What is the best /out/ in the USA and why is it Southwest Colorado? This variety and extremes of this region are unmatched. Ouray, Telluride, Grand Junction, Durango, these places are in a league of their own when it comes to enjoying America.
Snowy mountains to forests and rapids to cliffs and canyons all within just miles of each other Mind boggling
The rest of America aint got NUTHIN on this circle
I prefer the hilly forests of the East.
>>2785905Everywhere has hilly forests dude
>>2785909yes but there's still pretty significantly sized gorges in some of them, no it's not quite the scale of the west, but you get to enjoy lovely hardwood forests, most cut and cut, but a few secondary growth ones, and fewer still primary growth and you get these dendritic networks of carved-out hollows with creeks inside them and curvy but narrow ridgesI bet you haven't even been.
>>2785911>I bet you haven't even beenI grew up there. I accepted reality.
>>2785894Alaska and it isn't close
Wisconsin is better.
>>2786130Lol>>2786066Less variety
>>2785894>Early October >Heading back to Denver from Moab >Realize this is a perfect time to take a detour through Aspen and/or Maroon Bells to see fall colors >Parents tell me to do some bullshit arch (I just came from Arches, I have seen a million of these things) and Fisher Towers before I leave >Really don't want to >"b-b-but anon, those rock formations are so cool, who cares that you just spent two weeks in Utah and saw things way cooler than arch #47340128, fuck them trees, go look at the rock formations" >Okay fine >Do those, and I am now running late >The sun is already setting by the time I get to Grand Junction >Never got to see Aspen in fall Pic related: What I missed out on because I was too busy being like "wow that rock sure is tall, okay time to go home" I just realized you're specifically referring to Southwest Colorado, not Colorado in general, but I already typed this out lol. I have yet to go south of Colorado Springs.
>>2786147>Less varietyYou have clearly never been to Alaska
>>2786205I guess it depends on how much attention you ordinarily pay to what's going on close to the ground. Sure, I find views of the Caribbean from 37,000 feet pretty spectacular, but nowhere nearly as packed with sustained interest as lowland parks of the Great Lakes region are from views at strolling height, such as when stopped in a sedan with the engine off, equipped with a macro lens, an acute sense of hearing, and a very long attention span.
>>2786220>>2786205Does alaska have red desert canyons?
>>2786324Desert yes? Red? No.Still more diverse than Colorado. Colorado doesn't have Fjords, it doesn't have glaciers, it doesn't have volcanoes, etc.
>>2786457>No fjordsWhite water rapids shit on fjords and we have plenty of creeks with big ass red canyon cliffs that are cool as fuck, we got grand granyon shit here dude >GlaciersHalf the state is a 10ft block of ice for 6 months thats plenty glacier for anybody>No volcanoesIve been to mt.st.helens great way to ruin the entire surrounding environment Alaska doesnt have summer you have to travel multiple times greater distance to reach a warm place than I do a fjord, glacier or ocean
>>2786495>White water rapids shit on fjords Incredibly bad take. Also irrelevant as Alaska also has canyons and whitewater. >Half the state is a 10ft block of ice for 6 months thats plenty glacier for anybodySeasonal snow is nothing like a glacier. Not even close. >Alaska doesnt have summer false
>>2786457>>2786495>>2786517I believe Colorado does have a few tiny glaciers...nothing in size and quantity of AK but still...
>>2786517Brother many parts of Colorado you cannot distinguish from Arizona's best features Alaska does not have this level of canyon and desert system nor the colors with it.
>>2786205Co is more biodiverse in everything, plant animal etc (except saltwater life), has way more different ecoregions, and has more different climate types. Alaska has some things co doesn't have. But co has much more that alaska doesn't have. On variety, co wins.
>>2786546No it isn't.
>>2786130no one cares about wisconsin
>>2786551Great rebuttal. There isn't even a single terrestrial reptile in alaska
>>2786555Oooooo rekt
>>2786517The lower 48 has recorded more snow than AK so far this season, which is the usual since the snowiest latitudes on Earth are all in the 30-40s N between Japan and the lower 48 of the US. Parts of Arizona are at 3 ft of snowfall this season right now (normal, so is September snow). Some deserts are more biodiverse than any northern sub-arctic and arctic biome, but the fact that the SW US has every single biome on Earth within 100 miles of each other (Saguaro cacti within 45 miles of the Toumey Groundsel habitat in Alpine tundra) minus only tropical jungle and swamp (but it still has other kinds of wetlands), makes the SW really hard to beat in diversity of biology and climates/habitats. And believe it or not but the four corners has more Elk size game (520-600k actual Elk after hunting season) in a smaller area than AK, ie higher game population density. AK is also more 80-90% urban by population living arrangements, most of its inhabitants (like everywhere) are in fact LARPers.
