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

That's a cuben fiber Mountain Laurel Designs Duomid. I LOVE it. Palace for one, and good room for two. So far it's handled everything that's been thrown at it. Designed and constructed well, no complaints at all. Pitch here employs two trekking poles to maximize interior space, but when solo I just use one pole. Love that thing, don't see myself replacing it until it dies. Don't remember weight off the top of my head, but it's under 2lbs.
 
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Good job destroying those "cairns", and the pics are phenomenal. Yeah...think I need to head that way next year!
 
Leaving sometime around the end of October. Depends on whether I decide to brave a few days of the last week of tourist season while the shuttles are still running, or just wait until everybody's gone. They clear out quick around there when the season ends. Sometimes the shuttles are handy, though, and I've got to redo some of my plans, or have a backup. I was going to do The Barracks/Parunuweap Canyon(check this out! http://www.citrusmilo.com/zionguide/barracks.cfm), even if it means renting a drysuit for several days, but am having some doubts after pulling up the flow charts for the last couple of years on the weeks I'll be there. The water level has been at about the maximum for good passage in the narrow sections both years, and I found out already, thankfully for only a minute, in the Zion Narrows that my water phobia does not make hiking in water up to my neck an enjoyable experience.
Definitely doing Orderville Canyon from the top down, unless the Virgin River is too high for them to allow permits(very unlikely): http://www.citrusmilo.com/zionguide/ordervillecanyon.cfm

Actually haven't finalized any particular plan beyond doing Orderville, an overnighter or dayhike in a N. AZ slot just to hike in AZ, and some version of the Trans-Zion trek(straightforward 47.3 mile version, or loaded with extras, adding 2-3 days and ~30 miles). I'll have about 13 full days, so there's time for some extra stuff above Kolob Canyons, a beginner canyoneering route or two, or I may go up around Bryce Canyon. Crap, I don't know what I'm doing. I could stay busy for the rest of my life around there...
 
Freaking awesome, sounds like a blast! Are you going to scramble around the boulder obstacle or rappel over it, in The Barracks? :) The area looks beautiful, from the pics and maps.

Hiking in water up to your neck in a slot canyon would be a rather puckering experience, I imagine.

Ah...13 full days...sooo nice! :thumbup: Well, you've got time to solidify plans somewhat. Looking forward to you sharing that trip!
 
Well, if it's over 50cfs, Owen ain't going in there. 'Course if there's rain anywhere around, it's a no-go, too. All those side canyons mean it drains a huge area, and is a high flash flood risk.
From what I read, that obstacle has built up in recent years, with the water deeper, and flowing over the top of the tree trunks and stuff, so I'd do the bypass through a crack that puts you down alongside the boulder with a downclimb to a short swim.
I will have basic rappel gear, though, because if conditions are right to make the trip, I'll be coming in through an alternate route of Meadow Creek and Sweetwater Gulch, which requires a short rappel at a 25' waterfall. Taking my 60' rope, a few 'biners, and either webbing for a Swiss seat or the little Petzl Couloir harness I'm getting. Same stuff I'll need for Orderville canyon. Hopefully it'll all work out, because exploring the Barracks and those side canyons seems like a really exciting way to spend a few days!
 
No kidding! It's looking like a superb outing from where I'm sitting. Haven't done much canyon stuff, it's on the list...
 
Learning how to make a feather stick.

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Thank you very much! I plan on keeping her. ;) :thumbup: :D

The knife is a JK Pocket Rocket. Sweet little blade!

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Really awesome deal. More quality than you are paying for. You can click the link in my signature below to check out the JK forum.
 
Been taking me forever to get to finishing pic uploads from the last trip. Finally have some time to finish it up this weekend. Here is Day 3 :)

Edited to add: I just noticed that BF resizes the images to fit in your browser window. I have the panoramas sized at 1920 pixels width, so you can see the detail in the pics; when it's compressed in the browser window and not displaying at full size, it's blurry. So make sure you expand the window and scroll through the image, if you want to see the panoramas in full res and detail.

