Outdoor Recreation?

[Broughden]

Okay does anyone participate in this area of sports? I dont really see it talked about that much.

I alpine climb, kayak, canoe, backpack, and hike.

Is anyone else doing anything in these areas? I'd love to trade pics, stories, advice or gear suggestions.

Me this past weekend playing around on the Nantahala.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hXvDTOhXl8
The guy helping me launch the kayak is Horace Holden '96 Olympian for the US canoe team.

[FatuousTwat]

ULTIMATE, DUUUUUUUDE!

[Nebu]

I hike, ice climb, whitewater canoe, and even do orienteering on occasion.  I'm even working on a survival manual for different regions of the country.  I'd love to swap stories and experiences.  The areas I know best are southern/central Ontario and the front range of the Rockies.  I also have a little experience in the Tetons and the Wind Rivers area of northern Wyoming. 

I used to guide summers in southwestern Ontario doing field trips that only allowed hiking and canoes.  Good times. 

[Sky]

We like to hike, if I can kick the old lady's ass into getting out there. I took last year off for the most part to focus on fixing up my house and that was a mistake. I'm trying to implement a plan to get her back into shape (she thinks she's become totally out of shape in a year  ) and get back on some mountains. So this year won't be exciting at best, probably something like Rondaxe. I'm much more vertical friendly than she is, when we were getting out a lot, Blue Mt would be about her limit (I had to coax her the last few hundred yards). At some point I'd like to get into some high peaks, but it'll be a couple years even if I get her going now.

We've also talked about trying out either a canoe or kayaks. I'd lean toward canoe, we like things slow and easy. I think it would be fun, but powered craft already got on my nerves, so we'd have to pick lakes carefully. I have an abiding dislike for jet skis, a single craft can annoy everyone on a lake while only providing enjoyment for one person.

[Broughden]

Sky,

I will tell you one of our favorite trips in that region. Drive up Upper Works Road and park by Henderson Lake. Follow the Calamity Brook Trail up to Lake Colden (aka The Flowed Lands), and base camp there. Then spend the next 2-3 days hiking from that valley to the summits of Mount Marcy, Algonquin, Mount Marshall, Mt Colden, and Iroquois Peak. Then follow the Opalescent River trail back down to your car.

The valley is stunning and great base camp to hit some of the highest peaks in the Adirondacks.

Either way you decide to go (canoe or kayak) I would highly suggest buying used off of Craigslist or something. In your area there should be quite a few people looking to unload a used boat they arent using anymore. The main differences are-
Canoe: More stable, and can store much more equipment for over night camping trips. Generally they cost more though and are much heavier meaning they are harder to load and unload from the car/truck.
Kayak: Lighter and faster and generally cheaper (which is why they have become so popular). A little more of a learning curve since they arent as stable and you have to be a bit more careful in packing them since storage capacity is more limited.


@ Nebu,
Ive been through the Rockies (used to live in Colorado) but havent gotten to the other areas you mentioned. I havent been through the Ontario area at all but have heard good things. Any place in particular you recommend? What type of survival manual are you working on?

[Abagadro]

I sit outdoors and drink beer.

[Broughden]

I sit outdoors and drink beer.

Three different area micro-breweries gave away free beer for two hours at Nantahala this weekend. You would have had fun. 

[Nebu]

@ Nebu,
Ive been through the Rockies (used to live in Colorado) but havent gotten to the other areas you mentioned. I havent been through the Ontario area at all but have heard good things. Any place in particular you recommend? What type of survival manual are you working on?

Try this for SW Ontario on the US side.  I did my guiding near the end of the gunflint trail that heads out of Grand Marais, MN.

As for the survival manuals, I'm working on field guides specific to different regions of the US in collaboration with botonists & entomologists in the region. They are very similar in construction to the military manuals that have already been developed, but are much more user-friendly to civilians.  Think of a paperback field guide that you'd want to carry for a survival trip in a given area and you'll have an idea.  My goal is to encourage people to hike in areas with a zero footprint.  Take out what you take in kind of thing.   

[Cyrrex]

I sit outdoors and drink beer.

This morning, I walked from the parking lot into my office building.  I saw lots of nice cars, and the weather was good.  Later today, I am planning a repeat performance.

Also!  I take my kid to swimming lessons every day, and they take place outside.

Sadly, that's the extent of my outdoorsy activity.  I often wish it could be otherwise.

