Surly official camping and backpacking thread

[Biff Tannen 45512]

18 hours ago, mininghorn88 said:

Just now stumbling across this topic as I spend the bulk of my time in the football forum.  As time allows I will go back and read the preceding 20+ pages.  Glad that I came across this.

I have only been hiking for the last 5 years or so and have only done one multi-day hike (Grand Canyon with some older work buddies) that required sleeping on the ground.  Would like to do more and plan on doing so in the near future.  My issue is that 99.9% of my hikes I do alone. When I do hike with others it is usually with my girlfriend who is a novice at best.  I am 54 years old, a dad, and a grandfather so I hike prepared for just about anything which tends to make my pack much heavier than I need it to be.  Since I hike alone there is no load-sharing.  Plus, with the flexibility of my job I often hike during off-times when there may not be anyone else on the trail.  Most of my hikes have been between 5 to 15 miles long.

In the past year I have hiked the following areas/trails:

El Malpais

Obed: Lilly Bluffs Trail

Cumberland Gap: Hensley Settlement Trail and the White Rocks/Sand Cave Trails

Buffalo National River:  Tyler Bend Area (ticks were horrible), Ponca Wilderness Area (Hemmed-In Falls/Buffalo River)

Petrified Forest National Park

Saguaro National Park

Sedona: Cathedral Rocks and Munds Mountain Wilderness

Smoky Mountain NP: Alum Cave, Mt LeConte/Myrtle Point

In late October the girlfriend and I are driving from East Texas to the Grand Teton NP and Yellowstone NP.  I just hope the weather holds off as I am only driving a 2-wheel drive Silverado.  We plan on driving through the parks and doing a daily hike.  We will be in Yellowstone for 3 days and the Tetons for 2 days.  Any thoughts on some easy to moderate hikes?

Meant to respond to this yesterday.

I don't know what the weather will be like in October, so my recs may be worthless.  I was there last June and got 6 inches of snow in 2 hours at Old Faithful.

That said, for the Tetons, Cascade Canyon on the other side of Jenny Lake in the Tetons is a popular hike.  You can go as far as you want and turn back.  There's also some low elevation trails just north of there along String Lake and Leigh Lake.

For Yellowstone, it's so huge, there are a billion options.  I did a nice trail through Biscuit Basin and up to Mystic Falls that gave a great view of Old Faithful from about a mile away.  3.5 miles round trip.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4968]

You can easily fill up three days in Yellowstone without doing any serious hiking just by driving around to all the stuff there is to see. There is seriously just so much there. Also, don't skip out on the bear tooth scenic highway. 

[mininghorn88 2270]

15 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

You can easily fill up three days in Yellowstone without doing any serious hiking just by driving around to all the stuff there is to see. There is seriously just so much there. Also, don't skip out on the bear tooth scenic highway. 

Weather will certainly dictate what we do as I will be driving in from Texas.  It has already snowed there and we will not be there until late October.  Right now the plan is to enter the Park in the Northeast (Silver) Gate and drive to Mammoth Hot Springs where we will spend 2 nights beginning Sunday evening.  All day Monday and Tuesday we will do the Northern Loop and then drive to Jackson Hole Tuesday evening.  From there we will do the Grand Tetons and the Southern Loop in Yellowstone.  I would like to get at least one hike in if possible.

[Biff Tannen 45512]

12 minutes ago, mininghorn88 said:

Weather will certainly dictate what we do as I will be driving in from Texas.  It has already snowed there and we will not be there until late October.  Right now the plan is to enter the Park in the Northeast (Silver) Gate and drive to Mammoth Hot Springs where we will spend 2 nights beginning Sunday evening.  All day Monday and Tuesday we will do the Northern Loop and then drive to Jackson Hole Tuesday evening.  From there we will do the Grand Tetons and the Southern Loop in Yellowstone.  I would like to get at least one hike in if possible.

In this case, I would recommend the Cascade Canyon hike in the Tetons, or something similar.  It's easy to get to and you get a nice boat ride across Jenny Lake.  Sounds like for Yellowstone you'll mostly be driving, which as NAAL said, there is so much to see, even just driving.

Keep in mind that drive from Jackson up to Yellowstone is an easy hour, if not more, so start early.

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

You can easily fill up three days in Yellowstone without doing any serious hiking just by driving around to all the stuff there is to see. There is seriously just so much there. Also, don't skip out on the bear tooth scenic highway. 

This is what I just did for 3.5 days. Didn’t even really hike, just did the various boardwalks and went down to the brink of upper and lower falls.

