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So i've been planning on hiking a couple of mountains in the Adirondack Park, in NY, pretty soon (maybe Iroquois Peak). A few years ago, I hiked up Cascade Mountain. Any hikers on this board? if so, feel free to post your hiking stories, pictures, and if you ever hiked any peaks in the Adirondack Park before, wich one was it?

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Guest conoley

I hiked Algonquin in NY state as well as some other peak in Lake Placid. I've hiked a bunch of the Appalachian Trail over the years.

My favorite place to hike is Mt. Katahdin in Maine. It's the end of the AT and has this one stretch called the Knife's Edge, which is about thousands of feet in the air and about 3 feet wide at times. Here's a picture of it:

[image]

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i've hiked a bunch of mountains in the adirondaks, probably around 16 of the high peaks. if you want to do some hardcore hiking/sleeping out on an easy to medium style trip (i did this in camp when i was like 12) you might want to check out the john brooks lodge (JBL) trip: http://www.adk.org/johns_brook/index.aspx

this is probably one of the most popular trips/trails in the whole ADK range, you can easily access about 6 different peaks in like a 10 mile hike or so. check out the trails.

if you're going for iroquois, you can hit a bunch of other mountains in the same area (i believe its called the macintyre range). this is a more difficult hike, you'll have to do a good amount of bushwacking

hope that helped

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ive done a lot of hiking when i was younger, it drastically tailed off as i got older. my family does an annual hike through some local trails on thanksgiving and aside from that that's about all the hiking i do now. the bulk of my hiking was done in tennessee and virginia; in the smokies and shenadoah national park. a few trails along the appalachian trail that went through those 2 parks as well. the longest hike ive ever done was 14 miles, 7 up and 7 down. i have a few bear stories as well if anyone wants to hear them.

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I hiked Algonquin in NY state as well as some other peak in Lake Placid. I've hiked a bunch of the Appalachian Trail over the years.

My favorite place to hike is Mt. Katahdin in Maine. It's the end of the AT and has this one stretch called the Knife's Edge, which is about thousands of feet in the air and about 3 feet wide at times. Here's a picture of it:

[image]

Mount Katahdin looks great! unfortunately I had to fix my exhaust system because a problem occurred while leaving the cottage, but hopefully I can hit the trails soon, before it starts snowing.

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  • 5 years later...

Bumping a super old. Getting into hiking/backpacking and will be going on a 2 night backpacking trip to Catalina Island (Southern Calfornia) in November.

Anyone else into backpacking have any tips they wanna share

 

I love backpacking. Pack your sleeping bag on the bottom and split up the tent between everyone who will be in it.

Also, while backpacking I couldn't stop thinking of the need for someone to invent powdered beer. Just add water.

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I love backpacking. Pack your sleeping bag on the bottom and split up the tent between everyone who will be in it.

Also, while backpacking I couldn't stop thinking of the need for someone to invent powdered beer. Just add water.

 

yeah ive been looking at all kinds of different videos and articles on how to pack your pack plus 3 of my buddies going on the trip aren't new to backpacking. We will each be using 1 person tents/bug sacks.

 

I hear yah on the powdered beer, my solution is going to be vodka mixed w/ the powdered Arnold Palmer packets. My buddies usually each bring a bottle of Fireball, which i want no part of.

 

Too bad this stuff isnt available yet http://www.palcohol.com/f.a.q..html

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yeah ive been looking at all kinds of different videos and articles on how to pack your pack plus 3 of my buddies going on the trip aren't new to backpacking. We will each be using 1 person tents/bug sacks.

 

I hear yah on the powdered beer, my solution is going to be vodka mixed w/ the powdered Arnold Palmer packets. My buddies usually each bring a bottle of Fireball, which i want no part of.

 

Too bad this stuff isnt available yet http://www.palcohol.com/f.a.q..html

Palcohol would be awesome

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Bumping a super old. Getting into hiking/backpacking and will be going on a 2 night backpacking trip to Catalina Island (Southern Calfornia) in November.

Anyone else into backpacking have any tips they wanna share

Avid backpacker / light mountaineering guy here. I've had some crazy experiences to say the least.  Most recently a friend and I cross country backpacked the Minarets of the Ansel Adams Wilderness.  There was no trail 90% of the time, everything was covered in about 4 feet of snow and we had just a topo map and our insticts to direct us.  A few times we realized we were walking on snow and there was a river or stream beneath us, bunch of log crossings, forded a few freezing rivers... I could of died multiple times on this trip haha. It was just 3 days, but we did about 32 miles and 8,000 elevation gain.... which normally wouldn't be too bad if there was a trail or not a ton of snow. We didn't see a single other person, not too much wildlife either except for a few marmots I had to punch in the face in the middle of the night to stop eating my tent. Didn't see any bears this trip, but whenever I have they are never a problem.  All the bears in California are black bears, just throw a rock at them and they'll usually run away.

