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Squamish, British Columbia
Canada
1008 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2011 : 3:18 PM
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I've done a few but my recent trip up Slalok reminded me of my first ever back-country camping trip to Joffre Lakes back in July 2010. I'd only taken up hiking 3 months before that, so wanted to try out some camping too.
After dropping a few thousand dollars on all our camping gear at MEC we headed out to Joffre lakes. I'd never carried an overnight pack before so what weight was comfortable to carry for hours at a time I had no idea about. My pack must of been over 50lbs.
I had tins of Stagg Chili (which required a beefy tin opener also), a frying pan, half a dozen fresh eggs, bacon, a bushel of bananas, a coghlans lantern. Loads of additional car camping stuff I'd thought would be cool around camp.
I've heard it before, but when backpacking, you learn quickly what likes to go uphill and what doesn't.
It took us over 5 hours to get to the upper lake and we just crashed. |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
2661 Posts |
Posted - 12/20/2011 : 4:53 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by jd22
I was hiking as a teenager and I never had any of these things happen to me.
That's what's wrong with the youth of today! 
This is one of my favourite threads. I'm glad Tracy bumped it. I'll try to think of something to add. |
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2421 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2011 : 07:29 AM
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Canoe camping on the Rideau River as a kid. We used to paddle from Ottawa to Kingston and back. Four fourteen year old boys in two old canoes gone for a week or two - excellent adventure!
I do remember camping on an island in the middle of the river, and taking the tank off the Coleman stove to use as a flame-thrower on anthills. We burned up a few chunks of brush, picked up a few blisters from spattering naptha and I seem to recall someone's jacket getting singed. We went through a fair bit of fuel, but we missed the tents, and didn't start any brushfires. In retrospect, it probably wasn't the safest thing to do.
But we sure had a great time! |
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Hope, BC
Canada
7100 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2011 : 09:48 AM
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| Stupidist thing I ever did was set my camera on my truck before a bike ride, and leave it there, then to bike back hours later to the truck and find it gone. I wasn't suprised it wasn't there when I got back. |
Edited by - AcesHigh on 12/21/2011 09:49 AM |
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| Eryne
Intermediate Member
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Chilliwack, BC
Canada
570 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2011 : 11:50 AM
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| C'mon Aces - we all know you've done stupider things than that. |
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2421 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2011 : 12:44 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by AcesHigh
Stupidist thing I ever did was set my camera on my truck before a bike ride, and leave it there, then to bike back hours later to the truck and find it gone. I wasn't surprised it wasn't there when I got back.
I once left my car unlocked, with the windows rolled down, at a popular trailhead in Elk Island Park, with a ziploc bag of club money sitting on the seat in plain view. I was surprised when I came back and discovered it was still there! |
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2421 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2011 : 3:28 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by leimrod
My pack must of been over 50lbs.
I had tins of Stagg Chili (which required a beefy tin opener also), a frying pan, half a dozen fresh eggs, bacon, a bushel of bananas, a coghlans lantern. Loads of additional car camping stuff I'd thought would be cool around camp.
Yup. That's dumb. And probably very exhausting. I have images in my mind of the Chilkoot pass during the Gold Rush, with abandoned gear littering the trailsides. How much did the frying pan weigh? |
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Coffee swillin', wine lovin', Owl fearin' Andie McDowell stunt double, who sports retro gear
Vancouver, BC
5468 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2011 : 11:53 PM
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I felt pretty stupid when I forgot to bring any kind of eating utensil on a winter trip and had to wait for friends to finish with their sporks so I could eat my food. But maybe that belongs in the "what have you forgotten" thread; another one that is probably long buried in the depths of the CT archives.
Also stupid: bringing a pair of waterproof pants on a winter trip, that I owned when I was 20-something. Without trying them on first to see if they still fit my 40 year old self. |
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Edmonton, AB
Canada
217 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2011 : 12:52 PM
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Attempted the ride down from Pyramid Mountain on a Canadian Tire Supercycle. The brakes were good for about the first 500m, and then what followed was a lovely combination of surprise, excitement, and abject terror. I nearly made it back to the fire road without testing my helmet out. Good times.  |
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Mysterious, pop can stove stashin', gps totin', overnighter virgin, wannabe tentmaker and foul weather wuss who rides a thumper to the trailhead with wonderdog Max to hike the Chilliwack Valley
Chwk
Canada
4910 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2011 : 8:12 PM
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| I once got into an argument with some Canuck fans... |
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Trail running, bike hucking, fast packing, beer drinking collector of pine cones on a day pass
AKA
Dances with Trees
Forest Gnome Cabin
Canada
13059 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2011 : 9:14 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by TheShadow
I once got into an argument with some Canuck fans...
