Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Iodo wrote:

TaylorSteiner wrote:I know. Its too awesome. Every summer in the woods as kids. You've got Scottland in your back yard now though right?

sadly not, Scotland is a bit more than a day's drive away and I only get to go once a year, and it got canceled this year - covid-19

Alas!

I'm sure I'll be able to go some other time

This past Monday, my wife and I and a friend of ours went on an absolutely beautiful hike up in the mountains here in CO (Jean Lunning Trail to Pawnee Pass Loop in the Brainard Lake Recreation area, to be exact). We didn’t go in kit, but I figured everyone here would probably love to see some of the incredible vistas we took in! We even saw a moose! (Much closer than the pictures here would make it seem).

Unfortunately uploading every single one of these pictures to the forums would take me HOURS, so I apologize for the link instead, but here is the Imgur gallery with all the pics!

https://imgur.com/a/41kPrmU

Beautiful views

Manveruon wrote:This past Monday, my wife and I and a friend of ours went on an absolutely beautiful hike up in the mountains here in CO (Jean Lunning Trail to Pawnee Pass Loop in the Brainard Lake Recreation area, to be exact). We didn’t go in kit, but I figured everyone here would probably love to see some of the incredible vistas we took in! We even saw a moose! (Much closer than the pictures here would make it seem).

Unfortunately uploading every single one of these pictures to the forums would take me HOURS, so I apologize for the link instead, but here is the Imgur gallery with all the pics!

https://imgur.com/a/41kPrmU

The ent in your last photo has a thing for gnawing, biting, and breaking!

Haha, right? Never underestimate an ent!

Ah, Colorado. Such a beautiful state. The wife and I camped in Rocky Mountains NP two summer ago and I miss it still. Looks like your hike was a grand time!

Like I said on Facebook, what a beautiful place.
What camera were you using for these pics Manveruon?

I usually end up using my phone (purely for size constraints) and though it's top of the line it still seems to struggle with larger vistas.

I've got a nice DSLR but it'd be a really pain to carry it and all the lenses out and about and then I think I'd feel obligated to take more photos...

Thanks!

Yeah, I just used my phone camera here, as well as my wife’s. Hers is newer and slightly better, but fairly similar. I’ve found I can get some surprisingly good shots with them, as long as I don’t worry too much about them being extremely high-resolution.

Went on a birthday hike today. Not in full kit unfortunately, but I've always loved this tree.

It does have character !

WOW! Talk about a tree with some history!

Mirkwood?

TaylorSteiner wrote:Mirkwood?

it looks like it to me

So I finally got back out into the forest in a non-work capacity. This past weekend the wife and I had decided to try our luck again backpacking at Eagle Rock Loop Trail in the Ouachita National Forest in western Arkansas. We had attempted the trail in January of 2019 but due to some unfortunate misadventures that included falling in freezing water, we turned back after about 7 or so miles. The trail itself is 26.8 mile long loop along the ridges and rivers of the forest and has a estimated 4,000 foot elevation gain up and down the six or so ridges. So when some unexpected time-off work came to my wife in a scheduling quirk, we took the opportunity to finish what we had started. Sadly, not in Ranger kit as it was supposed to be over 80 degrees Fahrenheit the whole time we were there.

We set off on a Wednesday and after arriving in the early afternoon, we set out and made it back to where we had stopped the previous visit. After making camp with the creek with our hammocks, we had a quick dinner and then bed. An early morning set us on a quick pace and we were having a grand time. Unfortunately, after lunch and on a new leg of the trail came trouble. The trail markers were poorly done and faded (I ask, why paint white rectangles that are so easily confused with moss and mold?) and after spotting what seemed to be a new marker, we starting hiking up a steep ridge. When we got to the top however it turns out that that marker was some random graffiti. So that was a waste of time and a strenuous ascent of about a mile or so. By the time we had realized it, twilight was approaching and we turned back, headed down the right path, and made camp.

That night came a gullywasher.

Two rather ferocious thunderstorms and one rather too close lightning strike ensured not much sleep and a very wet night for me despite my tarp. The wife stayed dry though. Figures. In the morning, she informed me that her foot had been injured the previous day and gotten worse overnight. Since it was a loop trail, we decided that I would push on ahead and she would stay at camp which was near a trailhead and parking lot. I would retrieve the vehicle, swing back to get her, and we would head home. She's not huge on backpacking so she didn't mind not finishing while I was very happy to finally complete it.

From where we were, it was about 14.5 miles back to the car and through the roughest part of the trail with the six ridges. Up and down it would be. I made it to the the base of the ridges by lunch time and it was only 8 miles until the end. That said, it wasn't until almost 5 hours later that I got back to the starting point. That trail was freaking brutal and frankly almost excessively so. With each of the six ridges being anywhere from 600-800 feet tall and steep, they had declined to put in switchbacks and decided to let you just brute force your way straight up. I've done many hikes in my life and that was for sure one of the toughest. It didn't help that it was humid as hell from the night before and pushing 90 degrees. But finish it I did and we made our way home that night. Despite the roughness, I had a great time and it was so nice getting back into backpacking for a short while. The wife still loves me despite dragging her up and down the hills of Arkansas. And the scenery was gorgeous! But honestly, I would be fine with never returning to try that trail again. I had had the idea to hike some of it in kit during winter and the terrain is very Middle-earth like but I think I'll pass for a while.

Below is the imgur link. The entire hike I was rather reminded of the area around Amon Hen (at least the movie version.) Hope you enjoy!

Eagle Rock Trail August 2020