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80skeys Member
Joined: 22 Jul 2019 Posts: 183 | TRs | Pics
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80skeys
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Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:48 am
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Every time I go out backpacking, I return and my body feels so much better. Stronger, more limber, etc. That lasts for a week or two and then slowly dissipates as I get back into a more sedentary routine. Yeah, I go out for 4 mile hikes and jogs in the foothills near where I live, but it's just not the same.
Living here in Silicon Valley, I hate the traffic involved in getting to the Sierras so I almost never go there anymore. Too many people, too many cars.
So I end up only backpacking 1-2 times a year. Far too little.
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zimmertr TJ Zimmerman
Joined: 24 Jun 2018 Posts: 1228 | TRs | Pics Location: Issaquah |
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zimmertr
TJ Zimmerman
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Mon Jul 20, 2020 7:29 pm
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I feel exactly the same way. I'm also a tech worker but I live in Seattle. I have decent enough work life balance and would be willing to go backpacking multiple times a month if I just had a single friend who shared my aptitude for trading sweat for views.
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neek Member
Joined: 12 Sep 2011 Posts: 2337 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle, WA |
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neek
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Mon Jul 20, 2020 7:48 pm
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zimmertr wrote: | I have decent enough work life balance and would be willing to go backpacking multiple times a month if I just had a single friend who shared my aptitude for trading sweat for views. |
Well, you know...there's a web site where you can find hiking partners. Helps to have a few TRs posted though so folks know you're the real deal.
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Randito Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 9513 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
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Randito
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Mon Jul 20, 2020 9:10 pm
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Move to Tahoe or Bishop.
Nearly everyone in tech is working remotely now due to COVID-19. I suspect virtual teams will be more broadly accepted moving forward.
My last gig before retirement in 2017, my team had people in Seattle, NYC, Salt Lake and Bozeman.
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80skeys Member
Joined: 22 Jul 2019 Posts: 183 | TRs | Pics
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80skeys
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Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:44 am
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[quote="Randito"]Movezimmertr wrote: | I feel exactly the same way. I'm also a tech worker but I live in Seattle. |
Seems like it should be easier and quicker to reach the mountains where you are, but maybe it's the same situation as here with the traffic.
Randito wrote: | Move to Tahoe or Bishop. Nearly everyone in tech is working remotely now due to COVID-19 |
True. If I really wanted a 100% remote job, it probably wouldn't be difficult to get one. The last job I had (pre-covid) I was working from home about 50% of the time already. Current job we're Working from Home until 2021.
If I were to go that route, I'm not sure I'd stay in California. If I were to stay in California, I might look at one of the foothills towns like Sonora. Or maybe even Sacramento. This trip to Idaho last week I was eyeing some houses for sale in the small towns near the mountains. Those would be even better, at least in the summer months.
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RichP Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 5634 | TRs | Pics Location: here |
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RichP
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Tue Jul 21, 2020 8:45 am
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80skeys wrote: | This trip to Idaho last week I was eyeing some houses for sale in the small towns near the mountains. |
Big change in culture. I'd recommend spending some time there checking things out before jumping in.
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rossb Member
Joined: 23 Sep 2002 Posts: 1679 | TRs | Pics
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rossb
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Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:01 am
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In general, that is the drawback to the Bay Area. The cities (Oakland, Berkeley, San Fransisco) are great (if you can afford them). It is sunny most of the time, yet there is usually enough snow for good (cross country or backcountry) skiing in the winter and spring. There are lots of nice hikes and bike trails in the foothills. But to get to the really good stuff, you have to go a long ways. You will encounter lots of traffic, and it is tough to find solitude.
Silicon Valley is probably the worst for that. You don't have the charm of San Fransisco, but you are even farther from the Sierras. East Bay is better, and Sacramento (as you mentioned) is even better. The northern Sierras aren't quite as crowded as the central Sierras, probably because they aren't quite as spectacular. They don't attract the huge crowds from around the world, or the big cities. Yet I think they are great. You still have all the things that make the Sierras so special (lots of granite and little lakes). The type of thing that is found in abundance down there, but rare enough here to require a permit (Enchantments), mobs thrashing it (Tuck and Robin), or a long off trail slog. It isn't too hard to find solitude in that part of California, even on a day hike, if you just keep walking.
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coldrain108 Thundering Herd
Joined: 05 Aug 2010 Posts: 1858 | TRs | Pics Location: somewhere over the rainbow |
I moved away from the bay area in 1983 - east bay. Even back then it was a 3 hour adventure just to get out of the urban area on a weekend. By that I mean just to get out of the Bay basin, then another 3 hours to get to the mountains. Sonora Pass area was our regular destination.
Now its 3 hours and I'm walking down the trail in the Olympics or the North Cascades. One of the main reasons (actually the ONP was the main reason) I chose SEA as my home in 1990.