In the spirit of the Yuletide and speaking for myself, I'm going to have to admit that you weren't the only hardheaded participant in that argument.  |
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Mysterious, pop can stove stashin', gps totin', overnighter virgin, wannabe tentmaker and foul weather wuss who rides a thumper to the trailhead with wonderdog Max to hike the Chilliwack Valley
Chwk
Canada
4910 Posts |
Posted - 12/23/2011 : 06:39 AM
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God fearin' music packin' animal BBQin' funny trip reportin'.... cheese lovin' MH lover who skinny dips in Ling secret lakes
Somewhere between pomp & circumstance, British Columbia
Canada
1402 Posts |
Posted - 12/24/2011 : 6:21 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by TheShadow
I once got into an argument with some Canuck fans...
The Canucks have fans? |
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Hope, BC
Canada
7100 Posts |
Posted - 12/24/2011 : 9:44 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Moses
quote:
Originally posted by TheShadow
I once got into an argument with some Canuck fans...
The Canucks have fans?
You know the same thing happened to me! Forgot to mention that too. |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
874 Posts |
Posted - 12/25/2011 : 02:04 AM
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This is a great thread.
I could write book, just of incidents that happened recently. Many involve chainsaws and/or nightime. For example, I have come to understand why operating a chainsaw at night with a headlamp is not recommended by wcb. Also, ProTip: don't even try to work a chainsaw on a 45 degree slope when it is icy. Also: trees are really heavy, and they move really fast when you cut them. I could go on but I dont want to 'jack the thread.
Case 1: This month a trip into the cabin on the Hat trail saw me desperately chipping tiny footsteps into frozen mud on a 45 degree slope using a G3 shovel. There was a very hard snow slope below me and my position was quite exposed - a slip would have been very unfortunate (likely requiring a large bag with a zipper). I had idiotically decided to save << 1/2 kg by leaving my ice-axe at home. There are six of them in my gear closet. (And I was carrying a propane stove on my back which did not improve my balance or my mood).
Case 2: Last summer I left my pack in thick bush to explore a couple of different routes to see which one might be best. Each route was only about 5-10 minutes and the idea was to return to the pack each time. As you probably guessed, on one of the trips I couldn't find the pack again. This was late in the afternoon, and a long way from any trails or roads. And the pack contained all my warm clothes, lights, emergency gear, etc. I got lucky and found it just before it became pitch-black, but it could have been a tough night. Now I carry lighter, candles, and a turtle light in my jacket.
I could go on indefinitely, but it is too embarassing.
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Edited by - weedWhacker on 12/25/2011 02:47 AM |
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3022 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2011 : 07:54 AM
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^
Goodgrief wW be carefull |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
277 Posts |
Posted - 01/30/2012 : 1:35 PM
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OK had to add this one. When I was 15 a friend and I (she was 14) decided to canoe from our parent's friends cottage on the Madawaska river somewhere in ON/QC to the lake further upstream, where there was a private campground where we could perhaps watch the forecasted meteor shower...
We filled our borrowed ancient wooden canoe with our gear wrapped in garbage bags, and found that we didn't have room left for the tent- a 6-man dome tent that weighed about 30lbs... So we made arrangements for a parent to meet us on our arrival at the campground with the tent, later that day.
It was only about 2 hours before we realized the canoe leaked pretty badly, and we had to stop periodically to empty it out.
We paddled upstream all day, and got to the warnings for the giant Ontario Hydro dam about 6pm...the dam we didn't know about, having not consulted a map before taking our trip...
We portaged our gear about 3 kms around the dam. It took about 3 trips as we had so much crap with us and the canoe was super-heavy (waterlogged haha).
When we hit the water upstream of the dam we paddled like mad but alas the campground was closed for the night when we got there and we found ourselves in a village with no-where to sleep. So Mum came with the tent and instead of dropping it off, she helped us load the canoe and gear onto the minivan.
