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forest gnome
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forest gnome
Forest nut...
PostTue May 12, 2020 2:38 pm 
The simple solution?...handing over the 220$ and sitting on a horse for 2+ hours.... But then taking 2 or 3 easy days to get out..get a grout of 4 to 5 and go in up to 16m..., hike a short ways to even more remote lake.. We did a drop camp in idaho ...best thing ever for access...

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Steve Erickson
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Steve Erickson
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PostTue May 12, 2020 2:39 pm 
I have noticed in recent years that the Forest Service has made some of the trails I have hiked on steeper and have also lengthen them. Also, due to climate change I am sure, some of the areas have less oxygen to breathe than what it used to be. These issues need to be addressed. I am thinking of emailing that young Swedish girl and letting her know that something definitely is happening to our climate.

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Riverside Laker
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PostTue May 12, 2020 3:36 pm 
Eric Hansen wrote:
Arguably the best is paddling Utah's Green River to The Confluence with the Colorado, passing thru some of Canyonlands NP best backcountry. No rapids, canoes typically used for the trip. I did two trips there with my Dad back in the 90's, him nearing 80 at the time. He had a great time.
That's funny, we just talked this morning about the Green River. (And the Yampa, which may be a lot more challenging.) Ree is working on a project where the main character went down the Green.

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Ski
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PostTue May 12, 2020 5:33 pm 
Steve Erikson wrote:
I have noticed in recent years that the Forest Service has made some of the trails I have hiked on steeper and have also lengthen them. Also, due to climate change I am sure, some of the areas have less oxygen to breathe than what it used to be. These issues need to be addressed. I am thinking of emailing that young Swedish girl and letting her know that something definitely is happening to our climate.
They also have made the surface of the earth harder, no doubt also due to climate change.

"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."
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jackchinook
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PostTue May 12, 2020 6:59 pm 
Backpacker Joe wrote:
.....The amazing thing about this story, the man was 98 years old! He grew up in Wenatchee and hiked the area his whole life....
This story sticks with me. Similar experience 3-4 years ago in the Pasayten. We got a pre-dawn start into the Hidden Lakes (16-17 mile in) and I recall passing a couple tents at Drake Creek at dawn. A couple days later, two guys rolled in mid-day, a young man and an old one. I got to chatting with the older one (the other was his teeanaged GREAT grandson). He was in his mid-90's and had going into the Hiddens every year since the 80s. What took us (our group of 40-somethings) 6 or so hours took him 3 days...but he was still making the trip. I was amazed and really enjoyed chatting with him. I hope he's still doing it. Sadly, the Diamond Cr. fire started just a few days later from an abandoned campfire.... I sincerely hope it wasn't his while he was on the way out. It was clearly a special area to this guy.

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bobbi
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PostTue May 12, 2020 8:36 pm 
well, I'm 66+ years and hoping to do at least 4 backpacking trips this summer unless COVID-19 interferes with my plans. I'll keep backpacking until I can't tongue.gif

bobbi ૐ "Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way!" - Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Seuss
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Songs2
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PostWed May 13, 2020 7:59 am 
Winning answer!
bobbi wrote:
I'll keep backpacking until I can't tongue.gif

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moonspots
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moonspots
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PostWed May 13, 2020 8:13 am 
Songs2 wrote:
Winning answer!
bobbi wrote:
I'll keep backpacking until I can't tongue.gif
Yes, indeed! I tell my wife (who sees no sense in wandering around in the woods) that I have to do it now while I can, so when I'm stuck in a rocker on the porch, I'll have some stories to tell to the the kids! lol.gif Go Fred (Beckey)!

