Which camera should I take for a hike?

Ha! It looks like you did quite well anyway! 🙂)

...looking back at your summit shot, it could have been Mt. Everest as far as i am concerned! Loving the contrasts of weather and warm clothing in the summer but also the pain and elation on your faces!!!😎
 
Part 2 of our Journey.

The Altitude started kicking our rear ends as we started to climb. At this point we're thinking we should have trained more and spent more time at Altitude. Phoenix is around 1300 feet above sea level and we are now pushing 10,000 feet.

Rough trail by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Lot's of big trees down. I learned it can take over 200 years for a large Pine like this to decompose. The trail in this area has rock steps. Have to remember that coming down if it's raining.


10,405 Feet above sea level by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
The reason for our huffing and puffing


Scott is getting grumpy by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Scott is getting grumpy, his words to me can't be repeated!


A patch of sunshine by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Some Sunshine!!! Yea


Now the trial slants by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
In the "Wilderness" you are lucky to have a path even if it looks like this,


Damn rocks by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
And this! Starting to get cold.

11,001 feet by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
11,001 feet!


Baby Pine Cones by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Baby Pine cone.. Always wondered what they looked like


High in the trees by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
High in the trees


More Volcanic Boulders by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Volcanic Boulder Field


Rocks by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Shows how steep this field is. No walking across it that's for sure


Mountain Man Jim by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Very cold now, rain starting up again. I'm still sort of smiling.


At this point we were about 1 mile from the "Saddle". Our breathing was very hard and energy is dropping. We agreed when we get to the saddle we'll call it quits. Come back later after we prepared more. It was a hard decision but since we both have Cardiac issues we felt it made the most sense. So now we have to get that last mile over with!


To be continued...............
 
Good Job Jim!!

Most important: everyone lived 🙂

Photos really tell the story well. I'm very glad yo did not take my bad advice and lug the 240 up there LOL

My view at sunset last nite:

L1037509-2 by unoh7, Sawtooth valley, north end. M9 28 Cron

This only involved a few minutes walk, as you can motorbike very close on the singletrack.
 
Very nice! Are you in Sawtooth Valley Idaho? Pretty country.

I wanted in the worst way to bring the M240 and a bunch of Lenses. Maybe next time now that I know what to pack and what not to bother with. Also I need to investigate a water proof gizmo so when it rains I can cover up the camera. I tucked it in my rain jacket which was very uncomfortable.

Thank you for your kind comments!

Jim
 

Clouds and rain by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
View from the top "The Saddle".. This is where we'll call it a day.


Cool Scott by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Scott is smiling here but inside he's not happy.


11,823 feet by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
11823 feet at the Saddle


The Saddle Marker by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Clouds have engulfed us.


The 'Saddle' by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
East side of ridge


Peter by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
We meet Peter, he also is exhausted and wants to give up. We all share our thoughts of pain.


More West view by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Somewhere down there is our car!


Come on you Wimps!! by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
What? Scott gets his second wind and calls wimps! we only have 1 1/2 miles to go, let's go you wimps!


Looking West by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
The trail and terrain is very rough.


TRAIL marker by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Wonderful Trail markers. Cliff drop off on the right.


12,011 Feet by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
12,011 feet. 622 to go!


More clouds and rain by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
In the clouds, don't slip now

The going is hard, we walk about 50 feet and rest, do this over and over again. It starts to rain and wind is about 40 MPH at this point. Where is the top? We ask this question 100 times. It turns out with the addition of Peter we seem to have gained strength and determination to finish this thing.

Hope you enjoy.
Jim
 
jcrutcher said:
Very nice! Are you in Sawtooth Valley Idaho? Pretty country.

I wanted in the worst way to bring the M240 and a bunch of Lenses. Maybe next time now that I know what to pack and what not to bother with. Also I need to investigate a water proof gizmo so when it rains I can cover up the camera. I tucked it in my rain jacket which was very uncomfortable.

Thank you for your kind comments!

Jim
Click to expand...
I live about 40 minutes south of the Sawtooth Valley, near Sun Valley.

Wonderful second set Jim and now we all know what it was really like!! You captured it.

As to what to carry with a full M: today ultralight hiking and backpacking is huge with many small vendors selling fantastic items. Since the M footprint is ridiculous, I make sure everything else is as light as possible, from my pack to my shoes and everything in between. They sell small ultralight drybags, which are weightless and will hold and M plus anything else, inside a pack or externally.

