This is a serious post so please write serious replies![b][/b]

My two teammates and I are "elite athletes" and we have been talking about our next challenge which will be a 5-7 day backpacking trip. Next to our sport specific training, we all do much of our cross-training in the outdoors. We have been enjoying mountain biking, hiking canyons, surfing, and kayaking.

We are planning this trip for February, and since our team is based out of San Diego, CA, we are looking for a location within in driving distance that has these attributes...
1) Forest
2) Rocks
3) River/Stream for fishing
4) Climate for February that includes Warm days/ Cool Nights

We are currently taking classes at REI and other backpacking stores to learn some of the finer skills needed for this trip. So if anyone has some strong expert advice and is willing to help my teammates and I, please respond or send me a message where we might be able to communicate back and forth. I am looking for a more experienced person to bounce ideas off of and ask questions when I need some help.

Thanks for reading my post,
Nick

Can't give you a serious reply unless I know exactly what you mean by "driving distance". I live in L.A. and I consider Utah to be within driving distance. But your standard may be different. Give us a radius in miles or driving hours.

Also....I don't think you'll have too much trouble finding rocks....unless you're referring to climbing rocks for bouldering???

Also....I have some ideas and I may have a little experience but I am neither elite nor an expert.

"Forest" in your area generally implies a higher elevation. You may not find warm daytime temps there in February. It could even be snowing. It's going to be an El Nino winter out there. And fishing at those higher elevations is not good in February, or indeed even legal in many locations. Given your requirements you may be better off in the desert if you can do without a few trees. The desert would give you (2),(4) and maybe even (3). Actually you could have a forest of Joshua trees in the desert but I don't think that's what you have in mind.

This is a serious post so please write serious replies!

Anyone who goes out of their way to describe themselves as "elite athletes" just to ask where they can find a forest, some rocks and a stream, probably take themselves a bit too seriously.

As for the rest, see Trailrunner's answer, above.

Elite referring to Olympic level athletes from the Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. We are willing to drive up to 6 hours or even a short flight. Just looking for some good suitable terrain to provide us with the challenge we are looking for. We are using this trip to see if we would want to take further step and do some outdoor adventure races. The reason we chose February is because that is our only free time on the calendar.

Aimless...Obviously we are new to this, hence the post is in the beginner section. I appreciate your feedback but if you are not willing to help, then simply move on.

Thanks for your response Trailrunner.

You haven't explained what your planned activities are. Yosemite is within driving distance, and has all your criteria. There are a few people on this forum that would quickly say that Yosemite has warm days and cool nights in February.

It sounds as if you are more interested in first learning the skills you need before you do something serious. A 5-7 day backpacking trip is NOT serious, or challenging. It is more of a vacation. I take out of shape 12 year olds on them all the time, and they perform exceptionally well, despite not being elite athletes. A challenge would be to pick a looonnng trail and hike it in a very short time (say a month). Or maybe hike across the states, or from Mexico to Canada. If all you are doing is trying to learn skills, then you don't need some "special" place. Look for the closest campground and practice with your equipment. Go to rivers and practice fishing. Go to a rock climbing place a practice falling. You will want to concentrate on one thing at a time until you get it, then you can plan your "adventure".

Our only situation is time... we only have a week. We have learned skills in maps and navigation, fishing, first aid. So is there anything you can recommend that we can do in a week to push our physical capabilities. We will be pushing long days, and nights.

So i guess challenging terrain within short time. If you do not think this could be done then please let me know. If anyone has any recommendations, thank you.

Thanks.
Nick

If time is your limiting factor, then increase the distance traveled. Since, you are near the PCT, then I suggest you start at the Mexico border, go north, and see how far you can travel in a few days. You can look at PCT records from other people, and try to top them. Maybe walk 250 miles in 5 days. A normal athlete can easily do 20+ miles a day for months. An elite athlete should be able to do 50+ miles a day for 5 days without breaking a sweat. Forget fishing, you won't have time. All you need is a tarp, a sleeping bag, a water filter, and energy bars. The sleeping bag and tarp are for emergencies only, you won't need to use them.

Maybe I can clarify something here. The term "Elite Athlete" is used regularly by the USOC to describe outstanding athletes who qualify for assistance. Here is an example. If the OP is in fact a resident of the USOTC Chula Vista then he is, in the eyes of the USOC, an elite athlete. It is a title bestowed on him, not one he necessarily bestowed on himself. Perhaps his choice of words could have been better without explanation but the title of the thread is not really arrogant.

Anyway back to the subject at hand. Are you looking for a good time or a death march? Of course for some people that's the same thing

If you want to simulate an AR finally's advice sounds good. But that's not what your original post sounded like. AR people don't fish.

Trailrunner,

I don't quarrel with whether the OP or his team qualify as elite athletes. No doubt they do qualify. Good for them. Not everyone would, by a long shot.

But as far as I can make out, nothing about his question required referencing this fact. All he really asked was where to find a location with certain attributes: rocks, forest, a creek, some average weather conditions. The answer to that question would remain the same no matter what his athletic achievments might be. Yet it was the first thing he put in his thread title. Hence, my chiding him on it.

If, however, he had specified the sort of challenge he had in mind and it was far beyond the physical capabilites of most beginners, then some reference to his team's athletic prowess would have been germaine. But he didn't do that.

I still do not understand how far he expects to carry his pack before he turns his attention to practising other skills, such as fishing or rock climbing, or even how much he expects to carry. Rock climbers might carry 30-40 lbs of climbing gear, apart from their other backpacking equipment.

Certainly, sharing more specific pieces of his plans (or desires) would assist us in giving the strong expert advice he seeks.

Dude

Serious answer.
>1) Forest
>2) Rocks
>3) River/Stream for fishing
>4) Climate for February that includes Warm days/ Cool Nights
since you mentioned being from San Diego...

There are lots of places in the southern Sierra that come to mind, BUT not for February.

Anytime you are near a river stream for fishing, you will be carrying fishing tackle - weight.

Rocks - to climb? Will you carry any climbing gear = weight.

Forest, most of the lower country near you has no forest.

So anyway rather than being a downer - you should really talk about what you really want to accomplish and go for a simple agenda, since the question you ask does imply a general lack of knowledge about what it is that you seem to want to do.

You need to say like we want to run 35 miles with heavy packs then climb a 5.10 6 pitch wall and catch fish for dinner and we are prepared for snow - no you said warm days - you ever think of someplace on the Baja?
I spent Christmas camped on a beach at guaymas Mexico - it was pretty cool, lots of places to climb, swim, run etc.