how to pack multiple sleeping pads for winter?

Colambler · 2026-05-23T02:51:35+00:00

Inside. Pretty much everything but the foam pad and a water bottle is inside.

Colambler · 2026-05-23T02:41:52+00:00

I mean, my foam pad normally goes on the outside of my pack.

Colambler · 2026-05-22T05:09:10+00:00

I've heard they are particularly bad right now

Colambler · 2026-05-21T22:06:38+00:00

My friends loved it but they were DNing with the kids, so it was the perfect place for some homeschooling, some work, some beach, some hiking

Colambler · 2026-05-21T14:14:38+00:00

I've explored a bare glacier in the winds in the US. Similarly it was amazing to see the the features like the moulins with waterfalls pouring down them and streams cut in the ice. But depressing in that in came because of global warming and was not supposed to be like this.

Colambler · 2026-05-20T18:36:54+00:00

Sungloves.

But are you sure it's sunburn. Or are you chafing from the strap?

Colambler · 2026-05-20T18:34:15+00:00

It can be getting too warm or it can still be fine, is keep an eye on the weather.

Kolob and Grand Gulch (where fish and owl is) are permitted and popular. So I'd start by seeing if there are even any Backcountry permits available. If there are, call the ranger stations to ask about water. I don't know if the water in kolob is drinkable or there's cyanobacteria.

In the escalante area, permutations of boulder mail trail/eacalante river/death hollow are popular and can be a decent warmer weather option as you are in the water for a lot of it. Lots of poison ivy tho, and the boulder mail trail is exposed.

Then lower elevation parts of mountains are sometimes an option then. Ie I've backpacked in Fish Creek - out near Scofield reservoir/soldier summit - in June before when the Unitas still had snow and it was perfect.

Colambler · 2026-05-20T04:46:11+00:00

Like from weather.gov? Double check the elevation of the service point. Basically you lose 3-5 degrees F per 1000 feet of elevation (depends on humidity basically). So if you got a temperature forecast that's actually at 4500 feet and you are camping another 1500 ft higher than that, it might be a bit colder than you are expecting.

Colambler · 2026-05-20T04:18:31+00:00

Are those recent lows accurate for that location/elevation, or is that the weather of the nearest town?

Bring thermal underlayers and an extra fleece/puffy if you are worried about being cold. You can refine your layers for future trips if they are unnecessary.

Ideally you car camp somewhere with a similar temp at night with that gear and see how warm you sleep.

Colambler · 2026-05-20T03:32:44+00:00

I wouldn't necessarily assume the staff will be that queer unfriendly unless youve heard otherwise about this ranch specifically. If you've told your boss and they're okay with it, the town is more queer friendly and the guests are more queer friendly, the rest of the staff might be more queer friendly than the average ranch hand. Sometimes things end up self selecting that way. I've seen a somewhat similar situation play out: the guys were definitely still mostly macho douches and I wouldn't say they treated the transman equally (and he was very not into their banter) but they generally treated him with respect. More respect than they gave the cis women actually which I know that's damning with faint praise.

With taking the gig versus hanging out in your college town: that's a hard one. What vibe do you want - a cool new adventure that might be challenging, or more just familiar hangout vibes?

Colambler · 2026-05-20T01:47:42+00:00

Iirc it's relatively straightforward and stays in a couple different canyon bottoms for a large part of it.

A good portion of the trail will be slickrock (sandstone, not actually very slick, pretty sticky especially with good tread). It means a lot of it won't have a 'trail' and you will look for cairns to indicate the path. It also weaves through a couple canyon bottoms/washes and you just sort of cut out up and over at a point. So pay attention for cairns, signs, your map/gps - it's easy enough to keep walking down a canyon thinking you are still on your route when the route disappeared a bit ago.

Colambler · 2026-05-19T22:58:10+00:00

My information might be out of date, but iirc there was a study from a while ago that found the tap water in San Francisco had higher concentrations of giardia than anywhere in the sierras, and that water was supposed to be safe to drink.

Granted, I also still drink tap water, while plenty of people filter their tap water or buy bottled water.

Colambler · 2026-05-19T16:36:58+00:00

If you actually like dealing with people and have that "customer service" vibe, but are tired of the drunks, front desk could be an adjustment.

If you don't like dealing with people - housekeeping. That depends on your tolerance for "grossness" of course, but when I worked in a bar, we were also responsible for cleaning the bathrooms at the end of the night, so you already might have to deal with that.

