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I've just made my first winter summit. In fact it was only a bit over 300 m above see level but I think we all know that hills with unstable steep slopes are scarier than 1000 m mountains with nice trails

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>>2861734
Good stuff. Best time of year for puttering about in the hills and woods imo

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i've been to the Alps several times this winter, 4 times this february alone indeed, but i've already posted all the flags in great detail in the travel blogposting general so i'm not reposting everything again

so, check out the current edition of /flag/ i guess >>>/int/extraflags
in fact all previous editions within the last couple years or so have a good amount of hiking trip dumps, more or less

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>>2861726

Man nothing beats the woods in winter. Beautiful.

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>>2861904
I won't pretend to understand /int/'s flag board culture but it looks very pretty.

I did Pierce with a few friends today, gonna check out Lafayette tomorrow I think. Depends on how much snow we get. I wanna take a stab at Lion's Head this trip but I need a clear weather window for it.

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>>2861977

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Lafayette was wicked today, winds gusting up to 105 and tons of windblown snow. I feel like I made a mistake by going up, it was way outside of my skill level and comfort zone.

Being born with bad eyesight is a debilitating curse, any of you guys had lasik? I can't go on without ski goggles and I need to decode whether to spring for prescription goggles or eye surgery.

>>2862047
I got LASIK. It really depends how bad your vision is, and also lasers are probably a bit better than they were 20 years ago when I had it. It might not make it perfect, but it will likely help a lot. You may get dry eye and need to bring moisture drops around with you.

I still wear glasses, but only for driving and hiking really. I can see without them, it's just not as clear. My vision was pretty bad before LASIK though.

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>>2862048
I'm nearsighted but not catastrophically so, I was able to make my way around today with my glasses off without any trouble. I'm mostly worried about the side effects.

>>2862057
I could not read a book without glasses before LASIK, because I would have had to hold it so close it would blur the text. If you have moderate nearsightedness, and you don't have crazy astigmatism (I think that's a bit harder to fully fix), I highly recommend LASIK. Just make sure to see an opthalmologist and ask them any questions you have. They have to scan your eyes to make sure your corneas are sturdy enough to handle lasering. As I said, dry eye is really common, you will likely need moisture drops for a few months, and possibly forever, but totally worth it.

Remember, the surgery takes 5 minutes, it doesnt hurt at all (your eyes will fill with blood which is spooky, but not painful). And once it is done, your vision is fixed. You won't be able to drive for a few days, and I remember being very sensitive to light so it took me a while to readjust to driving, but again, my nearsightedness was on the edge of severe.

That all said, in the meantime, maybe you should invest in rx goggles. You sound pretty serious about this, and I'm amazed you did it without them. There's sort of a point of cold weather where you just need them.

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>>2862059
>That all said, in the meantime, maybe you should invest in rx goggles. You sound pretty serious about this, and I'm amazed you did it without them. There's sort of a point of cold weather where you just need them.
Yeah, I'm thinking I'll go in for a consultation on the surgery when I have time, I don't wanna spring for the prescription goggles AND cough up the cash for lasik though.

Did the Lions Head winter route today, ended up turning back a couple hundred feet from the namesake rock due to windblown snow. I managed the steep crux of the route fine though, and that's really what I wanted to try. There was a bit of a backup at the steepest part, a couple of guides with 1-on-1 clients and a group of younger guys.

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>>2862103

>>2862103
this is way too much technical bullshit just to hike
im glad to live in the mid atlantic
>I don't wanna spring for the prescription goggles AND cough up the cash for lasik though.
anon you have the money like who cares
you aren't gonna get LASIK tomorrow

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>>2862104
I'm taking a day off for my calves and knees so I won't be spamming the thread as much.

>>2862106
the funny part is the views aren't even that great, I mean clearly you have all this athletic ability
just sorta feels wasted on second tier photos

>>2861726

>>2862107
nta but the fun is in the journey, nice views at the top are just a bonus

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Last Saturday was kinda lame, theres been next to no snow this winter so I was excited to get out after a dusting, but it was all very anticlimactic

>>2862107
Respectfully, I'm not going to get into some "east coast vs west coast" argument. These mountains are only a few hours from home so these are the ones I'm going to hike.

