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Sign in to chatPermits free, gas $180, food about $60, and one $40 shuttle. Titcomb Basin was worth every step, though the mosquitos in July are a genuine hazard. Full day-by-day below if anyone wants it.
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Sign in or create an accountThree days for detail, seven for pattern, anything past that is a coin flip. I plan a bail option into every trip over three days now. How do you build in flexibility?
Hiked around South Dakota and it surprised me. The Black Hills give you real forest, granite and creeks, and the Badlands are a completely different planet an hour away — eroded spires, almost no shade, and hiking that is mostly off established trail. Notes: - Badlands heat is serious and there is no water. Carry all of it. - The clay gets slick and sticky when wet and clings to boots in heavy clumps. - Wildlife is excellent: bison, bighorn, pronghorn. Give the bison a very wide berth. - Black Hills trails are gentler and better for a mixed-ability group. Great combination trip if you want two very different landscapes in one week.
Hiked Sedona and the red rock scenery lives up to the photos. The thing nobody warns you about is how hard the heat and the exposed slickrock hit you — there is very little shade and the rock radiates heat back at you all afternoon. How I handled it: - Start at first light. Everything after about 10 a.m. in warm months is a grind. - Two liters minimum on anything over a few miles, more if you are out midday. - Grippy soles. Slickrock is fine dry and treacherous with any sand on it. - Electrolytes, not just water. Trails ranged from casual to genuinely exposed. Post your favorite Sedona routes — I want a list for the next trip.
Moose on the trail three days out of five, and the ferry logistics are the hardest part of the whole trip. Water is everywhere so pack weight stays low. Would go back tomorrow.
Climbed Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. It is a long, serious day and I think a lot of people underestimate it because it is a walk-up on paper. What matters: - Start absurdly early. Alpine start, headlamp for hours, and be heading down before the weather builds. - The route past the Keyhole is exposed scrambling. If heights bother you, you will know quickly. - Altitude is the real filter. Acclimatize first if you came from sea level. - Turn around when the clouds build. The mountain will be there next year. Rocky Mountain backpacking around it is excellent too — I paired it with a couple of nights in the backcountry, which made the summit day far more pleasant. Anyone done the Loft or Clark's Arrow variation? Curious how it compares.
Hiked the Huangshan mountains in China and it is unlike any range I have been in. Granite spires, twisted pines growing straight out of the rock, and fog that rolls in and out so the whole landscape appears and disappears while you stand there. Genuinely ethereal. Practical realities: - It is stone stairs, not trail. Thousands of them. Your quads and knees take the beating, not your ankles. - Go early or stay on the mountain overnight to beat the crowds and catch the fog before it burns off. - Weather changes fast and the rock gets slick. Trekking poles help more than you would guess. - Pack light. You are climbing stairs all day. If you like dramatic scenery over wilderness solitude, it is worth the trip. Happy to answer logistics questions.
