The Outdoors Thread

[gotbeer]

5 minutes ago, Redondo said:

Saw a snake on my walk the other day

I believe it's a gopher snake, but they look similar to a rattler 

This morning about 4:30 I had an adult skunk walk out of the bushes about 8 feet in front of me. I froze and kept the light in his eyes as he looked at me. After a minute he went back in the bush and I moved to the other side of the path to avoid him

Out of all the animals I encounter I'm leary of the skunks. The rest don't bother me

Yup.  Gopher Snake.  No rattle.  Thinner head.  Still has the stripping as a rattler.  

Skunks are pretty.  But not at 4:30 in the morning from 8 feet away.  

FYI.  A rattler does not leap out at you.  A rattler can only only strike the length of his body.  Because they curl up, they seem to be jumping at it's prey.  So if you see a 5 foot rattler curled up and are 6 feet away, you should be safe.  Skunks according to googs, can spray 15-20 feet.  So you were in the tomato juice and baking soda and sobbing uncontrollably begging for help zone.  

[Redondo]

1 hour ago, gotbeer said:

Yup.  Gopher Snake.  No rattle.  Thinner head.  Still has the stripping as a rattler.  

Skunks are pretty.  But not at 4:30 in the morning from 8 feet away.  

FYI.  A rattler does not leap out at you.  A rattler can only only strike the length of his body.  Because they curl up, they seem to be jumping at it's prey.  So if you see a 5 foot rattler curled up and are 6 feet away, you should be safe.  Skunks according to googs, can spray 15-20 feet.  So you were in the tomato juice and baking soda and sobbing uncontrollably begging for help zone.  

At least I have a river to jump into

Then call my family to bring the tomatoe juice

Prefer to not get sprayed

[Blarg]

Tomato juice is dumb. Use a mixture of a tablespoon of Dawn dishwashing soap, a cup of baking soda and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. 

[T.G.]

30 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Tomato juice is dumb. Use a mixture of a tablespoon of Dawn dishwashing soap, a cup of baking soda and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. 

BS!

use a mixture of garlic, vinegar and ammonia!

[Tank]

16 hours ago, Blarg said:

Tomato juice is dumb. Use a mixture of a tablespoon of Dawn dishwashing soap, a cup of baking soda and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. 

nonsense! use a mixture of roguefort cheese, three day old egg salad, and french's yellow mustard. 

[CaliAngel]

[katie]

[James]

Bird is on house arrest, can't leave the pier. 

[gotbeer]

So went hiking on Sunday.  Jacinto peak.  89 degrees in Palm Springs when I started, 109 degrees in Palm Springs when I finished.  But on the mountain it wasn't bad.  Actually needed a jacket on the peak, with peak temps in the 50's.  On the way down though.  I got hot with about 1/3 of the hike left.  Also the tram was dead.  Usually it's packed on the peak, with the restaurant full, and having to wait for the tramride down.  No problem getting a seat at the bar.  And was on a half full tramride.  So I guess people didn't want to deal with the heat down below.

Just a tree.

If you look just to the left of the big tree, you will see the startpoint, the top of the tram.

The final crossroads.

Emergency shelter just below the summit.  Not sure why they blocked off the chimney.

Peak views.  Third picture, that's Gorgonio in the background, overnight camping trip in 2 weeks.  Highest peak in Southern California.

Some old remnants.

Old Ranger station.  Would be a kick ass place to be assigned for a summer.

[gotbeer]

Early morning hike at Griffith park.

So far so good. Overcast a bit humid.

Suns peaking through. Still not bad.

Near the top. Sun is breaking through.

6:41 am. Oh hell no. I'm not doing the next mile to the sign with that thing looming over me.

Yeah, cut my hike short.

[Redondo]

4 minutes ago, gotbeer said:

Yeah, cut my hike short.

Sometimes you can't drink enough water

The hear overcomes you anyways

Glad you chose to stop and know your limits

[Redondo]

People still insist on hiking at the hottest time of the year here in Arizona

 

Texas hiker found dead at most dangerous national park in America

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. – A Texas hiker died on Sunday while attempting to climb the Bright Angel Trail at Grand Canyon National Park.

The National Park Service said its communications center received a report of an unresponsive man around 2 p.m., but all attempts to resuscitate him by bystanders and first responders were unsuccessful.

An investigation is underway by the NPS and Arizona's Coconino County Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death of the 50-year-old.

