Album Campsites

[Vegan.Hiker]

Have had to stick pretty close to home most of the summer. Not far from me is a 1976 Argosy airstream that I base camped out of recently. It's on the edge of a horse farm on the northern boundary of the Shawangunks. A nearby quiet respite to bring your dog, a book, and a trailmap.

 

[Michael]

…home, sweet home.


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[slc_dan]

Very cool @Vegan.Hiker. The Gunks are pretty infamous for climbers. The climbs are notoriously sandbagged.

 

[Parma]

It's just an abandoned Airstream people use whenever?

 

[Vegan.Hiker]

It's just an abandoned Airstream people use whenever?

Not abandoned, the owners of the farm rent it out real cheap, mostly to climbers. There's a campground (run by the American Alpine Club) and a hiker hostel in the Gunks, but neither are dog friendly. I got a tip on this place once when asking around about dog friendly places.

 

[Artemus]

One of my favorite winter campsites.... White Canyon with Jacob's Chair lording over.

 

[Cool Danish]

Soap Tanks, Paria Plateau, September, 2016.


A very chilly night close to Cottonwood Cove, Coyote Buttes South, December 2016.

 

[SwimsWithTrout]

~ 45 yrs of "Campsites"

Leaving our first bivy on the face. Wind Rivers, Haystack, 1973. I'm wearing the blue helmet.

Bivy on Spearhead, RMNP. June 1975. Our "warm-up" for our first climb on the Diamond of Long's Pk.

Which was in this "camp", the semi permanent shelter on "Broadway" at the time

Before starting this little climb on 4th of July Weekend, 1975.

 

[SwimsWithTrout]

Winter Camping/Climbing in what would later become the Indian Peaks Wilderness. 1975

 

[SwimsWithTrout]

1976, my basecamp in the Wind's at the head of the Titcomb Gorge. Once the storm clouds cleared, I summited Helen, Woodrow Wilson and the Sphinx in an exciting 12 hr day. My self timer shot taken with my old Minolta, Kodachrome slide film, and stuck between two rocks is my avatar photo.

 

[Artemus]

~ 45 yrs of "Campsites"

Leaving our first bivy on the face. Wind Rivers, Haystack, 1973. I'm wearing the blue helmet.

Bivy on Spearhead, RMNP. June 1975. Our "warm-up" for our first climb on the Diamond of Long's Pk.

Which was in this "camp", the semi permanent shelter on "Broadway" at the time

Before starting this little climb on 4th of July Weekend, 1975.

wOOt! Each one of those is a story, Swims? First one, what the heck route were you putting up on Haystack as an overnighter???? Inquiring minds wants to know...

 

[Artemus]

1976, my basecamp in the Wind's at the head of the Titcomb Gorge. Once the storm clouds cleared, I summited Helen, Woodrow Wilson and the Sphinx in an exciting 12 hr day. My self timer shot taken with my old Minolta, Kodachrome slide film, and stuck between two rocks is my avatar photo.

Double wOOt! A grand traverse, in 12 hours.. did you go up the Triple Towers route on Helen?

 

[SwimsWithTrout]

wOOt! Each one of those is a story, Swims? First one, what the heck route were you putting up on Haystack as an overnighter???? Inquiring minds wants to know...

Nothing special. Just a very early repeat of the "Fowler Route" , now known as the Minor Dihedral. At the time, the only climbing guide to the Winds was the Bonney guide, 2nd revised ed. published in 1971. The two sentence description told of a 16 pitch, 5.7 route, with excellent rock and protection, that the first ascent team needed 21 1/2 hrs to climb. That sounded too good to be true, so we set off.

Armed with just the B & W thumbnail, out of focus image in the guidebook, we started from ground zero. Virtually everyone now a days skips the lower climbing, below the big arch, and traverses in from the higher bench . We started just after noon, after our approach, and essentially made up our own route as we went along. All we knew, was that we needed to get to the main (Minor) dihedral at some point .

The angle of the lower slabs made dragging the haulbag nearly impossible and slowed us way down. We bivied after 5 "adventurous" pitches. We were moving slower than snails again the next morning dealing with the haul bag, so just after the photo was taken, we poured out all of our water save for 2, 1 qt Nalgene bottles, a bag of GORP, put on our extra clothes, and kicked the haulsack, with our sleeping bags and extra food inside, off the wall.

