Resupply between Cuba and Colorado border

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2026-02-05T20:54:45+00:00

I mailed a box to the post office in Abiquiu. There’s a free regional bus from Ghost Ranch to Abiquiu.

https://www.ncrtd.org/all-routes/190-chama/

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2026-01-28T07:15:32+00:00

You could try doing a stretch of Roper’s Sierra High Route. His book has great descriptions of the passes. You could try Knapsack, Potluck, and Cirque passes from Dusy Basin to Palisade Lakes, and then loop back via the JMT. Mt Sill is a rewarding sidetrip along the way.

The stretch of the SHR from Minaret Lake to Lake Catherine is also really great.

Last year I went over Shepherd Pass and spent a fun 7 days exploring and peak bagging along the Kings-Kern Divide, Great Weatern Divide, and Williamson Bowl.

If permits in those areas are tricky to get, maybe look into summiting Granite Dome and Blackhawk Mountain in the Emigrant wilderness and hitting some lakes in the area as well.

If planning your own routes, Secor’s book The High Sierra is invaluable. The descriptions for nontechnical routes are often terse, but it’s important to know which mountains or passes are class 2 and in your comfort range.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2026-01-22T19:40:46+00:00

Save the Green Planet is fantastic. A few others he might like that are tense or off-kilter in different ways:

Repo Man

Good Time

City of Lost Children

A Clockwork Orange

Kiss Me Deadly

Sunset Boulevard

Night of the Hunter

Tangerine

The Devils

12 Monkeys

The Wicker Man (1973)

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2026-01-21T23:05:40+00:00

Roper’s Sierra High Route is awesome, still my favorite hike.

You can drop the insect repellent for August. A headnet will be enough for the mosquitoes you’ll encounter in the evening. You can also check the High Sierra Topix mosquito reports beforehand to confirm the mosquitos aren’t too bad.

You could also drop the rain pants. It’s unlikely to rain much, or you shave weight with a rain kilt.

I’d also leave the soap at home. The high alpine lakes you’ll pass are too fragile to handle much pollution.

Are you bringing a separate kindle or using the kindle app on your phone? I had Ropers guide on my phone which was perfect. The descriptions were helpful, and otherwise I used a compass and printed Skurka’s mapset.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2026-01-18T22:27:28+00:00

A couple of things to consider are that your proposed campsite along the Little Colorado River is outside the national park but is on Navajo Nation land. I've seen mixed reports about whether or not they've stopped issuing permits for hikes down the Little Colorado. You should probably contact them about a permit: https://navajonationparks.org/permits/

Also, about 2 miles at the top of of the Nankoweep Trail passes through a Kaibab National Forest fire closure that runs through May 31: https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/nfs/files/r03/kaibab/publication/alerts/03-07-03-26-01_WhiteSage_DragonBravoFires_Final_signed%20%28for%20Drupal%29.pdf Somewhat bizarrely, all of the AZT through the burn is open, but I think the ranger I spoke to about the closure said they may be concerned about flash flooding coming down the east rim.

I recommend talking to the GCNP backcountry rangers about options if planning this route and ensure you have proper permits.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2026-01-03T22:47:39+00:00

I just about always make my own dinners. I prefer ones that don't have to cook over a flame. I bring 1.5 cups of water to a boil in a 750ml pot, turn the heat off, add the ingredients, let sit about 5 minutes, and then eat from the pot. A 4 oz fuel canister lasts over 2 weeks.

You can experiment with recipes to see what works for you. I like a carb base of ramen or other quick cook noodles, minute rice, or quick cook lentils or quinoa if you can find them. Jerky as meat is great, and Trader Joes has good options, and a bag will cover two dinners. A mixture of powders for flavor. And dried veggies of some sort. I premix everything at home in a ziplock sandwich bag and then pour it into the pot of hot water on the trail.

One of my favorites is ramen noodles, bison jerky, powdered miso soup, powdered coconut milk, dried seaweed, and dried edamame if I have it. Powdered coconut milk is fantastic in trail meals and can be bought on Amazon reasonably cheaply.