Undeterred, the next day we had hot baths and ventured out again, heading upstream with the same gear (managed to fit the tent this time as Mum said there was no way she would bring it again) toward an island we'd seen mid-way the previous day. We left late but made good time, got to the island and set up camp. We swam, ate, and shortly after it got dark we dug a little trench away from our campsite. Went to bed, and spent the ENTIRE night wide awake, alternately chasing dozens of mosquitos around the canvas or cringing in fear at the strange loud noises we could hear all around us (I've never heard what noises rutting moose make, but I always imagined that was what we heard that night).
Next morning we realized that we had dug our trench in a patch of poison ivy. In bare feet.
The rashes were so bad they put me on oral cortisone as well as the topical stuff...Oozing blisters between fingers and toes, and everywhere else... Aaah, camping.
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Poco
Canada
231 Posts |
Posted - 02/22/2012 : 1:00 PM
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Stupidest thing I've done was on my very first hike: Diez Vistas. Checked the stats online and saw a time frame of 5-7 hours. Being over-ambitious, I figured we'd be up and down in 4 hours. We set out to do the trail late and mapless (and it was my hiking partner's first trail as well). We got lost at the end of the trail, not realizing you have to loop back using another trail. By the time we got back to the parking lot it was 11:30pm. We got an earful from the police in the parking lot..said they were about to call search and rescue for us.
After several trips back there, I'm very happy to say I know the trail like the back of my hand  |
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vancouver
50 Posts |
Posted - 12/12/2012 : 5:37 PM
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Cycle touring in Ontario.
We camped and left a large bag of hot dog buns in the tent.
We were then woken in the wee hours to a torn tent and a huge ruckus outside.
Upon being asked by my future wife to investigate said ruckus - I, to my eternal shame refused,
preferring the safety of my sleeping bag.
After future wife discovers we have been robbed by racoons I summoned the courage to defend our
encampment. Since racoons Have an innate ability to smell human cowardice they would not budge
and continued to gorge noisily 12" away from the tent.
Finally growing some balls, I waded in to the melee with a large stick flicking the food into a nearby ravine.
Since then I keep a very, very clean campsite.
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Calgary, Alberta
Canada
617 Posts |
Posted - 12/13/2012 : 06:56 AM
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Way too funny - great way to enjoy the morning coffee!
The funniest thing that's happened to me in the great outdoors happened years ago on a canoe trip. It's kind of dumb but I'm not taking all the blame.
We drove up into north-central Manitoba for our yearly trip in a drenching rain storm. There was so much water that even the ditches beside the road were raging streams of death. Naturally we convinced ourselves that "this is a local event" and kept going. When we finally got to the put-in we realized that our original route was not going to work in this weather so we decided to camp in the parking area (a clearing beside a mining road in the middle of nowhere) and wait for the next day to make final plans.
The weather was so crappy that the other guys decided to sleep in their truck while me and my cousin went all hardcore and pulled out the 4 season MEC special. During the night the storm got so bad that trees were falling down around us, snapping off in the wind! Around 03:00 the weather calmed a bit (still raining and thundering) and I noticed that my cousin was getting uncomfortably close to me - his feet were rubbing against mine and I didn't appreciate it.
I started kicking him back. (On hindsight his feet did feel pretty darn soft...)
I kept kicking and he kept coming back to my feet so I started getting really annoyed. I was pissed off at the weather and the fact that we had to cancel our original trip plans so I concentrated really hard and gave him a good hoof with both feet.
The noise I heard in response wasn't human and was not coming from where his head was. Oh crap!! I turned on my head lamp and peered into the beady, measured gaze of the biggest skunk I'd ever seen, not looking too impressed about that final volley of kicks and sitting right in the entrance to our tent.
As the kids would say, "EPIC FAIL". 
Thank the good Lord that this tent had an exit near our heads! I woke up my poor cousin who was exhausted and totally disoriented. We both ended up running around in our underwear (it was a warm night) in a thunderstorm, yelling like school girls and laughing at the same time. When we finally calmed down a bit we had to figure out a way to get that darn skunk out of the tent. We figured this particular rodent had a good sense of tolerance since we weren't sprayed yet and coaxed him out with a long stick (man we were DUMB back then!!). Eventually he reluctantly waddled off into the night and we got a few more nervous hours of sleep.
Can you imagine of this skunk wasn't Canadian?! |
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What kind of stupid things u done? Mine??