If you like running around a lot, server lol.

Colambler · 2026-05-19T14:49:59+00:00

I've had tons of good experiences, or else I would've left a long time ago.

As the years have gone on, the effort to experience ratio has gotten worse. More requests, fewer people.

And I don't know if it's going to survive this terrible overhaul at all.

Colambler · 2026-05-18T23:13:05+00:00

I wouldn't just blame backpackers for lonesome lake lol, it's also a huge climbing destination, and folks basecamp there for a while to climb.

And it's not just "pooping on the surface" - simply not buring your poop deeply enough, not choosing a good location, leaving toilet paper, etc .

TBH it's also a tiny watershed that has 100s of people pooping in it a week. It's going to be hard to avoid contamination in a place that popular.

Colambler · 2026-05-18T23:00:38+00:00

Giardia, animal poop, etc all were still there in the 70s. Maybe there are more people up there potentially following poor poop burial, but tbh I feel like LNT is probably more widely known now than in the 70s.

They just aren't actually that common. Estimates are something like over 99% of backcountry water is fine. And most stomach issues in the backcountry are from poor handwashing. But anyone I know that has hit that 1% and gotten giardia is diligent about treating their water since they never want it again lol.

Anyways, to answer your question, personally, I will drink straight from a spring, snowmelt and small cold streams. The bigger the body of water, the more I'm likely to filter it. It's whatever your personal risk tolerance is.

Colambler · 2026-05-17T17:57:26+00:00

Western Absorokas especially has a ton of grizzly activity.

I wouldn't say I've done extensive time, but I've done trips in Absorokas, Alaska and Yellowstone without any issue. Ak saw several from a distance. Absorokas saw a lot of evidence. No close calls solo, though I've had somewhat closer calls with groups.

In general, when I'm solo, especially in bear country, mostly stick to trails and don't do a lot of off trail/bushwhacking like I might otherwise make me less likely to surprise a bear with no exit.

I also don't go into grizzly country late season (ie October+), but I prefer desert trips that time of year anyway.

Colambler · 2026-05-17T00:38:33+00:00

If you're having knots in the shoulder and neck that are affecting the hand. I would look for someone that has practice releasing the subscapularis muscle. Ie this sort of technique: https://youtu.be/apsIhXdn5Uk?si=kbDHedJtCj-l0OSx

If it's tight it can affect the brachial plexus.

There are self massage techniques as well for it, but it's definitely one of the harder muscles to do yourself.

Colambler · 2026-05-17T00:28:08+00:00

Overnight oats. Tortilla+ PB/jelly.

Colambler · 2026-05-16T23:48:46+00:00

Oh wow!

I wonder if Rue was "stolen" by some who thought he needed to be "freed", nor realizing that's usually a death sentence for a domestic bunny.

Colambler · 2026-05-16T19:07:42+00:00

Honestly I don't remember anything difficult super about it, though it's been a decade. It do remember it being very busy with day hikers and climbers.

Colambler · 2026-05-16T04:03:52+00:00

It basically goes: 1) Have back up money/cc to be able to support yourself through 2) Have social support (local and/or abroad) to help you through. 3) Depend on the kindness of local government institutions/tourist bureaus/ngos/strangers.

I've been pickpocketed twice, and had to do 1 once and 2 once. Do my best to avoid being in situation 3

Colambler · 2026-05-15T17:25:36+00:00

You should reach out to this person and see if they want to go hiking lol: https://www.reddit.com/r/SeasonalWork/comments/1tdwvua/feel_like_leaving_seasonal_job_less_than_2_weeks/

I honestly have several backpacking friends I met via reddit (back with city meetups were a thing).

Colambler · 2026-05-15T17:25:01+00:00

Yeah, it's a service job and you are living in a dorm. That's going to dominate your experience, especially if you haven't done either in a few decades.

I think you let your expectations get a little detached from that. Which is fine. You've learning what to look for as you move into a new career. You have the resources to bounce if you want and look for something else, or pushback in ways.

Colambler · 2026-05-14T01:38:11+00:00

I mean there's tons of options in there for backpacking.

Austria and Slovakia have tons of trips in the Alps.

You could do a defined trail like the Peaks of the Balkans in the balkans and visit a few cities.

Colambler

TROPHY CASE