The Great Outdoors

Screamfeeder · Sep 8, 2020

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.
- John Muir

Over the last few years and especially the last few months, I have found myself going back to nature. I grew up outdoors and have spent the better part of my life in the wilderness in some form or another. With our current world being the way that it is, I figured it would be a great time to get some stories from others that have done the same or from those who want more of that in your life.

Hiking, camping, backpacking, climbing, mountaineering, skiing, snowboarding, surfing, kayaking, biking, sky diving, sailing, paddleboarding, fastpacking, plogging or whatever the fuck else you do outdoors. I left off fishing and hunting specifically because A) They both already have a dedicated thread and B) Those activities are pretty deep enough to warrant their own separate discussions.

Offer advice, brag about your FKT or highest class rapid. Highest ALT gain? Best camp food recipes? Worst ski areas in the United States? Best cheap burger on the CDT? Give advice about gear you love and lambast gear that has failed you at the critical moment.

Share a story.

I've also got some partnerships with a few companies so I want to do a monthly giveaway of some gear I have laying around if anyone here has any ideas about the best way to go about that. Camp stoves/cookwear, water filters, outerwear clothing, camera gear etc. Lots of shit sitting around I want someone to put to good use.

Aychamo BanBan · Sep 8, 2020

Man that sounds lovely. I just wasn’t built for outdoors. The last time I tried camping out I ended up a a hotel by midnight.

my dream is to do the Everest base camp hike in Nepal.

Screamfeeder · Sep 8, 2020

Falxy-US said:
Man that sounds lovely. I just wasn’t built for outdoors. The last time I tried camping out I ended up a a hotel by midnight.

my dream is to do the Everest base camp hike in Nepal.

Why? Environmental? Stress? Ever been car camping? Hell, even being outside for some of the night kinda counts.

And I can recommend you a dozen places in Nepal better than Everest BC, but that's still a great and achievable dream!

Araysar · Sep 8, 2020

Whats the best camping spot in SoCal,

Screamfeeder ?

lurkingdirk · Sep 8, 2020

We (me and my family) hike/camp a lot. I spend at least one overnight with each of my kids hiking somewhere fun. We also do it as a family. We've been all over the country and world. When we camp we do not enjoy the car camping thing. We love hiking for a couple hours to a remote site where we won't see anyone. So we've ended up getting some decent gear, because carrying your food, cooking implements, tent, sleeping bag, and everything else for a four or five night thing is quite the ordeal for 7 people.

One thing I can recommend to everyone is this tent:

Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 3 Person Tent - Moosejaw

The Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 3 Person Tent is a spacious yet ultralight tent for backpacking with others. Free shipping on orders over $49, and earn up to 10% back in Moosejaw Reward Dollars on every order.

www.moosejaw.com

Edit: you can click the link, its the Big Agnes tent, don't know why it's not allowing FOH to access that link.

Light, super fast set up, does incredibly well in rain, huge vestibule space for packs, breaths really well for hot nights, closes down nicely for cool nights. It's worth the money. They're also an amazing company for warranty. They'll replace poles immediately, but the poles hold up so well.

Also, if you are going to carry in dehydrated food, get this stove:

Jetboil Flash Cooking System | REI Co-op

Enjoy cocoa, coffee or a gourmet freeze-dried meal in a jiffy with the new Jetboil Flash cooking system, which boils water in 100 seconds, allowing you to conserve fuel and dig in faster.

www.rei.com

It gets water hot incredibly quickly with a minimum of fuel.

I need new sleeping bags. Anyone have opinions?

Screamfeeder · Sep 8, 2020

Araysar said:
Whats the best camping spot in SoCal, Screamfeeder ?

Depends. Car camping? Backpacking? Family spot?

I had a fantastic time in the San Jacinto area. It's mostly reserved campground spots like Stone Creek or Tamarack Valley (not to be confused with the Tamarack near Mammoth).

Barton Flats in San Bernardino is a decent spot that doesn't get a TON of traffic.

I'd say your best bet is to get a wilderness permit and hit the trails in San Bernardino forest (current closed thanks to idiots starting fires) or over near San Jacinto.

Now, if you want beach camping, that again is a totally different animal...there are literally too many good "camping" spots near you. It really depends on what you are looking for. But I have been to most of them.

Araysar · Sep 8, 2020

Screamfeeder said:
Depends. Car camping? Backpacking? Family spot?