>>2862172
im a viewwhore

>>2862174
I mean, maybe there are ones a few hours away that offer better photography opportunities. Maybe you are just choosing stuff based off of pure difficulty alone.

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Spent some time outside last night watching the lunar eclipse

>>2862047
I got PRK a couple months ago. I had a complication in one eye, so that eye isn't perfect... yet.
I took a drug 5+ years ago called Accutane, an extremely harsh drug for acne. It worked wonders on my acne, but the side effects were significant and longterm. I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. That's a personal choice. In some ways, you might consider Accutane vain, but I experienced substantial pain from my severe cystic acne.
Likewise, I wouldn't flippantly suggest getting PRK, even if you are approved, but not having to wear glasses has improved my QOL. No more hassle with ill-fitting glasses, and no more worry about potentially damaging this instrument I need in order to see. I need eye drops (dry eye prior to surgery), but at least I don't have to think about glasses. For me, despite the possibility of less than perfect vision (I'm a perfectionist btw), I'm, at this moment, quite satisfied.

>>2862700
why in the fuck would you get prk in 2026 when lasik has existed for decades, for those who don't know prk is a much older procedure with higher risks

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>>2862175
that's fair, if I didnt do lions head I was gonna be up on hight and carter dome which is known for it's fantastic view of the presi ridge.
>>2862712
I went to a consultation on monday and found that I had some misconceptions, I was worried that the eye flap from lasik was more fragile than it actually is. Apparently you need a direct traumatic impact with the eyeball to risk damaging it.

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Guess where

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>>2864192

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>>2864193

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>>2864194

>>2864192
presidential range, new hampshire

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>>2861726
Glorious state of Israel

>>2864192
Unmistakably tucks. How's the snow? I might head up to hike tomorrow.

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Does going underground count as outing?

>>2864336
>goes /in/to a cave
>thinks this counts as /out/

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>>2864346
Went out after the cave.

>>2861726
Nice

>>2864231
It was solid ice when I was there. There was one crazy warm day with rain that melted stuff and then it got super cold again and froze everything.

Recent kayaking picture i took during that wild heat wave

Any of you guys making reservations for Baxter when they open up?

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>Weekend forecast: Expect beautiful sunny conditions both days

Meanwhile...

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I took my son to Red River Gorge (Kentucky) this week. We had a great time until we got rained out. I didn't know before hand but it's a huge area for rock climbing. Plenty of spots in Daniel Boone National Forest for staying away from people too. 7/10 - would recommend

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>>2865230

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>>2865231

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>>2865232
It's an hour East of Lexington, reminded me of the good parts of the Smokey's without the tourist trap bs of pigeon forge

>>2865230
been there

>>2865232
been there too

guess you walked up is the chairlift back for the year?

If you like red river gorge I recommend big south fork, its kinda similar but I would say there's more water and a bigger river involved and the canyons are significantly deeper

>>2865233
there's way more prominence in the smokies, various points you can see 25 mi out you don't get that in the daniel boone but you do get less serrated nicer shapes and good combinations of gorge and rock

>>2865234
>big south fork
NTA but that looks incredible. How have I never heard of this place?

>>2865350
My guess is it's near the Smokies and other more popular attractions and so it doesn't get the spotlight much. Also it's kinda a lower-middle class area with not a whole ton of tourist infrastructure, let alone anything fancy. I suppose there are a few mega-cabins at the edges of gorges you can rent but nothing on the scale of what the Smokies have and most people aren't ready to be in a place that's so remote and has so little restaurant/nice hotel offerings.

It's also not "real mountains" like the Smokies, you won't get stacks of serrations flowing into the horizon and you don''t have the elevation of that area either it's more like 1500-2000 ft ish for most of it.

But, it's one of my favorites.

