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Re: Why this is my favorite group still
You've provided a great service to both this group and the Facebook groups, John, even if the FB groups drive you around the bend these days! Hiking is going through a new renaissance era - it's the 70's all over! - and there is an endless stream of new hikers with the same new hiker questions. I don't mean to suggest that those questions are unworthy or trivial, but I appreciate that responding to the same questions for 14 years could get old. I can confirm that the Reddit JMT group is like a less organised version of the FB groups, you're not missing anything. I think the PCT reddit group may be a little more useful as an active "real time" posting forum by people on trail. Insta - well, it's really just about the pics! Thanks again for everything you give to this community John, we all owe you a debt of gratitude (and the rest of the great moderators and admins, lest we forget!). Regards, Lange
On Thursday, 24 March 2022, 12:30:28 am AEDT, John Ladd <johnladd@...> wrote:
This was my first social network group for any purpose, probably first in 2008 or so. It is still my favorite. Because of the larger size of the Facebook groups I have needed to be very active on them in order to recruit for the survey. I love to stop them because the Facebook algorithms lead me to waste and inordinate amount of time. I'm looking forward to the time when I can give up my admin duties there. What I like about this group is that the email format leads people to give longer and more thoughtful replies. Rather than just state an opinion, people give the reasons for their opinion and often some indication of their level of experience generally, or with respect to The Sierra Nevada range. It also avoids the annoying socializing, and all the repetitive pictures of the same beautiful place. At least not anywhere near as often as on the Facebook groups. People here also seem to feel less compulsion to brag about their accomplishments or to downplay their mistakes. The group is almost unfailingly polite. When I first got on the group there was a lot of misogyny and ridiculing of people who had not adopted the same ultralight gear that is favored by hikers who have to cover 25 mi a day in order to reach the end of their hike before the end of the hiking year. There seems to be less encouragement of people who seem to be making decisions that put themselves, their hiking companions and search and rescue people at risk. I see no reason for anyone to be a member of both this group and the Facebook group, with one exception. If you want to find a hiking companion or someone who might share transportation you are better off seeking that on the Facebook groups. Among the Facebook groups the one I'd most recommend, for our women members, would be the ladies of the JMT, although I think they sometimes try to encourage people to do things that are pretty clearly beyond their current capabilities. My least favorite are the various yearly class of JMT groups. I do not understand why someone would join a group that has very few long time experienced JMT hikers and mostly consists of persons who are attempting the JMT for the first time or who are particularly fond of the social aspects of Facebook groups. Among the Facebook groups I prefer the long-standing all year JMT group. It is well moderated and the admins do decline some posts where they are clearly repetitive, seem to be self-promotional or where we can easily give someone a definitive action by declining a proposed post while giving a reason to them why we are doing so. Well none of the groups come including this one, particularly good about using the search function before asking a question that has already been well covered before, there is less of it on this group than on the Facebook groups. I also find JMT videos on YouTube pretty much useless. They're often put up by first time JMT hikers and stress how accomplished they were and how beautiful they conditions were, without realizing that they may have just been lucky to avoid bad weather or a nasty fall due to lack of preparation or poor equipment choices, etc. I particularly like the fact that the average experience level of people who post or reply to posts seems to be much higher than on any of the Facebook groups and certainly higher than your typical YouTube presenter. I don't know Twitter or Reddit at all so I can't comment on them, nor on Instagram, though I really doubt that they are any better and seem likely to be even worse than the Facebook groups. I'm trying to learn how to voice dictate using better enunciation. However, I do often have the voice equivalents of typos, occasionally really embarrassing ones. So thanks everyone. -- John Curran Ladd 415-648-9279 |
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Re: Backpacking rain jackets
I used to use ponchos in years past and just found they turned into a sail if there was any wind (which there usually is when a storm rolls in), and somehow water always seemed to find a way in. Also, if you use your poncho as a groundsheet, doesn't it end up muddy or dusty or covered in pine needles and pitch? |
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Re: YARTS Summer reservations open
开云体育Thank you Steve.? I am new to the JMT community and I have to say I love you guys.? Your commitment to this group is outstanding and a shining example of volunteerism at its best.? Wow.? Just wow.? ? From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of steve herr via groups.io
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 10:03 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [JMT-groups.io] YARTS Summer reservations open ? I've been working with YARTS on getting a schedule change on the Highway 41 route, which now makes it vastly easier to get to Yosemite from southern California the same day.? They took some of my suggestions and not others, but at least we now have a better connection from Southern California. ? However, I have tested Amtrak's reservation system, and found there are a lot of glitches - it doesn't offer all the reasonable combinations, it couldn't find any service in some situations.? I have brought these issues to the attention of YARTS and the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority staff, along with CalTrans management since they provide a lot of funding and would like to see it work well. ? If anybody has problems with Amtrak reservations, please send me an email. ? Be aware the published timetables on the amtraksanjoaquins.com website also have a lot of typos and misinformation.? I forwarded 72 points of errata to the SJJPA. ? Steven Herr |
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Why this is my favorite group still
This was my first social network group for any purpose, probably first in 2008 or so. It is still my favorite.
