Outdoor Adventures

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Outdoor Adventures

Postby Gorgeous Undertow » Fri May 21, 2010 3:18 pm

One of my favorite pastimes is getting out and hiking/biking/camping amongst the spectacular scenery here in Washington state. I was wondering who else likes to get out to the wild and where your favorite places might be. Last month I went to an interesting area called Peshastin Pinnacles near Wenatchee in the midlle part of the state. East of the Cascade range Washington is mostly arid plains and the pinnacles are odd rock formations stuck up in the middle of it all. Here are some photos from my trip:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48609&id=1577527244&l=ce761eb4d9

Went to three state parks on this journey, my goal is to hit all 100+ at some point. The photos start at Lincoln Rock, where my cabin was.
"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." - John Muir

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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby Raumfahrer » Fri May 21, 2010 3:31 pm

i used to go hikign quite a lot, mostly in the Wye Valley which is a beautiful place.
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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby bob falconscotch » Sat May 22, 2010 11:19 am

We call it 'dogging',here in England.
It is the official summer sport in Essex.
As a keen birdwatcher,the amount of discarded condoms,sachets of lube and,on one memorable occasion,a butt plug,in hides never ceases to amaze.
I must remember to take them home,in future.
James Dean was just a careless driver,and Marilyn Monroe was just a slag...
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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby redc » Sat May 22, 2010 1:55 pm

bob falconscotch wrote:As a keen birdwatcher,the amount of discarded condoms,sachets of lube and,on one memorable occasion,a butt plug,in hides never ceases to amaze.
I must remember to take them home,in future.


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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby blir » Sat May 22, 2010 2:27 pm

A favourite was a couple years back, hiking alone and in the dark (major no-no's) to get to Sentinel Dome in Yosemite by sunrise. Listened to True Adventures and View From a Hill on the pod.

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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby talia » Sat May 22, 2010 3:21 pm

I had the pleasure of camping around italy for a month a few years ago which was wonderful and a really interesting way to see the country. It's amazing how many places have camp sites that you wouldn't expect- venice, rome, florence etc.
I would love to do it again but my main dream is to camp across canada. Such beautiful scenery. I love being outdoors and walking. I really want to go back to yorkshire and investigate the Dales more fully, hopefully with better weather!
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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby No Paranoia » Sat May 22, 2010 7:19 pm

Hiking in Scotland.
I have dear friends in Ballachulish, from there you can literally walk into Glen Coe. Last September we spent a few days on Skye, Loch Coruisk is probably the most beautiful place in the world.

This is a valley behind the Old Man of Storr, north-east on Skye:
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Glen Coe:
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None of my pictures give the places the praise they really deserve though.
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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby Dr_Dupree » Sat May 22, 2010 8:07 pm

Thanks for starting this thread, Gorgeous Undertow. Some beautiful photos so far.

I enjoy hiking very much, although a niggling knee injury has stopped me doing anything arduous these past 3 years. I especially enjoyed walking the length of the Offa's Dyke trail, from Chepstow to Prestatyn, many years ago. One night in Prestatyn was more than enough though, and we got the train/boat to Dublin the next day to make the most of the remainder of the two week holiday.

I walked about 200 miles of the 'Cornish' coastal path (it took in quite a lot of Somerset and Devon) in one go too, which was a blissful experience, and have gone back to walk shorter sections since.

The South Downs Way, from Eastbourne to a field in Hampshire, is brilliant too, as many Forum members will already know!

Abroad, I have tremendously enjoyed several extended hut to hut walks in the Austrian Alps. The Austrian huts are a wonderful legacy of the German culture, each one generally funded by the Alpine club in the city whose name it bears.

They enable walkers to spend entire weeks and fortnights trekking from hut to hut amidst some of the most spectacular scenery the world offers, enjoying reasonable food, beer and accommodation in the evenings, and without ever having to descend to the world of roads and cars. You can join guided groups from some of the huts, to enable you to get up to places you'd never reach without assistance.
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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby Spot » Sun May 23, 2010 5:28 am

I don't often visit anything that could reasonably be called wilderness during most of the year, due to living in New York City and not having a car, but in the summers I've done a lot of slogging up and down hillsides in Italy:
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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby fiveflags » Sun May 23, 2010 5:53 am

Spot, Go to Grand Central Station and catch the Metro North Green Line. Don't get off until you get to Poughkeepsie. When you get to Poughkeepsie, put on a bullet proof vest. Get the hell out of Poughkeepsie station. Walk .5 miles East to the Hudson River. Begin Hike. North, South, doesn't matter. It's all fucking beautiful. From Albany back down to NYC. And when you get hungry, just look for the damn party barge. There are quite a few of those damn things in the river. You flag em, they'll bring you a hot dog. Swear to God. Funniest shit ever. I'll be honest, I never got North of Albany, but damn. NY State is fucking gorgeous. I imagine the walk across the Mid Hudson Bridge there may be one of the most beautiful sights on Earth. What with West Point up there on the hill? And when it's frozen over the winter???? Breathtaking. NY state is home to beautiful hiking sights.
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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby Busty » Sun May 23, 2010 9:15 am

I fell in love with the Lake District on my first visit at 18 and make any excuse to go back scrambling and hiking now. For anyone who happens not to have been, enjoy a view of my favourite hills, the Coniston Fells:

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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby rover » Sun May 23, 2010 11:19 am

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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby Spot » Mon May 24, 2010 5:53 am

fiveflags wrote:Spot, Go to Grand Central Station and catch the Metro North Green Line.


I haven't tried Poughkeepsie, but I've been to Bear Mountain State Park a couple of times. Given that I'm apparently stuck in NYC for the summer this year, I'm thinking about possible (cheap) escapes. I've heard that Cold Spring is a good place for hiking, as is Breakneck Ridge.
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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby fiveflags » Mon May 24, 2010 10:11 am

Cold Spring is lovely Spot. It's no big place, the town actually refers to itself as a Hamlet and I am not sure there is more than one stop light. But the entire town is on the National Register of Historic Places. The architecture dating from the early 19th century is particularly unique in Cold Spring as the town was founded for working class laborers at West Point. A bunch of hippies (err, artists) seeking escape from NYC have preserved the town as much as possible. In fact, the entire Hudson line ride is like taking a step back in time 150 years. The first stop after Grand Central is 125th street in Harlem. The station there was built in the 1800s I believe and it's a nice glimpse into Harlem's past. If you get off the train there, close to 5th and 125th there is an old wooden fire tower that serviced the city of Harlem that is one of my favorite places to see in the city just because it's so unique. There are a lot of the original Harlem Brownstones in that area as well. From Yonkers northward the entire span of the tracks parallels the Hudson River. You almost feel like you should be on a locomotive because it's everything you ever think of when you think of seeing the country by train. I could stare out of a window on the Hudson Line for hours. Bring your MP3 player and put on some LaBradford and just disappear. I can't say enough about the journey itself. It's spectacular. Breakneck Mountain is a nice hike out of Cold Spring. The views of West Point are stunning and I could wander the streets there all day. A brown bag lunch and some good tunes and you can escape for a day, but feel like it's a lifetime.
The past is a ghost, the future a dream, and all we ever have is now.
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Re: Outdoor Adventures

Postby Lancashire Fusileer » Mon May 24, 2010 10:47 am

For Hiking, I'd say Austria for us, esp Salzburgerland, which has a great mix of valleys, drink, snow-topped mountains and "village customs"
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