I had a fantastic time in the San Jacinto area. It's mostly reserved campground spots like Stone Creek or Tamarack Valley (not to be confused with the Tamarack near Mammoth).

Barton Flats in San Bernardino is a decent spot that doesn't get a TON of traffic.

I'd say your best bet is to get a wilderness permit and hit the trails in San Bernardino forest (current closed thanks to idiots starting fires) or over near San Jacinto.

Now, if you want beach camping, that again is a totally different animal...there are literally too many good "camping" spots near you. It really depends on what you are looking for. But I have been to most of them.

I want to do woods camping where i can set up a tent, hang out in some chairs, have a camp fire (might be a bad time for this one), walk through the forest, maybe hang out by a lake

Screamfeeder · Sep 8, 2020

Araysar said:
I want to do woods camping where i can set up a tent, hang out in some chairs, have a camp fire (might be a bad time for this one), walk through the forest, maybe hang out by a lake

Right now ALL fires are banned, including camp stoves.

I'd say the coast camps are your best bet. El Capitan State beach is a secret spot i think fits most of your bill. You have ocean instead of lake. You can try around Lake Arrowhead and big bear but the tourists have probably filled it up by now.

Screamfeeder · Sep 8, 2020

lurkingdirk said:
We (me and my family) hike/camp a lot. I spend at least one overnight with each of my kids hiking somewhere fun. We also do it as a family. We've been all over the country and world. When we camp we do not enjoy the car camping thing. We love hiking for a couple hours to a remote site where we won't see anyone. So we've ended up getting some decent gear, because carrying your food, cooking implements, tent, sleeping bag, and everything else for a four or five night thing is quite the ordeal for 7 people.

One thing I can recommend to everyone is this tent:

Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 3 Person Tent - Moosejaw

The Big Agnes Copper Spur HV UL 3 Person Tent is a spacious yet ultralight tent for backpacking with others. Free shipping on orders over $49, and earn up to 10% back in Moosejaw Reward Dollars on every order.

www.moosejaw.com

Edit: you can click the link, its the Big Agnes tent, don't know why it's not allowing FOH to access that link.

That's my tent too! Here is a working link directly to Big Agnes. Copper Spur HV UL3

That tent is awesome and Big Agnes is a great company! I actually have a new model that I am testing and might be part of a giveaway later if they let me keep it!

lurkingdirk said:
Also, if you are going to carry in dehydrated food, get this stove:

Jetboil Flash Cooking System | REI Co-op

Enjoy cocoa, coffee or a gourmet freeze-dried meal in a jiffy with the new Jetboil Flash cooking system, which boils water in 100 seconds, allowing you to conserve fuel and dig in faster.

www.rei.com

It gets water hot incredibly quickly with a minimum of fuel.

I was out with a few guys that had that one and the only thing I have bad to say about it is that it is bulky and somewhat fragile. It's awesome that it's its own pot and you don't need a seperate cup, but it's just SO BIG. I use a Pocket Rocket Deluxe. PocketRocket® Deluxe Stove | Canister Stoves | MSR

lurkingdirk said:
I need new sleeping bags. Anyone have opinions?

What temp?

CaughtCross · Sep 8, 2020

Been backpacking for years and started glacier mountaineering last year. Have done Mount Rainier via the Kautz and the North Ridge of Mount Baker so far. Thinking about going for Denali but being on glacier covered mountain for potentially 20+ days to do it can be brutal. I want do it but dont want to suffer that long... just have to forget how hard it is and commit to doing it.

Started doing multi pitch trad climbing this year as well. Did some real easy stuff(5.6-5.8 range) in Red Rocks near Vegas right before covid. Now with my climbing gym closed (in Los Angeles) way out of climbing shape so put that on hold.

lurkingdirk · Sep 8, 2020

Screamfeeder said:
That's my tent too! Here is a working link directly to Big Agnes. Copper Spur HV UL3

That tent is awesome and Big Agnes is a great company! I actually have a new model that I am testing and might be part of a giveaway later if they let me keep it!

I was out with a few guys that had that one and the only thing I have bad to say about it is that it is bulky and somewhat fragile. It's awesome that it's its own pot and you don't need a seperate cup, but it's just SO BIG. I use a Pocket Rocket Deluxe. PocketRocket® Deluxe Stove | Canister Stoves | MSR

What temp?

Please pick me for the tent give away. I have so many kids.