This incident marks at least the fourth death this year at the park, which is considered the deadliest in America.

https://www.foxweather.com/lifestyle/arizona-hike-service-death-summer

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Morons. My daughter, her boyfriend a MiLB olayer, and another MiLB player and his track star girlfriend went for a hike last weekend in Sedona.   I wanted to strangle them.  Luckily they cut it short. She tried to say “we’re all athletes.”  I told her “the sun doesn’t discriminate.”

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

On 7/6/2024 at 8:12 AM, Redondo said:

Sometimes you can't drink enough water

The hear overcomes you anyways

Glad you chose to stop and know your limits

100%

[Tank]

On 7/13/2024 at 5:51 AM, Redondo said:

People still insist on hiking at the hottest time of the year here in Arizona

some people have to touch the wet paint for themselves in order to believe the sign on the bench. 

[gotbeer]

So I completed one of my bucket list items this weekend.  I knew that this weekend would probably be the last to accomplish this, as it's getting hot out there.  

So did San Gorgonio, and camped at the peak.  It's a brutal hike, about 10 miles each way, to the highest point in Southern California at 11,490 feet.  God or Gods or the pet rock was really looking out for us, as the conditions (minus the bugs) were perfect.  Overcast, with a nice breeze.  Of course, since we were camping, we had to take our camping gear all the way to the top.  And that was a brutal undertaking.

First photo is of us at the trailhead.  I don't know why this photo insists on being upside down.  I tried everything, and whenever I upload it, it's always this way.  And if I upload it upside down, it stays upside down.  F'n Chuck.  Anyways, see how we are all smiles at the trailhead.

A photo of the initial switchbacks.

Top of the switchbacks, this is about 1 1/2 mile of the 10.5 miles so far.

Beautiful huge trees up at this point.

Small waterfall we saw just before High Camp.  High Camp is around 6 miles in.

This is the point above high camp.  

A past forest fire, not sure if it was the gender reveal dumbshit fire, but the fire got to this ridge and was stopped.

Me at the peak.  In pain.

Same threesome, 10 miles later.  No fair, they looked like nothing happened.

half moon.  

The marker at the peak.

Sunset.  Could have been a lot better, but the False peak is in the way.  So this is the best it got.

This is what I woke up to.

Now, if you really look closely in this one.  You can see a rainbow, streaking left to right in the center.

So we really thought that that cloud cover was going to ruin our sunrise.  Then this started to peak out.

Overall a great hike.  Even though it was probably tougher than I've ever done.  We left after this sunrise.  And it was a good thing as there was zero cover all the way down.  And no breeze.  I think if we did this hike today, instead of yesterday, we would absolutely have aborted.  Instead, it was quite a memorable sunrise, and a check mark on that bucket list item.  

[Tank]

congrats, GB. that's a worthy accomplishment. 

[Redondo]

I've done this hike when I was young. Exhausting for sure. Congrats on making it! 

Really enjoyed the pictures 

Thank you

[katie]

Sometimes my pictures upload upside down too @gotbeer

[PattyD22]

@gotbeernot sure how you avoided all the monsoonal storms that were pounding us in Big Bear the last several days, especially all the lightning strikes. 
 

Somebody was definitely looking out for you.  We had quite the storms the last few days.

Edited July 16 by PattyD22

[gotbeer]

12 minutes ago, PattyD22 said:

@gotbeernot sure how you avoided all the monsoonal storms that we’re pounding us in Big Bear the last several days, especially all the lightning strikes. 
 

Somebody was definitely looking out for you.  We had quite the storms the last few days.

We only saw a little bit of rain.  My buddies saw more of it.  They said it downpoured for a few minutes then stopped.  

[gotbeer]

Shit, I have two buddies camping at the East Fork right now, where the fire is.  Still a bit over a mile from where they camp.  But the fire is almost blocking the only way out.  

[Redondo]

8 hours ago, gotbeer said:

Shit, I have two buddies camping at the East Fork right now, where the fire is.  Still a bit over a mile from where they camp.  But the fire is almost blocking the only way out.  

Hope they are okay

[gotbeer]

1 hour ago, Redondo said:

Hope they are okay

Looks like they got the fire under control. But those stubborn guys still haven't come out.

[PattyD22]

Seriously?  He was probably wearing Crocs, not flip flops.  Idiot tourist.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/death-valley-tourist-hospitalized-burns-sand-dunes-123-degrees-national-park-service/