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MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2020 9:20 pm
by Iodo
I backed up my PC yesterday and found some pictures, scenery from treks, Kit photo's of me in different places and views from hiking trips that I thought looked like places from Middle Earth that never made the forum, simply because I never found time to write-up what ever it was and now I can't remember

I might be the only one on the forum who has this problem, if I am then this thread is just for me but if I'm not, here's a thread dedicated to posting adventure pictures with no/very little explanation to make posting quick and save wasting the images


Some ideas for stuff that people could post pictures of here:

- treks in kit
- treks in modern clothing in places that look like places in Middle earth
- Just pictures of places you've been that look like places in Middle earth
- any kind of practising/training in ranger skills (e.g. archery, tracking, bush-craft)
- and anything else that might be considered an adventure


Just Remember:

It's a dangerous business, going out your door
You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2020 9:20 pm
by Iodo
I'll start:

Image

Image

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 2:38 am
by Taylor Steiner
Great idea!

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 6:47 am
by Iodo
Awesome pictures Taylor :P

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 8:23 am
by Taylor Steiner
Iodo wrote:Awesome pictures Taylor :P
Thank you :mrgreen:

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 8:47 am
by SierraStrider
Image
Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, California

Image
Laugavegur trail, Iceland

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 5:19 pm
by Taylor Steiner
Wow beautiful!

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 5:48 pm
by Iodo
SierraStrider, is that a line of foot prints it the top pic?

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 7:04 pm
by SierraStrider
Iodo wrote:SierraStrider, is that a line of foot prints it the top pic?
Yes. There was a summer cloud burst; not enough to be soaking, but just enough to dampen the very top layer of dirt. That made it slightly sticky, and when it stuck to my boots, it came away from the dry dirt underneath, leaving a very distinct line of footprints. When I looked back and saw this, I hopped off the trail, backtracked, and took a picture.

It's one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 7:59 pm
by Iodo
SierraStrider wrote: Yes. There was a summer cloud burst; not enough to be soaking, but just enough to dampen the very top layer of dirt. That made it slightly sticky, and when it stuck to my boots, it came away from the dry dirt underneath, leaving a very distinct line of footprints. When I looked back and saw this, I hopped off the trail, backtracked, and took a picture.

It's one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.
Ahhh... so they're your footprints, my next question was going to be "who were you tracking?" :mrgreen:

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2020 12:09 pm
by Elleth
Such great pictures Iodo, that forest looks amazing. And I love that rain cape. I forget - have you posted about it already?

TS - Oh such mountains! I so miss the West sometimes! And no journey is really complete without a dog along. :mrgreen:

SS - The iceland picture - OMG! I've been poking around the edges of the Sagas lately, and it's so cool to see a picture! Thank you!
What took you up there?

Here's one from my travels I think. If I'm remembering right, it's a lake in Alaska I got to kayak about on, and was one of the most gorgeous mornings I've ever seen. The creepy bit though was the one time my paddle hit the bottom of the lake, and just disappeared in feet of barely-there silt. It was the closest I've ever seen to anything like the "quicksand" of old TV shows, and the thought of tumbling out into water too shallow to swim, too deep to stand was kind of chilling. No boating hijinks that day!

Just the most gorgeous mist every morning!
merf-misty-pond.JPG
merf-misty-pond.JPG (71.57 KiB) Viewed 38027 times

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2020 4:09 pm
by Taylor Steiner
Amazing!

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2020 4:26 pm
by Iodo
Elleth, that photo is just stunning :P
Elleth wrote:Such great pictures Iodo, that forest looks amazing. And I love that rain cape. I forget - have you posted about it already?
Thanks so much, the forest is beautiful and not to far from where I live

the cloak is this one: https://www.ranger.budgetauthenticity.o ... =37&t=4142 with a viking style hood worn underneath, I find this works better because the cloak stops the hood mantle lifting in the wind and the hood holds the cloak in position so I don't have to keep adjusting things, at first I thought if I did this rain would get in but it doesn't seem to

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2020 5:48 pm
by SierraStrider
Elleth wrote:SS - The iceland picture - OMG! I've been poking around the edges of the Sagas lately, and it's so cool to see a picture! Thank you!
What took you up there?
I lived in Sweden for a while, and the cheapest flights back to the West coast of the US went through Iceland. I guess the government subsidies them somewhat to encourage tourism...anyway, my first trip, I did the tourist thing. Rode some wooly ponies, went to a hot spring, kayaked in a fjord, snorkeled in Þingvellir, etc.
The second time, I decided to break away from the tourist stuff and hike the Laugavegurinn. My timing was (I thought) perfect; I would be flying back in early June, just before the season officially opened. I could probably have the place practically to myself, and if the huts weren't open for the season, so what? I'm a Californian; we don't really do huts anyway. I had my tent.
Well...it was raining a bit when I left Landmannalauga. Oh well; I had my rain jacket. Of course...getting a bit higher up, that turned to snow. Before I knew it, I was hiking in a blizzard. On top of that, most of the trail markers were mostly or entirely buried under existing snowpack...
At this point I was closer to the first hut than I was to the ranger station back at Landmannalauga, and I had prepared sufficiently with my navigation equipment that the trail markers weren't that critical... so I pressed on. I figured I'd pitch my tent in the lee of the hut.
At one point I noticed the early symptoms of hypothermia. Luckily, my Michigander father drilled into me the importance of stopping do deal with that rather than ignoring it...I should research and write a 'mitigating hypothermia' post in Woodcraft.
Anyway, after a change of clothes and some hot tea, I finally crested a ridge and saw the hut below me. Before setting up my tent, I decided to check the door to the hut to see if it was unlocked...and it was! And it was 93F/34C inside! Turns out, the hut's radiators are fed by a nearby hotspring, so I spent the night in my swim trunks, eating fish jerky and reading Conan Doyle.
The next morning, the snow had abated, and this was the view outside:
Image
In JUNE!
By the end of the day I had made it down below the snowline and taken that first picture you asked about. Really a crazy area to hike.

Re: MERF Random Adventure Pictures

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2020 9:52 pm
by Iodo
Wow, incredible adventure, scary though, to be alone in a place like that, and so lucky that hut door was open :P