BlueBear
Trail Wise!
@GoBlueHiker
Posts: 3,224
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Post by BlueBear on Sept 11, 2015 10:19:26 GMT -8
I love getting off-trail, the longer the better, although I haven't done it as much lately. Yes, it's certainly more difficult, the outcome is uncertain, and plans often have to change. But that's part of the whole thing, long trails are a bit too much of a "canned adventure" to really spark my imagination a lot (I still enjoy the terrain & scenery, it's just not the same for exploration). The "blanker" the map, the better. Give me a hundred miles where I don't have to cross a trail, a road or a building, and I'm in heaven. Only on rare occasions do I encounter others in those places. Like Tigger, I've done a fair bit of my off-trail stuff in large old-growth forests. It's my favorite terrain. With a packraft in the fjords of coastal Alaska & BC, it's not hard to get places where no one else goes. I spend a fair bit in the alpine too, but honestly the valleys are where I enjoy it the most. As amaruq spoke to, the challenges aren't necessarily easier or harder, they're just different. Baranof Island, Alaska, 2010: Also Baranof Island, 2010: Princess Royal Island, BC: SE Alaska, 2011: Mist Cove, SE Alaska: - Mike
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GaliWalker
Trail Wise!
Have camera, will use.
Posts: 3,717
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Post by GaliWalker on Sept 11, 2015 16:06:10 GMT -8
Even though off trail hiking can be a fun challenge, I don't go out of my way to seek it out. My aim, typically, is to get to or through a photogenic area; if this requires off trail travel, then fine, otherwise trails are also just fine.
I used to do quite a bit of off trail hikes when I lived in Seattle, in the Cascades, with its copious wilderness areas. Now, living in the Mia-Atlantic, not so much.
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Post by swimswithtrout on Sept 11, 2015 16:36:06 GMT -8
I usually use the existing trail system to get up to near timberline, and then from there, it's all off trail. I'm never out to set some incredible mileage goal, but rather to enjoy the fishing and scenery, and both , often times, get better the further from a trail you are. "Somewhere" in the Beartooth's. And likewise, in The Wind's
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Sept 11, 2015 21:51:28 GMT -8
I've been on some pretty damn remote trails. Boot wide.and wandering. Fun stuff. And I've been on trails that were the toughest part of my route even though half the route was cross country. Fewer people off and that can be nice. But again I've been on routes that were exclusively on trail and seen one person in two weeks. Well, okay, the trail was under about ten feet of snow...
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BigLoad
Trail Wise!
Pancakes!
Posts: 13,000
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Post by BigLoad on Sept 12, 2015 9:34:44 GMT -8
It looks like some people are getting their boots all dirty.
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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 Sept 12, 2015 10:37:34 GMT -8
Without a doubt I am primarily a trail-hiker. On occasion I'll pick a point in the distance and walk to it. In the desert, this is relatively straightforward because being able to see the horizon is a major part of hiking there.
The last time I had to go off trail was during my last hike along the Arizona Trail south of Flagstaff. I was following a converted railroad bed where the trail veered off after a mile and a half. Well, after a few miles of walking along this beautiful wooded, pine needle covered level way I realized I missed the turn off. I looked at the map and saw the trail paralleling a mile to the east. So, I cut across country, east through the woods, over a few hills, cross one dirt road, the to a barbed fence. The trail should be a few hundred yards from the fence. I walked along looking for a crossing point. I found a depression under the fence and pushed the pack through. I got on my back and scooted head-up under the fence. The trail was exactly where the map said it would be. I lost a smidgen of distance and little time.
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Westy
Trail Wise!
Diagnosed w/Post-Trail Transition Syndrome
Posts: 1,962
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Post by Westy on Sept 12, 2015 18:24:36 GMT -8
This was a Trail year for us. Although I claim to be a member of the off-trail clan, many off-trail possibilities are now becoming distinguishable routes as more and more people use our limited lower 48 backcountry.
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Post by ecocentric on Sept 13, 2015 14:06:22 GMT -8
On trail or off, all conditions. I use some fuzzy logic for how to get to where I want to go. I normally walk off trail in familiar country so that I can see wildflowers and forage for mushrooms. My route is more about hitting habitats then going to a destination. When I'm alone in new terrain, I am more conservative, sticking mostly to the trail. Above tree line I am as free as a bird.
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markskor
Trail Wise!
Mammoth Lakes & Tuolumne Meadows...living the dream
Posts: 651
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Post by markskor on Sept 13, 2015 15:00:40 GMT -8
Trails are relative depending on who made them. Like most here, I use hiking trails as a conduit to more isolated, "off trail" destinations. However, even when officially off any trail, this wanderer usually finds well-used game trails traversing passes or generally heading in my intended direction. Wisely (why reinvent the wheel), if going my way, I'll follow those tracks.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Sept 13, 2015 16:05:33 GMT -8
I don't trust game trails too much. I've had them lead me into some otherwise impenetrable brush: and then scoot under something I couldn't fit.
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BigLoad
Trail Wise!
Pancakes!
Posts: 13,000
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Post by BigLoad on Sept 13, 2015 16:20:21 GMT -8
I don't trust game trails too much. I've had them lead me into some otherwise impenetrable brush: and then scoot under something I couldn't fit. My view is somewhat opposite. Once in a while, I'm on something that used to be a trail, which somehow evolves into something that never was a trail. At such times, when the brush closes in around me, I'm happy to meet a game trail that might get me back in the right direction. However, that feeling is tempered by experience of game trails not living up to such hopes. It also doesn't help that game trails are designed for shorter critters who aren't wearing backpacks.
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Post by ecocentric on Sept 13, 2015 17:59:13 GMT -8
A seemingly well worn trail can be deceptive. Sometimes they mean that everybody that went out that trail came back the same way.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Sept 14, 2015 3:12:59 GMT -8
As a seeker of solitude, I frequently travel off-trail.
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Post by cweston on Sept 14, 2015 11:40:15 GMT -8
To me, it is all about the balance--that queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you're not sure if the route will work IS part of the fun to me, as long as I'm not being truly reckless with my safety or that of partners. That would be over the line, of course.
But increasingly, I find entirely on-trail trips that lack that higher adventure, higher worry aspect a bit unsatisfying.
I don't get out nearly as often as I'd like to, and my BPing trips are always at least a several hour trip from home (Kansas), so I really feel the need to pack a lot of adventure into a trip (which is typically 5-7 days, for me).
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whistlepunk
Trail Wise!
I was an award winning honor student once. I have no idea what happened...
Posts: 1,446
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Post by whistlepunk on Sept 14, 2015 18:38:31 GMT -8
I do not make a distinction. It is all hiking. Following a trail is easier, but may not go where I want to go. So I just head off in the direction I want. I never labeled it as different.
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