Post your recent hiking pics

252piledriver said:
Bryson City NC, Hiked 5 miles up Deep Creek Trail and back to do some trout fishing. No luck fishing, but it was enjoyed all the same

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Based on the curl on the Rhodos it might have been too cold for a rooster tail. I'd be going nymph on a fly rod. Which is what I'll likely be fishing Thur/Fri when I'm out. Deep and slow until it gets warm.

Nice area to be out and about in though.
 
Something a bit different. Instead of a straight hiking video I did more of a highlight reel of our overnight hike into Gragg Prong and Lost Cove. It was my wife's first time back to backpacking since before she was pregnant with our oldest. It was about 7.5 miles total. Going to do a separate vid of the flowers.


 
couple of pics as well. The OR hat I got in college and while talking about it here I realized it’s been on every single backpacking trip since as well as most of my day hikes and a lot of fishing trips. Retested it last year. Still works.

And the narrow gauge railroad line was pretty cool on the side of the trail.

And a couple shots playing around with the low light camera.





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Did 8 miles on Grandfather Mountain with two of the boys. Weather was about perfect. Started off chilly, but the ascent kept us warm. We did the Profile Trail up to Calloway Peak and back. I was shocked how many people were on the trail. When we arrived at the parking area around 8 AM, we were one of 6 or 8 vehicles. When we got back around 1, a ranger was turning people away because the lot was full.

Things are starting to bud up there, but no blooms.

It was a humbling beginning to the hiking season. I had to work a lot harder than I thought I would. Of course, Profile is around 4 miles of mostly UP, so there is that. Also, trying to keep up with the boys wears me out in a hurry. lol

View from the top:

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On the way home, we stopped at Winkler Knives’ showroom. That was really neat. They have a museum of Winkler’s knives that have been in movies and on special forces missions, including the tomahawk that was there when Saddam Hussein was captured. Also a board of various projects he has done for military and LE agencies. Really nice folks, too.

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@chiefjason -

I skimmed the video you posted and will try to watch it all later. I got a cold shiver when you posted the panning shot of Hunt Fish Falls... 🥶 I fell in there in the early 90s. I can't recall the month, but my buddy (who still laughs about it to this day) says he thinks it was October(?) but I know it was cool (we only hiked from October to March).

We had just came down the primary trail from the parking area, and I walked over to overlook the pool and said "I'm going to get a closer look". I was wearing khaki pants and a pair of worn-out Hi-Tec Magnums (old duty boots) that I knew were slick, but DANG they were as comfortable as bedroom slippers! I took about two steps and I heard my buddy say "Just don't get TOO close a look!" and that's when both feet slipped and I hit on my butt. I began sliding down and it seemed to take several seconds before I hit. Just before I hit the water-all I could think was the cold shock and was praying "God just don't let me pass out!" I hit and came up once but was deep enough that my my feet didn't catch any ground and went back under. I'm not a good swimmer at all (but am a former SCUBA diver-let that sink in...lol) but I gave it a couple of hard strokes and this time came up on a sand bar and was able to stand. My buddy was already trying hard to get downstream of me and I yelled that I was good and to stop (didn't need TWO casualties.) I made my way to the bank and climbed the hill back up to the trail. The water was so cold that I was already getting stiff fingers and felt the cold "stinging" me. He asked if we needed to head back to the truck and I thought about it...not gonna lie I was ready to call it, BUT I recalled having a pair of Tevas and a spare pair of pants in my day pack (which miraculously was still dry inside-I hadn't went under long enough for water to enter it!) I told him I thought I would be okay.

When we looked in both directions and saw no one coming, I began stripping off completely nekkid right there on the trail and changed into the spare clothes I'd packed, and we went on with the hike (to the large clearing just below the falls) and and made a "day" camp.

To this day, I still recall that cold water and the burning/stinging feeling and getting stiff before I could get the wet clothes off-and this was in October! Not December, January, February, etc. I have a healthy respect for how quick one can end up in the water AND how hypothermia can work on you.



@cubrock - Glad you posted about Winkler. I've got a couple of his knives and I love that "Western NC DNA" they possess. I was only in the retail store for the first time a couple weeks ago however. Nice place and the guy and gal that were there (Bruce and wife Heather) when I was there were really personable.
 
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Big Dave said:
@chiefjason -

I skimmed the video you posted and will try to watch it all later. I got a cold shiver when you posted the panning shot of Hunt Fish Falls... 🥶 I fell in there in the early 90s. I can't recall the month, but my buddy (who still laughs about it to this day) says he thinks it was October(?) but I know it was cool (we only hiked from October to March).

