Lizz Bartlett Photography

Last entry

2010-10-28T19:10:00.002-04:00

Hi There!
It's been awhile since I have posted anything here. I've been working to integrate a blog into my website and it is done. I want to have a single place where folks can go to read anything I might write as well as see images in my portfolios. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand it all has a consistent look and feel.

So after the first of the year this blog will go away. If you're interested then please go to my website at www.lizzbartlett.com and click on the blog button. Also, go ahead and browse through the portfolios.

Cheers!
Lizz

Mt Washington Valley

2010-02-12T09:12:00.008-05:00

Over the past weekend I went up to the Mt. Washington Valley Ice Festival which is a gathering of ice climbers and the people who love them. I haven't climbed seriously for several years now, but with my good friend Chris visiting from Colorado it seemed like the perfect chance to "swing tools" again. We headed up on Friday the 5th and immediately got onto Standard Route on Frankenstein Cliff in Crawford Notch. It was fun, but really cold and after a few hours my (previously frostbitten) feet were beginning to hurt, the perfect motivation to go for dinner followed by a slideshow presented by Steve House, who is not only the best high altitude climber in the world today, but is a really fun speaker as well. Saturday was more of the same: climbing, dinner, schmoozing, etc. but with a little photography before dinner.

Here are a couple of late afternoon images taken on the banks of the Saco River, just outside of North Conway, NH

Mount Washington from the Saco River

Ice Blocks at Sunset

I didn't take any photos of climbers/climbing since I didn't want to leave my cameras unattended at the base of the climbs. It was really crowded and if I'm 100' up an ice climb, I'd rather not have to worry about cameras.

Anyway, by the time we were finished on Saturday, my feet were really hurting. We headed back to the Moat Mountain Brewhouse for a dinner that couldn't be beat. Since it was Saturday it was very crowded with the ski crowd outnumbering dirtbag iceclimbers by a healthy margin. After contemplating the idea of spending money we didn't have for a room in the area, we returned home to the Boston area. As soon as I removed my boots I could see that my big toes were black under the toenails so that meant no more climbing for me for awhile.

Anyway, I'm in preparation for an upcoming 3 week trip to the desert. They have received much needed rain and so I'm anticipating a nice wildflower bloom. Stayed tuned for updates!

Cheers!
Lizz

Headlight

2010-01-30T09:08:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday afternoon I slipped out a little early and headed to Scituate, MA. I had looked out the window and saw white puffy clouds filling the previously clear, blue sky. I figured that there might be a reasonably nice sunset to be had and since it was still warm I headed to the ocean. Even if there wasn't much going on photographically, how bad could it be to spend some of the afternoon beside an old New England lighthouse and watch the tide roll in?

Anyway, the weather cooperated aaaaaaaand it was nice to watch the tide. Here's a shot of the lighthouse

It turned out to be the right thing to do for an otherwise slow afternoon. Of course, I did have to endure the Boston (inapproptiately named) rush hour traffic on the way home. Oh well, a small price

Cheers!
Lizz

Day Trip to New Hampshire

2010-01-23T14:19:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday my buddy Ralph, aka The Doctor, and I made a whirlwind trip to New Hampshire.

It began with a stop at the seashore for sunrise. Well, almost. You see, while we intended an alpine start to see if we could capture some nice images of sunrise at Odirone Point, NH, we were a bit late out the door. It was a case of the hurrier I go the behinder I get. Anyway, as I'm driving as fast as I feel comfortable I look out the side window to see flames forming in the sky. I mean absolutely gorgeous red sky and my heart began to sink because I knew that we were not going to make it. At least not how we intended.

We arrived at the water just as the sun poked over the horizon. The Doc snapped off a couple of shots, one of which was pretty nice. Fortunately the tide was out and the water calm, so I set up to take some images of the rocks with reflections. Here's the best of the lot:

After the light changed, (which was pretty darn fast!) we headed north for a hike up the Champney Falls Trail to Picher and Champney Falls. It was a bluebird day which is nice for hiking, but kinda bland for photography since there were no clouds. It was a delightful hike and there were some guys with topropes at the falls ice climbing. It was fun to watch and made me anxious to dust off my skills and get out there again. Hopefully next week!

Once we finished our walk, we headed to Rocky Gorge along the Kancamagus Highway. The Swift River was mostly frozen and there were some interesting ice sculptures along the shore and in the river itself. Here's one image that I converted to black and white.:

We spent a couple of hours there before heading off to the Moat Mountain Brewhouse for some sustenance before the shlep back home. All in all not a bad way to spend a winter Saturday.

Thanks for reading,
Lizz

2010 and Some New Ideas

2010-01-14T21:13:00.003-05:00

I know I've said this before, but I really do want to try and make posts to this blog more frequent. It is really just laziness disguised as procrastination.

Anyway, I'm an idiot. Last weekend I made the choice to go somewhere different over the coming weekend. I wanted to go somewhere within New England and expand my photography subjects. The only problem? I left our place in the Berkshires and left my camera bag in the foyer. DOH!!!!

So, I was able to slip out to the house today and grab my gear including snowshoes, just in case the snow is deeper up north. On my way back to Boston on Rt 2 I crossed over the French King Bridge into Erving. Everyone scopes out the view north up the Connecticut River but I wanted to see what was south. I caught a glimpse of something gold and decided to check out the beautiful footbridge that crosses over the Millers River just before it empties into the Connecticut. I had a little time to set up and shoot a couple of images before the light went away. Here's my effort:

I hope you like it. Thanks for reading,
Lizz

Late Summer

2009-08-30T21:28:00.002-04:00

New England can be a very weird place to live. We always seem to be gearing our activities towards the next season. One week ago we had our only blast of real summer: temperatures in the mid 80s with dewpoints in the mid 70s. In other words I worked up a solid sweat just blinking my eyes. What was I doing? Putting my firewood into the barn for the winter. It seemed quite ironic to me.