[tomahawk dunk 321]

Just posting in a lame attempt to get some more posts going in this thread.

I did just recently do a quick overnight at Palmetto State Park. Did the hike around the lake, checked out the old CCC building and then drove through Gonzalez on the way home.

Anyone have trips planned for hiking/camping in Texas in the next few months?

[UnivTex34 1763]

I really need to. But have a 4 month old, so getting away to the woods is tough. Wife isn’t a camper either.

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

I went to Yellowstone and some other western national parks recently. I can post some photos. Give me a bit.

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Yellowstone

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Mo’ Yellowstone

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Yellowstone



Teton (was super hazy)



Medano Pass/Great Sand Dunes





Black Canyon



Capitol Reef

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Capitol Reef

[Biff Tannen 45512]

Reps to all of that. Capitol Reef especially looks great. Have to get out there. 
 

I’m going to do the full loop around Lake Georgetown this weekend (thurs- sat, 26.4 miles). Very exciting. I’ll bring back pics, but not sure if they’ll measure up. 
 

In all seriousness, I’ve wanted to do this full loop for a while, so glad I’m taking the plunge. 6.5 the first day and then 10 each of the following two. Nothing amazing, but not bad for fall in texas when the state parks are all fully booked 3-4 months out and I’ve got a random week off.

[Biff Tannen 45512]

On 10/27/2020 at 9:53 PM, Biff Tannen said:

Reps to all of that. Capitol Reef especially looks great. Have to get out there. 
 

I’m going to do the full loop around Lake Georgetown this weekend (thurs- sat, 26.4 miles). Very exciting. I’ll bring back pics, but not sure if they’ll measure up. 
 

In all seriousness, I’ve wanted to do this full loop for a while, so glad I’m taking the plunge. 6.5 the first day and then 10 each of the following two. Nothing amazing, but not bad for fall in texas when the state parks are all fully booked 3-4 months out and I’ve got a random week off.

Well fuck me, this didn't happen.  Had to bail out for a couple of reasons.  Gonna try again later this month or in the spring.

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Well fuck me, this didn't happen.  Had to bail out for a couple of reasons.  Gonna try again later this month or in the spring.

Damnit, man.

[BBQ2Bayou 807]

Anybody heard of these tents? I'm not really in the market, but I'm always looking around and hadn't heard of this company. They've got good reviews and the owner has a lot of experience designing tents, but $600 for a 7 pound, 2 person, 3 season seems like a lot.   http://thetentlab.com/index.html

 

[Biff Tannen 45512]

1 hour ago, BBQ2Bayou said:

Anybody heard of these tents? I'm not really in the market, but I'm always looking around and hadn't heard of this company. They've got good reviews and the owner has a lot of experience designing tents, but $600 for a 7 pound, 2 person, 3 season seems like a lot.   http://thetentlab.com/index.html

 

Never heard of it, but yes, that’s extraordinarily pricy for that weight. That price point is more along the the lines of ultralights. 

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Yeah, not sure what it’s actually going on there.

They do no advertising and do direct to consumer sales after getting them from China and they are still that expensive?

Pass.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4968]

There's nothing wrong with buying boutique backpacking gear. Some of it is on the cutting edge of technology. This doesn't look like one of those cases.

[baboso 6052]

So, my girlfriend wants trekking poles for Xmas.  Hiking in N. Georgia mountains, primarily.  Any recommendations on a good brand?

[davidg 4032]

12 minutes ago, baboso said:

So, my girlfriend wants trekking poles for Xmas.  Hiking in N. Georgia mountains, primarily.  Any recommendations on a good brand?

We have 3 sets of Black Diamond in the family.  I think 2 are the trail pros and 1 are the regular Trail.  I like the flicklock on the trailer pros better that the other style.  Not a fan of the folding style, ones that have shocks or cork grips.  Stay away from the cheap style that have a rotating collet to fix the pole length.  These seem to mess up fairly quick.

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

I have Black Diamond Trail Ergo (I think). They’re great.

I personally prefer cork grips.

[Biff Tannen 45512]

30 minutes ago, Anton Chigurh said:

I have Black Diamond Trail Ergo (I think). They’re great.

I personally prefer cork grips.

Ditto all of this.  Definitely flick locks over anything else, as said above.

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

So for Texas state parks you can reserve campsites 5 months in advance.  Does anyone know at what time they open up the sites for reservation?  Midnight?  8am?

I've been trying to get something at Garner and Ive been checking every morning when I get to work and they are always already taken.  If I have to put back a six pack and stay up until midnight, I'll do it... For the good of my family. 

