Bag Night Challenge 2015

Bob said:
larry ......................... where is the Slickhorn PIcs??
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Alas, on my crappy ancient slide phone that will be six feet under by this time next month. Slickhorn was actually an emergency fallback after the rangers advised me that the road to Fish and Owl was impassible. Thank goodness for the 20-year-old copy of Michael Kelsey that's a permanent resident of my car! Navigation with his book is challenging though, to say the least!

Also the schist layer in the lower part of the canyon is absolutely brutal. 1mph terrain for sure.
 
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Total: 10

1 night - Jan 2 @ Moab with @Tess
1 night - Jan 9 @ a yurt in Liberty, ID with @Tess
1 night - Jan 16 @ Moab with @Tess
1 night - Jan 30 @ 5th water hot springs with @Tess, @LarryBoy, @Sam De Vries, @WasatchWill, and @Mike K
1 night - Feb 13 @ Wedge Overlook mountain biking with @Tess, @Mike K, and @Joel Smith
1 night - Feb 20 @ backyard testing a new tent
4 nights - March 12-16 @ White Rim Trail with @Sam De Vries, @Tess, @Joel Smith, and @jentzschman

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LarryBoy said:
That's the thing that killed it for me. I would have done the Inca Trail with my sister, but we just couldn't deal with needing a guide, cook, etc. Both of us are way too independent for that! Plus we both speak fairly fluent Spanish, and she's very familiar with Peruvian culture, so having a service that catered to North Americans would be rather redundant. That being said, like you stated, the idea of walking amongst the specters of history is just so cool on multiple levels.
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Going to bump this up because it deserves a reply.

My wife and I did the Inca trail a few years ago (after our daughter and her boyfriend invited us to join them--an invitation that is not easily refused if you are a parent!). In the end there were the four of us, plus a porter per person, and a guide.

We both speak fluent Spanish, as does my daughter. And her now husband is Argentine. Yes, we normally prefer to hike on our own, and in the Sierra we often head off trail to avoid the "crowds" that can inhabit the more popular reaches. I think we meet the definition of pretty darn independent hikers, and have spent many a trip where we didn't see anyone else at all for days.

But the only way to hike the Inca Trail is with a guide and porters. The guide is required, not just to lead the way, but to make sure that you and your knucklehead tourist friends don't knock over ancient relics, carve your initials into stele, etc. (Hey, it happens...) And the porters are required because the goal is to provide employment for the local inhabitants of the region, who otherwise might get to watch wealthy tourists walk by everyday and never share in the economic impact of those tourists. We found our guide and porters both charming and friendly, and we enjoyed our conversations with them all--mostly in Spanish.

It's not a hike in the wilderness. There are local residents (I hesitate to call them towns) along the way, and the trail is as well-marked/designed as any section of the john Muir Trail---albeit 500 years older.

But we loved the experience, and this is the only way to get that experience. We're going back this spring to another part of Peru, and will hike in the Andes again. Sometimes we'll use porters where they are required or suggested, sometimes we'll hike off by ourselves.

But the trip to Machu Picchu is something that stands out in a lifetime of hiking with a pack on our back, and we are absolutely delighted that we were able to do it.
 
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12 nights total

Jan. 16th-18th: 2 nights, Valley of The Gods with @Miss Buffalo
Jan. 31st-Feb. 1st: 1 night, Antelope Island
Feb. 13th-16th: 3 nights, Valley of Fire
Mar. 5th - 9th: 4 nights, Virgin River Gorge, Alabama Hills, Eureka Dunes, and The Racetrack with @Miss Buffalo
Mar. 20th - 22nd: 2 nights, Indian Creek

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Lone Tree Sunset
 
Nick said:
Total YTD: 8 Nights

Jan 17-19 > Solo at Lake Powell > 2 Nights
March 5-8 > Trachyte Creek > 3 Nights
March 21-24 > Glen Canyon > 3 Nights

Just got home from a wonderfully uneventful 4 days out in the Glen.

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That snow is really sticking around on the Henrys. cool
 
Up to 4. That's really good for me for being so early in the year. Last year I didn't get any until July.

March 6th-7th - 1 night - Zion
March 24th-25th - 1 night - Kodachrome Basin
March 25th-26th - 1 night - Buckskin Gulch
March 26th-27th - 1 night - Arches
 
YTD 15.

3 nights | Inca Trail- Andes Mountains, Peru. | January
3 nights | Canyonlands | January
2 nights | Robbers Roost | February
3 nights | Trachyte Creek | March
4 nights | Grand Canyon-Tuckup Canyon | March (dropped my dslr in some water, and it doesn't turn on :( ) Thanks for planning the trip @langutah!


Conglomerate Bridge-Tuckup Canyon by slc_dan, on Flickr


4 more to come this weekend!

2015 is gonna be a great year
 
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Total: 14

1 night - Jan 2 @ Moab with @Tess
1 night - Jan 9 @ a yurt in Liberty, ID with @Tess
1 night - Jan 16 @ Moab with @Tess
1 night - Jan 30 @ 5th water hot springs with @Tess, @LarryBoy, @Sam De Vries, @WasatchWill, and @Mike K
1 night - Feb 13 @ Wedge Overlook mountain biking with @Tess, @Mike K, and @Joel Smith
1 night - Feb 20 @ backyard testing a new tent
4 nights - March 12-16 @ White Rim Trail with @Sam De Vries, @Tess, @Joel Smith, and @jentzschman
4 nights - March 26-30 @ Canyonlands Figure 8 packrafting trip with @Tess and @Parma

I took 40gb of video, but only got one good pic.

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