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oDin
Registered: 08/12/99
Posts: 5,789
Last seen: 10 years, 7 months
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white mountain wilderness
#5192479 - 01/17/06 07:53 PM (18 years, 14 days ago) |
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this last weekend annie and i did a 3 day 2 night backpacking trip in the white mountain wilderness area. there is a severe lack of snow in the area this year. the last day however as we were packing up from camp it began to snow...which was awesome...except for driving home thru a bunch of texans that DO NOT know how to drive on snow...jesus. the hike ranged from 8700 to 10500+ Ft in elevation. i would highly recommend this hike to anyone due to its outstanding views and high % chance of observing wildlife.
day -1:

this is the desert near san antonio, new mexico on the way to ruidoso, nm. the mountains in southern new mexico (and arizona for that part) are called islands in the sky...basically the ranges are smaller and surrounded by vast desert areas. so this is the desert near where we live at the present.
day 1:

after a 1000 Ft climb on the nogal canyon trail. this is nogal peak at 9957 Ft. you can see the trail on the side of the mountain.

some redneck hiking on the crest trail in a scrub oak forest. we camped @ about 8700 feet in an area with protection from the wind. found a bunch of hunter trash (what a fucking pig he was). well hunters in general are it seems.
day 2:

a few elk we saw in the morning.

this is the kind of view you see on the trail for most of the day. as usual pictures don't do the true view justice. the white patch with "clouds' you can see on the desert floor is actually the northern edge of white sands national monument with a dust storm kicking sand what i would say is 100s to 1000s of Ft into the sky, we were comparing the dust height to the surrounding mountains to arrive at that guesstimate.

white horse hill, we are at about 10,000 ft right there. at this point there is very little wind due to the angle, however before and after this shot the winds were incredible. it actually blew me to my knees. i have noticed that winds of that strength seem to suck the air from your lungs, almost making you gasp for air, esp if its hitting you from the side. so some of the time we were in the wind it was 1. plant pole 2. step 3. step 4. repeat. all the while leaning into the pole. another thing we noticed was our packs did not act as weight to hold us too the ground, but more like sails spinning us around. i could hear annie cussing about the wind at those times, so i tried to maintain a "safe" distance from her, heh.

a shot back towards nogal peak, which we started on the other side of, from white horse hill.
we dropped into south fork canyon, mostly due to the winds. found a sweet spot and set up camp along a 1/2 frozen creek in some big fir trees.
day 3:

the next morning just as we were packing up it began to snow huge flakes. since we were in a steep canyon with big trees there wasn't much wind so the flakes mostly dropped straight down. surreal and very pretty.

we had to cross the stream several times. it was kinda hard due to the recent snow that covered up the rocks and ice which also made it harder to walk on the trial cuz when we hit packed snow or ice it was uber slippery. spent some time probing the trail and the streams for safe foot placements.

we got out, went to a real good steak place & pigged out. o man...good times
Edited by oDin (01/17/06 09:25 PM)
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phase
dead account

Registered: 01/23/04
Posts: 287
Loc: Texas
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Re: white mountain wilderness [Re: oDin]
#5192519 - 01/17/06 08:04 PM (18 years, 14 days ago) |
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nice pics guys..looks fun!
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nickpdx
Registered: 11/15/04
Posts: 154
Last seen: 12 years, 1 month
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Re: white mountain wilderness [Re: phase]
#5192844 - 01/17/06 09:22 PM (18 years, 14 days ago) |
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Looks real pretty. Thanks for posting!
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ToTheSummit
peregrinus



Registered: 08/22/99
Posts: 9,126
Loc: Las Vegas
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Re: white mountain wilderness [Re: oDin]
#5195964 - 01/18/06 06:00 PM (18 years, 14 days ago) |
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Me so jealous....as usual!
Soon, my friend, we shall take a trip together.
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
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ToTheSummit
peregrinus



Registered: 08/22/99
Posts: 9,126
Loc: Las Vegas
Last seen: 2 hours, 27 minutes
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Re: white mountain wilderness [Re: oDin]
#5195976 - 01/18/06 06:04 PM (18 years, 14 days ago) |
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Quote:
oDin said: another thing we noticed was our packs did not act as weight to hold us too the ground, but more like sails spinning us around
I've had that same experience. You'd think 40 or 50 lbs. would help wiegh you down but the wind just seems to grab you and throw you off balance easier with a pack on.
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
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oDin
Registered: 08/12/99
Posts: 5,789
Last seen: 10 years, 7 months
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Re: white mountain wilderness [Re: ToTheSummit]
#5196193 - 01/18/06 06:57 PM (18 years, 13 days ago) |
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well a few times i started think maybe a next gust might just knock my ass over the edge. i imagine some sort of microburst could toss a human 30 feet or so....
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eris
underground


Registered: 11/17/98
Posts: 48,024
Loc: North East, USA
Last seen: 4 months, 17 days
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Re: white mountain wilderness [Re: oDin]
#5208614 - 01/22/06 12:12 AM (18 years, 10 days ago) |
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Sounds like a fun excursion. The scenery is quite awesome.
-------------------- Immortal / Temporarily Retired The OG Thread Killer My mushroom hunting gallery
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Shroomism
Space Travellin


Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Re: white mountain wilderness [Re: oDin]
#5209080 - 01/22/06 03:40 AM (18 years, 10 days ago) |
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Western Texas is pretty amazing... (I think that's where these pics are from?) and fucking huge.. Emotionallmotion and I were amazed by the scenery driving through there on our way to the AZ gathering. I even lived in San Antonio for a while but never really went out anywhere. Nice pics.. looks like a good time
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oDin
Registered: 08/12/99
Posts: 5,789
Last seen: 10 years, 7 months
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Re: white mountain wilderness [Re: Shroomism]
#5214966 - 01/23/06 06:31 PM (18 years, 9 days ago) |
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new mexico. north of el paso
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Shroomism
Space Travellin


Registered: 02/13/00
Posts: 66,015
Loc: 9th Dimension
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Re: white mountain wilderness [Re: oDin]
#5215969 - 01/23/06 10:33 PM (18 years, 8 days ago) |
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Ooohh... still awesome nonetheless
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