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TipRoast

TipRoast

The years teach much which the days never know.
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I am guessing that there are at least a few Planeteers that enjoy the NFL but also enjoy getting away from civilization and decompressing by walking around in the mountains.

This is a thread where you can talk about where you've been, where you're going, and post pictures of some of the great places you've seen.

Here are a couple of pictures to get the thread started. The first was taken during the morning of the 2012 playoff game between the Patriots and Broncos. We were hiking in the Mt. Whitney area on the Meysan Trail. We tried to time our hike so that we would be down off the mountain and done with dinner by kick-off. We didn't quite make it - it was 14-0 by the time we got back to our hotel room.

The second picture was taken the next day (Sunday). We are on the Lone Pine Trail hiking up to the Meysan Lake Campground. Lots of switchbacks, and every now and then Mt. Whitney comes into view.
 
TipRoast said:
I am guessing that there are at least a few Planeteers that enjoy the NFL but also enjoy getting away from civilization and decompressing by walking around in the mountains.

This is a thread where you can talk about where you've been, where you're going, and post pictures of some of the great places you've seen.

Here are a couple of pictures to get the thread started. The first was taken during the morning of the 2012 playoff game between the Patriots and Broncos. We were hiking in the Mt. Whitney area on the Meysan Trail. We tried to time our hike so that we would be down off the mountain and done with dinner by kick-off. We didn't quite make it - it was 14-0 by the time we got back to our hotel room.

The second picture was taken the next day (Sunday). We are on the Lone Pine Trail hiking up to the Meysan Lake Campground. Lots of switchbacks, and every now and then Mt. Whitney comes into view.
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great pics......Ive hiked the White Mountains.....lots off the Appalacian Trail....a bit of Mt Washington.....The Nepali coast in Hawaii
 
I do a lot of hiking, but I haven't done anything that big, yet.

We live at the base of Griffith Park and we hike up to Mt. Hollywood a lot.

We've hiked all over the park, and there's a lot of hidden gems. Like the original batcave.
 
jetstream1066 said:
great pics......Ive hiked the White Mountains.....lots off the Appalacian Trail....a bit of Mt Washington.....The Nepali coast in Hawaii
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I have lots of pictures of the Whites in storage, plus a few out here in an album (maybe some of the Boott Spur trail on Washington in winter). I'll scan them in and post them later, if I can find them.

We did the Na Pali Coast a number of years back, when our boys were small (about 9 and 6, I think). At one point the youngest turns to my wife and says "Are you sure it's a good idea to have someone as young as me up here?"

We were about at 1000' or so on a fairly tame trail, but when you're starting at sea level it's a pretty good hike for someone that age, and some of the drop-offs are impressive.
 
Steve-o said:
Also, one of my favorites, Joshua Tree.
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Nice pics, Steve-o. Thanks for posting them. We did Red Rocks Canyon State Park in California about a year ago. There are Joshua trees there, too, but we didn't see anything in bloom at that time.
 
Of course, not all hiking has to take place in the mountains.

We did a trip up to the Monterey area in the fall of 2010. We hiked around Point Lobos one morning (first picture).

On the drive back home, we had lunch at Nepenthe - second picture is the view from one of the outdoor tables (this is the Big Sur area of the state).

After lunch we drove for a while and stopped at the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park - third picture is from a lookout point at that park.
 
TipRoast said:
I have lots of pictures of the Whites in storage, plus a few out here in an album (maybe some of the Boott Spur trail on Washington in winter). I'll scan them in and post them later, if I can find them.

We did the Na Pali Coast a number of years back, when our boys were small (about 9 and 6, I think). At one point the youngest turns to my wife and says "Are you sure it's a good idea to have someone as young as me up here?"

We were about at 1000' or so on a fairly tame trail, but when you're starting at sea level it's a pretty good hike for someone that age, and some of the drop-offs are impressive.
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yep...the dropoffs were amazing.....the whole view was just awesome.....also did some smaller hikes there........looking forward to doing the grand canyon one day. We had our permits and all plans were made to hike it on 9/15/01.......then 9/11 happened and all flights were cancelled......uugghhh
 
My pics from my numerous hikes are not as good as the above since many were taken on my cell camera but the wildflower season in the desert is going to be gangbusters again this year so I will get some shots of the desert in full bloom soon. THe first poppies poked their heads out already!

I hike locally about twice a week and when we move to CO I am looking forward to some new landscape.:)
 
I've backpacked in the Presidentials in NH, and Rocky Mountain National Park and the Maroon Bells in Colorado.