>>2786756So is it settled then??POWER RANKINGS BY REGION:Four Corners California AlaskaPNWThe GulfAppalachiaThe NortheastNorthern Michigan/WisconsinThe rest of the midwestThe rest of the southThe desertsThe plains
>>2786789no Rockies?
appalachia the best
>>2786796Youre right I grouped too much of the west with PNW and four corners. Northern rockies above the gulf.
>>2785894How are the ticks out west?
>>2786854Way way way less, I used to pull dozens off me per day out east. Id usually get em before they bit me.
>>2786875I hike a lot in the east, maybe I'm doing it in the wrong place, but I almost never get ticks. I got two ticks this year, one I didn't notice and it made a mark that still won't fully go away, so I learned my lesson, and the second time I was explicitly warned this was a high-tick area and indeed there was one at the end of the hike. But the tick that latched was hiking in a really wet muddy waterfall-y environment. I mean like the vast majority of hikes there's no ticks at all. Bugs, definitely, especially in the summer if you don't stay up at the highest elevation, but ticks are not a big thing at least in the central/south part
>>2786894It depends on the season but one bush will give ya fuckin 30 sometimes, also most people just stay on trails In my life ive had thousands of ticks and I do not believe I have any tick borne diseases
>>2785894I was recently in Bend, OR and I was really impressed with how diverse the biomes were, felt like an MMO map with all the totally different zones in a relatively small area. Bend itself is sort of high desert alpine and then you drive West for a couple of hours and go through big plains, stuff that feels like the Sierras, areas that reminded me of the Poconos and northern Appalachians, and then into stereotypical PNW lush forest, east and North are two different kinds of high desert, south is more Sierra-ish forest but with big volcanic areas, and then on top of that you've got four distinct seasons, good fall color, all kinds of winter sports opportunities, fishing, hunting, etc.
>>2786926>areas that reminded me of the Poconos and northern Appalachians???there is nowhere in bend like thatt. has spent time in pa and bend like there's parts that are green and lush in between the sisters and town, but its not like appalachia
>>2786926I lived in Bend. The problem is (and the problem with the mountain west in general) is that you can say its beautiful and sparsely populated but there's a reason. The climate is very extreme. You need studded tires during winter, you won't be hiking without snowshoes or crampons. There's just months and months of heavy thick snow in the mountains whereas in the eastern US there is snow but outside the highest elevations it doesn't form such a huge snowpack and it doesn't accumulate to the point of not melting fully until July. There's a very short season to enjoy the mountains in the West without a ton of technical gear (again this is just at higher elevations. Its cold in Bend from mid-october until mid may and you can get snow at any point during that time. It's a much more extreme climate and people don't realize that unless they've lived there or somewhere similar.
>>2786933>You need studded tiresNo you don't. You need winter tires, studded is overkill. >you won't be hiking without snowshoesThis is why you learn to ski tour. >There's a very short season to enjoy the mountains in the West without a ton of technical gear Again, learn to ski tour.
>>2786938If I recall correctly, studded tires were like required from nov-mar or something>overkillno there was a solid sheet of ice and snow on the roads much of the time, my BIKE had studded tires>This is why you learn to ski tour.lol just pay 200 a day for groomed slopes>just ski dudethe east has a lot of advantages that waste coasties hate being pointed out!
>>2786939>lol just pay 200 a day for groomed slopesI said ski tour. Not go to a ski resort. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_touring
>>2786939>If I recall correctly, studded tires were like required from nov-mar or somethingStudded tires are allowed nov-mar. They aren't required.
>>2786931It's hard to explain, but I'm talking about the area between Sisters and McKenzie Bridge. Just a few spots but they somehow gave me flashbacks to visiting my relatives north of Scranton. My dad was with me and agreed when I pointed it out too. The trees are wrong but there's something about the lay of the land that was doing it, and maybe also the fact that it was the beginning of last month so the fall color was starting to kick in. >>2786933>>2786938I'm moving there soon (parents are retiring there and I need to be near them for at least a couple of years while they deal with medical issues etc.) so I've looked into it, and most people seem to say that the winter-rated all terrains I have on my truck should be fine, at least around town. I'd like to spend time in the mountains though, been a DH skier for years and am interested in getting into XC, and I've also been wanting aftermarket wheels for my truck so I'll probably get a set shipped with dedicated studless snows already mounted and use those when I need to and then have a shop swap the tires between wheels in the summer. I'll also get a good set of chains/cables, actually need to do that ASAP since I may need them just for driving TO Bend in December.