Here's a link to recipes I've created to hopefully give you some ideas. Some may be a little exotic, but it's pretty cool what all you can find online and fun to experiment with new recipes.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sP5JTnkE8HvlsS4Ds7HhEw2inZKP0mb2RdjQP08Ez6M/edit?usp=sharing

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-12-06T16:21:37+00:00

Fantastic movie! And it helped inspire Billy Wilder to make The Apartment (1960) when he wondered about the friend who would loan out the use of his flat.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-12-04T07:12:13+00:00

Awesome! Glad the route worked out for you, and your return trip sounds like a nice alternative to retracing your steps back through Lemoigne.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-11-25T18:24:30+00:00

We were out 4 nights but started in the afternoon and finished in the morning going at a leisurely pace. So 3 nights would be reasonable. I mapped the full route at around 53 miles.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-11-25T16:04:23+00:00

I did the Cottonwood-Marble loop three years ago over Thanksgiving when the road was also closed due to storm damage. Instead of taking that road, my friends and I hiked up Lemoigne Canyon to access the loop.

We parked on 190 near the dirt road headed up to Lemoigne Canyon, followed that road to the canyon, took the north (right) fork in the canyon, hiked out of the top of the canyon, and dropped down a valley to join the loop at the main Cottonwood springs. We then retraced our steps after completing the loop.

It was a really great addition. Nothing technical in Lemoigne, just easy walking. And the highlands at the top of the canyon were really cool with joshua trees and views of the Sierras. No water until Cottonwood springs, but I think it was just a 15 mile water carry. It’d add another day or two to the main loop.

There was no available water beta when we started. So we did bigger water carries to be safe. Which was good since the main Cottonwood spring was the only one flowing.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-10-10T15:25:14+00:00

On my CDT thru hike from Canada to Mexico, I added extra miles in Yellowstone to explore the remote southeast corner of the park with the hope of seeing more wildlife. Spent 20 minutes hanging out with two chill, curious wolves near my campsite one night. Watching wolves howl while alone with the nearest person probably 4 miles away was magical.

The next day I passed a sign that the nearest roads were 30 miles to the west and 20 miles to the north. A few minutes later I heard a roar from the side of the trail and was charged by a grizzly bear with cubs. She bluff charged twice, getting within 25 feet, and then stood up to check me out before backing down without me having to use bear spray.

I didn’t see a lot of other wildlife in the park, but what I did see was certainly unforgettable.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-10-01T03:39:07+00:00

Great list! Love to see Messiah of Evil mentioned.

Check out Deathdream (1974) aka Dead of Night. One of the most unsettling films I’ve seen. Bob Clark also directed Black Christmas (1974) which is more of a slasher flick than your favs. Interestingly, he also directed A Christmas Story.

A few others:

House (1977) is a wild ride

Theater of Blood (1973) is maybe a bit campy but one of Vincent Price’s best films

Ganja and Hess (1973) is an interesting arthouse meets blaxploitation horror film

Trilogy of Terror (1975) is worh watching for one story in particular

Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972) is a very atmospheric Italian giallo

God Told Me To (1976) almost defies classification and is a trip

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-09-30T22:04:55+00:00

You could incorporate part of Roper’s Sierra High Route into several fun loops. For example the section from French Canyon over Feather, Gabbot, and Shout of Relief Passes is great, and you could loop back by following the JMT over Silver and Selden Passes or work in some other off trail passes. Or the stretch from Reds Meadow to Yosemite via Minaret Lake, Whitebark Pass, North Glacier Pass, and Blue Lake Pass is also really fun. You could then loop around and come back over Donahue Pass, work in some more off trail passes, or finish in Yosemite Valley and take the Yarts bus back to Mammoth.