My "home" backpacking spot is Baxter State Park in Maine. I've been up there at least 35 times since 1976. For about the past 25 years or so, we have a tradition of doing a 4 or 5 day backpacking trip every October around Columbus day. Three of us have been regulars the whole time. Two more (including Hawg73) have become regulars in more recent years.

IMO, Baxter has the best wilderness scenery east of the Rockies. Sometimes our trips include climbing Katahdin and the Knife edge. More often we explore more remote areas of the park. It's full of spectacular lakes and ponds, and interesting mountain peaks and serene forests. Over the years, we've been just about everywhere in this almost quarter of a million acre gem. Every square inch of it is beautiful. Best of all, the entire park is beyond the range of cell phones. It's something I look forward to all year.
 
dropKickMurphy said:
I've backpacked in the Presidentials in NH, and Rocky Mountain National Park and the Maroon Bells in Colorado.

My "home" backpacking spot is Baxter State Park in Maine. I've been up there at least 35 times since 1976. For about the past 25 years or so, we have a tradition of doing a 4 or 5 day backpacking trip every October around Columbus day. Three of us have been regulars the whole time. Two more (including Hawg73) have become regulars in more recent years.

IMO, Baxter has the best wilderness scenery east of the Rockies. Sometimes our trips include climbing Katahdin and the Knife edge. More often we explore more remote areas of the park. It's full of spectacular lakes and ponds, and interesting mountain peaks and serene forests. Over the years, we've been just about everywhere in this almost quarter of a million acre gem. Every square inch of it is beautiful. Best of all, the entire park is beyond the range of cell phones. It's something I look forward to all year.
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I haven't yet done Katahdin - it's on my list, as is the rest of Baxter SP and Acadia NP. I have done the Allagash a couple of times, and have done some sea kayaking in southern Maine. (Also have done a fair amount of skiing at Sunday River and Sugarloaf.) A wonderful place for those that like being outdoors.

I think I've done about as much hiking in the White Mountains as I need to at this point. I hope to be back in New England in a couple of years, and will make getting up to Maine on a regular basis a priority.

Thanks for reminding me of what I can look forward to. :thumb:
 
TipRoast said:
I haven't yet done Katahdin - it's on my list, as is the rest of Baxter SP and Acadia NP. I have done the Allagash a couple of times, and have done some sea kayaking in southern Maine. (Also have done a fair amount of skiing at Sunday River and Sugarloaf.) A wonderful place for those that like being outdoors.

I think I've done about as much hiking in the White Mountains as I need to at this point. I hope to be back in New England in a couple of years, and will make getting up to Maine on a regular basis a priority.

Thanks for reminding me of what I can look forward to. :thumb:
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I did the Allagash with my son about 10 years ago. I'd love to do it again one of these years.

Sunday River and Sugarloaf are both great ski areas. Another one that has really come into its own in recent years is Saddleback. It had languished for many years, and its facilites had deteriorated until a local guy (Berry) bought it a few years back. He invested significant $$$ in a new base lodge, improved lifts/snow making, and terrain expansion.

When the economy melted down, he ran short of $$$ and the pace of their improvements slowed down. But the area was recently designated as a targeted employment area, which allows them to take advantage of the EB-5 Visa program. This program allows foreign investors to obtain a Green Card if they agree to invest at least $500,000 in a targeted employment area.

This is the same program that brought in the $$$ for Jay Peak to build new lodges, hotel, skating arena, and indoor water park over the last 5 years.

Rumors are going around that Saddleback may be putting in a new HSQ this summer, which suggests the EB-5 program is already helping them out.

Anyway, you should check it out when you get back.

To tie that back into the hiking thread, my buddy and I have done a Saddleback/Sugarloaf skiing weekend for a few years. A couple of years ago, we thought it might be interesting to hike some of the trails that we ski in the winter. We spotted a car at Sugarloaf, and drove another to Saddleback. We spent the next 4 days climbing Saddleback, picking up the AT at the summit, and backpacking the AT until we reached the summit of Sugarloaf. That was a really beautiful, rugged portion of the AT; I'd highly recommend that hike.
 
I went back into the archives and scanned in a couple of pictures from when I was doing some winter hiking in the White Mountains as part of a venture crew (venture crews are Boy Scout affiliated organizations).

The first picture is from near the top of Cannon Mountain, and is from late February, I think (probably around President's Day in 2005 or 2006). We took the crew for two nights at the Lonesome Lake AMC Hut. From the hut on the second day, we ascended Cannon Mountain - in the background you can see Franconia Notch and the flank of Mount Lafayette. This was when I had facial hair; a couple of the other crew leaders are in the picture.

The second picture is from the bottom of Mount Washington - we had spent the day on the Boott Spur ridge - this was March 2007 or 2008. Weird day - 45 degree temperature, 45 mph winds, and sometimes 45 degree slopes. I'm the second from the right, and no longer sport a 'stache.
 
