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I've just made my first winter summit. In fact it was only a bit over 300 m above see level but I think we all know that hills with unstable steep slopes are scarier than 1000 m mountains with nice trails
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i've been to the Alps several times this winter, 4 times this february alone indeed, but i've already posted all the flags in great detail in the travel blogposting general so i'm not reposting everything again
so, check out the current edition of /flag/ i guess >>>/int/extraflags
in fact all previous editions within the last couple years or so have a good amount of hiking trip dumps, more or less
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>>2861904
I won't pretend to understand /int/'s flag board culture but it looks very pretty.
I did Pierce with a few friends today, gonna check out Lafayette tomorrow I think. Depends on how much snow we get. I wanna take a stab at Lion's Head this trip but I need a clear weather window for it.
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Lafayette was wicked today, winds gusting up to 105 and tons of windblown snow. I feel like I made a mistake by going up, it was way outside of my skill level and comfort zone.
Being born with bad eyesight is a debilitating curse, any of you guys had lasik? I can't go on without ski goggles and I need to decode whether to spring for prescription goggles or eye surgery.
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>>2862047
I got LASIK. It really depends how bad your vision is, and also lasers are probably a bit better than they were 20 years ago when I had it. It might not make it perfect, but it will likely help a lot. You may get dry eye and need to bring moisture drops around with you.
I still wear glasses, but only for driving and hiking really. I can see without them, it's just not as clear. My vision was pretty bad before LASIK though.
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>>2862048
I'm nearsighted but not catastrophically so, I was able to make my way around today with my glasses off without any trouble. I'm mostly worried about the side effects.
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>>2862057
I could not read a book without glasses before LASIK, because I would have had to hold it so close it would blur the text. If you have moderate nearsightedness, and you don't have crazy astigmatism (I think that's a bit harder to fully fix), I highly recommend LASIK. Just make sure to see an opthalmologist and ask them any questions you have. They have to scan your eyes to make sure your corneas are sturdy enough to handle lasering. As I said, dry eye is really common, you will likely need moisture drops for a few months, and possibly forever, but totally worth it.
Remember, the surgery takes 5 minutes, it doesnt hurt at all (your eyes will fill with blood which is spooky, but not painful). And once it is done, your vision is fixed. You won't be able to drive for a few days, and I remember being very sensitive to light so it took me a while to readjust to driving, but again, my nearsightedness was on the edge of severe.
That all said, in the meantime, maybe you should invest in rx goggles. You sound pretty serious about this, and I'm amazed you did it without them. There's sort of a point of cold weather where you just need them.
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>>2862059
>That all said, in the meantime, maybe you should invest in rx goggles. You sound pretty serious about this, and I'm amazed you did it without them. There's sort of a point of cold weather where you just need them.
Yeah, I'm thinking I'll go in for a consultation on the surgery when I have time, I don't wanna spring for the prescription goggles AND cough up the cash for lasik though.
Did the Lions Head winter route today, ended up turning back a couple hundred feet from the namesake rock due to windblown snow. I managed the steep crux of the route fine though, and that's really what I wanted to try. There was a bit of a backup at the steepest part, a couple of guides with 1-on-1 clients and a group of younger guys.
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>>2862103
this is way too much technical bullshit just to hike
im glad to live in the mid atlantic
>I don't wanna spring for the prescription goggles AND cough up the cash for lasik though.
anon you have the money like who cares
you aren't gonna get LASIK tomorrow
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>>2862047
I got PRK a couple months ago. I had a complication in one eye, so that eye isn't perfect... yet.
I took a drug 5+ years ago called Accutane, an extremely harsh drug for acne. It worked wonders on my acne, but the side effects were significant and longterm. I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. That's a personal choice. In some ways, you might consider Accutane vain, but I experienced substantial pain from my severe cystic acne.
Likewise, I wouldn't flippantly suggest getting PRK, even if you are approved, but not having to wear glasses has improved my QOL. No more hassle with ill-fitting glasses, and no more worry about potentially damaging this instrument I need in order to see. I need eye drops (dry eye prior to surgery), but at least I don't have to think about glasses. For me, despite the possibility of less than perfect vision (I'm a perfectionist btw), I'm, at this moment, quite satisfied.
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>>2862175
that's fair, if I didnt do lions head I was gonna be up on hight and carter dome which is known for it's fantastic view of the presi ridge.
>>2862712
I went to a consultation on monday and found that I had some misconceptions, I was worried that the eye flap from lasik was more fragile than it actually is. Apparently you need a direct traumatic impact with the eyeball to risk damaging it.
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I took my son to Red River Gorge (Kentucky) this week. We had a great time until we got rained out. I didn't know before hand but it's a huge area for rock climbing. Plenty of spots in Daniel Boone National Forest for staying away from people too. 7/10 - would recommend
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>>2865233
there's way more prominence in the smokies, various points you can see 25 mi out you don't get that in the daniel boone but you do get less serrated nicer shapes and good combinations of gorge and rock
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>>2865350
My guess is it's near the Smokies and other more popular attractions and so it doesn't get the spotlight much. Also it's kinda a lower-middle class area with not a whole ton of tourist infrastructure, let alone anything fancy. I suppose there are a few mega-cabins at the edges of gorges you can rent but nothing on the scale of what the Smokies have and most people aren't ready to be in a place that's so remote and has so little restaurant/nice hotel offerings.