We had just came down the primary trail from the parking area, and I walked over to overlook the pool and said "I'm going to get a closer look". I was wearing khaki pants and a pair of worn-out Hi-Tec Magnums (old duty boots) that I knew were slick, but DANG they were as comfortable as bedroom slippers! I took about two steps and I heard my buddy say "Just don't get TOO close a look!" and that's when both feet slipped and I hit on my butt. I began sliding down and it seemed to take several seconds before I hit. Just before I hit the water-all I could think was the cold shock and was praying "God just don't let me pass out!" I hit and came up once but was deep enough that my my feet didn't catch any ground and went back under. I'm not a good swimmer at all (but am a former SCUBA diver-let that sink in...lol) but I gave it a couple of hard strokes and this time came up on a sand bar and was able to stand. My buddy was already trying hard to get downstream of me and I yelled that I was good and to stop (didn't need TWO casualties.) I made my way to the bank and climbed the hill back up to the trail. The water was so cold that I was already getting stiff fingers and felt the cold "stinging" me. He asked if we needed to head back to the truck and I thought about it...not gonna lie I was ready to call it, BUT I recalled having a pair of Tevas and a spare pair of pants in my day pack (which miraculously was still dry inside-I hadn't went under long enough for water to enter it!) I told him I thought I would be okay.

When we looked in both directions and saw no one coming, I began stripping off completely nekkid right there on the trail and changed into the spare clothes I'd packed, and we went on with the hike (to the large clearing just below the falls) and and made a "day" camp.

To this day, I still recall that cold water and the burning/stinging feeling and getting stiff before I could get the wet clothes off-and this was in October! Not December, January, February, etc. I have a healthy respect for how quick one can end up in the water AND how hypothermia can work on you.



@cubrock - Glad you posted about Winkler. I've got a couple of his knives and I love that "Western NC DNA" they possess. I was only in the retail store for the first time a couple weeks ago however. Nice place and the guy and gal that were there (Bruce and wife Heather) when I was there were really personable.
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We met Bruce and Heather. Really nice folks. Bruce and my knife making son talked shop for quite a while.
 
Big Dave said:
@chiefjason -

I skimmed the video you posted and will try to watch it all later. I got a cold shiver when you posted the panning shot of Hunt Fish Falls... 🥶 I fell in there in the early 90s. I can't recall the month, but my buddy (who still laughs about it to this day) says he thinks it was October(?) but I know it was cool (we only hiked from October to March).

We had just came down the primary trail from the parking area, and I walked over to overlook the pool and said "I'm going to get a closer look". I was wearing khaki pants and a pair of worn-out Hi-Tec Magnums (old duty boots) that I knew were slick, but DANG they were as comfortable as bedroom slippers! I took about two steps and I heard my buddy say "Just don't get TOO close a look!" and that's when both feet slipped and I hit on my butt. I began sliding down and it seemed to take several seconds before I hit. Just before I hit the water-all I could think was the cold shock and was praying "God just don't let me pass out!" I hit and came up once but was deep enough that my my feet didn't catch any ground and went back under. I'm not a good swimmer at all (but am a former SCUBA diver-let that sink in...lol) but I gave it a couple of hard strokes and this time came up on a sand bar and was able to stand. My buddy was already trying hard to get downstream of me and I yelled that I was good and to stop (didn't need TWO casualties.) I made my way to the bank and climbed the hill back up to the trail. The water was so cold that I was already getting stiff fingers and felt the cold "stinging" me. He asked if we needed to head back to the truck and I thought about it...not gonna lie I was ready to call it, BUT I recalled having a pair of Tevas and a spare pair of pants in my day pack (which miraculously was still dry inside-I hadn't went under long enough for water to enter it!) I told him I thought I would be okay.

When we looked in both directions and saw no one coming, I began stripping off completely nekkid right there on the trail and changed into the spare clothes I'd packed, and we went on with the hike (to the large clearing just below the falls) and and made a "day" camp.

To this day, I still recall that cold water and the burning/stinging feeling and getting stiff before I could get the wet clothes off-and this was in October! Not December, January, February, etc. I have a healthy respect for how quick one can end up in the water AND how hypothermia can work on you.



@cubrock - Glad you posted about Winkler. I've got a couple of his knives and I love that "Western NC DNA" they possess. I was only in the retail store for the first time a couple weeks ago however. Nice place and the guy and gal that were there (Bruce and wife Heather) when I was there were really personable.
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Good news. It's still cold. lol. I didn't get in far, but I did wet wade and fish about 30 minutes. I was colder than I had hoped and only had one fish bump it before I got a mess of a tangle on my double nymph and just called it a day.

That rock is steep at the bottom and wet in places. I'll post about it later by we both took a fall there and I was worried I might got for a ride too.
 
cubrock said:
What is the elevation change like over that stretch?
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My hiking app glitched right before we reached the last “staircase”. Up to that point we had gained 780 feet. That last set of steps is a beast.

ETA: Alltrails (not my app) has it at 1174’ elevation gain.
 
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SCshooter said:
My hiking app glitched right before we reached the last “staircase”. Up to that point we had gained 780 feet. That last set of steps is a beast.

ETA: Alltrails (not my app) has it at 1174’ elevation gain.
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Thanks. Adding this one to my list and wanted to have an idea what it was like.

My wife loves the picture you took. Looks like it belongs in a calendar.
 
cubrock said:
Thanks. Adding this one to my list and wanted to have an idea what it was like.

My wife loves the picture you took. Looks like it belongs in a calendar.
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We talked about next time doing this as a vehicle drop hike starting at the upper falls, hiking downhill to the lower falls then out at the Bad Creek parking lot. Hiking to the lower falls adds about 3 miles to the trek.
 
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