*pokes tired head in* AWESOME shots Tip and others. I can't wait to snow shoe once we are finally moved to CO never done it but I just have a calling to try it now.

I plan to do quite a bit of hiking over the next several months as my main therapy for dealing with the loss yesterday and because this year promises to be gangbuster with wildflowers in the Sonoran Desert. Here is an old shot from about 2 years ago when we had a massive bloom. There are more than just poppies but this was all I could easily find. This is from Saguaro National Park West across from where I live.
 
PatrietteAz said:
*pokes tired head in* AWESOME shots Tip and others. I can't wait to snow shoe once we are finally moved to CO never done it but I just have a calling to try it now.
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That day on Boott Spur was weird - we switched between bare boots and snowshoes and crampons several times during the course of the day, as we encountered various conditions and inclines.

The best part of snowshoeing, for me, is how easy it is with modern equipment. But if it's a fresh snowfall of 6" or more and you're the one breaking trail, you'll be sweating bullets in no time. It's helpful to have another polypro shirt available to change into when that happens.

I plan to do quite a bit of hiking over the next several months as my main therapy for dealing with the loss yesterday and because this year promises to be gangbuster with wildflowers in the Sonoran Desert. Here is an old shot from about 2 years ago when we had a massive bloom. There are more than just poppies but this was all I could easily find. This is from Saguaro National Park West across from where I live.
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Nice. I hope this means you'll be posting more pictures when you get to the high country.
 
dropKickMurphy said:
To tie that back into the hiking thread, my buddy and I have done a Saddleback/Sugarloaf skiing weekend for a few years. A couple of years ago, we thought it might be interesting to hike some of the trails that we ski in the winter. We spotted a car at Sugarloaf, and drove another to Saddleback. We spent the next 4 days climbing Saddleback, picking up the AT at the summit, and backpacking the AT until we reached the summit of Sugarloaf. That was a really beautiful, rugged portion of the AT; I'd highly recommend that hike.
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Sounds challenging - I love hearing/reading stories like that. I hiked up a double-black diamond at a ski resoirt in the Catskills one summer (can't remember the name of the mountain, but it wasn't a really big one) - I was huffing and puffing big-time when I got to the top. It was far more difficult than I thought it would be.

I imagine those kinds of trails on a 4000' mountain are even more demanding. Also didn't realize that those mountains were on the AT.

Have you done any Vermont hiking? I've done Camel's Hump and Mount Mansfield, but that's it so far.
 
Dropkick and I did a couple of days on the Boott Spur trail quite a while ago, and it was outstanding. I will echo what he says about Baxter State Park.

I look forward to that trip every year and Baxter never lets you down. You can make it extremely rugged if you want or a little more laid-back depending
on how you plan your intinery and DKM is a master by now and I just say "whatever you think" and let him call the shots.

This past October we took in a section of the park around Katahdin lake that was recently acquired (after decades of negotation) and equipped with
new lean-tos and you can easily see why they wanted it so much. It's a jewel.

I went out and bought better gear, a great pack and we spent a couple of days being nomads between sites. It was a luxury to have warm, sunny days
to the point of sweating our balls off on the trail and it seemed like every site we stayed at was even better than the last one. I never imagined I'd be
swimming in Maine at that time of the year. The stars were spectacular.

Lots of great memories. The last day we got off the trail to where the cars were and stayed another night for the traditional steak and beer reward.
DKM found some amazing steak that was pricey (!) but well-worth it and I finally found a signal for the Pats-Jets game on the radio and it was a little
slice of heaven. There is nothing in the world that tastes better than steak and beer after a couple of days of freeze-dried food and filtered water.

Here's a shot I took of the sunset from Katahdin Lake. It's a nice shot, but it looked even better in person. I can't wait for the next trip.
 
TipRoast said:
Sounds challenging - I love hearing/reading stories like that. I hiked up a double-black diamond at a ski resoirt in the Catskills one summer (can't remember the name of the mountain, but it wasn't a really big one) - I was huffing and puffing big-time when I got to the top. It was far more difficult than I thought it would be.

I imagine those kinds of trails on a 4000' mountain are even more demanding. Also didn't realize that those mountains were on the AT.

Have you done any Vermont hiking? I've done Camel's Hump and Mount Mansfield, but that's it so far.
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Could the ski area be either Hunter or Belle Aire? I am guessing that it was not Whiteface since that is a big mountain and is a bit further north than the Catskills range. By the way, I totally agree with you on modern snowshoes. I learned on the wooden long-tailed monsters and was amazed when I tried the newer styles of shoes.
 
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