Woke up to a nice view of the lake peeking through the boulders and trees.
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Of course, I can't stay abed, but my GF has no problem :)
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Lake view as the morning sun lights up the basin walls.
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Little area drying up near outlet.
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Sun!
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Awake yet?
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Nope. Guess it's back to the lake :D
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After a while, the GF got up and we had breakfast on the slab bank, overlooking the awakening lake. Some left over Molinari from yesterday's skipped lunch for an interesting addition :D
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Quite a blessing - gazing at the lake in the silent stillness of the morning... being awed as color, warmth, and motion floods back into a world now awash with light.
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After breakfast, instead of doing the longer loop I had wanted, we opted to just climb up Grand Mountain from the lake to get the views from the top, then come back down and move shop to WL8947T for greater tree coverage before the afternoon/evening thunderstorm hit. This is the view of the lake as we started climbing.
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From a little higher up:
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zoom on camp:
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a little more zoom:
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Panorama of NW view from Grand Mountain, with a glimpse of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne.
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The view NE from the top of Grand Mountain were spectacular! I think we may have gotten better views if we had continued a little further south along the ridge, but it seemed like we were on the top when we got up there. Didn't really look like there was higher ground from where we came out on top, and I didn't check the topo then, just going by eye. A higher spot seemed apparent though, when looking back up at the mountain from lakeside, when we returned to camp. One of those false summit situations I guess, with the trees in the way. Oh well, next time. It was still gorgeous.
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iPhone version
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The GF really enjoyed the view.
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Sorry for multiple shots of the same thing, it was just awesome.
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[video=youtube;GhkctbQS3Ls]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhkctbQS3Ls[/video]

We spent a little time up there just taking in the views, then headed back down. The GF wanted to have some time to swim and lie lakeside in the sun, before moving camp. We had to stop to take in the views NW from the side of Grand Mountain on the way back though :)
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[video=youtube;C-2GGKkd5-4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-2GGKkd5-4[/video]

Lots of cool quartz up there!
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Ran into this "cool" chunk of marble; it's crazy how much cooler the chunk was relative to the surrounding rocks. Incredible contrast.
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Another view of the lake on our way down.
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Back down! Shot with the iPhone.
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The GF was eager to get some quality lake time in :D
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Ah! Refreshing.
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Grand Mountain.
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After soaking it up for a bit, we packed up and headed back to WL8947T. Good timing too because the weather started rolling in.
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Started raining gently for the late afternoon. Pretty.
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View from camp.
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Eventually, as evening drew on, we went from gentle rain and and enjoying the view...
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To buttoning up and hunkering down as the rain intensified, lightning and thunder joined the party, and a little hail fell. I had gotten a little lazy and pitched on a slight slope to get us a little view of the lake (all the nice flat spots were further up the hill and generally without views), so we had to scramble to prop up our groundsheets as we got a little more water than we had anticipated. Had a little stream run under our shelter for little bit during the storm, haha... Next time thunderstorms are in the prediction, I'll just deal with the weight and bring an inner for the bathtub floor. Less hassle with two people.
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[video=youtube;Y8vr2koZbUk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8vr2koZbUk[/video]

Last day coming shortly!
 
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Thanks bud!

Same note applies to panoramas in this post: stretch your browser window out to accomodate 1920 pixel width for best viewing. Otherwise compression blurs the image.

Last day!