[davidg 4032]

2 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

So for Texas state parks you can reserve campsites 5 months in advance.  Does anyone know at what time they open up the sites for reservation?  Midnight?  8am?

I've been trying to get something at Garner and Ive been checking every morning when I get to work and they are always already taken.  If I have to put back a six pack and stay up until midnight, I'll do it... For the good of my family. 

8 AM exactly ,  5 months to the date.    We set an alarm Sunday morning to alert us and I reserved a campsite on the water that we wanted for the second week of June.  Sunday was the 10th and our reservation is for the 10th.    I logged on before 8am and signed into my account and actually had a reservation for 5 nights starting the 9th in my cart, and as soon as it hit 8AM I changed the cart to 4 nights and the 10th and it went through.   

[Biff Tannen 45512]

State Park reservations are fucking rough these days.  I randomly got a backpacking site at Colorado Bend for April the other day.  That was surprising.  Garner, Lost Maples, Colorado Bend, Pedernales, and Inks are pretty much full spring-fall all the time now.

Edit: clearly I mean weekends.  Weekdays are still wide open, but sucks to have to take off work now when you used to be able to go out for a weekend, no problem.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Biff Tannen

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

Cool, big thanks davidg.  8am central I assume?  Guess I'll be getting my ass to work a few minutes early.

I've been able to find a few nights in the spring, luckily our spring break doesn't overlap with Austin spring break so I got a few days at McKinney.  

Garner is nuts though.  Looks like people reserve a week at a time.  Shit I like the river but I don't think I could handle it more than a few days.  

[InkaUtexas 25541]

Great thread! Quick question for the group. Looking for a light weight 2 person tent for a friend. She has never gone hard camping so we are planning her first venture. She will need to carry it in so weight is key. Thoughts to the experts? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

[Biff Tannen 45512]

38 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Great thread! Quick question for the group. Looking for a light weight 2 person tent for a friend. She has never gone hard camping so we are planning her first venture. She will need to carry it in so weight is key. Thoughts to the experts? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

Since she is a newbie and probably doesn't want to spend a ton, I'd look at REI brand tents.  They are quality and fairly lightweight, while not breaking the bank.  Once you get into the big names like Big Agnes and really lightweight tents, the price goes way up.  If budget isn't a concern, then you're in a different world.

https://www.rei.com/b/rei-co-op/c/backpacking-tents/f/sc-2-person?ir=category%3Abackpacking-tents&r=c%3Bf%3Bb

[davidg 4032]

26 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Great thread! Quick question for the group. Looking for a light weight 2 person tent for a friend. She has never gone hard camping so we are planning her first venture. She will need to carry it in so weight is key. Thoughts to the experts? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

 

Going on a longer distance backpacking trip or just need to carry a short distance?  Budget? Nice weather camping or can handle a decent storm?

My goto for new campers used to be a REI Passage 2 but it doesn't seem available right now.  It had a decent price/performance point and pretty easy to deal with REI on warranty or repair parts isses. 2 We bought about a dozen or so of them for our scout troup and got good use out of them for regular camping and backpacking.  A lot of the scouts bought there own Passages too and we had a couple used on each of the Philmont treks I was part of.  My son has probably spent 100 nights in his.

I have one of the older Quarterdome 2+ but I don't see them any more and my daughter has a HalfDome 2+.  Its a great tent but might start to be out of your price range. Looks like REI has one called the Trail Hut for $200 that looks pretty good.

If you have a $$ price range look at the Big Agnes, Marmot or other lightweight tents.

 

[davidg 4032]

1 hour ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

Cool, big thanks davidg.  8am central I assume?  Guess I'll be getting my ass to work a few minutes early.

I've been able to find a few nights in the spring, luckily our spring break doesn't overlap with Austin spring break so I got a few days at McKinney.  

Garner is nuts though.  Looks like people reserve a week at a time.  Shit I like the river but I don't think I could handle it more than a few days.  

Yes, 8am CST.  The site wasn't available, clock on ipad turned 8AM, hit refresh and it was there.   I've seen on some RV sites where people have reserved on a Tuesday or Wed  through Sunday and then went back and cancelled Tuesday to Thursday and showed up on Friday like they wanted.  That's kinda gaming the system even more so that just waking up at the time available and I expect that if it happens a lot more this coming summer TPWD might change cancellation policies. 

We've started doing kind of the opposite and reserving Sunday night too, then we leave later in the day or evening to get back home rather than lining up at the dump station at 11:30 with everyone else.  Only cost an extra $20 for an RV site and it works nice when we have the boat with us to get an extra afternoon on the water.