"Out, OUT you demons of Stupidity"! - St Dogbert, patron Saint of Technology
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Kascadia
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PostWed May 13, 2020 11:04 am 
Eric Hansen wrote:
Arguably the best is paddling Utah's Green River to The Confluence with the Colorado, passing thru some of Canyonlands NP best backcountry. No rapids, canoes typically used for the trip. I did two trips there with my Dad back in the 90's, him nearing 80 at the time. He had a great time.
I have a wild eyed friend who solo rafted from the town of Green River to the confluence in the mid-70's. He pulled out there and hiked (carrying the raft) to where he left his truck at a Canyonlands trailhead. The looks he got from people hiking through the desert carrying a raft were memorable.

It is as though I had read a divine text, written into the world itself, not with letters but rather with essential objects, saying: Man, stretch thy reason hither, so thou mayest comprehend these things. Johannes Kepler
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Eric Hansen
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Eric Hansen
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PostWed May 13, 2020 8:59 pm 
Kascadia, if your friend is still in the game I hope he has noticed the pack raft surge. A lot of "combination" trips being done with them. A few years ago I ran into a bunch of them at Phantom Ranch (bottom of the Grand Canyon). They were going all the way through (the canyon), paddling the Colorado. Not at peak flows through, this was February.

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Kascadia
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PostThu May 14, 2020 11:19 am 
Eric Hansen wrote:
Kascadia, if your friend is still in the game I hope he has noticed the pack raft surge. A lot of "combination" trips being done with them. A few years ago I ran into a bunch of them at Phantom Ranch (bottom of the Grand Canyon). They were going all the way through (the canyon), paddling the Colorado. Not at peak flows through, this was February.
That's pretty cool. He's into his 70's now. That 2-person raft was not light weight . . . no doubt he'd laugh at the youngsters these days. . . wink.gif

It is as though I had read a divine text, written into the world itself, not with letters but rather with essential objects, saying: Man, stretch thy reason hither, so thou mayest comprehend these things. Johannes Kepler
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Randito
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PostThu May 14, 2020 5:46 pm 
Eric Hansen wrote:
Kascadia, if your friend is still in the game I hope he has noticed the pack raft surge. A lot of "combination" trips being done with them. A few years ago I ran into a bunch of them at Phantom Ranch (bottom of the Grand Canyon). They were going all the way through (the canyon), paddling the Colorado. Not at peak flows through, this was February.
I figure this must have been some sort of stealth float trip, because permitted float trips require packing out all human waste and that's stinky enough on a 20 foot raft with the poo carried in army surplus rocket boxes. I only imagine floating along with several weeks of poo in the close quarters of a pack raft.

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Eric Hansen
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Eric Hansen
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PostThu May 14, 2020 8:18 pm 
Randito, I think there was a mother boat (raft) involved, which might explain the poo question

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HitTheTrail
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PostMon May 18, 2020 8:31 am 
I changed my local hiking route this spring to one that has fewer big rocks on the trail and now often meet a senior gentleman with a large heavy walking stick. Today my curiosity got the best of me and I struck up a conversation with him. He is 93 and does a route that is about 2.5 miles round trip with around 1K gain. I ask him if he ever backpacked and he told me he had been backpacked his whole life, most of the time with the same old pack. When his pack was stolen from his truck three years ago he felt so bad he almost cried and could not bring himself to replace it with a new one. As we went off in different directions I wished him well and he told the secret is to just keep moving and thanked me for stopping to talk with him.

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Sculpin
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PostMon May 18, 2020 3:09 pm 
Eric Hansen wrote:
Arguably the best is paddling Utah's Green River to The Confluence with the Colorado
I would call that a "float" not a "paddle." clown.gif One of the great experiences of my life. Go by mid-June or in September, the mosquitoes get really bad when the slack water in the side channels gets warm. You can also "rim out" in the heart of The Maze via Water Canyon if you want, as scenic a hike as exists on this planet. The ranger we met down at the put-in told us that some folks just lash themselves to the canoe, jump in with their life preserver on, and float along with the boat. You can do that at any age! Unfortunately the water is still pretty cold in mid-June. No rapids, no riffles, and plenty of flow. My kind of river! Call Tex's in Moab to do this trip. When the pandemic ends I guess.

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
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