It's also not "real mountains" like the Smokies, you won't get stacks of serrations flowing into the horizon and you don''t have the elevation of that area either it's more like 1500-2000 ft ish for most of it.
But, it's one of my favorites.
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>>2861726
A warm hush lay over the day. On the path to the rock I nearly forgot, I ran into her. Years folded between us like autumn pages. A large backpack on her back, beer can in her hand, a small child clung to the other. We fell into the old tempo. The cliff we used to climb, the farm where we rode horses, the pub where our voices and guitars tangled with the night. She started to hum the fragment of our song "We know that in a year it will be better. In a year, we will be happy..." and the melody trembled against her ribs like something wanting to be true.
I watched her laugh, saw the spaces where hope once lived. I felt the distance between what minds can hold and where lives can go.
The trail to the summit grows steeper for me with every year. One misstep here would send you falling nearly 100 meters into the hush below. I sat there for a while. What does the future hold for us?
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im gonna use this thread to get a hiking recommendation
I am going to be in the Nantahala National Forest this weekend, the owner of the Turkey Creek Campground owes me a few free nights at his rebuilt camp site, so I wanna use that head over there for 3 nights.
ive been there before, its a wonderful area.
im interested in some decent 4 hour hikes in the area, what can you recommend?
im going to dedicate a day or two to hiking and then a day to driving on the curvy roads
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>>2865579
the hangover, i think the trail approach from the south is less overgrown suggests alltrails (and is less elevation)
if its 4 hours for you, congrats your legs are strong, might be a bit longer (6-7 mi hike, 2000 ft elevation)
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>>2865579
old growth:
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-carolina/joyce-kilmer-memoria l-forest-loop-trail
there's also an upper loop
short easy overlook easy drive:
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-carolina/maple-springs-overlo ok-trail
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>>2862048
I got the LASIK, it was a frightening experience and despite taking some xanax I still had a bit of a panic attack but after a 6 hour nap I woke up with clear vision. Time to shop for ski goggles and sunglasses.
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>>2865595
> It requires a long drive on unpaved but well-maintained forest roads (FR 81 and FR 81-F) to the Wolf Laurel Trailhead.
this trail sounds hot
the shorter trails are cool too. i'll add them to my map and see where things take me
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>>2865699
the hangover is by far the best view in the area just judging from photographs
also recommend the cherohala skyway and
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-carolina/huckleberry-knob-tra il
is a trail I wanted to try right off the skyway
and don't skip maple springs (overlook) if you go see the hangover, its short and easy and the road to get to it is smooth and paved
let me know how it goes
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>>2865960
All the state borders are right next to each other over here.
I'm currently in Gatlinburg. I wanted to check out the Arch Rock trail but holy shit the parking lot is full and overflowing.
Maybe it'll be better tomorrow.
Can anyone can recommend me a 2 hour trails that's off a paved road somewhere around here
I was gonna walk around town and see a few museum but goddamn there is no free parking and it all $20 a day.
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>>2867344
Its hard to capture the sheer density of these trout lillies that are coming up, the first mile of trail is completely carpeted in them. Some are in bloom but I think the majority haven't flowered yet. I could be completely wrong and we might be at the end of their bloom though.
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>>2868609
yeah but not THAT
I think I've done a few drop falls maybe 10-15 ft and they are not my favorite
I like wave trains
only guided, I have no idea where I'm going in whitewater
im losing weight and hopefully will get back into it once im a little thinner
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>>2861726
not exactly a strenuous multi-day backpacking trip, but i explored the woods of my now-defunct alma mater hampshire college today. this pic is from climbing a fallen pine wedged in another tree, that has been there for at least some 15 years, and cracked when i reached the top (about a 12 foot drop). this was in a music venue in a forest clearing that successive generations of students made permanent. now there is a station with a tarp, a table, a massive cache of water bottles, a gas can, a grill, some ladders, some garbage bags, and everything you'd want if you were a hobo in the woods. tomorrow i'm gonna go bouldering after i visit a friend out here in western mass
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>>2868881
this is what they left in the woods. i literally clapped out loud when i saw what they did to this beloved place. they also strung up lights around the venue, which is cool. also, there's a trampoline hidden somewhere in these woods that is almost certainly unsafe to jump on
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>>2868883
the last pic from my /out/ing to western mass is the stevens boulders, a fairly famous granite spot in huntington MA with a good 100 problems spread out among the various boulders. i think massachusetts is best construed as a component of the overall new england /out/ scene, the place you visit when you feel like being in a place where you're never truly in the middle of nowhere
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>>2868961
one more pic from the top of the boulder. there's something special about western mass that i should put in my 1-2 yearly rotation of /out/ spots for the rest of my life. it is a place to be cherished forever
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>>2864301
Beautiful
>>2864839
I hiked around Mt Laguna in San Diego recently in the rain for a day, was comfy
>>2865806
That’s a cool find
>>2866684
Sedona?
>>2867049
Peak
I’ll post a few from my trip this past weekend in the eastern sierras (eastern Yosemite and some other areas along 395)
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>>2869924
The forest nearby Mono Craters is made of gravel, volcanic sand, pumice, and obsidian. Not much plant life except these trees, very fun forest to walk around. Never see people here
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfUeWe7u364
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Got hailed on hiking up pikes peak today. One of the metal mile marker signs was hissing and rattling from the stacking in the air. Thankfully no lightning got close. By the time I finished my coffee all the snow was melted and the way down was relaxing. Had a close encoundter with a cow moose as well. 25 miles 7500' vert