[Spoilsport Stonny]

I'm doing a four day trip to Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia this weekend. Looking very forward to it. This with less fall foliage:



Anyone been anywhere particularly awesome?

[Defiance]

Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park in Utah were great. I've also been to the Grand Canyon, which was extremely overrated. Far too much of a tourist attraction.

Canadian Rockies were really cool. Got to hike along a beautiful glacier. Been a few other places in Canada as well. Prince Edward Island stands out among them.

Highlands of Scotland are pretty awesome. Probably my favorite place I've ever been, but that's just because I'm a huge nerd. Castles and abbeys? Fantasy imagination galore! Plus I was going crazy over Braveheart at the time.

New Zealand is fucking beautiful too. Hiked quite a bit on the south island two years ago. As long as you're not in one of the larger cities (of which there are extremely few) there's a great view wherever you look. It was pretty badass to see some of the places where The Lord of the Rings was shot (Rohan, Pelennor Fields, For of Bruinen, Fangorn Forest off the top of my head). Wish I'd been able to go a week earlier when my parents were on the north island. I'm not big on tourist locations but seeing Hobbiton would have been great. Also jealous that my parents hiked Mount Ngauruhoe (aka Mount Doom). Heard it can be a pretty intense hike, I guess my mom started a small rockslide and a boulder nearly took out a hiker forty or fifty feet below. The fjords on the southern part of the south island are also gorgeous.

Your picture reminds me a bit of hiking in Arkansas in the fall.

Anyway, enjoy yourself!

[Spoilsport Stonny]

That's quite a list D! Scottish Highlands sound frikkin bloody awesome! And it is my dream to go to New Zealand. That's a pretty cool story about yr mom's rockslide, too. Shit can get dangerous.

[Stalker]

I live extremely close to the Adirondacks in New York so I mainly hike in there. Most peaks are nice day trips, but it is easy to combo some together for a weekend adventure. The goal is to hike the 46 high peaks, because that's a thing. Mainly all over 4000ft and over 10mi per trip, though there is a lot of variety with all the different mountains. There are great views, especially in Autumn.

Anyway, I also have hiked several times in Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park, which is awesome, since you can hike across an exploded crater floor in a nice 4mi loop, or hike across old lava flows, and more. One time my sister was standing on still cooling lava (hot but safe to stand on) and I noticed her shoe was smoking. Turns out a rock was burning right through it. I caught it in time, but makes for a good souvenir.

I also lived in the US Rockies for a bit, so hiking/ snowshoeing was awesome there too. The mountains dominate the landscape, unlike anything I'd seen in NY. I've hiked through Alabama streams and fields for archaeological work when I was doing my undergrad degree. That was fun, and we found some cool sites/features relating to pre-contact Native Americans and the War of 1812.

Think that's it, for now. Like Defiance, I'm jealous that the rest of my family went to Mt. Doom and Hobbiton to hike without me. I'll make it there someday.

[HiddenOne]

make sure you watch the cult classic "Wrong Turn" before you go, it will best prepare you for this environment


Also, it's unseasonably cool & wet in that region, be prepared

EDIT: It may also be unseasonably warm, too - just depends on the whim of Mother Nature

This post has been edited by HiddenOne: 26 April 2013 - 03:54 PM

[Spoilsport Stonny]

I had rain gear. Used it sunday. Thermals were good enuff to keep the cold at bay. It was crazy. Trails were overgrown and hard to find. Had to do some steep climbs up hillsides to get back on track. We blazed half the thing. A good ten miles with a shit ton of detours. Between the rhododendrons and.the aftermath of superstorm sandy, monongahela natl forest is a mess. But i had a great time. Need to go hiking again.

[twelve]

I've been wanting to take a trip down to Crater Lake for years now. I hear there is a trail that goes all the way around it. I've hit up a few trails in the Cascades and Coast Ranges but not nearly as many as I would like. I prefer the Coast Range as its more temperate and a shit ton less poison oak (which I'm highly sensitive to). Silver Creek falls is an awesome State Park with a lot of waterfalls in a small area. Even though it's a heavily traveled tourist attraction there is still miles and miles of trails that don't go along the falls for mountain bikers and horse riders plus miles of trails along the falls as well.

I've also been to the Grand Canyon, though didn't hike any of the trails, and also wasn't terribley impressed. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I did hike to the bottom and back but we were on a family road trip and didn't have enough time scheduled to do it. This was also ages ago when I was still a kid. There are also a lot of hot spings around here that I've been wanting to go see but never quite seem to get to. Having young kids that you end up carrying most of the way tends discourage long isolated overnight hikes.

[Vengeance]

I have hiked Crater lake. Have done several old (not even close to being hot) lava fields in central Oregon. I have summitted Diamond Peak in Oregon several times and each one of the 3 sisters once. Lots of wonderful hiking in old Yugoslavia and Hungary. We used to drive by a ruined castle and just park the car on the side of the road and explore it. Fantastic times when I was 10. Did the volcano hike on Maui. Lots of waterfall hikes, Silver Creek, Multnomah Falls, Opal Creek. I am sure that there are a bunch more that I can't remember.


Smith Rock in Eastern Oregon, Hiked and fished but not full faced climbed. Partial climbed a lower route. Black Butte and several small mountains in eastern oregon.