Because of the larger size of the Facebook groups I have needed to be very active on them in order to recruit for the survey. I love to stop them because the Facebook algorithms lead me to waste and inordinate amount of time. I'm looking forward to the time when I can give up my admin duties there. What I like about this group is that the email format leads people to give longer and more thoughtful replies. Rather than just state an opinion, people give the reasons for their opinion and often some indication of their level of experience generally, or with respect to The Sierra Nevada range. It also avoids the annoying socializing, and all the repetitive pictures of the same beautiful place. At least not anywhere near as often as on the Facebook groups. People here also seem to feel less compulsion to brag about their accomplishments or to downplay their mistakes. The group is almost unfailingly polite. When I first got on the group there was a lot of misogyny and ridiculing of people who had not adopted the same ultralight gear that is favored by hikers who have to cover 25 mi a day in order to reach the end of their hike before the end of the hiking year. There seems to be less encouragement of people who seem to be making decisions that put themselves, their hiking companions and search and rescue people at risk. I see no reason for anyone to be a member of both this group and the Facebook group, with one exception. If you want to find a hiking companion or someone who might share transportation you are better off seeking that on the Facebook groups. Among the Facebook groups the one I'd most recommend, for our women members, would be the ladies of the JMT, although I think they sometimes try to encourage people to do things that are pretty clearly beyond their current capabilities. My least favorite are the various yearly class of JMT groups. I do not understand why someone would join a group that has very few long time experienced JMT hikers and mostly consists of persons who are attempting the JMT for the first time or who are particularly fond of the social aspects of Facebook groups. Among the Facebook groups I prefer the long-standing all year JMT group. It is well moderated and the admins do decline some posts where they are clearly repetitive, seem to be self-promotional or where we can easily give someone a definitive action by declining a proposed post while giving a reason to them why we are doing so. Well none of the groups come including this one, particularly good about using the search function before asking a question that has already been well covered before, there is less of it on this group than on the Facebook groups. I also find JMT videos on YouTube pretty much useless. They're often put up by first time JMT hikers and stress how accomplished they were and how beautiful they conditions were, without realizing that they may have just been lucky to avoid bad weather or a nasty fall due to lack of preparation or poor equipment choices, etc. I particularly like the fact that the average experience level of people who post or reply to posts seems to be much higher than on any of the Facebook groups and certainly higher than your typical YouTube presenter. I don't know Twitter or Reddit at all so I can't comment on them, nor on Instagram, though I really doubt that they are any better and seem likely to be even worse than the Facebook groups. I'm trying to learn how to voice dictate using better enunciation. However, I do often have the voice equivalents of typos, occasionally really embarrassing ones. So thanks everyone. -- John Curran Ladd 415-648-9279 |
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Re: Bears Ears pack from Nunatak
#gear
What I'd be concerned about with the canister at the very bottom is weight distribution. With my ULA Circuit, I put my sleeping bag at the very bottom, then the canister goes on top of the sleeping bag centered along my back, with other gear placed around the canister, and all food for the day outside the canister in the hip belt pockets or back pocket so I don't have to access the canister until getting to camp. ?Packed this way, the heaviest weight, the canister, is placed well. If the heaviest weight is at the very bottom outside the pack, I'm not sure how it would carry. But I've never tried this particular pack and people seem happy with it.
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Re: Backpacking rain jackets
I guess to be a Frog Toggs aficionado you have to be okay with the "disposable" nature of the product, from a sustainability perspective. I've hiked with plenty of cheap plastic ponchos in the past, but these days I try to reduce my contributions to landfill (especially plastic waste) and that includes trying to avoid "one season" outdoor gear purchases. That said, I'm still sending at least two pairs of running shoes to landfill per year, and plenty of ziplocks on each pack trip.?
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Re: Bears Ears pack from Nunatak
#gear
This pack design has always seemed like the most sensible way to carry a bear canister. There is nothing convenient about ramming your canister in your pack and shoving everything else in the little voids around it - that's just a terrible design solution. I hiked the JMT with a ULA Ohm, which would not accommodate a BV500 inside, so during the day I carried my food in a DCF bag in my pack and shoved my sleeping bag in the canister and lashed it to the top of my pack (tried doing this on Day 1 with the food still in it and it was hopelessly top heavy, but would have worked if there was an option on the bottom of the pack). I'm surprised more pack manufacturers haven't adopted some variation of the Bears Ears design, or at least have a bottom flap with long enough straps that you could choose to strap your canister to the bottom, outside the pack.?
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YARTS Summer reservations open
YARTS has published its summer schedule and opened up the reservation system.
The prices seem higher than I remember. It was $55 for the two-leg trip from Merced to Mammoth, with a two hour layover in Yosemite Valley.? What's odd is that if you book a ticket on Amtrak from SF/Emeryville, it is just $63, which is a bundle of the Amtrak and YARTS fare. I prefer to rent a car to get to Merced so I can spend a little time in the South Bay where I'm from. Surprisingly, the car rental was just over $100. Costs are up for most everything, but the Motel 6 in Mammoth is still around $110 and the Dow Villa Historic Hotel rooms are still just under $100 with private bath. Backpacking is still the cheapest (and best) vacation I can think of. |
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Re: Backpacking rain jackets
I agree with Ravi. On a shorter trip where there is a more reliable rain prediction and no rain in forecast I will bring the incredibly cheap though not very durable Frogg Toggs. Where the weather is iffy or the trip too long for reliable forecasts I bring an Arc'teryx rain jacket made with Gore-Tex Pro (expensive) and the Frogg Toggs pants. If something like graupel (snow-rain mix) is in the forecast or for a trip that will end after about September 15 I will wear Arc'teryx Gore-Tex Pro pants (I can squeeze into an odd size - small long so I was able to buy them at a reasonable price well marked down). The Arc'teryx I will eventually give to my prospective son in law if they fit him. Too expensive to hang in my basement for years. I would loan out the rain pants to anyone who could fit them as they are quite durable.
-- John Curran Ladd 1616 Castro Street San Francisco, CA? 94114-3707 415-648-9279 |
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Re: Backpacking rain jackets
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Lange Jorstad
Andrew Paisley
John Ladd
ravi_jmt2013
Derek Koonce