Terrain preference

What terrain do you usually backpack/camp in? Trail or off-trail? I post this because all the "advise" we give on this forum comes from our experiences, and each of us have different experiences based on where we backpack.

I am an ex-mountaineer/rock climber, so my trips are primarily off-trail through open high altitude (usually above 10,000 feet, Sierra and Rockies), alpine terrain. That is, once I get up past the timber on the first day where I do appreciate trails when timber/vegetation is thick so I can get above timber faster. I am not a fan of never-ending forests. I like open country and big views. So my "advise" comes from an alpine perspective.

In the winter I do odd-ball coastal backpacking. Early spring and late fall, more vegetated lower elevation hiking where timber and underbrush is thicker, but mostly as "conditioning" trips. Once the high country opens, I am out of the low lands!

I rarely do desert backpacking. The Grand Canyon has been my only desert trip.

After many years of serious winter mountaineering in my youth, I have no desire to get out in winter anymore. Been there, done that. Not interested in sub-zero backpacking in my old age! I will say that snow covered mountain terrain is really beautiful, and glad that I was able to experience it.

Generally, I backpack on trail in Colorado. Usual altitude is between about 8,000 and 11,000 feet. I like anything from green tunnel to above the treeline.

My other hobby is road walking -- normally at night.

We like big views, so that does mean getting above treeline a lot of the time. But we also like camping around a few trees. Hiking for hours is a forest isn't as much fun. But I also like to fish, so I am wiling to put up with some forest at times to get some larger trout.

And yeah, we also like the desert.

So I guess anyplace is good with us!

I think that to a large extent it depends on where we learned about backpacking. My initial experience was in the Michigan forests where I grew up and started backpacking. To me backpacking is wandering through the woods, by small streams and remote lakes. I have been in mountains and deserts but I still feel most at home in the woods. To me the thought of backpacking brings up visions of spending the day wandering through the woods and spending the night camped next to a remote lake with no other people withing sight or sound.

That expresses my experience very well. Though we are enamored of the Grand Canyon in current years, and have traveled to the Sierra and the Rockies multiple times, mixed hardwood and conifer forests do not feel like they are "blocking the view", rather, they are the view themselves. It's time for me to hike through them to camp on wilderness brook trout ponds!!!! We get out in winter as often as we do the more temperate times, with the concession we can't use 30 degree bags down to 0 like we use to. Having lived on the east slope of the Sierra after growing up on the east coast , I had a very radical dichotomous view on what constituted my favorite place to walk. For decades I missed the Sierra and thought them the epitome of places to hike, now I've come to appreciate wherever our feet take us. Dense forest with stream and pond, expanses of sky and granite, soaring canyons and cacti, it's all good.....

For me, it's the woods - partly because, as others said, it's where I learned. Also, it's because the woods are close - I can spend a couple of days walking through them once a month or more - anything in the West would be hugely complicated, involving planes, rental cars, etc., and would mean I'd maybe get out once a year.

There is open country in the East - the Roan and Grayson Highlands along the AT come quickly to mind; so does Isle Royale. Those are my big trips, once or maybe twice a year.

There's a stillness in the woods, even when there is noise. Perhaps it's a timelessness, I don't know; but there's something about knowing that the trees were there long before you were born and, with luck, will be there to greet your grandchildren. There's a connectedness there that I find comforting and renewing.

Like Daisy, I got my "I can camp in sub-zero" T-shirt. Since it's still in pretty good shape, I don't feel any compulsion to get a new one, so I rarely go out when it's going to be below freezing at night. I also used to camp in the rain, but now there are some places that are no longer worth spending half a day cleaning mud off my gear.

I spend a lot of time helping lead groups of beginners - I believe the best way to ensure trails survive is to put more people out on them. I also tend to experiment with gear, so I can better advise them on selection.

I'm also older (66), so I'm more interested in quality of the experience than in making miles - 8-12 miles a day is plenty.

Varies a good bit for me, but almost always on trails (or forest service roads, or some sort of pathway).

I agree with Grumpy Gord's comment:
"I think that to a large extent it depends on where we learned about backpacking."
And/or perhaps just where you live now and what's in reasonable driving range for most trips. For me that's the Pacific NW.

But I also agree with the idea that what we're used to drives us very much --- consciously perhaps but also subconsciously --- in how we think about backpacking, our sense of what's "right and normal". I've never hiked in true desert, but have now done a fair bit of "close to it" hiking, places people refer to as deserts (CA, NM, WY, AZ). Quite different, lessons to be learned, but also some assumptions and biases to un-learn.

I prefer canyoneering. Box and slot canyons. Southern Utah is my mecca. I have hiked all over. My all time favorite place which doesnt have any slot canyons is The Red River Gorge in Kentucky. I know it better than the back of my hand

I tend to stay closer to home, partly because it's close by and partly because I know the country. I'd rather be in the mountains, either in the East or out West. I like big views and I can't really get them in the woods. I don't often get them in the eastern mountains, but sometimes do. I've been from the Adirondacks to the West Virginia Appalachians to the Smokies and enjoyed them all, but it doesn't compare to what I have seen out West. I've enjoyed the desert, but prefer the Northern mountains of Wyoming and Montana. Out here, water is reasonably plentiful, so I don't have to worry too much about where to find it. In the flatlands, the wind just never seems to quit unless it's 90 or above, which it soon will be. My favorite times to get outdoor are the Spring and Fall, when the temperatures are moderate and the storms aren't too severe.

