-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
/
Copy pathcamping.html
292 lines (246 loc) · 10.9 KB
/
camping.html
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
<head profile="http://gmpg.org/xfn/11">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></meta>
<link rel='shortcut icon' href='favicon.ico' />
<title>Camping Research</title>
<style type="text/css" media="screen">
body {
min-width: 850px;
margin: auto;
padding: 20;
line-height: 1.0;
color: #333;
#font-family: Garamond, Book Antiqua, Palatino, Baskerville, serif;
}
.regcontent {
max-width: 850px;
margin: auto;
}
.regtext {
line-height: 1.6;
}
table, th, td {
border-collapse: collapse;
#border: 1px solid black;
border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd;
padding: 5px;
font-size: 14px;
}
#tr:nth-child(even) {
# background-color: #e3e3f3;
#}
table {
width: 100%;
}
.tableheader {
font-weight: bold;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h2> Camping Research </h2>
<p class="regtext">
Consider the USGS "heat-map" of distance to the nearest road (official pdf <a href="https://www.fort.usgs.gov/sites/default/files/products/publications/21426/21426.pdf">available here</a>):
<br/>
<br/>
<img src="US-dist-to-road.png">
</p>
<p class="regtext">
<br/>
By eye, the biggest, darkest green spots are:
<ul class="regtext">
<li> Yellowstone Complex (northwest WY) -- the largest blob (1.8M acres) comprises SE Yellowstone plus the Teton and Washakie Wildernesses. The nearly-contiguous area includes Grand Teton Park and the North Absaroka, Absaroka-Beartooth, and Jedediah Smith Wildernesses.</li>
<li> Bob Marshall Complex (northwest MT) -- the huge blob (1.5M acres) comprises the Great Bear, Bob Marshall, and Scapegoat wildernesses. Just north is Glacier Park (1M acres), which is largely roadless apart from two east-west roads.
(<a href="http://www.summitpost.org/bob-marshall-country/222426#chapter_3">Bob Marshall Overview</a>)
(<a href="https://rockymountainmaps.com/product/hiking-the-absaroka-beartooth-wilderness-2nd-edition/">paper map</a>)
</li>
<li> Frank Church & Selway Bitterroot (ID) -- the largest blob comprises the Frank Church and Gospel Hump Wildernesses, which officially cover ~2.5M acres, but are surrounded by another 800k acres of roadless sections of National Forest . The northen blob is the 1.3M acre Selway Bitterroot wilderness, separated from the Frank Church by a one-lane dirt road called the Magruder corridor.
(<a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/scnf/specialplaces/?cid=fsbdev3_029527">Salmon-Challis online maps</a>) (<a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nezperceclearwater/recarea/?recid=16474">Selway Bitterroot Wilderness</a>) </li>
<li> The Sierra Crest (CA) -- this long and skinny wilderness comprises 14 individually named sections covering a 2.5M acre southern region and 600k acre north region, which are separated by a single road in Yosemite (Tioga road) that is open from May through October.</li>
<li> Olympic Park (WA) -- most of the 900k acre park is wilderness.</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p class="regtext">
The next two biggest spots are in Utah and Nevada and are not suitable for camping. The large blobs are military facilities (Wendover, Dugway, and Desert Test Center in UT; Nellis and nearby ranges in NV), and the nearby UT areas are salt desert or salt lake. And while we're on the topic of unsuitable camp spots, the archipelago of green in southern CA comprises military ranges and some undesignated desert, and the one in southern AZ comprises military range, Indian reservation, and some desert wildlife refuges.
</p>
<p class="regtext">
Continuing to eyeball the large spots or areas, we have:
<ul class="regtext">
<li> Wind River Range (west-central WY) -- the Bridger, Fitzpatrick, and Popo Agie Wildernesses total about 700k acres. The area is known for 14k mountains and 4000+ lakes.</li>
<li> Northern Cascades (north central WA) -- in total there is about 2.3M acres of wilderness carved up by a few access roads (hence the lack of a huge dark green blob). The biggest named areas are the Pasayten (500k), Glacier Peak (500k), and much of Northern Cascade Park (the park is 500k, but is not entirely wilderness).
(<a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/okawen/passes-permits/?cid=fsbdev3_053610">Okanogan-Wenatchee Forest Wilderness Permit Info</a>)
(<a href="https://northwesternimages.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/hiking-the-three-fools-trail-pasayten-wilderness/">Three Fools trip report in Pasayten</a>)
</li>
<li> Uinta Wilderness (northeast UT) -- a 500k acre wilderness in the only major east-west mountain range in the contiguous US. The volcanic rock is poor for climbing, which somewhat reduces recreational usage.
(<a href="http://www.summitpost.org/high-uintas-wilderness/170976">Good overview of Uinta</a>)
(<a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/ashley/maps-pubs">High Res Map links</a>)
</li>
<li> Gila Wilderness (NM) -- a 600k acre wilderness in the Elk Mountains. I don't know this area.</li>
<li> Glen Canyon area (UT) -- appears to be part of Glen Canyon Rec Area, Grand Staircase Escalante Monument, and the Navajo reservation.</li>
<li> Southwest Colorado -- the Weminuche (way-min-ook-ee) wilderness is 500k acres. It is very high: the average elevation is over 10k feet; low point 8k.</li>
<li> Baxter area (ME) -- the roadless area around Baxter State Park is approx 200k acres (?), but it appears comparable in size to the CO & NM area. Not sure why; online info is sparse. File this away for an east coast trip</li>
<li> Florida and Louisiana Swamps -- not interested in camping there</li>
<li> Boundary Waters (MN) -- canoeing destination. Reportedly horrendous mosquitoes.</li>
</ul>
</p>
<p class="regtext">
Acreages are approximate, and when listed indicate officially designated wilderness. Roadless areas can be larger than the wilderness boundary if adjacent lands happen to have no roads.
