HIKING!, Who here likes to hike??

[jime307]

I LOVE to hike and i live in a really great place to hike! I made this post to let people talk about hiking they've done and tell stories from the trail and experiences they've had

[TandVh]

I love to explore new places in the woods and hills! It's so hard to get away from the everyday life of work, bills, and houselhold chores to go away to the mountains and explore a trail.
Since the wife and kids are gone for the weekend, it was pretty easy for me to just get up and go this morning. I put my kilt on and jumped in the car and went up to North Fork of the Kaweah River, Sequoia National Park- just 20 minutes form where I live. There's several trails at the end of the road and I took off down one of them this morning around 7:00 AM and hiked for 2 hours then turned around and made my way back. Up and down hills, through canyons and even had the dickens scared out of me by a bear on the trail ahead of me! He saw me about the same time I saw him- I scared him more than he scared me- he took off straight up the side of the hill!
Talk about adrenaline rush!!!!

Funniest looking bear I've ever seen around these parts though. He has reddish brown hair and almost black paws.
I almost turned around and went back, but, I figured he was bookin' it pretty fast and probably wouldn't be coming back to bother with me so I just kept going.

Ahhh- I wish I could do this more often. I certainly am going to try.

[ballydun]

My family loves to hike as well. Where we live there are mountains all around, so we have a lot of trails to chose from. Nothing like hiking for a mile or two, eating a nice sack lunch and hiking alittle longer. After the hike we usually go for a nice cool snack like ice cream or snow cones.
I love the mountains!!

[Amargein]

I live in the mountains of central AZ. There is one large National Forest not far from me. It is a great experience to be in the desert highlands. I must admit though, I need to get out and hike more often.

[jime307]

I live In Jackson, Wyoming which is really close to Yellowstone and Teton national Parks They are both Fantastic, I hiked a great little trail called Cascade Canyon it was really crowded at first because the first mile is also the trail to the two of the most popular places in the park Hidden Falls which is a gorgeous waterfall and Inspiration Point which has a great view of the Jenny Lake. The Canyon it's self was wonderful walking through the valleys I swear I was in Heaven.

[haynes9]

Love hiking, just don't get out and do it enough! Probably one of my favorite hikes was a ten mile day hike I did with my three sons in Canyon de Chelly on the Navajo Nation in Chinle. There is only one place you can hike there without a Navajo guide. This one was guided and we got to see a lot of Anasazi ruins that are not readily visible to the public. It was funny that a Navajo guide had gotten his four wheel drive vehicle stuck in the sand. His friends were all really razzing him about it, saying, "You're a Navajo! You're not supposed to get stuck!"

Another great hike with the boys was in Moab National Park in Utah. It was a 15 mile job and it was just beautiful. The toughest hike I ever took was in the Tonto National Forest near Payson, Arizona. We hiked to the Hell's Gate Wilderness, and it lived up to it's name! Worth every step, though!

Great thread, jime307!

[Rindy]

Great topic jime307!! I know your in heaven!!!! I love to hike. My favorite it the Wind River Mountain Range. The Tetons are very beautiful also.

Welcome Amargein!
These are wonderful stories..

Ok, I know some of you have heard this one, but I couldn't resist being from a bear state..

How do you tell the "poo" is from grizzly bear?

By the bells in it...

(they tell you to wear bells so you won't startle the bears)

Slainte

[MDF3530]

Flatlander (Chicago area) here. Not many opportunities for trail hiking here. I would use our county forest preserves for when I go for a walk, but there's wild dogs in them ! A few years ago, one of the ladies who went to my old church was severely injured by some and her friend was killed !

[Rindy]

Mike now that is scary. I wouldn't go either. I would be more afraid of that than the bears. I hate to say it but bulls bother me too..and moose..hmmm..lol..


I have also camped to close to a stream..water run off almost drowned me in the night..flash flooding happens quickly..I found out..live and learn I guess. I like a campfire at night and when ya here the "SNAP" of a twig..that just freaks me out. You know your the only person with in miles...then ya barley sleep all night so the next day packing out can seem forever......lol


Slainte

[jime307]

Too true when you hear one noise in the night you jump up and look around. And Being alone has a bit of a strange feeling doesn't it? The Tetons Truly are Magnificent, but I would really like to see what else is out there my friend said Bryce Caynon and Moab are both Beautiful places and I'd love to see some places in California. I think Estes Park is a fantastic place to hike but i Can't get anyone to take me to places where I Can hike though so that kinda stinks but I still love the community there. And thank you everyone for the nice comments about my thread. Glad to see there are some fellow hikers around here!

[bobbeau]

One of the most fantastic places I've ever hiked was through Bryce Canyon. I was only planning to stay for a couple of days, but I just couldn't leave, so I extended my stay. I hiked all of the available trails several times and went out at first light until last light. The changing colors of the hoodoos were mesmerizing, particularly at sunrise and sunset. I'd been to Zion on my way to Bryce, and that had floored me as well, but I'm glad now that I visited them in that order because Zion was would have been a disappointment following Bryce. I've also hiked trails in Oregon and northern CA, as well as some in AZ in the desert mountains. All are spectacular in their own rights. Even my favorite local trail here in RI at Trustom Wildlife Refuge has its own appeal of a mix of woods and ocean, so you can find beauty wherever you are.

[Gwynhwyvar]

My family and I LOVE to hike. Being in Georgia, we are not that far from the approach trail for the Appalachain Trail. The AT extends from Georgia to Maine and is 2,175 miles. There is about 75 of those miles in Georgia and we have hiked them at different times in the different portions. Elevations in Georgia range from 2,510 to 4,461 feet. Very hilly with a rating of 5-7 with 10 being extremely difficult. We have also hiked parts of the trail that are in North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. It has always been a dream of ours to hike the entire trail from Georgia to Maine. They say that it takes approximately 6 months to do the entire trail - I don't know if we could do that or not - we have to make a living you know. One can dream though. Anyway, portions of the AT make for a great day hike and we can't wait until October - the best time to take a hike.
There are lots of other trails in North Georgia that we like to hike too. If anyone is ever interested there is a great book called appropriately "The Hiking Trails of North Georgia" that is very informative about each trail.