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

Good to know.  I work in education and have summers off, so weekends aren't a priority.   Good to know people will cancel a few days during the week.  I remember to keep checking for cancellations.  

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

21 hours ago, davidg said:

Yes, 8am CST.  The site wasn't available, clock on ipad turned 8AM, hit refresh and it was there

 

23 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

State Park reservations are fucking rough these days.  I

Holy shit, you guys are right.  I got to work early to be ready for 8am.  Had the site I wanted at garner pulled up, said it was available at 8am.  At 8am I refreshed..... And it was gone, as were all of the backup ones.  I got something, but it's kinda a shitty site. 

[sasquatch69 592]

Just found this thread.  Hiking/backpacking has been another hobby I rediscovered during 2020, partly due to the pandemic and partly because of being active with my sons in their scout troop, and now prepping for a Philmont trek this summer with my oldest if things there don't get shut down again.

Since there have been some questions about backpacking gear above, I've been able to accumulate a setup I'm happy with on a tight budget, via clearance sales, Amazon deals and Facebook Marketplace:

Pack:  Gregory Reality 70L internal frame (love it - versatile and extremely durable)

Tent:  Alps LYNX 1-person with floor saver (4lb, so not the lightest out there, but very durable for the $.  The 2-person is really good, too, and only 1lb heavier)

Bag:  Teton LEEF 0* ultralight mummy-style

Pad:  Outdoorsman Lab ultralight inflatable 

Our troop did two nights at Caprock Canyon earlier this month, at the north and south primitive sites within the canyon, and ~10mi of hiking.  It was fantastic - probably my best Texas state park experience ever, and not crowded at all.  Temperature swings are strong (around 30* each night and up to low 60s with hot sun on the trails in the afternoon), but we were prepared.

[thrillhammer 683]

2 hours ago, sasquatch69 said:

Just found this thread.  Hiking/backpacking has been another hobby I rediscovered during 2020, partly due to the pandemic and partly because of being active with my sons in their scout troop, and now prepping for a Philmont trek this summer with my oldest if things there don't get shut down again.

Since there have been some questions about backpacking gear above, I've been able to accumulate a setup I'm happy with on a tight budget, via clearance sales, Amazon deals and Facebook Marketplace:

Pack:  Gregory Reality 70L internal frame (love it - versatile and extremely durable)

Tent:  Alps LYNX 1-person with floor saver (4lb, so not the lightest out there, but very durable for the $.  The 2-person is really good, too, and only 1lb heavier)

Bag:  Teton LEEF 0* ultralight mummy-style

Pad:  Outdoorsman Lab ultralight inflatable 

Our troop did two nights at Caprock Canyon earlier this month, at the north and south primitive sites within the canyon, and ~10mi of hiking.  It was fantastic - probably my best Texas state park experience ever, and not crowded at all.  Temperature swings are strong (around 30* each night and up to low 60s with hot sun on the trails in the afternoon), but we were prepared.

did caprock canyon a couple of years ago.  great state park.  

[davidg 4032]

Great pics of Caprock.  Post up if you have any Philmont questions on the treks.  Did treks in 2015 and 2017 with my son.  Had a great time. 

[baboso 6052]

Were you in a vehicle or on foot for that pic of the buffalo?

[Saint Tacky 1610]

Same for Philmont.  Been twice now, as a Scout and with my son, and I'm going back this summer with my daughter.

Caprock was a great shake out hike for Philmont. I also recommend the boundary trail at Buffalo Trail, outside Balmorhea.

[sasquatch69 592]

9 hours ago, baboso said:

Were you in a vehicle or on foot for that pic of the buffalo?

In the truck on the way out.  We had a couple bison that hung out near our first-night campsite, but they didn't venture too close (and we admonished the scouts to leave them alone, which they did).

[baboso 6052]

Wise move.  Seen too many videos of people on foot around bison getting lit up.

[hookem2010 2600]

Doing some primitive walk-in camping at Colorado Bend Monday-Wednesday. It's my first time camping since my little bro and I spent a couple nights in Lassen almost two years ago. Far too long. We are taking the doberman pup with us as well, so it will be an interesting experience for sure...

[Biff Tannen 45512]

9 minutes ago, hookem2010 said:

Doing some primitive walk-in camping at Colorado Bend Monday-Wednesday. It's my first time camping since my little bro and I spent a couple nights in Lassen almost two years ago. Far too long. We are taking the doberman pup with us as well, so it will be an interesting experience for sure...