We got up around dawn, got some breakfast and hot cocoa going for the GF.
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Sun coming out, still lots of cloud cover. The GF and I broke camp early and hit the trail to climb out of the basin before the sun hit the switchbacks.
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WL8947T in the morning. Simply stunning... and quiet in the early morning since most of the folks camped at that lake were still sleeping. Way too many people for me at that lake; I wouldn't have stayed there at all, but for the better tree coverage. Cutting down the hike a little for our exit day was also a plus.
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[video=youtube;kIv449D16kY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIv449D16kY[/video]

Nice morning, with the cloud cover adding dimension and texture to the sky.
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iPhone shot of southern basin wall.
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View of and across the GCT as we climbed the switchbacks out of the Ten Lakes basin.
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A little higher up.
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Panorama from the use-trail that splits off the Ten Lakes trail at the pass.
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[video=youtube;VBqNEQETVBg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBqNEQETVBg[/video]

Some zooms.
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Can't remember the name for this guy.
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iPhone shots.
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Great spot for a snack and a break to take in the views.
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After enjoying the morning scenery from on high, we continued back down the trail. Here's Halfmoon Meadow in the morning. (iPhone)
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We spotted this monster chicken-of-the-woods off-trail on the hike back. We usually see it as yellow shelves, so this guy really struck us for its orange vibrancy and decidedly non-shelf like appearance.
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Busy busy!
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After we got back to the trailhead and our vehicle, we started the drive home. It turned out the Rim Fire had grown while we were out on our trip, so 120 was closed. We picked up a hitchhiker on Tioga Rd. who'd just spent a week peak-bagging at the end of Lyell Canyon and was returning to work at Camp Towunga. We discovered at the Big Oak Flat entrance that the camp had been evacuated, so he ended up accompanying us back to the bay area. The drive out along 140 was a hot and slow one, with temps over 100*F and road painting going on. This is a shot of the growing pyrocumulus as we crossed the central valley. We thought the cloud quite impressive then, and we obviously had no idea how bad the fire would become in the following days.
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So, that was this trip. All too short, as usual, with so many places left unexplored. Next time! This was my girlfriend's first backpacking trip, and she enjoyed it immensely. I'm looking forward to getting her out on more trips with me. Hope to be back up there in a couple of weeks, but we'll see how the fire situation goes.

Hope you all enjoyed the pics and vids!
 
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HikingMano, hey

Strong stuff dude. I particularly appreciate how you how have swerved and the excessive amount of bleached out skies trap.

Having your woman with you scoops the bonus points. I couldn't have one with a value system that didn't get into outdoor stuff with me. I wouldn't expect one to be quite as enthusiastic as me necessarily, but I find too much difference there is a litmus-fing that all will never be well. It's not like putting up with the wrist breaker winter safety pants occasionally.
 
Thanks, BT!

The skies and exposure balancing thing is a constant battle, ugh. Makes me want to stomp on my point and shoot most of the time, but sometimes, I can arrange things for it well enough that it cooperates. Sometimes...

You mirror my own thoughts on the girl + outdoor life subject quite accurately! I, too, couldn't be with a woman who wouldn't be up for the periodic foray with me, particularly in non-ideal conditions and off the beaten trail and away from others. Ditto on not expecting her to be nearly as gung-ho; an inclination and enjoyment works well enough for me. Gotta love the perks besides the company as well :D Much easier on a trip like this with lots of water about and the ability to get semi-clean... I'm definitely happy to finally have gotten her beyond day hikes with me, looking forward to more bping for sure.
 
Dusky Pygmy Rattler. Tons of these around the dropzone. Relocated this one.

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Russell - Looks like a great trip! You seem to be getting a lot of dirt time lately. And having the GF along really improves things a lot!

I zoomed on the pic of the large "marble" boulder, it looks like quartz to me.
 
Thanks John, definitely been trying to ramp up my Sierra time, love it so much. The the GF definitely has caught the bug! :D

You're probably right on the "marble" boulder. Sections of it looked marble-like to me, but looking at the pics again, it probably was a big chunk 'o quartz. You and Jerry are the rockhounds, so I defer to you folks :) I have a lot to learn in the geology department... Plant ID... Bird and Insect ID... list goes on, haha.
 
Btw, congrats on going Gold! Where are your pics from your last big trip!? I better go see if you posted a thread.

Aha! I neglected to check for a separate thread earlier.
 
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