opinion of dayhiking and wondering how people do it.
Desertdweller's link with the 12 or so tips could also be an expression of "Our way (tips ) of hiking is/are better than your way." Let's go back to Tip 6: "Hike with weight in your pack and work your way up to 30 or 40 lbs". Why should anyone follow this advice?
Or Tip 12: "Keep your pack as light as possible". Why should I? Are they assuming this tip is better than the way I do it? Naw, they are just expressing an opinion. I have an opinion of dayhiking vs backpacking. No personal attacks, no torque.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2015 20:19:03 GMT -8
TipiWalter wrote: There's nothing obvious about it. A "dayhiker" could be a backpacker with a short day off in which he does not have time until the next week to stay overnight. So maybe he takes a dayhike this week and an overnight trip the next week. Doing a day-hike does not make anyone merely a "dayhiker."
TipiWalter wrote:
You are also expressing your opinion of people you call "dayhikers," the "dayhiking crowd," and those "Done-In-A-Day types" — as if they are not "backpackers." You don't know that.
TipiWalter wrote:
The first line in that article is, "Are you finding it difficult to get motivated about exercise?" How is that addressing you? He's providing tips to beginners. Are you a beginner? Are you finding it difficult to get motivated about exercise?
TipiWalter wrote:
The writer is giving suggestions to beginners. We've had many beginners come here for advice. He's providing them tips — not Holy Commandments with a moralistic "should" attached.
When DesertDweller posted the link, he did so under the title, "Preaching to the Choir." Is the choir comprised of beginners? More likely it is made up of experienced backpackers who occasionally may wonder what suggestions to give beginners.
TipiWalter wrote:
Are you a beginner? If not, then he is probably not talking to you. Duh.
And if you don't like his advice, you don't have to pass it on. You did not even have to read it. It's not like he's placing you under some moral compulsion to take his advice or to pass it on either. There is no threat of hell-fire either way. A tip is a suggestion. It is not a rule or commandment.
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Nov 23, 2015 8:08:12 GMT -8
Right, Travis. And if we put a little context around some of those (as this group nearly always will, because hey, we like to talk!), they may make more sense. To me, "start with a light pack and work your way up" isn't saying a 40-lb pack is a requirement, but that if you are going to be carrying one (and I'd guess that most beginning backpackers fall into that weight range or more), you will be wise to work your way up to it, because it is so much easier to do physically challenging things if you are fit for them. Ditto keeping the pack as light as possible. That actually doesn't say anything about what weight that would be. If I go overnight in mild conditions with my husband and two teens, I might find "as light as possible" for me is 20 lbs or less. When Tigger took his kids out as little ones, "as light as possible" was about 3/4 of his body weight. But that was probably not the time for him to throw in a few extra beers. And of course on any trip one may choose to add some unnecessary weight, so the advice is always just that--a rule of thumb.
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zeke
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Peekaboo slot 2023
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Post by zeke on Nov 23, 2015 8:25:30 GMT -8
Like jello, there's always room for an ounce of weed.
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