Quotechick-on Hammocks are a personal preference. A nice two person tent in mosquito season ... where my wife and I can take a nap, have breakfast, lunch, and dinner.. in and have all our gear in there .. trumps any hamhock setup. So you say. I like my palace. I do all that and sleep soundly too.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
QuoteThe Other Tom Also, you have more room to move around inside a tent if you're trapped by foul weather. So for me, it's a tent. Actually, it's the complete opposite. I have gone through 14+ hours of rain surrounded by buddies in tents. I can sit up, make tea, read, hang damp socks on the hammock lines to dry, keep everything up out of the mud, and be warm and dry all night, while all theby AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
There are at last count four routes to the Diving Board but once at the bottom of the ridge you either take the climber's route (exposure and class 3-4) or the hiking route (steep climbing up through the trees with a little hand and foot work). I have gone the Lost Lake route from LYV, and the Emerald Pool route straight up along the gully to the left of Broderick. Liberty Cap is fun - yoby AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
You should probably start hiking, in the shoes you intend to wear, and learn how to hydrate and manage sun exposure. Hiking 16 miles in a day with tons of steps (there are lots of those on the Mist Trail) isn't something you should just get off the couch and go do. Gym time and so forth helps but is not the total solution - hiking is best prepared for by hiking. REI has a Learn section with aby AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
My childhood best friend and her family hunted bears with dogs legally for years. Also other things.... Bear kind of tastes like gamey chicken.by AlmostThere - General Discussion
Found dead, alas.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
I've had someone wander off the end of a switchback before, following a water bar into the woods. There are often use trails in these places because of people who hike with all their sense turned off - march, march, march, suddenly there's no trail anymore, whuuuuuutttt???? Just turn around 180 degrees and go back at this point if it happens to you instead of continuing into the woods like the otby AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Leor is on my Facebook feed - he is an ultramarathoner. Also a good photographer. Always out for another ultra-adventure.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Don't be afraid/feel like a loser to backtrack and leave if it feels wrong. Better to be safe than SARry. As for food, trailcooking.com is helpful and got me well on the road past "tired of these freaking bars" into variety and sanity. There is absolutely nothing better than a hot meal at the end of a dirty tired day - except of course for pizza on the way home to a hot shower.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
The trouble with the Diving Board is that it is rough hiking - if you dislike very steep slopes with loose soil/scree and shoving through brush, it's not probably going to be enjoyable. The climber's route involves a LOT of exposure - that would be the route if you follow the obvious use trails up the hill from the saddle - and walking out narrow cracks in steep slab, friction walking on steep slby AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
you missed my point by 10 miles. I did not say anything condemning the proper usage of a hung food bag. I am trying to provide you with information that is important to you for backpacking in various wilderness areas in California. there are a lot more areas that require bear canisters then you think and there are more coming. PCT hikers have been injured by Bears because they decide not to use lby AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
We saw bears every night in backcountry campsites, sometimes twice a night. Got up to bear slobber on the pots we left out.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Quoterandomsteve95370 As far as the complaints people have about hanging bags I find that most (if not all) are just stupid and could be said about most anything else hikers do. As far as hanging your bag not working, well thats just idiotic to say. Lots of state parks, national forests, campsites, ect ect provide pre hung wires for you to hang your bags from so obviously it does work you justby AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
I camp out on my hammock in the open quite a lot. Just a quilt over and a quilt under. On the ground, I do the same only with a pad. Only put up the tarp in rain. Bivies are too confining, sleeping bags too confining, tents - meh. Claustrophobic and only needed if it's raining or horribly crazy buggy.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Bear canisters are mandatory in Yosemite and some areas in Kings/Sequoia NPs, as well as a number of other wilderness areas in California. I make them mandatory for my group hikes as there are frequently no handy trees for a REAL bear hang - 15 feet up, 5-6 down from the branch, 10 feet from the tree trunk - and I grow weary of finding coils of rope in trees everywhere. Learn to love the canisby AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Tell him to stay on the highways. Google maps will show you the difference in travel time between the routes - you can drag the route around and get estimates that way.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Bees in a bathroom are more of an emergency for people who are allergic to bees and don't know it yet. Bees kill more people each year than sharks, bears, moose, etc. Nearly as many people as mosquitos kill... I think the park really wants to know about that sort of thing ASAP given the valley's full of tourists.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I've seen rowboats and kayaks there before. As long as it doesn't have a motor it's apparently ok.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
There are still significant snow patches in the basin above Pear - we went over to Table Meadows where there was less snow on the ridge. Ice in the lake, snowbanks needed to be glissaded down to get to it. There are 1,000,000,000,000 mosquitoes waiting for you.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
If you mean the guy in the sweats they found his body in the pool at the base of the falls 10 days after he went missing. Not publicized so far as I know, for some reason.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
There are gear/mountaineering shops in Curry, Yosemite Village and Tuolumne Meadows down the street from the store (look for the gas pumps).by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Grizzly Falls is a pullout and walk fifty steps! seriously? The Half Dome hike is what I would call the worst - the trail sucks. Covered with littering, yelling, hooting, dehydrated orangutans in running shorts. WHICH trail in Point Reyes? There are some awesome ones, to be sure. The trail in Julia Pfieffer Burns - ?????????????? No. The falls is pretty but the best view is from the side ofby AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Boy, if it's less flavorful than Mountain House, may as well eat paper...by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
That's a really popular assumption, resulting in a lot of trip reports that go something like "well, we turned around at..." Don't bank on all the snow being gone. If you're not comfortable with it go the other direction - visit Waterwheel Falls, California Falls, etc.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
http://www.healthline.com/health/acute-mountain-sickness#Causes Study up. Drink more water than you think you need. Eat snacks. If you have a bunch of the symptoms of elevation sickness, GO DOWWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNN. Don't go alone.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Since the pass closed today, it may take a few minutes to get to that.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Pass is closed today... snowed.by AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Quoteeeek QuoteAlmostThereNope, there are well used campsites next to every creek, despite the rules, and no matter how many people are told otherwise they are obviously still in use. in the case of Rancheria Falls the rangers actually condone the use of sites next to the water instead of encouraging dispersal camping. From the Compendium: Camping is permitted within 100 feet of a streamby AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
That's common practice in other parts of California where bears haven't learned how to do car break ins. At Courtright Reservoir, the latches on bear lockers in the camp are busted so the host tells you to lock stuff in the trunk.by AlmostThere - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteplawrence QuoteAlmostThere Since I day hike that trail, I confess I have not much paid attention. Most of the obvious sites are of course right next to the creek... I hope you meant near the creek. It's illegal to camp NEXT to a creek. (Must be at least 100 feet away from all water sources, including creeks.) And I'll also remind everyone that it's illegal to build new fire rby AlmostThere - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra