Favorite Hikes

[Wes Mantooth]

more of a scenic, shorter hiking trials is "Garden of the Gods" in Colorado Springs. It has over 20 different rock formations.





also in Colorado in Glenwood canyon near Glenwood Springs, the "Hanging Lake". Hiking trails around the canyon lead up to these lakes

[Borodog]

This is my new favorite picture.

[M2d]

re: the creek pics. did you fish that by any chance? how far in were you? it may have been deep enough in the wilderness that the fish were all pure strain greenback cutthroats (the native trout of colorado). very cool, indeed.

[nyc999]

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more of a scenic, shorter hiking trials is "Garden of the Gods" in Colorado Springs. It has over 20 different rock formations.

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I forgot to mention this in my OP - this place is a lot of fun. When I went, my friends and I spent probably 3-4 hours going up and down different formations. At the end of the day, one of my friends couldn't find his license. We then had to proceed to re-climb every formation, to no avail. He found it in his backpack later that night.

[bustedchucks]

nyc,

im in north jersy so i spend alot of time in harriman as well. it's great. even on holiday weekends when the lots are packed if you get a mile or so up a trail you have the place practically to yourself.

like three miles west of bear mountain is long mountain, probably my favorite view in the park. the trail head is on a turnout off route 6. long trail to the top, like a mile to the top, 300 degree view, you can see perkins tower and turkey hill lake complete with evergreen studded islands. really cool spot.

also you should check out sams point. not far from new paltz. we made a ten mile llop out of the trails. great day, including ridgetop walk with deep green dwarf pines and bright red bushes, blue sky, and the valley floor showing off its fall spectacularness, 180 foot verkeerderkill falls, a porcupine and a black bear like 20 feet away on the trail, blocking our way. quite scary and very cool. it's like 2 hrs outside the city, really neat place.

was at a home game last night and we decided to hit minnewaska state park this sunday. good weather forcasted, i'm stoked.

[Jihad]

By far mine is Yosemite Falls. I know its a cheesy go-to, but I've probably done it like 15 times, and each time is different. Last time was certainly the best, I took a spur of the moment weekend trip up to Yosemite from San Diego because the snow was melting faster than anticipated. I got there at about 1pm, parked at the basin, started hiking at 1:30, went up to the top ate dinner overlooking the valley and the falls, hiked another hour into the backwoods and set up camp right off the trail. Hiked back there, a lot off-trail but mostly the rarely used back trails, for 2 days, right back into the car and saw my family in Sacramento before the sun was down. Really an amazing trip, but that particular weekend was a little advanced for the average pleasure-hiker. Oh and the water is amazing up there when its fresh snow melt.

-jihad

[Dids]

My family vacations almost every year in Priest Lake Idaho, up near Beaver Creek.

There's one short hike/walk that we call the "circle trail" that takes a loup around the area. It's getting harder and harder each year, as the fallen tree that was a bridge across one creek lost structural integrity and now that cross requires more climbing.

There's also a hike from Beaver Creek up Upper Priest Lake that I like a lot. Upper Priest is almost always mostly vacant and just really beautiful.

[skier_5]

A couple favorites of mine:

West coast trail - 70km or so, we did it in 6 days I believe. When we hiked this trail it was very dry and is much more difficult when it is (usually) wet and full of mud. It's not easy, but I'd def recommend it.

Quoted from some web page:

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Travel to the west coast of Vancouver Island in Canada, and prepare for an unforgettable experience.

Variety! Climb precipitous ladders, wade mud bogs, ride cable cars, scramble slippery ocean boulders, walk drift logs, race the tide crossing sandstone shelf, skirt dangerous surge channels, insert body parts into the maws of carnivorous giant green sea ananomes, photograph shipwreck relics, haul yourself up rocky cliffs on pull ropes.

You’ll be blown away by the scenic splendour. Beaches, bays, coves, creeks & cliffs. Storm-chiselled caves & magic waterfalls. Weird moonscape geology. Explore fascinating tidal pools.

Enjoy the sun streaming through the gigantic misty forest cathedral. Douglas fir, Hemlock, Sitka Spruce, & wonderfully fragrant Cedar.

Bring plenty of film for the fantastic Pacific sunsets, photogenic sea stacks, coastline & wildlife. Hear whales spout and smell sea lions!

Meet hikers from all over the world in sociable, though undeveloped, wilderness campsites.

Get psyched to bridge creek gorges & wade rivers. Splash in waterfalls.

Alternate thundering surf with the serene quiet of old growth forest.

It is wonderful to access coastal wilderness so quickly & easily from a major city, Victoria, BC.

[/ QUOTE ]

And some pictures I found on the internet:







Also, more locally to me (or more specifically in Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada) you can climb up this giant rock called Pocahontas.

You can find this between Hinton and Jasper. Make sure if you do this you are going up the left hand side of the rock. You should start out hiking in the woods and not going up a dried up creek bed (right hand side).

Right to the top

It's more of a scramble than a hike and I'd say it's quite difficult and you need to be in pretty good shape to make it.






edit: I know it's not a hike, but if you ever find yourself in Jasper go up the parkway highway and visit horseshoe lake for some cliff jumping.







I guess you could call the short trail that goes to and around the lake a hike (maybe 20 - 30 min).

[JaredL]

m2d,

You ever been to Oregon? You're not terribly far away and (I'm told by friends who fish a lot) there is some excellent fly fishing.

[M2d]

some of my favorite hikes are pretty easy ones, but the views are breathtaking. one is on the leeward side of Oahu. I haven't been up there in years, but i think you have to get a special permit (or sneak on) to do it. the trailhead is in the waianae mountains, and it loops around there for a while. the majority of the hike is up on a ridge straddling the north shore and the leeward coast. simply amazing views that i don't have any pics of.

a second is in town and is up the Koolau mountain range. the trailhead is in a residential area at the top of wilhemina rise and the trail is along a ridge overlooking palolo valley on one side and waialae nui on the other. it's about three miles in, i think and ends at the main koolau mountain range overlooking kailua and the other side of the island.

Jared, I went to school in oregon for a couple of years, but didn't fish that much then (played baseball and had no money. I went a couple of times, but i really do want to get back and do it right.