Your bear spray incident struck a chord -- I once accidentally discharged mine in an RV park. I wasn't aiming at the little dogs, really I wasn't . . . .
I've been waiting for your posts from your trip. Glad to see them coming out. Hope the whole trip was a success. Congrats on your first 10K.
And yes I love the mountains of the east as well, but the west sure is vast, isn't it! I can completely relate to all of your thoughts in this report comparing the east and the west...the weather and the vastness.
One thing that took me by surprise was how quickly I got dehydrated. And all without knowing that I was sweating! I got to the ridgeline of Avalanche and wasn't soaking in sweat as I would have been here in the South. And then I started drinking my water only because I felt like I should try. Then drained a quart before I knew it was gone!
"And I realized in an instant why the western hikers/backpackers/climbers who I encounter always have a jaded opinion of the mountains of the East and South. Yeah, we have some tough terrain in this neck of the woods, but what the high country of the eastern USA lacks is a true vastness and a sense of real wilderness. Our wild country is just so small and contained in comparison to that of the West."
Still, for me, there is something almost magical about the Appalachian Mountains. They are deep and dark and so full of history, stories of people and life. The AT, in particular, is simply amazing: To have a 2000+ mile foot trail running through the mountains so close to the continuous megapolis that is the East Coast...simply amazes me. And then there are the waterfalls, the flowering trees and shrubs...I think the Appalachians are amazing.
I'm glad you enjoyed the "wide open spaces" of the west, but your own back yard sure holds its share of delights and wonders, too.
Oh, yeah. One thing that I realized almost from the moment I started hiking out west is that our forests put the west's to shame. There is nothing in North America like the diversity of the southern Appalachian forest. We have more species of tree in one square miles of the Great Smoky Mountains or Pisgah National Forest than the west has in total. And our waterfalls are great, due to the abundance of rainfall that we get and the nature of the geology.
If only there had been some foresight, one of the grandest National Parks in the country could have been created in the Pisgah National Forest--the highest cliffs in eastern USA, temperate rainforests, mile-high peaks, high altitude bogs, etc...
But at one point in Yellowstone I was looking out over a spot that had thirty mile line of sight with no roads. There is absolutely nowhere here in the East where I could have seen something like that...with 10K-foot peaks all around. I have to go back.
Arthur Digbee - Aug 30, 2010 9:58 pm - Voted 10/10
congratulations!Glad you got to do this.
Your bear spray incident struck a chord -- I once accidentally discharged mine in an RV park. I wasn't aiming at the little dogs, really I wasn't . . . .
BobSmith - Aug 30, 2010 10:53 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: congratulations!Ha! As a letter carrier, I can sympathize.
MarkDidier - Aug 30, 2010 10:11 pm - Voted 10/10
Congrats Bob!I've been waiting for your posts from your trip. Glad to see them coming out. Hope the whole trip was a success. Congrats on your first 10K.
And yes I love the mountains of the east as well, but the west sure is vast, isn't it! I can completely relate to all of your thoughts in this report comparing the east and the west...the weather and the vastness.
BobSmith - Aug 30, 2010 10:54 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Congrats Bob!Thanks!
One thing that took me by surprise was how quickly I got dehydrated. And all without knowing that I was sweating! I got to the ridgeline of Avalanche and wasn't soaking in sweat as I would have been here in the South. And then I started drinking my water only because I felt like I should try. Then drained a quart before I knew it was gone!
BobSmith - Aug 30, 2010 11:52 pm - Hasn't voted
Re: Nice ReportI'm seriously considering Glacier for next summer.
Two major road construction jobs going on when we were in Yellowstone. One was really a bother, the other not so much.
Sarah Simon - Sep 2, 2010 10:25 am - Voted 10/10
Yeah, but...Bob,
"And I realized in an instant why the western hikers/backpackers/climbers who I encounter always have a jaded opinion of the mountains of the East and South. Yeah, we have some tough terrain in this neck of the woods, but what the high country of the eastern USA lacks is a true vastness and a sense of real wilderness. Our wild country is just so small and contained in comparison to that of the West."
Still, for me, there is something almost magical about the Appalachian Mountains. They are deep and dark and so full of history, stories of people and life. The AT, in particular, is simply amazing: To have a 2000+ mile foot trail running through the mountains so close to the continuous megapolis that is the East Coast...simply amazes me. And then there are the waterfalls, the flowering trees and shrubs...I think the Appalachians are amazing.
I'm glad you enjoyed the "wide open spaces" of the west, but your own back yard sure holds its share of delights and wonders, too.
Cheers!
Sarah
BobSmith - Sep 2, 2010 11:13 am - Hasn't voted
Re: Yeah, but...Oh, yeah. One thing that I realized almost from the moment I started hiking out west is that our forests put the west's to shame. There is nothing in North America like the diversity of the southern Appalachian forest. We have more species of tree in one square miles of the Great Smoky Mountains or Pisgah National Forest than the west has in total. And our waterfalls are great, due to the abundance of rainfall that we get and the nature of the geology.
If only there had been some foresight, one of the grandest National Parks in the country could have been created in the Pisgah National Forest--the highest cliffs in eastern USA, temperate rainforests, mile-high peaks, high altitude bogs, etc...
But at one point in Yellowstone I was looking out over a spot that had thirty mile line of sight with no roads. There is absolutely nowhere here in the East where I could have seen something like that...with 10K-foot peaks all around. I have to go back.
Dean - Jun 23, 2011 10:12 pm - Voted 10/10
EnoyableThanks for sharing, your pics are very nice as always and I appreciated your remarks.
BobSmith - Jun 24, 2011 8:49 am - Hasn't voted
Re: EnoyableThanks!