hiking/backpacking - Page 14

Great pics, J5. I'm a little bummed that the onset of a mild cold made me cancel my hike today. Planning to do it Thursday now. Hope it's nothing serious with the knee.

Thanks, Pio. Got xrays this morning and there is no broken bones so it's looking like it might be torn cartilage which will require surgery or inflamed ligaments. Hopefully nothing too serious. The pain started about 1/10 of the way through the hike and didnt want to turn around and continued to do about 10 miles in tough terrain. Bad idea.

Are you using trekking poles? Being old and creeky, with knees beat to hell from years of hockey and squats, I got them from the get go with this hiking thing. Man, what a god send then are.

Nope, no poles, I like having my hands free especially since most of the trails I hike are very steep and I often have to use my hands to climb. I had to make a walking stick to help give the knee some relief and it definitely made a difference. Something is telling me that some damage was done in my knee a few months ago squatting. I felt a weird sensation in my knee and worked through it, and now all of a sudden I'm dealing with this bs.

Give some serious thought to poles. They are like mobile railings for me. If it's a real climb, takes 30 secs to lash them to my backpack (has special straps just for that). Last weekend I did a four mile hike with some major elevation changes and rocks and the old knee was not even aching.

What kind of poles are you using? My pack has the stow-on-the-go feature which is making poles much more appealing.

Great pics Johnny_5, thanks for sharing.

http://www.rei.com/product/798006 Love them. Got Mrs. Piob the even lighter graphite ones for women. Oh, also good for many tents and tarps as poles.

I bought some hiking poles before my last backpacking trip and I really like them. Even though you look sort of dorky when you use them, they really do make a big difference in your fatigue level at the end of the day.

1) Jedidiah Smith State Park (best of the best old growth)
2) Prarie Creek State Park (best hiking, varied terrain)
3) Del Norte State Park (not great redwoods but close to other two and beautiful coast)

PM me if you want a link to photos.

Johnny5, Kaaterskill Falls looks really cool. Looks like it would have been a nice hike if not for the injury.

Some shots from a drive through sedona>grandcanyon>bryce>zion. Few over nighters, but it rained, hailed, thunder, lighting and tornadoe most of the time. Didnt know this thread existed.

30 Days, 150 miles, in the Cascades with NOLS

sorry for so many pictures