Thread: BCS Backpackers

Well, Greg and I had planned to get out there this weekend....

Maybe if we bring some scuba gear?

Jason

Jason and I did manage to get out on the Somerville Trailway last weekend for just a day hike...a LONG day hike....what some might call a MARATHON (we did!). We hiked from Birch Creek SP to Nails Creek SP...13 miles...and back...26 miles for the day! Granted it was only with light day packs, 10-13 pounds, but still, it was a marathon by most standards.

I must say though that on the Gammon-Ogle Richter scale of pain, 26 miles is an order of magnitude more painful than 21 miles. That last 5 miles was, well, interesting. But recovery was complete by Monday, so we are planning another outing again this Friday (day hike) to do around 20 miles just to keep the legs in shape. What we are learning is that to do 16 mile days back to back to back to complete the 96 mile LHST in 6 days should be no problem....to do 20 mile days and complete in 5 days might be more of a challenge (an order of magnitude more difficult??...or painful??).

Anyone else wanting to experience torture at its finest, just holler! Company always welcome....

Ooops...forgot to log the last hike. Jason and I hit Somerville again on Saturday March 21 to see if we could still walk after the marathon hike. Went well...did 18 miles...the Gammon-Ogle Richter scale of pain was WAYYYY down. Very confident of doing 16-20 mile days back to back when we do the 100 miler.

RIVER OTTERS! Hit the 4C trail on April 17-18 with the intention of hiking end-to-end and back (40 miles total). Many readers may recall it rained that weekend (flooded would be a better term). Started out Friday evening (with Jason) saying this is insane (only because of a "little" rain) and camped about a mile in on the trail and it actually stopped raining that night. Hit the trail Saturday AM only to be inundated with water (which we knew would happen...thats why its INSANE!). But hike we did and we were rewarded with a sighting of four RIVER OTTERS (evidently very rare) in the Big Slough area...playing in the waters deepend by the unrelenting rains....so the slogging was definitely worth it.

After hiking apx 10 miles (that would be NAUTICAL miles in the water) to the shelter, where we intended to eat lunch but decided camping would be better since we were completely water logged (deep water on much of the trails), we were out of luck as the shelter was already occupied. So the decision was made to slog it back Saturday afternoon, another 11 miles...for a total of 21 miles for the day. However, we decided that a correct calculation of mileage would be to credit ourselves 1.5 miles per mile for hiking in ankle deep water, 2 miles per mile for knee deep water, and 3 miles per mile for class 2 rapids on the trail....I think we probably did 40 miles so call it a success! Ha!

We are off on the Lone Star Trail (almost) thru hike starting Thursday May 7 through Sunday May 10 (time constraints hit us) so we expect to do about 60-65 miles. That will conclude the long hikes, so anyone out there who is wanting to just get acquainted with trail backpacking on some easy, short trips, let me know...its time for a little more relaxing on the trail!

Greg

The "Big Hike" (May 7 - 10) didn't turn out to be so big. Who woulda thought it would be 95 degrees and 100% humidity this early in the year? But this IS Texas so we get what we get. In short, we started at mile 75 near Evergreen/Coldspring on Wednesday evening...did about 5 miles to the first camp, all well and fine...hot and sweaty, but no problem (other than the exciting crossing of the East Fork of the San Jacinto on a 40 foot long log). Thursday started off ok, not the most pleasant hiking conditions mind you (don't dare stop on the trail to rest for fear of being carried off by mosquitoes), but by mid afternoon, heat-exhaustion had set in and it was apparent this was not going to work for the long haul. Made that decision about mile 57 and back tracked about 1 1/2 miles to get off the trail. Will revisit this again in the fall. So thats that for the training and thru hike this year, from here on out, its just pleasure hikes, so again, anyone from beginner to advanced that wants to get out there with us, just let me know.

Hi everyone,
Good to meet you all at Rudy's.
I was wondering if anyone's ever backpacked around Portland, Oregon.
It seems like there's a lot of areas close by, making it feasible to fly there.
Also, August is probably a great time to be there considering the heat in our area.

I was looking at this hike
Eagle Creek to Wahtum Lake Hike - Hiking in Portland, Oregon and Washington

...and was wondering what your opinions and advice on such a hike were.

thanks

-Will

It was a pleasure meeting you as well. I hope we can get out on the trails soon. I have never been to Portland, but it looks like there are some nice hikes up that way. I will keep dreaming...

Jason

New to the forum, and to Texas actually. Looks like you guys have an active group. If there are any events or trips you all have planned, please post!

Thanks,
Garrett

Hey there....thanks for stopping by.
We have a semi-active group....alot of us are still lone-hikers but we do manage to get together for lunch ocassionally and share our experiences. Getting a group together for a hike has been a logisitical challenge, but we won't give up.

A few of us have talked about getting out in October on the Lone Star Trail so keep watching here...and we'll post when we can have another lunch...everyone is welcome.

For anyone interested in meeting hikers in our area, we are meeting for an informal lunch at CJ BBQ on Texas Ave near downtown Bryan. Wednesday September 30 @ 11:30 am for anyone who is interested. If you plan to come, just let me know so we can look for you.

Greg

I am very interested. What did you have in mind?