But you really did an excellent job with the camera you took 🙂
 

Tough Man my friend Scott by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Tough man my friend Scott!


Sunshine! by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
When you see this you have to just say Beautiful. 3 minutes latter the weather changed again.


Tundra? by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Really!


Are you kidding me? by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Almost to the top of Mount Humphrey's. The clouds have sucked us in, be careful where you step.


Quick take that damn picture it's cold! by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
I made it!


Tired feet of Jim by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
My tired Feet!


It's cold, 25-28 degrees by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
The wind was blowing 50 MPH which dropped the temp down to 25-28 degrees. Scott and Peter are behind the man made wind break to keep from freezing .


So smooth...... by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
A big hit of Jameson Irish Whiskey for the Victors!


To Best Friends by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Let's share!


The top 12,616 feet by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
What is more to say?

We made it, with nasty weather, Altitude concerns, picked up Peter that helped. Going down should be easy right????

How wrong we were.

More to come.
Jim
 
Ha, the shoes amused me. Merrill Moab right? I had the same damn shoes when I hiked on Humphreys years ago. That, actually, was their last hurrah. I'd bought them for a rim to rim to rim grand canyon hike. We stopped by Humphreys on the way back from that. Wasn't long after that that I moved to Juneau and in Juneau pretty much all hiking is done in XtraTufs. Pretty much all everything is done in XtraTufs.
 
Ha, ha... "Mountaineering" is a whole 'nother dimension for me! Around here, hiking on the Blue Ridge is just about like a walk in the woods. You guys are impressive! Strenuous indeed! Bad weather! 12,000 elevation and freezing temps!! All in a day!

That wan't a hike, that was way more than a hike!!! That was an accomplishment!

And your write-up is terrific. Thanks for the photos, they are not only a great documentation, but representative of your actual experiences.
 
Thanks Dave,

I don't think I want to upset the real mountain climbers by changing the name...HaHa..

What I learned.. Lots!

I should have eaten more. As a cyclist I'm used to eating before and during a workout however on this trip I was worried about altitude sickness so I didn't have much. I bonked on the way down which slowed us down even more.

NO Cotton cargo pants. The rain was sucked up in my shorts and I had to pull them up every other step.

Stronger belt to hold up my pants

Should of had a water bladder in my pack to drink more often. Water bottles I couldn't reach were a pain.

Hiking hat instead of cycling hat. Keep my face a little dryer.

My glasses not only got totally wet but fogged up too. Took them off and I triped even more. Not sure what a solution to this would be. Goggles maybe?

Camera was good however a couple of things. The X has a manual focus ring on the lens. I should not have tried focusing it manually. When I did I would forget to put it back to AF.
Needed some type of dry bag to quickly stuff the camera in.
Should have switched out the battery an hour sooner.

My knees are not the best. I carried a knee brace and never put it on. I need to be less stubborn.

Lastly I'm glad I had family and friends praying for my safety. When the Lightning started I was scared Sh......less!

Jim
 
JHutchins said:
Ha, the shoes amused me. Merrill Moab right? I had the same damn shoes when I hiked on Humphreys years ago. That, actually, was their last hurrah. I'd bought them for a rim to rim to rim grand canyon hike. We stopped by Humphreys on the way back from that. Wasn't long after that that I moved to Juneau and in Juneau pretty much all hiking is done in XtraTufs. Pretty much all everything is done in XtraTufs.
Click to expand...

You are so right on the boots. Wow to do rim to rim to rim and Humphreys on the same trip! Stud!

I fish at Waterfall on Prince Wales island and I can swear by XtraTufs also for you neck of the woods. Nothing worse than wet cold feet.

Jim
 
Final Chapter, time to move on.


Are you kidding me? you want to do it again? by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Soaked to the bone


Time to go down by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Heading down from the top


No break from the clouds by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
No rest from the clouds


Hail Strom by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
The rain just started pouring, then came the Hail.
Right after I took this shot a Lightning bolt hit about 100 yards away..



Harder it comes by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Can't even see my buddies


Hail by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
We're not used to hail in Arizona


Slow going by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Trail has water running down it making it even more dangerous.



Off the peaks in the trees by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
It took over an hour to get in the treeline but the trail is flooded in places.


Are you sure that's the way? by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
Scott barking orders again!


We're down!!!!! by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr
We made it!


Peace! by Jim Crutcher, on Flickr


The End

Jim
 
Great

Great

Great adventure, congrats you did it! And both the photos and the words are beautiful! lthanks for sharimg you experience.
robert
 
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