Since I have no expectations of forgiveness, I don't do it in the first place. That loop hole needs to be closed to everyone.
Since I have no expectations of forgiveness, I don't do it in the first place. That loop hole needs to be closed to everyone.
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Brucester Member
Joined: 02 Jun 2013 Posts: 1102 | TRs | Pics Location: Greenwood |
I used to live in Northford, Connecticut. The smallest town surrounded by the smallest "mountains."
I believe you find wilderness where ever you need it. In this I mean, if traffic annoys you, slows you down, look closer to home for your wilderness.
I remember canoeing the Quinnipiac River behind a shopping center. Rusty shopping carts, litter here and there, but there were fish and that's all it took. All kinds of birds... Nature adapts to careless men.
Eventually I moved to Seattle after trying dairy farming near Cobleskill, NY. Not working my dream job but I am a lot closer to real wilderness when I'm not settling for i90's Colonnade Park. So lame, I know. But once again, here, traffic and the distance to unhiked trails can be daunting!
So a friend who lived in Kansas, she hiked the PCT, CDT and AT a bunch of times... Did I mention she lived in Kansas? You play the cards you were dealt. She eventually moved to an epic town along the PCT! Dream on and maybe your dreams come true?!
Wilderness is a drive or a decision to relocate. You decide what makes you whole.
Be well, peace.
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Chief Joseph Member
Joined: 10 Nov 2007 Posts: 7709 | TRs | Pics Location: Verlot-Priest Lake |
Maybe a backpack along the ocean shore, like many do here during winter? Seems like some secluded beaches would be kind of fun to explore, hike, and obtain solitude?
Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
Go placidly amid the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
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80skeys Member
Joined: 22 Jul 2019 Posts: 183 | TRs | Pics
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80skeys
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Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:52 pm
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RichP wrote: | 80skeys wrote: | This trip to Idaho last week I was eyeing some houses for sale in the small towns near the mountains. |
Big change in culture. I'd recommend spending some time there checking things out before jumping in. |
Yep I have gotten hints of that when I've been there. Thanks for confirming.
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80skeys Member
Joined: 22 Jul 2019 Posts: 183 | TRs | Pics
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80skeys
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Tue Jul 21, 2020 10:00 pm
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The Santa Cruz mountains are very close to Silicon Valley. Trails leading into them start from only a 10-15 minute drive from where I live. But i'm not fond of these mountains. They kinda creep me out, dark, damp, wet. Banana slugs everywhere.
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Randito Snarky Member
Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 9513 | TRs | Pics Location: Bellevue at the moment. |
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Randito
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Tue Jul 21, 2020 10:39 pm
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80skeys wrote: | Banana slugs everywhere. |
So moving to Western Washington is right out -- the Banana Slugs in Washington are about 30% larger than their cousins in California
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Washakie Member
Joined: 18 Aug 2010 Posts: 402 | TRs | Pics Location: Ann Arbor, MI |
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Washakie
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Tue Jul 21, 2020 11:21 pm
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Move to Bodie Calif. And you just might get rich.
"What is the color when black is burned?" - Neil Young
"We're all normal when we want our freedom" - Arthur Lee
"The internet can make almost anyone seem intelligent" - Washakie
"What is the color when black is burned?" - Neil Young
"We're all normal when we want our freedom" - Arthur Lee
"The internet can make almost anyone seem intelligent" - Washakie
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80skeys Member
Joined: 22 Jul 2019 Posts: 183 | TRs | Pics
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80skeys
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Wed Jul 22, 2020 10:14 am
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Yeah that would rule out Western Washington for me. I grew up in an arid area - New Mexico with the southern Rockies. Preferring things a little drier is in my blood, although the mountains in NM are almost too dry for my taste anymore.
Actually Gospel Hump, ID, where I was at last week is perfect. Not too wet like farther north, not too dry like farther south.
Speaking of Bodie, Calif. .... last year when I was in the Big Creek, ID, area I was hoping to hike into some of the old abandoned mining villages. There's quite a lot of them in that area, out in the middle of the mountain wilderness. Didn't end up reaching them cuz we got discouraged by the heat and lack of tree cover.
Back in my college days in Socorro, NM, we used to spelunk into the abandoned (and boarded off) mine shafts in the Magdalena mountains. Dangerous and stupid and probably illegal but we had a lot of fun. Our group included geology students so they were always scratching for gemstones. One time we spent five hours in the mountain. We got so far into it I think we were literally halfway through it. If you're trying to visualize it, think the Dwarf mountain scenes from the Lord of the Rings movie. It was kinda like that. On that trip, I ventured a little ways off the main branch by myself through a low tunnel into a chamber. As I straightened myself I looked up and, literally inches above my head were thousands of sleeping bats hanging from the ceiling. I almost accidentally had brushed some of them with my head. Obviously I backed slowly the hell out of there trying not to disturb them.
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