I am such a generalist that it's hard for me to say any one type of terrain or vegetation, though if I had to choose only one, it would have to be the high mountains above treeline, likely the Sierra. But I really am deeply in love with nature in all its forms, with biology and geology alike. A friend of mine kids me that every trip I ever come back from, no matter where, I always rave about how it is one of the best trips I've ever done Another buddy of mine, who I've done quite a few high alpine trips with, just never understands why I also want to do trips in Big Sur, or at the bottoms of canyons, or in deserts, or why I have to stop and look at bugs and flowers all the time. I suppose I am most dubious of flat places...but I loved backpacking through dense tropical rainforest in Costa Rica: no far-reaching views and it was pretty flat, but that was one of the best trips I've ever done
Speaking of having a love that comes from where you first started backpacking, I grew up in the Missouri Ozarks and from those oak forests, I have always carried a certain affinity for the oak forests of California, although my preference in that regard is more a mixed oak and conifer forest. Something about Big Sur stirs up some feelings of warm familiarity in that regard (not that Missouri is much like Big Sur:)

I prefer any place I actually get to go.

In all seriousness, my experience is pretty limited, and I don't think I'd be comfortable above tree line solo without more preparation. Nor would I be comfortable camping in snow or temps less than about 25F at the absolute lowest. I do like a bit of a view, even if only a few rolling hills or low bluffs, but I'll take what I can get. Though I haven't hiked any coastal areas, I bet the ocean would qualify as a decent view. But, hiking the closed-in pine forests of east Texas is better than not hiking!

My family lived for a very short time in Colorado when I was a baby, and the only memory I have of it from that time is the wildflowers on an open ridge in spring when there were still patches of snow in shaded areas. I've taken short trips to Colorado in the intervening years, but always for visits or to ski. I'd love to get back to hike sometime.

When I lived in CA my favorite places to go were generally above 6000 ft where the forests started getting thick and below the tree line. I hiked and camped near the tree line a lot, but never went above it much at all and never camped above it.

I love the terrain here. The hills and hollows and creeks and rivers are all fun to explore and full of character.

Nice post, Bobito. We've had many of the same experiences...

I live in western Oregon and therefore my 'backyard' mainly consists of the Cascades along with some lesser known mountains a bit further east. My preferred terrain is based on my familiarity with and the easy availability of those mountains.

I tend to prefer the areas up near, but not above timberline, where there are still trees, but also frequent open views. The big volcanoes of the Cascades don't have nearly as much high open alpine terrain, entirely above the tree line, as the Sierras do, and I like to have the bit of shade that trees provide since my skin doesn't appreciate a lot of sun exposure. Just in terms of solitude, I gravitate toward creeks as my water source rather than camping next to lakes, but I don't always have that choice.

You can usually find me inna woods, both on-trail and off. Living in the Midwest means it’s easy for me to get to a forest without too much driving, planning, etc. But I’m looking to expand my range this year... hearing about all this beautiful terrain is fueling my wanderlust

Although definitely not a mountaineer, I am probably more similar to Wandering_Daisy in my terrain preferences: Near, at, or above timberline, in the mountains, is my kind of country! However, I prefer on-trail or easy off-trail. I've never been comfortable with talus, even the so-called "easy" variety. Now that old age is catching up with me, I'm having balance issures, so it now has to be easy trail and shorter trips. I'd like to do one more trip to Wyoming's Wind Rivers before I get too decrepit, but it may not happen. If not there, the Wallowas in eastern Oregon. And there are always easier portions of Mt. Hood's Timberline Trail, an hour or so drive from my home, as long as I can put one foot in front of another!

I don't mind some hiking in old growth forest (I did some short day hikes in the redwoods of northern California week before last), but I really do prefer being out in the open, above it all with the spectacular views!

I too am a generalist. I first started in southern hemisphere temperate forests recreationally and as a wildlife ranger - this is my first love. I spent an awful lot of time in semi-arid areas, desert, and tropical rainforest/jungle in Australia into Papua New Guinea and Malaysia in the army. Plus a few other places around the world.
I've spent a lot of time recreational hiking in California - mountains and along the coast.
I love mountains - being above the treeline is great. I climb, but not much. Currently in the Pyrenees. Unfortunately the ski season is over and my beloved snow is gone. But the spring flowers are coming out.
I guess dense-ish forest is my first love. Open desert and grasslands are just a job. Mountains are great - close second place to forest.
Reggie

Speaking of redwoods and dense forests, my youngest son also recently did a hike in Prairie Creek Redwoods in northern California (two weeks before I did). He reported that once he and the kids got away from the road, he's never been in such a quiet place in his life. Even his children (11, 14, 16) were awed into silence!

So if you value the "sound of silence," that's a good place to go!