Nice.  River or windmill sites?

[hookem2010 2600]

Windmill. Google photos just reminded me that we took the old dog there exactly 5 years ago.

[Biff Tannen 45512]

4 minutes ago, hookem2010 said:

Windmill. Google photos just reminded me that we took the old dog there exactly 5 years ago.

Nice.  I've got a river site in late April.  Heading to Davis Mountains over valentine's day weekend.  Hoping I don't freeze.  Also South Llano River in March. 

I haven't done nearly as much hiking or backpacking during the pandemic as I thought I would be able to.  The state parks are PACKED and the permit system for day passes is annoying.  I'm ready for people to go back to their indoor activities.  

[TexTexTex 104]

I've got a group of guys (Mid 30s) Heading to Big Bend in the Chisos Mountains.  Any of you Surly dudes have experience in the Chisos?

Itinerary

Day1

Lost Mines - Hike clockwise towards Pinnacles and camp at JF1

Day 2

Emory Peak - Make Camp at East Rim 2 - Day Pack Juniper Canyon

Day 3

Hike South Rim make Camp at Laguna Meadows - Day Pack Blue Creek Canyon

Day 4

Hike out Laguna Meadows

 

My group is wanting to do 3 nights which I know is a lot for just the Chisos so we have several day hikes we are going to do down Juniper and Blue Creek Trails to add some miles in without the packs.  Our packs will have to be heavy due to the amount of water we will need to carry, I've seen conflicting reports on if we will have any water sources at Boon Canyon so I'll keep looking out for reports before we go. 

 

Any tips or suggestions are more than welcome.   I've done several backpacking trips, but this will be the first time for most of the group.

[Your Mom 4799]

Does Lost Mines have something that connects to Pinnacles?  Or are you planning to hike Lost Mine out and back before beginning the loop? 

Everything you're going to see sounds great.  I've done the loop over two days and wished I had spent at least 3 doing it.  2 days left us without enough time to stop and enjoy it as much.   If I were you I'd consider spending more time on and around the East and South Rims.  It's the highlight of everything there.  I've walked past ER2 but don't remember much about it.  ER4 is the campsite you hear people rave about.  We stayed there but, and maybe this was a seasonal thing, the view from there was far more obstructed by trees than I was expecting.  ER6 or ER7 would be my preference next time.  They put you closer to the rim and a shorter trip to wander out from camp and watch the sunrise from the edge of the cliff. 

The rangers are adamant that you plan on finding no water at Boot Spring.  It was running when I was there last and we used it, just to say we did, but I'd plan on having enough without it.

https://bigbendchat.com/ is a great source of up-to-date info.

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

Just be aware of the chisos road closures.  It's only open at certain times.  Also, i would never expect to do lost mines because of parking.  I guess since it's not busy right now you might be fine, but the road construction was also taking several spots.  Just be ready to pivot.

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Just be aware of the chisos road closures.  It's only open at certain times.  Also, i would never expect to do lost mines because of parking.  I guess since it's not busy right now you might be fine, but the road construction was also taking several spots.  Just be ready to pivot.

Yeah, I just finally did Lost Mine in December for the first time, and it was like my 8th visit overall. If the parking lot was full I’d always just move on. Even this last time, I got the last spot at the time.

[TexTexTex 104]

Game plan is to do Lost Mines out and back then start Pinnacles.  I guess if the lot is full we can do some of the window trail.  I saw the notices on road closures for Chisos Basin Rd, but it looks like that was supposed to be wrapped up end of January so hopefully not an issue end of this month, but I'll keep an eye on it.

I tried to snag ER4, but ER4-ER9 are closed due to the falcon mating season during this time so we wont be able to explore as much of the ER Trail as I'd like, but we will hike it as far as we can after setting up camp at ER2 then we can decide if we want to hike South Rim on day 2 and come back with our packs on day 3 on the way to Laguna Meadows or if we want to go Juniper Canyon and save South Rim for Day 3.  Being that we are bringing in so much water I tried to plan as much as I could without our packs on 

I really appreciate the advice keep it coming if y'all think of anything else.

I know everyone says 1 gallon of water per day for drinking plus whatever we need for cooking, that would be around 30lbs of water which sounds miserable to carry.  I'm thinking since it will be cold out and I typically don't consume that much water to carry closer to 24lbs which will be a little under 3 gallons total.  Any thoughts with that game plan?

[davidg 4032]

Even in winter, carry plenty of water.  The low desert humidity will still suck moisture out of you and you won't realize it as much in the coolness.