So now that is unconfortably hot and at least for me the DV season is well done, what are your plans?
We just got back from northern california enjoying volcano landscapes, lava tubes and modoc (tragic) history and gorgeous rock pictos and petros.
Weird time of year though, wanted to go snowshoing but had to cancel because of plowing operations.
In summer we were hoping to explore some new mountain range. But i am paralized with options and planning logistics and might end up reverting to the sierra nevada. I shudder at the thought that the pct nobos have started already. Sigh....
The PCT nobos started long ago but a lot of them are skipping the High Sierra part of the route for now - I read a bunch of their hiking blogs, I guess wishing I were there. The SF Chronicle said "Want to hike the Sierra? Best time will be the second week of August". Which is, coincidently, when we'll be there (I pushed that trip back a bit to let more snow melt). Other trips are Montana (out of Bozeman) in July, and WA (Olympic Peninsula and South Cascades) for much of September.
And spending time on Martha's Vineyard in May and June, before it gets too crowded (we have a small cottage there).
These days I tend to revisit the same places. Is it a rut? I dunno. I have particular lodging and particular rooms I like and I know where to get my groceries on the way to a place that doesn't have good stores. I know lots of the trails but the more you know, the more you can conjure up your own hikes, offtrail in part, and thereby get a lot of solitude. Even going to DV for 30+ years, there are always places I have not seen (nice to get some good hints from folks here for that). So am I in a rut? Well it sure makes dealing with the logistics a lot easier, and I can concentrate on coming up with a good list of possible hikes (in Montana, there are lots of unmarked horse trails that come out of a bunch of dude ranches south of Big Sky, and you can see on the sat images, for example).
Anyway, dealing with variations in annual weather is always an issue, because part of the price of wanting particular accomodations is needing to reserve well in advance. To to avoid paying much more of a car rental than a plane ticket, it's a necessity!
2023-06-01, 07:43 AM (This post was last modified: 2023-06-01, 07:43 AM by DAW89446.)
(2023-05-31, 04:59 PM)Daymoth Wrote: In summer we were hoping to explore some new mountain range. But i am paralized with options and planning logistics and might end up reverting to the sierra nevada. I shudder at the thought that the pct nobos have started already. Sigh....
From the blog written by this site’s member ski3pins.
(2023-05-31, 05:49 PM)MojaveGeek Wrote: The PCT nobos started long ago but a lot of them are skipping the High Sierra part of the route for now - I read a bunch of their hiking blogs, I guess wishing I were there. The SF Chronicle said "Want to hike the Sierra? Best time will be the second week of August". Which is, coincidently, when we'll be there (I pushed that trip back a bit to let more snow melt). Other trips are Montana (out of Bozeman) in July, and WA (Olympic Peninsula and South Cascades) for much of September.
Well as this year goes the second week of august may be the mosquito apocalypse, fire season, none or both.
(I have no qualms showing my desdain of the nobos. They crowd the approaches to mountains, leave plenty of trace and hoard permits. I wish they redirected the PCT through the central valley)
(2023-06-01, 09:50 AM)Daymoth Wrote: Well as this year goes the second week of august may be the mosquito apocalypse, fire season, none or both.
Yup, with the new fire regimen you just don't know. Smoke tracking tools are as important as my topo maps on some
trips. When you can't see much, hard to get motivated to go high, though I've had some times in the eastern Sierra where visibility was OK till 11 or 12 (motivation to be on the trail at crazy early hours).
I enjoy seeing PCT hikers in WA in September. The ones who make it that far are damned tough!
Wisconsin. I'm going to Wisconsin, along with my husband, our furniture, three Pods full of his books, all my camping gear, our vehicles (including my wonderful Dodge van with 315K miles), and myriad boxes of miscellany. In other words, we're moving. Why further north? Grandkids.
One of whom I get to take to Yellowstone later this month. I'm looking forward to that; she's the 11 year old. In July I hope to return to Boundary Waters if I can keep my crew together.