>>2786066based>>2786130wrong but based. i grew up in northern wi (on the moraine) & live in alaska now. i do miss the upper midwestern forests & lakes but it's just not comparable to AK
>>2786495>Alaska doesnt have summerinterior alaska has the nicest summer in the entire united states & it's not even close
>>2786962I would take Scranton over Bend any day. You are massively coping. The Endless Mountains are gorgeous and well endless there's a different peak you could do every week and never repeat one. Enjoy your frigid desert wasteland. Seriously though, get studded tires.
>>2786966Hahahahahahahahahahaha
>>2786969don't laugh at me>70s, sometimes 80s. never too hot>cool breezes>bright enough to do stuff literally all day>incredible fishing>fireweed seeds drifting through the air>denali in view from the hills>mountains all around>rivers all around>not overrun with touristsnowhere else even compares
>>2786970You are merely describing an Alpine climateThis is a common climate
>>2786971i spend a month or so every year visiting my dad in the mountains in western montana>80s-90s most days>gets dark at night>SO MANY FUCKING PEOPLE>uv index worse >fishing worse>incessant wildfiresit's a beautiful place but it doesn't compare!
>>2786972You are a retarded joke
>>2786972Nigger what
>>2786968I wouldn't mind going back to my roots in PA but Bend has a lot of upsides too, way more variety in the area, multiple ski resorts within an hour, lots of public land, etc. I'll see how things go in terms of tires, can't do it until after I move there anyway since I can't drive there on them and don't have room in my truck to bring a spare set of wheels/tires with me. Might get studs but a lot of people seem to think studless is a good tradeoff given that it often becomes illegal to run studded before the winter tire weather ends.
>>2787021i'm intelligent & sophisticated>>2787024i'm also white & cogent
>>2787071Pa ( endless mountains and pine creek) has a lot of semi abandoned but beautiful terrain that could be improved to good effect for recreational purposes,Bend is much more discovered.
>>2787071Studs are good if theres ice and you do backroads that arent salted or sanded or cleared in winter to access stuff
>>2787077True I guess. Doesn't have the BLM land though, and I'm into /out/-adjacent stuff where that's a big benefit. (ADV/dual sport riding, shooting, etc.)>>2787079Yeah, I think the big thing for me is gonna come down to how much of that (if at all) I really end up wanting to do. I'm planning on getting into XC skiing because I need the exercise and it's a lot cheaper than lift tickets but I gotta figure out how much I need to go onto unmaintained roads/trails to get to places for it. Some of it is also down to where I end up living, Sunriver has some really appealing houses but the drive into Bend is a bit rough and studs would be a lot more justifiable if I have to do that commute.
>>2787084U can climb mt bachelor a bit on foot at night with a bottle of vodka u just have to dodge the grooming machine or at least thats what i did when i was there 15 yrs agothen u dont have to pay for lift ticketnorth fork of tumalo creek has some beautiful waterfalls the problem is when i was there the trail above the main lower falls is snowed in like november into julyI guess you just need snowshoes if you want to hike
>>2787084You don't have to go onto unmaintained roads. And really if a road is not maintained, it will be impossible to drive on anyway in any vehicle without tracks. You park at a sno-park then go from there. Either on foot (with skis) or with a sled. Dutchman-Flat sno park is a popular one. Touring up Broken Top is fun.
>>2787086I'm really not in a condition to be doing shit like climbing ski slopes at night anymore. I'll probably go to Hoodoo more than Bachelor anyway, seems to be the local favorite and it's way cheaper, might get a pass if I can. >>2787104Yeah, that's kinda what I figured. I'll check out Dutchman. From what I was seeing it seems like some of the national forests have areas you just need the regular pass for too but I'm not sure what the whole deal is with that. Also a sled would be based as fuck but definitely not in the budget this year, gonna be buying the wheeled equivalent (some kind of dual sport/small ADV) next spring so all my big purchase budget is already allotted there.
>>2787072U r a jokeDo you know other places get to have summer for more than 45 minutes
>>2787131length of summer is an external factor i'm talking about conditions
>>2787132Lol. Lmao.
why are east coasters such coping fagsi live in the east, Appalachians are cool but the rockies obviously shit on them, its not even close
>>2787409Nobody even talks about hiking in the appalachians here, at all, its weird
>>2787409Because West /out/ers only use 10% of their power to brag about their activities to gatekeep normoids. By handicapping the West by such a large amount east copers actually think their shitty crowded hills come close.
>>2786966>written by the insect population
>>2787435the mosquitoes in northern WI are at least twice as bad
>>2787434>crowdedonly if ur doing a super popular trail on a weekend
>>2787460Good thing nobody thinks about northern WI when they think about going outdoors in America
>>2787597maybe you don't you enormous normie faggot
