The NEW Post Your Campsite/gear/knife/hiking/anything Outdoorsy Pic Thread!

[HikingMano]

Cool! I'm no expert, but it might be a crow; the tail doesn't look quite as pointy as I thought Raven tails are.

 

[lambertiana]

Looks like raven to me, nice fan-shaped tail.

 

[HikingMano]

This is more of what I was thinking:

 

[Jose Wales]

Spent the weekend in Mammoth cave national park, had a great time watching the bald eagles.

 

[Codger_64]

Nice trip. I've never been there on the Green River, but the topography and river look a lot like many rivers I have floated in both Arkansas and Tennessee.

 

[baldtaco-II]

 

[lambertiana]

Baldtaco - Those pictures remind me of Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) introducing their song Jacks In The Green on the live album they put out around 1977 or so.

 

[caine]

Did a overnighter up on Pine Mtn. Took my Case Trapper and a ML Custom. Trapper's spey blade I modded and added a patina to both blades.

 

[HikingMano]

Few pics from a hike today in Big Basin Redwoods State Park

A couple vids of Berry Creek Falls:

[video=youtube;U_ciK6ZtsGY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ciK6ZtsGY[/video][video=youtube;M2_KVw-GPUI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2_KVw-GPUI[/video]

 

[adam0321]

Loop in Cheaha Wilderness.
Cave Creek Trail to Nubbin Creek Trail to Odum Scout Trail to Pinhoti Trail with a short side trip to McDill Point.

Hazy today, but McDill Point is known for its views free of the evidence of civilization. Most other viewpoints, you can see where a state highway cuts through, and local industry off in the distance.

Wreckage from a plane crash near McDill Point.

How plentiful. Is water along this route? Any good camp sites? Dog friendly? Looks like a great place to get away from the swamps of Florida.

 

[OwenM]

How plentiful. Is water along this route? Any good camp sites? Dog friendly? Looks like a great place to get away from the swamps of Florida.

This time of year, water is practically nonexistent on that particular route. All of the trails connecting to the Pinhoti in this section will take you to water, but it's out of the way. The spring cited as a reliable source below Caney Head is usually just a patch of mud. The streams that cross the Pinhoti are usually dry unless there has been recent rain.
Far better(and prettier!) to do the "Skyway Loop" of the Skyway, Chinnabee Silent, and Pinhoti trails. The Pinhoti section will be dry, but only 6 miles long. The Skyway is 6.6 miles, and should have a creek flowing, though another will most likely be dry. The Chinnabee is ~6.4 miles, and will have plenty of water, throughout. Dogs are allowed, at least people bring them there, but best kept leashed. There are plenty of places to camp on all these trails. If that's too long, doing the Chinnabee alone as an out and back from Lake Chinnabee or Turnipseed Hunter's Camp is a good option(they'll be closing the gate that gives road access to the lake soon for winter), as it has water galore, and you can camp at the lake, the shelter above Cheaha Falls, or a flat area next to Cheaha Falls, plus there's room for a whole Scout troop at either Turnipseed Hunter's Camp, or Little Caney Head on top of the mountain.

btw, I just got back from doing the Chinnabee in and out from Turnipseed Hunter's Camp to the lake. The rednecks have been trashing Devil's Den, but I did a lot of cleanup today, and it's looking pretty good. A lot better, anyway. The real disappointment for me was that I missed out on the fall colors at Cheaha Falls. It's always beautiful there, but the leaves had already fallen...

 

[lambertiana]

We've all heard the saying that you can't see the forest for the trees. I usually post pictures of the Sierra high country with big vistas, but to get to those locations from the west side you pass through some magnificent middle elevation forests. First, I have to get the obligatory big tree picture out of the way, but sequoias are not necessarily my favorite sierra trees

Now for some others that I like a lot; first is Ponderosa (on the right)

Possibly my favorite sierra tree, the Sugar Pine

A close relative of ponderosa is Jeffrey pine; the sap can smell like lemon, pineapple, vanilla, etc, depending on location. My hat is at head height on the trunk for scale

Another of my favorites is California Red Fir, on the right in this picture; Lodgepole Pine on the left

And finally, Western White Pine

That pretty much covers my favorites among the middle elevation trees, lots of beautiful forests. Although I usually like to go to the high country, sometimes a walk in the forest is really nice.

 

[HikingMano]

Good stuff Pinus lambertiana , thanks for that info. :thumbup: Any particular reason why the Sugar Pine is your favorite?

 

[lambertiana]

Sugar pines are truly magnificent monarchs of the middle elevation forest. It is not uncommon to find mature specimens over 200' tall with 6-8' diameter trunks. And the cones are the longest pine cones in the world, seen here with a standard 12" ruler for comparison (next to a Coulter Pine cone, which is the heaviest pine cone in the world)

I would say that my three favorite sierra trees are sugar pine, california red fir, and foxtail pine. I did not include foxtail pine above because it is strictly a higher elevation tree, found from around 9500' up to 11,500'. Here are a few of them

 

[HikingMano]

Great stuff, thanks :thumbup:

Are you able to tell me what kind of tree this might have been?

(elevation: 9290')

 

[lambertiana]

Where was that picture taken?

 

[HikingMano]

Lower Cathedral Lake, Yosemite National Park.

Here's my contribution for this week. Forgot my camera at home, so I decided to mess around with taking pics on my phone:

 

[lambertiana]

That is most likely a Lodgepole Pine. They are plentiful at that elevation in Yosemite, and can sometimes grow like that. There aren't many trees in Yosemite above about 8000' that grow that large. At 9200', you are above the range for red fir, western white pine, jeffrey pine, sugar pine, or white fir. Foxtails don't grow that far north. The only tree in Yosemite that grows higher than the lodgepole is whitebark pine, and they are much smaller.

The elevation ranges for those trees are 1000-2000' higher in Sequoia/Kings Canyon. The picture of the western white pine was taken at about 9400', which I still consider to be in the upper part of the middle elevations in SEKI.

Another sierra tree that I like is Limber Pine, but that is only found at around 9000-10,500' on the eastern crest. White Fir can grow as large as red fir, and is found about 1000-2000' lower.

 

[HikingMano]

I thought it was a Lodgepole but wasn't certain. Thanks for the excellent information. :thumbup:

 

[HikingMano]

Another mobile upload. Point Reyes National Seashore:

Some highlights are blown, but it's the best I could do with editing on the phone.