Any hikers out there?

[quercus21]

Just wanted to see if there are any hikers out there that would want to share some of their past or present experiences, pictures and knowledge. The better half and myself have done the Catskills 35 high peaks in the summer and winter, we did the Cranberry 50, The NY Fire Tower challenge. Next we plan on starting and hopefully completing the Adirondack 46. Our bush whacks are with a compass, altimeter and luck.

We did our first bald mountain hike in September. NY 2nd tallest mountain, Algonquin mountain. It was a cloudy overcast day. At one point, we were above the clouds and had some nice views with tops of surrounding mountains poking through. Then the clouds caught up with us with a heavy mist, the temperature drop about 15degs and the retreat started. It did put the bug in us to do some more, if not all.


Above the clouds

Mist moving in - Large cairns

The top

Enjoy
Kaj

 

[Trent Hardy]

I used to do quite a few hikes, although in the past few years I never seem to find the time. Attached are a few pictures of one myself and a buddy did a few years ago - the "Spout Path" which is part of the East Coast trail here on the Avalon Penninsula. It's not a major hike - basically 20km (12miles) each way, so we made an overnighter of it.

The trail runs from Bay Bulls, NL along the coast to a spot called the "Spout". It is a small sea cave that intercepts the path of a small stream. The force of the ocean waves causes the water from the stream to spray through a small opening in the rock creating an effect similar to a small geyser. It's a pretty cool little spot. The coastline on the way there is very steep (>100 ft cliffs), with multiple sea stacks. We actually kayaked it one year as well - lot of sea caves. Few pics described below


About 4km in. Kind of shows the type of coastline...


One of the larger sea stacks on the trail


And another one. It may not be too clear, but I'm standing next to that tree - should give you some sense of the scale.


A small cove called the "Freshwater" that the path intersects. At one time a village was here.


The spout. You may not be able to see too well, but that little fleck of white to the immediate left of are my legs. I'm basically standing right next to it. It's a pretty neat little spot I must say

 

[Trent Hardy]

This is actually another one we did fairly recently. It was a three day hike into a Simm's Canyon - in the Lewis Hills in western NL. I believe this is actually considered a part of the Appallachian Trail, but I'm not sure. I think it's the high magnesium content in the rocks, but basically the place is in spots a moon scape - almost no vegetation. The guy in the pictures is my buddy Brian. I actually grabbed these pics from his blog, as the hard drive I save all this stuff on recently crashed on me.


Decending into the Canyon down a scree slope


Our Camp site in Simms Canyon


Another pic of our campsite


A few moose up on the barrens

Newfoundland is an awesome place

 

[Xtineart]

absolutely I do a lot, and am just back home after the final week of hill walking/wild camping of the year along loch ness and the caledonian forest. I've probably covered most of scotland and her islands now with just a few peaks and routes left to do (the scary ridge walks I'm not so keen on)
Pretty rotten photo I know as the weather was dull but this is the most recent hill I've done, ben more coigach up the north west coast. I've loads more pictures but risk boring you to tears ( I post regularly on the 'Scotland by the roadside' facebook group though which I really suggest you follow if you want to see how stunning it can be here. )

 

[quercus21]

@Trent Hardy

Great pictures.

Quote:

We have been in Canada a few times. A couple of times to Nova Scotia and camped and hiked in the Highlands National Park. It must be close to 35 years ago. Great place. The first time I saw a bald eagle in the wild was in Nova Scotia. I was impressed with the Bay of Fundy. It seem when the tide was out, the endless mud flat that was left.

I must admit, I have never been to Newfoundland. I think my better half and our daughter have been. Something for music. Our daughter is a bassoonist.

One I am hoping to get back to PEI and Nova Scotia to see how much they changed.

Enjoy your day
Kaj

 

[quercus21]

@Xtineart

I would love to see more of your pictures. They the Catskill mountains are the same rock type or join with Scotland at one time in earth's history. The majority of our hikes are in the Catskill mountains. We have hiked the 35 high peaks in both the summer and winter months. The better half is part Scot on her grandfathers side, McDougal and Grant.

Do you have "bald" mountains? Treeless mountain tops? Mixture?

Enjoy your day
Kaj

 

[Xtineart]

thanks Quercus, I'm happy to show some, we have fantastic mountains and scenery here in my lovely Scotland, unlike anywhere else in the world.

 

[quercus21]

@Xtineart - Great pictures. They are nothing I would expect. Are you able to do trailess hikes? We call them bushwacks. We use a compass and altimeter, some people use a GPS.

I am hoping to be able to get out this coming weekend.

Enjoy the day
Kaj

 

[Xtineart]

do you mean where there are no tracks Quercus? yeah, sure. In Scotland we have the 'right to roam' law, basically there are no trespass laws and you can go anywhere you like as long as you dont intend to cause harm or damage.

Most navigation is done with a good old fashioned map, compass and a good pair of eyes as there is a lot of magnetic granite in our mountains so it often throws compass readings way off, but it's a small country here and the mountains though spectacular are well understood even if there are very rarely any obvious tracks.

The other good news here is that there really isn't anything out there that will eat you, We cant carry guns or great big knives here as it's illegal but there are no wolves or bears and the worst you'll get is mosquito, midge or tick bites.

As summer walking season is pretty much over now I'm hoping for a good hard frosty snowy spell this winter so I can get up a few mountains in my crampons and ice axe soon. We have a great climate for hiking, not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter.

 

[Trent Hardy]

@Xtineart

I'm curious, where-abouts are the mountains in the last few pictures (ie what part of Scotland)? They look awesome.

This is just a little side note, but I figured I'd ask. In the UK you guys aren't allowed to carry large knives (i.e. machetes) is this correct? What about hatchets or axes though?