</p>
<p class="regtext">
Here is a <a href="https://wilderness150.wordpress.com/tag/largest-wilderness-areas/">good commentary</a> and subjective ranking of large wilderness areas.
</p>
<p class="regtext">
The <a href="http://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/nfn.htm">National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)</a>
provides current wildfire data.
</p>
<h3>Gros Ventre Additional Research</h3>
<p class="regtext">
<ul class="regtext">
<li><a href="https://backcountrypost.com/threads/gros-ventre-and-such.1002/">Photos and road information</a>
for the Tosi Creek / Kinky Creek area (mostly driving, a little hiking).</li>
<li>Modesty usable <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/btnf/recarea/?recid=71647">recreation map</li>
<li><a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/btnf/recarea/?recid=77450">Trail details</a>
- there is no list; manually increment/decrement the final integer in the url</li>
<li>Kinky Creek <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/btnf/recarea/?recid=71777">trailhead info</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/wyoming/">Eclipse path</a> through Wyoming</li>
<li><a href="http://www.wilderness.net/NWPS/wildView?WID=275&tab=Area%20Management">Basic info</a>
on Jedediah Smith backup option</li>
<li>An 8-day <a href="https://backcountrypost.com/threads/the-gros-ventre-wilderness-august-31-2015.5169/">
trip report</a> with great map with mileages.</li>
</ul>
</p>
<h3>Absaroka/Beartooth Info</h3>
<p class="regtext">
<table class="regtext">
<tr class="tableheader">
<td>Start</td>
<td>End</td>
<td>Type</td>
<td>Time to Boze/Bill</td>
<td>Time for car drop</td>
<td>Day 1</td>
<td>Day 2</td>
<td>Day 3</td>
<td>Day 4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>West Boulder</td>
<td>Falls Camp</td>
<td>Thru</td>
<td>1:53 / 2:15</td>
<td>27mi / 1:13</td>
<td>5600, 6400, 6400, 8mi</td>
<td>6400, 8400, 8400, 5mi</td>
<td>8400, 10k, 9000, 6mi</td>
<td>9000, 9000, 5500, 7mi</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>E Fork Mill</td>
<td>E Fork Mill</td>
<td>Lollipop</td>
<td>1:01 / 2:23</td>
<td>n/a</td>
<td>5800, 7000, 7000, 6.5mi</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Box Canyon</td>
<td>Upsidedown</td>
<td>Loop</td>
<td>2:34 / 2:55</td>
<td>1mi</td>
<td>6600,8200,8200,7.3mi</td>
<td>8200,9600,9200,5.3mi</td>
<td>9200,9700,9500,7mi</td>
<td>9500,9500,6600,7mi</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Speculator</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td>5800,9600,9600,7.3mi</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>E Rosebud</td>
<td>E Rosebud</td>
<td>Retrace</td>
<td>2:41 / 1:54</td>
<td>n/a</td>
<td>6200,7800,7800,8mi</td>
<td>7800,9500,9000,var</td>
<td>retrace</td>
<td>retrace</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</table>
<ul class="regtext">
<li><b>West Boulder</b> - up a deep valley, over a high pass, one night at lakes, down along Great Falls. Can make a loop with
additional 10 miles (3 on road, 7 in non-wilderness forest land)
</li>
<li><b>E Fork Mill</b> - several lollipop options. Crystal cave.
</li>
<li><b>Box Canyon</b> - shortest access to Lake Plateau
</li>
<li><b>Speculator</b> - stopped researching because first day is so brutal
</li>
<li><b>E Rosebud</b> - also called "The Beaten Path." Can go out-and-back or do a ~26 mile through hike
(with *really* long car drop; 4 hours?) Only one trail; no branches or loop options.
First day up deep valley. Typical stop is Rainbow Lake at 8mi. Second day onto a lake-filled plateau with many lakes.
Some trip reports with photos:
<ul class="regtext">
<li><a href="http://zitoman.blogspot.com/2010/08/beaten-path-beartooths-montana.html">
Report with fishing details and elevation profile</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/custergallatin/recreation/ohv/recarea/?recid=61377&actid=104">
Mileages at various lakes from US Forest Service</a></li>
<li><a href="http://gracierb.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-beaten-path-2015.html">
Trip report with decent photos</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</p>
<h3>Backpack & sleeping bag equipment research, autumn 2023</h3>
<h4>Gear reviews</h4>
<ul class="regtext">
<li>HalfwayAnywhere.com -- PCT Gear guide survey</li>
<li>Reddit /r/ultralight</li>
<li>Gearjunkie -- ultralight backpacks (comparison chart)</li>
</ul>
<h4>Backpack possibilities</h4>
<ul class="regtext">
<li>Hyperlite Mountain Gear -- shoulder straps look narrow</li>
<li>Zpacks Haul 60L -- seems to have lots of user regret; falls apart</li>
<li>Granite Gear -- seems to have many packs, some quite heavy. Needs more research</li>
<li>Osprey Exos 58 -- same pack as kids; seems good; but almost 3 pounds for large</li>
<li>ULA Equipment Circuit -- need to research</li>
<li>Durston Gear -- Kawkwa 55. Looks promising</li>
</ul>
<h4>Lightweight shops not mentioned above</h4>
<ul class="regtext">
<li>Mountain Laurel Designs</li>
<li>Enlightened Equipment</li>
<li>Evolved Supply co</li>
<li>Borah Gear -- only a few bivys and tarps</li>
<li>Feathered Friendfs</li>
</ul>
<p class="regtext">
</p>
<p class="regtext">
</p>
</body>