 

I've been to Catalina twice, but I haven't done the Trans Catalina trail.  I do know a few things about it. There's no real place to filter water so  they do water dropoffs at the campsites your staying at (not sure who coordinates that), I think all you might need is a 2 liter bladder hiking from point to point. I'm not a ultra light backpacker, but I do try to cut weight down as much as possible... so I do recommend whiskey over beer and 700+ down over anything synthetic. If it's your first time and you want to see how much fun you have before you drop $2000+ on a bunch of gear, go rent everything from REI, but make sure you inspect everything they give you before you take it out on the trail. Basics you'll need....55L to 65L backpack, freestanding tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag and a 2L water bladder. From what I've read before it's a solid trail with not too much craziness, so I'd probably just wear good running shoes or light hiking boots. Don't wear brand new shoes or those Timberland / Catapillar boots, your feet will be bleeding at the end of the day.  For food, I've been a big fan of the Mountain House (Backpackers Pantry brand tastes like shit) dehydrated meals you can get at REI, Sports Authority or Sports Chalet. As long as you can boil water, it's the lightest and tastiest option I've come across. Hopefully someone in the group will have a small campstove like a jetboil or MSR pocket rocket.  During the day all I usually eat is trail mix, beef jerky and sour gummy worms for energy. It makes for a nice solid turd the next morning. For packing a backpack, there's charts and pictures of that all over the internet. For me, I just put the sleeping bag/ clothes at the bottom, the heaviest stuff closest to my back along my spine and then just kinda shove shit in around all of that. Make sure most of the weight of the backpack is being carried by your hips and not your shoulders. Be sure to take a lot of pictures... have fun!

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Avid backpacker / light mountaineering guy here.

 

Hey there! Thanks for the advice. For our Catalina trip we will be hiking from Two Harbors to Little Harbor and staying 2 nights there w/ a day hike on the 2nd day.

 

We were gonna go from Little Harbor to Blackjack the 2nd day and then Blackjack to Avalon but apparently it will be kinda difficult to do that and catch the ferry. It will be a 5-6 guy group and 3 of them have done this trip a couple times so they know whats up w/ getting water and firewood to Little Harbor for camp.

 

Ill be getting a Osprey pack, probably the Atmos 65L as well as a daypack. For food we are probably gonna stray away from the Mountain House stuff and bring our own ready made meals. I most likely wont be buying that beer maker (although its cool) and will probably just bring Vodka and some Arnold Palmer ice tea packets for a cocktail or 3 at the campsite.

 

I have a bunch of random stuff saved to my amazon wishlist http://amzn.com/w/3FW7DASMGNQI1 to gradually buy and for my stove i already bought one of these http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LUZCQM/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Dang, that's a nice group you got there, only two of my friends are man enough to do this stuff with me.  Osprey packs are great, that should be a good choice.  If can make and take your own meals that's awesome, probably be more healthy and taste better.  A lot of my trips are just really strenuous and by the time it's time for dinner all I can bring myself to do is throw some hot water in a bag. I used to take those foil tuna packets and tortillas until I got food poisoning one trip. So yeah, watch out for anything that could possibly spoil.

 

Some of the sleeping bags on your list are going to be really big to pack and really hot. This is probably the one thing you'll want to spend a little extra.  I have a 15 degree down bag and I'll have to admit it's overkill for southern california at anytime of the year. I'd probably look at 30 degrees and above. How much the bag compresses is going to translate into how much room you have in your backpack, which is really what makes bags more expensive than others.  Some things you can attach on the outside of the pack, but I try to stay away from this as it starts to look like a garage sale on your back and the weight distribution is all over the place. The only thing I'd really recommend attaching on the outside is a stardard foam mat, like the GI sleeping pad you have selected or a thermarest z-mat. Also, I'd chose that GI mat over the others you have on the list. It's going to work just as well and be a lot lighter.

 

  I bought a trowel and used it once, now I just use a stick or rock.  Look for trekking poles without anit-shock, it's somewhat of a gimmick and makes the poles weigh more. There's like a 10% chance it will rain on you in SoCal, so you could definitely get a way with a bivy. The Outdoor Research bivy on your list is a good one.  For a cheap one person starter tent I'd also consider the Eureka Solitaire tent. 

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Yeah me and my buddies are pretty regular campers, only 2 of us have wanted to get into backpacking but just haven't had a chance.

 

For the meals i've been looking on pinterest (http://www.pinterest.com/ianmonsta/backpacking/) for a lot of ways to make simple meals to just add hot water to. My buddies have used the Mountain House meals and have said they have a lot of sodium and give them pretty bad gas.

 

For sleeping bag i've just been adding a bunch of options and will decide later but im kinda leaning towards this 30 degree one http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TKB1Q4/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3FW7DASMGNQI1&coliid=I1VJ41XI37WFGX. Looking at Catalina in November the average low is 40 degrees. The GI mat is what im leaning towards for a sleeping mat.

 

I'm definitely trying to go cheap w/ most stuff for now, except for the pack because im getting a deal on it, since i got a few things coming up over the next couple months so i gotta spread out my disposable income.

 

One thing i've been considering is for sleeping bag, i currently have this Coleman http://www.target.com/p/coleman-comfortsmart-cold-weather-sleeping-bag/-/A-13128559 and was kinda thinking about trying to put it in a compression sack. All accounts ive read are investing in a backpacking specific bag but what do you think?

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