Desperation works wonders, because without the extra hassle of the haulsack, we topped out at sunset....and decided there and then, there was NO WAY that was anything near 5.7 !! We were able to find enough melt water from a few snow patches to refill our water bottles and spend a cold night on top, before making our way down the "Grassy Goat" the next morning.

A few years ago, my wife and I went up for a 4 day, Labor Day Weekend trip and climbed it starting at dawn from the "cheat start" on the higher bench. We were back in camp by 3PM.

 

[SwimsWithTrout]

Double wOOt! A grand traverse, in 12 hours.. did you go up the Triple Towers route on Helen?

No I was solo, so I just did the standard SW gully approach to get onto the glaciers and then the East Ridge, which was a bit exciting because there was 6-8" of fresh snow up top.

I was back in camp by noon, and after a good lunch, I didn't want to waste any daylight on a perfect weather day so, I headed over to Woodrow Wilson and the big west gully, and when there was still plenty of time left, I rounded the corner over to the Sphinx and soloed the NW ridge up and down. It wasn't "hard" climbing 4th class/ low 5.0, but that YUGGGGE bergshrund on the Dinwoody side is looming right underneath you to swallow you up if you did fall.

 

[Chuck the Mauler]

One of my favorite winter campsites.... White Canyon with Jacob's Chair lording over.
View attachment 50940

For some reason when I see that image all I can think of is Breaking Bad.

 

[slc_dan]

No I was solo, so I just did the standard SW gully approach to get onto the glaciers and then the East Ridge, which was a bit exciting because there was 6-8" of fresh snow up top.

I was back in camp by noon, and after a good lunch, I didn't want to waste any daylight on a perfect weather day so, I headed over to Woodrow Wilson and the big west gully, and when there was still plenty of time left, I rounded the corner over to the Sphinx and soloed the NW ridge up and down. It wasn't "hard" climbing 4th class/ low 5.0, but that YUGGGGE bergshrund on the Dinwoody side is looming right underneath you to swallow you up if you did fall.

Thanks for filling in some of that info. My granite career is small so far, but look forward to add more to that with each coming season. Thanks for the inspiration!

 

[SwimsWithTrout]

During the mid 70's , I was always curious about the Hang Gliders I saw flying around Boulder/Golden so I took lessons, started buying gliders, and by the late 70's I was at the very top end of the pilot rating scale and still at a point of life that I could save everything I could for 1 yr. So in 1979, I quit my job, sublet my tiny apartment, and threw my glider on the top of my truck, along with my tent, sleeping bag and stove in the back , and traveled the country from HG site to HG site for 6 months.

Utah was always my favorite site, and all the above were from there, and taken straight from camp, but there is no more iconic launch than Yosemite , and Glacier Point.

 

[slc_dan]

During the mid 70's , I was always curious about the Hang Gliders I saw flying around Boulder/Golden so I took lessons, started buying gliders, and by the late 70's I was at the very top end of the pilot rating scale and still at a point of life that I could save everything I could for 1 yr. So in 1979, I quit my job, sublet my tiny apartment, and threw my glider on the top of my truck, along with my tent, sleeping bag and stove in the back , and traveled the country from HG site to HG site for 6 months.

Utah was always my favorite site, and all the above were from there, and taken straight from camp, but there is no more iconic launch than Yosemite , and Glacier Point.

Before BASE there was hang-gliders. I want nothing to do with the air holding me up, but love to watch.

Was hang-gliding illegal in the 80's like BASE is now?

 

[BryanG]

Sorry these are so Sierra heavy. I will have to remember to start taking more photos of our campsites!

Camped at Jennie Lake in Sequoia National Forest


Y Meadow Lake in Emigrant Wilderness on 4th of July


Car camping in Stanislaus National Forest above the Stanislaus River


Although not OF our campsite this was shot FROM our campsite in Yosemite National Park

 

[SwimsWithTrout]

By the mid 80's, I was busy starting up my own business, as well as a family, but by the time my daughter was a year old, we started car-camping and doing short overnight BP trips. As soon as my daughter was able to walk a few miles on her own, it was time to return to the Wind's. What we couldn't do in daily "miles" we made up for by going for 14-19 days at a time.

Carrying a 4 man tent and much of the rest of the gear was always a shock the first day out....but the rewards ??? Priceless !!