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>>2861726
A warm hush lay over the day. On the path to the rock I nearly forgot, I ran into her. Years folded between us like autumn pages. A large backpack on her back, beer can in her hand, a small child clung to the other. We fell into the old tempo. The cliff we used to climb, the farm where we rode horses, the pub where our voices and guitars tangled with the night. She started to hum the fragment of our song "We know that in a year it will be better. In a year, we will be happy..." and the melody trembled against her ribs like something wanting to be true.
I watched her laugh, saw the spaces where hope once lived. I felt the distance between what minds can hold and where lives can go.

The trail to the summit grows steeper for me with every year. One misstep here would send you falling nearly 100 meters into the hush below. I sat there for a while. What does the future hold for us?

>>2865381
hazefucked

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>>2865383
lemme tell you about haze...

>>2865394
oops, cool view without it though
I like when there's a river threading a line through hills.

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two days ago in estonia

>>2865501
>days
i meant MONTHS
my mind was somewhere else

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found a spooder

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im gonna use this thread to get a hiking recommendation

I am going to be in the Nantahala National Forest this weekend, the owner of the Turkey Creek Campground owes me a few free nights at his rebuilt camp site, so I wanna use that head over there for 3 nights.
ive been there before, its a wonderful area.

im interested in some decent 4 hour hikes in the area, what can you recommend?
im going to dedicate a day or two to hiking and then a day to driving on the curvy roads

>>2865579
the hangover, i think the trail approach from the south is less overgrown suggests alltrails (and is less elevation)
if its 4 hours for you, congrats your legs are strong, might be a bit longer (6-7 mi hike, 2000 ft elevation)

>>2865579
old growth:
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-carolina/joyce-kilmer-memorial-forest-loop-trail

there's also an upper loop

short easy overlook easy drive:

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-carolina/maple-springs-overlook-trail

>>2865579
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-carolina/the-hangover-via-wolf-laurel-road

>>2862048
I got the LASIK, it was a frightening experience and despite taking some xanax I still had a bit of a panic attack but after a 6 hour nap I woke up with clear vision. Time to shop for ski goggles and sunglasses.

>>2865595
> It requires a long drive on unpaved but well-maintained forest roads (FR 81 and FR 81-F) to the Wolf Laurel Trailhead.
this trail sounds hot
the shorter trails are cool too. i'll add them to my map and see where things take me

>>2865699
the hangover is by far the best view in the area just judging from photographs

also recommend the cherohala skyway and
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/north-carolina/huckleberry-knob-trail
is a trail I wanted to try right off the skyway

and don't skip maple springs (overlook) if you go see the hangover, its short and easy and the road to get to it is smooth and paved

let me know how it goes

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excuse the shitty photos, but look at this white beauty

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>>2865806
I need to reanimate my old sony nex camera

I sure hope nantahala anon is in the nantahala forest!

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>>2861726
I miss the old metal-detecting threads we had here. I just wanted to say hello to all anons who can't post here anymore. May your days be lucky, your paths full of wonder. Enjoy every new adventure.

>>2865715
Thanks. I visited most of these. Great recommendations. Awesome dirt roads

>>2865897
Did you take the dirt road up to the hangover via wolf laurel road? I had some concerns about the shape the dirt road would be in.

>>2865899
It was dry. I could have made it in my slammed 240. I wouldn't have enjoyed it.

Now in Georgia, heading to Devil's Fork.

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>>2865930
Forgot pic

>>2865953
pity about the haze

>>2865930
says here devil's fork state park is south carolina, not georgia

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Incoming pi/k/ture dump

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>>2865964

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>>2865965

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>>2865966

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>>2865960
All the state borders are right next to each other over here.

I'm currently in Gatlinburg. I wanted to check out the Arch Rock trail but holy shit the parking lot is full and overflowing.

Maybe it'll be better tomorrow.


Can anyone can recommend me a 2 hour trails that's off a paved road somewhere around here

I was gonna walk around town and see a few museum but goddamn there is no free parking and it all $20 a day.

>>2865981
what do you have against dirt roads?

>>2865982
You mean against paved roads?

Paved roads = normies I want to avoid

Ops I meant off an unpaved road.