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Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 11:59 am
by markskor
oldranger wrote: Still going on demanding off trail routes (though markskor sometimes has to hold my hand :^o when it gets scary). Trekking poles, careful route selection, shorter distance days have kept me going and looking forward to next summer.

Mike
Absolutely true...He has buckled at a few of my/our off-trail route selections.
I don't know why I enjoy hiking with the OldRanger...Cranky old coot!
I give him about another 5 - 10 years of planning our routes before I have to find another (tolerable) fishing partner.

BTW, Mike, where we going this year?

Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 7:07 pm
by Kmowelk
I suppose after nearly a year of lurking around on here I should introduce myself. My husband and I moved to Southern California from the mid-Atlantic, and thanks in part to the wisdom from these boards, we have enjoyed two successful backpacking trips through the Golden Trout Wilderness. My husband is a bit of a fly fisherman, always chasing the Goldens, while I'm in charge of the photography and bear spray. We have hiked Kern Peak, but as my husband's body starts shutting down when he looks at anything over 9,000 feet, it takes more than a bit of acclimation before he hikes a little less like a zombie so I don't think Whitney will be in our future any time soon. I look forward to heading back up North this Spring to find additional areas to explore. Thanks to everyone for the wonderfully inspirational trip reports and photographs!!

Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 9:19 pm
by oldranger
Welcome aboard! Bear spray? In the Sierra? In 60+ years of camping and backpacking and more encounters with bears than I can remember bear spray is the last thing I would carry in the backcountry. On the other hand I do carry it when car camping but not for bears.

Mike

Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself

Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 3:13 pm
by Kmowelk
oldranger wrote:Welcome aboard! Bear spray? In the Sierra? In 60+ years of camping and backpacking and more encounters with bears than I can remember bear spray is the last thing I would carry in the backcountry. On the other hand I do carry it when car camping but not for bears.

Mike
I will admit that the one bear I've seen was beyond terrified when he finally saw us so that was wonderfully comforting. However, I tend to jump at my own shadow so my husband accommodates my irrational fears with bear spray :)

The Vertically Challenged Caucasian Sends Greetings

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 3:17 pm
by Short White Guy
Hello, I couldn't find anywhere specifically for introductions, so this looks like as good of a place as any. If the mods need to yell at me afterwards, maybe I'll learn a thing or two.

Anyhoo, I live up in Sacramento with my wife and 4 kids, all of whom have expressed an interest in spending more time outdoors. I have been camping off-and-on since I was in diapers and I'm really looking to get back into it. Most of my experience is car camping with a healthy dose of backpacking thrown in during my boy scout days. I also recently became an assistant scoutmaster for a local boy scout troop and I'm trying very hard to get them into the woods more often then they currently are. I joined this forum in hopes that I can learn more about where the good campsites and backpacking trails are so I can get my family and my troop out for as many good experiences as possible.

I guess that's it for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. :)

Re: The Vertically Challenged Caucasian Sends Greetings

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 4:25 pm
by austex
SWG,
Welcome to the best board in the Sierras. A wealth of info here. Do a search on trip reports (TR's) in any area/lake/mountain you think you would like to go and I'm sure there is info. Also if you would like input for trip advise pls tell us what is your level of experience (trail, off trial), what is important (lakes, scenery, fish, trees, miles/day...etc) The more we know the more exact the response can be.
Kudos on the scoutmaster position! What the boys learn to love now will serve them later and perhaps they will keep the love of the outdoors handed down. It's a sometime thankless position; but if you touch just one soul it's worth it. :rockon:

Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 6:12 pm
by maverick
Hi Short White Guy,

Welcome to HST! Moved your post into this thread for new members intro.

Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 6:32 pm
by Short White Guy
maverick wrote:Hi Short White Guy,

Welcome to HST! Moved your post into this thread for new members intro.
Thanks.

Sent from my LG-MS870 using Tapatalk

Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:04 pm
by astrogerly
Hey everyone! I found this forum this past summer and have been lurking since. I fell in love with the Sierra when I moved out here in 2011 from Michigan/Florida. I wasn't much of an outdoorsy person before then, but when I did my first backpacking trip ever - to Cottonwood Lakes - I was hooked. My boyfriend and I did the HST (on what was my 4th backpacking trip) and I just couldn't get enough (I fell in love with Precipice Lake). The summer of 2012 was spent wandering the Sierra and doing the JMT. This past summer, we were had several trips lined up (Cloud Canyon to Deadman Canyon, the HSR, etc), but sadly we didn't get to do any of them...

Last February, I broke my back in a skiing "accident". I suffered an L1 burst fracture and a severely bruised spinal cord (if you look at my CT scans, it's shocking my spinal cord wasn't severed). Two back surgeries (T12 - L2 fusion), having to learn to use my legs again, and lots of PT later, I'm back to hiking (and cautious skiing). I haven't had a successful backpacking trip yet (only tried once), but I'm honestly shocked every day by the fact that I even got to hike this past summer. The Sierra was nature therapy for me in the recovery madness. Trips to Lamarck Col, Piute Pass, Bishop Pass, Granite Lakes, etc., made me appreciate the Sierra more than I already did. I'll stop rambling for now, but I have a blog about my life bionic adventures if anyone wants to follow along http://astrogerly.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Maybe I'll stop being just a lurker now... :)

Tiffany

Re: Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:15 pm
by Rockchucker
Welcome aboard Tiffany, amazing story! I truly admire you tenacity and positive attitude.