[kaid]

We like to hike, if I can kick the old lady's ass into getting out there. I took last year off for the most part to focus on fixing up my house and that was a mistake. I'm trying to implement a plan to get her back into shape (she thinks she's become totally out of shape in a year  ) and get back on some mountains. So this year won't be exciting at best, probably something like Rondaxe. I'm much more vertical friendly than she is, when we were getting out a lot, Blue Mt would be about her limit (I had to coax her the last few hundred yards). At some point I'd like to get into some high peaks, but it'll be a couple years even if I get her going now.

We've also talked about trying out either a canoe or kayaks. I'd lean toward canoe, we like things slow and easy. I think it would be fun, but powered craft already got on my nerves, so we'd have to pick lakes carefully. I have an abiding dislike for jet skis, a single craft can annoy everyone on a lake while only providing enjoyment for one person.

You may want to look into sea kayaks the two person ones are a lot more fun than normal canoes and a lot more managable AKA not becoming sails in a strong breeze like canoes do. They are really nice for long distance water trips on a nice stable and fun platform. Canoes are a bit better if you plan on camping and packing a LOT of stuff in fact canoes handle better the more crap you throw into them at least to a point.

[Sky]

My goal is to encourage people to hike in areas with a zero footprint.  Take out what you take in kind of thing.   

I'm a little bit of a footprinter. I never leave anything, but I do take stuff occasionally. Never anything easily visible, I try to get rock samples from underneath shelves or behind trees. My favorite rock right now is some kind of compound fault (black rocks, white lines, 2 directions) from the land my family settled after the revolution, eventually I'll frame the picture I took of the bedrock shore I lifted it from that's crisscrossed with the filled faults.

Actually, I want to get way more into geological harvest type hiking. I've got a few nice rocks, but I want some nice showpieces. I know there's a shitload of garnets just down the road. Would also like to nab some arrowheads, they're supposedly all over if you know where to look.

[kaid]

If you want some funky rocks and ever get a chance swing by lake superior along the shorelines. We used to live a few hundred feet from the shore and the amount of agates and semi precious stones and other neat looking water worn stones you can find is pretty amazing. Lots of pretty areas to hike and canoe as well such as up by the apostle islands which is where I have done some sea kayaking.

[KallDrexx]

ULTIMATE, DUUUUUUUDE!

I second this.

About to go and play my usual Wed game of it too 

[Broughden]

My goal is to encourage people to hike in areas with a zero footprint.  Take out what you take in kind of thing.   

Well if you need some info regarding this, Im a Leave No Trace master educator with the Center for Outdoor Ethics in Boulder, and have the contact info for a PhD in recreational ecology (studying the impact of recreational users on flora and fauna).

[Bzalthek]

I can't get over the fact that no one seems to have a problem with a giant ball of explosive fire just sitting there in the sky. 

[lamaros]

I do outdoor stuff from time to time, but I do it in Australia and I don't take photos and the like so I'm not sure what I can share.

Last year me and a couple of friends did some cross-country skiing/camping which was a bit of fun. Timed it a bit wrong and didn't get to cover as much ground as we'd have liked to due to snow melt but it was quite a bit of fun still.

I'd like to get a good bike and do some mountain biking in the future, when I can afford it.

[Tale]

I do this. Preferably not when it's so frosty.



(edit - posted story of the ride I was on)

[bhodi]

You might like to read my co-worker's journey, then..

I limit myself to day trips in the area. Hiking, Biking, Climbing, mostly.

[DraconianOne]

Outdoor events? Yeah, I'll bite.

Mountain Marathons (last one was a couple of weeks ago - some pics of the terrain here )

"Tough Guy"

Diving

Coming up I have the London Rat Race in September, probably the OMM in Wales at the end of October (although haven't booked it yet) and my first ultramarathon in January, all being well.

[Evildrider]

ULTIMATE, DUUUUUUUDE!

I second this.

About to go and play my usual Wed game of it too 

I third this, go go hippie sports.  lol.

[Tale]

You might like to read my co-worker's journey, then..

Cool. I've done long trips like that too between jobs - the longest was four months from Scotland to Poland in 1997, in a W shape across Europe. Glasgow, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Dijon, Geneva, Munich, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Timisoara, Debrecen, Kosice, Krakow, Warsaw, but mostly everything in between.

Sold the bicycle in Warsaw, bought tickets and visas for Russia, Mongolia, China, and caught the train from Warsaw to Beijing. Train south to Guilin (Yangshuo village), then bus/ferry to Hong Kong. Then I flew back to Sydney for my sister's wedding and got my old job back at higher pay

I met an amazing number of people doing similar things.

