Feature Photo:
Winter Camping by
The Ox, Great Smoky Mountain National Park,
N.C. |
NEW THIS QUARTER
- Win
$50: Congratulations to NationalParkHiker
who is our current points leader as of 1/04/05. TomVag
is a close second and only lags by a few hundred points. The
member with the largest increase in their point total from
November 1, 2005 to February 1, 2006 will win $50 cash and
will be announced in the next newsletter. Just follow the
rules for posts in the
User
Agreement
to
enter.
- new Gold Members: The Ox
- new Silver Members: TomVag, NationalParkHiker, The
Camel, Tartan1749
- most activity this quarter: TomVag,
NationalParkHiker
- since the inaugural Spring 2005 newsletter, membership
increased from 100 to 393
- the number of trails increased from 75 to 201. Thanks to
everyone who has helped
your hikes grow and to increase from 3.3 million
to 116,000 in rank with Alexa.com since March 2005.
Coming Soon: 1. RSS feeds from
your hikes.
2. An "add a trail map"
button for each hike. 3. A new method to track your canoe and
kayak trips.
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| Feature Eastern Hike:
Congaree
National Park, South Carolina by
NationalParkHiker.
Click here to access this hike.
Hike Summary:
Not a bad
hike in the only NP in SC. Used part of several loop trails to
get to the River trail which is also a loop, then a backtrack.
A longer hike could very easily be made using the rest of the
other loops. A portion of the River trail parallels the
Congaree River which is pretty neat - but you only get
glimpses of the river. Lots of low country swampy scenes. All
level hiking. Mosquitoes are BAD. Even in November. Can't
imagine what they would be like in the summer. Saw a wild boar
along the river at the 'Sand Bar' where we ate lunch. Lots of
evidence of them rooting along the trails. All in all not a
bad hike - and for us it was good to get the only NP in SC
under our belts. |
Feature Western
Hike:
Mott
Lake, John Muir Wilderness, California by
WaterDog.
Click here to access this hike.
Hike Summary:
The
Sierra National Forest, located on the western slope of the
central Sierra Nevada, is known for its spectacular mountain
scenery and abundant natural resources. The Sierra National
Forest encompasses more than 1.3 million acres between 900 and
13,986 feet in elevation. The terrain includes rolling,
oak-covered foothills, heavily forested middle elevation
slopes and the starkly beautiful alpine landscape of the High
Sierra. This hike starts on the eastern side of Lake Edison at
the shuttle drop-off ramp run by the Vermillion Valley Resort.
The trail follows Mono Creek to a junction with the Pacific
Crest and John Muir Trails which share the same route for 2.8
miles on this route. At pocket meadow, the hike departs the
PCT/JMT and follows the Mott Lake Trail to 10040' and a
beatiful alpine lake surrounded by barren High Sierra peaks.
No fires are permitted above 10,000' but there is excellent
trout fishing at the lake, numerous campsites, and a waterfall
on the eastern edge of the shoreline.
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