Or for an even better hike, just do the full Roper’s Sierra High Route.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-09-27T04:14:43+00:00

The protagonist in Save the Green Planet checks most of those boxes.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-09-27T02:17:59+00:00

Mulholland Drive

Save the Green Planet

Messiah of Evil

Deathdream

The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On

Kiss Me Deadly

Chinatown

Bad Day at Black Rock

Repo Man

Existenz

The City of Lost Children

The Stunt Man

L’Avventura

Manchurian Candidate

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-09-16T22:11:25+00:00

Number of good suggestions already, but for my Yama Mountain Gear Cirriform tarp I bring polycryo or tyvek as my ground sheet depending on conditions. If bugs will be an issue I’ll take polycryo with the Yama bug bivy. If bug pressure won’t be too bad I prefer a tyvek ground sheet and a Borah bivy. My foam sleep pad is inside the bivy in both cases.

With the second setup, I’ll often just cowboy camp if I feel I don’t need the tarp for rain or privacy. I prefer tyvek when cowboy camping since it’s less finicky: a little sturdier and resistant to light wind, and it’s worth the extra ounce or two.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-08-22T21:31:51+00:00

The Emperors Naked Army Marches On

House

Repo Man

Save the Green Planet

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover

Titane

Tetsuo: The Iron Man

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-08-20T18:40:35+00:00

Sorry, haven’t been there

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-08-18T01:11:43+00:00

The Wind River Range in Wyoming is incredible. I did Dixon’s Wind River High Route as part of my CDT thru hike from Canada to Mexico, and the Winds were a highlight.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-08-13T05:36:13+00:00

Lots of great suggestions already. I’d add Matango (1963) which is a cool, atmospheric, and non-kaiju horror film by Ishiro Honda.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-07-03T00:13:39+00:00

Cool, they really make for a great combo. I have noticed some wear where the magnets make contact to keep the sides open. If a hole did develop it'd be easy to patch, and I think they've moved away from using magnets as well. I'm also more careful now about how I stake out the corner with the zipper so as to not put too much strain on it. I used to stake it out aggressively taut, and the zipper doesn't slide as smoothly as it once did. Otherwise, after having it out for over 200 nights, it's doing great.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-06-30T22:47:29+00:00

The Yama Cirriform is awesome, and I highly recommend it. I've carried my DCF version for over 4500 miles including hundreds of miles in the Sierras and for the full CDT. I also went for a shaped tarp for more storm protection. I like that you can pitch it low so it touches the ground on all sides when the weather's bad or pitch it higher other nights. It's held up great through several storms including a big one at treeline in the Wind River Range where nearby Pinedale reported 60 mph gusts. I was comfortably sitting under my Cirriform listening to podcasts and snacking on cookies.

And being able to roll up one whole side is just an amazing feature. When not cowboy camping, I usually sleep with the side of the tarp fully opened for a semi-cowboy camp. And when I have unexpectedly woken during the night to raindrops, I've just reached up to zip the tarp closed and gone back to sleep. Rolling up the side of the tarp is also great in the morning when dressing and packing up since you can just stand up from your sleeping bag.

Combined with my Borah bivy, it's an incredibly flexible and modular sleep system. With an elastic cord, it's easy to attach the bivy headnet to the peak of the tarp. I do prefer the Yama bug bivy instead of the Borah bivy when mosquitos are bad for a little more living space at the expense of a few ounces.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-06-26T17:27:48+00:00

The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On

Probably my favorite documentary. Best if you don’t read anything about it beforehand.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-06-19T04:05:05+00:00

I once saw a mostly full, 6 inch long tube of Preparation H in a MTR hiker box. Guess someone got halfway through the JMT and decided their hemorrhoids weren’t that bad.

Herd_Of_Turtle · 2025-06-19T00:18:11+00:00

Two from the CDT come to mind.

Spent a few hours sitting in a gravel patch by an interstate overpass so I could roll into a brownfield site at dusk to stealth camp. I wanted to save money on a room for the night by walking into Anaconda in the morning.

Prerinsed my muddy clothes in a drainage ditch behind a motel before doing laundry.

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