[murdoc]

ULTIMATE, DUUUUUUUDE!

4th'd. Every Tue/wed/thurs night.

[Nazrat]

My goal is to encourage people to hike in areas with a zero footprint.  Take out what you take in kind of thing.   

Well if you need some info regarding this, Im a Leave No Trace master educator with the Center for Outdoor Ethics in Boulder, and have the contact info for a PhD in recreational ecology (studying the impact of recreational users on flora and fauna).

Cub Scout den leader here.  We camp a few times a year.  At 6 and 8 years old, both of my sons already practice Leave No Trace.  I am very proud. 

[Tale]

Cub Scout den leader here.

[Nazrat]

Cub Scout den leader here.

Not in my den. 

[Nebu]

Well if you need some info regarding this, Im a Leave No Trace master educator with the Center for Outdoor Ethics in Boulder, and have the contact info for a PhD in recreational ecology (studying the impact of recreational users on flora and fauna).

Actually, could you find out where the guy did his doctoral work?  If I'm going to start a new career, this might be a very interesting direction to take. 

[Fraeg]

Whitewater kayaking.

though my recent reloc to NM from northern CA is kinda putting a damper on it.

[Teleku]

How so?  Quite a lot of places to go White Water Kayaking in Northern California.

[Trippy]

Read it again.

[Sky]

Got out and did a nice hike through some woods at a local college, they own a whole slew of forest behind the campus. Some decent ravines, the fiancee was ready to kill me. I mentioned we haven't been out as much as we'd like, but I bounce back much faster, especially on verticals. I was all ready to tackle another circuit and her glare just about killed me on the spot. We drove around looking at the great architecture instead :)

She's still slow in learning to trust my directional sense. We had entered from an unfamiliar trailhead (to her, I'd never been there), and she goes by memory and took a wrong turn while looking for a specific glen. I took over and brought us around gradually to the first trail loop, she started her usual low-level panic "We should turn around now" stuff. Right then another couple walks by asking "Are we still in NY?" and she looks at me, I tell her again to trust me, point at exactly where the truck is parked, and reiterate that turning around would actually take longer and force us to slow back through the muddy meadow areas, as we were just re-entering the middle-growth forest with its firmer land. So we pop out one parking lot away from where the truck is, at the trailhead she usually uses, and I point at the road and tell her my truck is in the next lot over. Can't see it, but I know where we are. She laughs, because the person who has never been there is the one who knows where he is. Short jaunt down the road, and there's the FJ in the next lot. :)

So we drove around town looking at the great houses for another twenty minutes or so. Then went back up through the campus checking out the amazing architecture up there, coming out on some high hills behind it to curve around to the route home. She comments on a couple walking along side the road a couple miles past the campus, probably three miles from the trailheads, it was an older out-of-shape guy who had taken off his shirt. I started to defend him, because obviously the guy was beat...and it was the couple who had been complaining in the woods earlier when she wanted to turn around. I grinned and said "You're welcome."

[Broughden]

Well if you need some info regarding this, Im a Leave No Trace master educator with the Center for Outdoor Ethics in Boulder, and have the contact info for a PhD in recreational ecology (studying the impact of recreational users on flora and fauna).

Actually, could you find out where the guy did his doctoral work?  If I'm going to start a new career, this might be a very interesting direction to take. 

I will PM you his contact info and you can shoot him an email.

[Broughden]

Whitewater kayaking.

though my recent reloc to NM from northern CA is kinda putting a damper on it.

Where? Creeking or play boating? What boat or boats do you use or prefer? Give me more info!

[Aez]

Jumpboot

I always wanted to try these, sounds especialy fun for cross country running.  About the speed of rollerblades with better control and the hability to go off road - e.g. beach running.

[Teleku]

Read it again.

[Fraeg]

How so?  Quite a lot of places to go White Water Kayaking in Northern California.

Northern California was amazing, I lived at the base of the Sierra Nevada's and things run all year long, in part due to all the dams.  It was wonderful. 

Now I am in Albuquerque New Mexico, which  is nice but the closest (dam release) paddling is near Taos which isn't the hop and a skip I am used to... well that and all my boats are in storage in CA atm.  NM is more of a spring runoff place where you have a small window of good paddling, where CA has stuff running all year all over the state.

Anyways I just need to get my stuff out here and make things happen.