I have one of those stoves, too. The issue I have with it is that you have to carry separate cookware with it. That adds bulk, enough that I think the Jetboil size is a wash. It's big, but not so big. And you don't have to carry pots. And I've never had an issue with it being fragile. What parts of it do you find are fragile? I've carried mine around in my pack for almost a decade. Nothing broken. Haven't been terribly careful with it.

And the what temp for sleeping bags...that's the issue. We camp in Glacier, and then in the same trip we'll go down to Canyonlands in Utah. So I'm looking for a good, general sleeping bag. The bags we have I've used for winter camping, and for desert camping. But give me the best options you have for fall camping in Montana, and for summer camping in Utah. I'm looking at all the options. I'd love to have 2 or 3 bags for everyone, but that gets expensive.

On a separate matter, we'd like to visit friends in Colorado for Thanksgiving. We don't want to fly, we don't want to stay in hotels, camping is iffy that time of year. We're thinking of renting an RV. Has anyone done this? Is this something that is feasible?

fris · Sep 8, 2020

Guadalupe Peak. Not many backpacking options in Texas

lurkingdirk · Sep 8, 2020

fris said:
Guadalupe Peak. Not many backpacking options in Texas

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That looks amazing.

Borzak · Sep 9, 2020

lurkingdirk said:
That looks amazing.

If you see if from a distance from the road it is just by itself, not a chain, not a range. It's a nice place but odd. One of the few places in TX that has active mountain lions on a regular basis. Thought I had a few pics but I don't know what I did with them as usual.

Kiroy · Sep 9, 2020

wife and I use to do a shit ton of overnight backpacking trips but we're getting old and just had a baby, so I grabbed up a ram 2500 hemi and ordered a four wheel camper (hawk flatbed) and our plan is to get into overlanding. back country experiences that we can 4x4 to and then have a nice bed, cooking, solar power, a sort of shower... sold

TheBeagle · Sep 9, 2020

fris said:
Guadalupe Peak. Not many backpacking options in Texas

View attachment 300641

View attachment 300642

Me and a buddy did Guad peak a couple years ago, spectacular views. Camped in that same exact spot. Once we bagged Guad Peak the next morning we got cocky and decided to hop on over to El Capitan and bag two peaks that day. There wasn't any trails to get over, but as you can see it looks like a fairly easy bushwhack. We get up to El Cap no problem but then realize we're just about out of water. This is the high desert and even in October it's still getting into the 80's and we still have to hike back to camp below Guad Peak and then back dow the parking lot. Let's just say I will NEVER underpack water again in the desert.

It made for a helluva adventure and it was with my childhood best friend who I hadn't spent time with in 20 years. Now we're making plans to bag Wheeler Peak in NM to get another "highest point in X state" under our belts. Anyone here done Wheeler Peak?

TheBeagle · Sep 9, 2020

Big Bend is a better place for backpacking than the Guadalupes in my opinion. Once you get up in the Chisos the weather and temps are fairly mild and there are a lot more amenities if you are dragging a family around. There's a nice little lodge with a bar and grill tucked away up there. Grabbing a burger after a day of hiking then going out on the patio with a beer to watch the sun set through the Window is one of those singular experiences that i will always treasure. Emory Peak is a decent hike up with great views. The last fifty yards is a pretty hair raising scramble up a steep rock face, but it's worth it. The South Rim hike is an overnight backpack and widely considered the best hike in Texas. Bring Water! ANd a telescope, some of the darkest skies in the lower 48.

Foler · Sep 9, 2020

Kammock roos for life.

Furry · Sep 9, 2020

I remember seeing the milkyway for the first time. I thought it was some saying. But my first day in the middle of nowhere without any light blew my fucking mind. My first middle of nowhere was about 1000 miles off the coast in the pacific, go there plebs.

Foler · Sep 9, 2020

I grew up doing a lot of camping. Many a summer swamp ass in florida. Very brutal camping in fla summers. I do travel a lot and love minimalism. I always aim for the lightest and tightest as far as backpacking goes. I use the hell out of these REI compression bags. Love them.

REI Co-op Lightweight Compression Stuff Sack | REI Co-op

This REI Co-op Lightweight Compression stuff sack provides a convenient way to compress your sleeping bag so it takes up less space in your pack.

www.rei.com

Also kinda random but I'd highly recommend ex officio underwear. Found it many years ago when I first started backpacking/travel. Shit absorbs smell so good.

Screamfeeder random but have you tried ex officio? Not sure if it's as big in the camping world as it is in airplane backpacking/travel.

The Great Outdoors

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