I had a chance to visit Colorado for 10 days in July. I also was able to visit Acadia National Park right after that. There are new images from both trips up on my website www.lizzbartlett.com

Today, after finishing some chores, Holly and I went up to MacLeod Pond in Catamount State Forest for some photography. the new road that the state built does not appear to have increased the negative impact many feared that it would. It is still as beautiful as ever. Here's one of the images from this afternoon.

I hope your weekend was as nice.
Thanks for reading!
Lizz

The Best $99 I Have Spent in a Long Time

2009-06-30T19:32:00.004-04:00

I'm stubborn. I have been experimenting with HDR since I first bought my digital camera a year ago. The potential for the technique is huge and works really well in situations where a split ND filter would leave a line in the image or would have a dark top of a tree.

However, my results have been mixed. I've been using the Merge to HDR feature in Photoshop. Some of the merged images are pretty nice, but all too often the images appear gray and dingy no matter what I do for adjustments. Over the year I have read several reviews of Photomatix Pro but, (this is where the stubborn come sin) I have continued with Photoshop. So, I downloaded the free trial and ran some tests. After the first try I was sold. The best $99 I have spent in a long time.

Here are a couple comparisons:
Photoshop

Photomatix

Photoshop

Photomatix

I'm not sure if it's just that I wasn't skilled enough during the conversion from a 32 bit to 16 bit image, but the Photomatix adjustments are very intuitive and the results are , as you can see, pretty convincing.

I hope you liked the images and thanks for reading.
Lizz

Birds!

2009-05-28T18:44:00.005-04:00

I have discovered another thing that I really like about shooting digital. The flexibility to change as the conditions change.

I recently took an evening wander out to the Great Meadow National Wildlife Refuge, one of my favorite places to go at the end of the day. I took the opportunity to try my hand at a little bird photography something I had not really tried before due to the limitations of my film choices. Velvia 50 is a really wonderful landscape film, but catching a Great Blue Heron in flight in fading light is probably not going to happen. By boosting the ISO to 800 and opening up to f8 I was able to freeze the bird in flight handholding my 70-300.

Great Blue Heron in flight:

As I wandered around I found a bird I had never seen before....a Moorhen. A man who had been walking along the levee told me where to look. He also told me that one of the birds was "rather chatty" and could be easily seen. Sure enough there was one of the Moorhens wading along the levee in the reeds. I watched and photographed for a good half an hour until the bird moved into a more secluded spot.

Moorhen in the reeds:

What are you looking at?

I also spotted another bird of interest, a mother Wood Duck with her brood paddling around in the shallows. The ducklings cavorted and played with each other while mom kept a wary eye on me. It was fun to watch her herd the young'uns around.

Mama Wood Duck:

Slowly the light faded and the birds began moving to their evening roosts. I reset my D300 to ISO 100 and set up to shoot sunset. The skies cooperated and streaks of magenta painted the clouds. Once the lights went out I headed home.

Sunset:

Thanks for reading!
Lizz

Published!

2009-05-28T18:16:00.002-04:00

Well, the big news is that I had a photo published in the Appalachian Mountain Club's monthly magazine "AMC Outdoors". Last November I entered the AMC's annual photo contest. While I wasn't among the winners, the senior editor of the magazine liked my image of sunset taken at Popham Beach State Park in Phippsburg, ME. He liked it enough that he asked to run it in the June issue. Here's the image:

Thanks for reading!
Lizz

Wildflowers 2009

2009-05-12T21:32:00.004-04:00

For some reason I seem to be just a step behind the wildflower blooms this year. One of my favorite spots for the first wildflowers is Bear Swamp, a property in Ashfield that is managed by The Trustees of Reservations. December's ice storm wreaked havoc on the place and the area is really a mess. And then it seems something comes up, from the weather to getting a migraine.

Anyway, I did finally get out and find a few stands of beautiful "Painted Trillium". Here's an image from the afternoon.
Painted trillium

They really are beautiful, even more so in person!
Thanks for reading,
Lizz

2009-05-06T19:47:00.003-04:00

Here are a couple of others from Sunday. Variations on a theme. Sometimes when the skies don't do much that's interesting, look down.
Marsh Marigolds at the Beaver Pond, Bear Swamp

A Closer Look

Spring Time

2009-05-04T19:45:00.004-04:00

OK, it's been awhile. Again. I'm going to try to be better at posting. It isn't like I haven't been doing anything. I've been to the desert, New Orleans, Cape Cod and have new trips planned. Colorado in July for wildflowers, the Cape again, Mt. Washington for wildflowers as well as my regular jaunts throughout the northeast. Should be fun.

Anyway, here are some from this weekend.
Thanks for reading,
Lizz
Often mistaken for Dutchman's Breeches, Squirrel Corn

Sunset on the Shad in the back yard at the Rolling J

Ice!

2009-01-11T19:04:00.000-05:00

Among other things, I am an ice climber. It has taken a bit longer than I am used to for the ice to form enough to climb, but I am patient. After an exploratory hike up to Farley on Saturday Chris and I went to the Zoar Roadcuts to play around and get the first swings of the season under our belts.

The original plan had been, after a great dinner at the Hope and Olive and sleep at the Rolling J Farm, to drive to Rumney and climb before returning to Ahlington for dinner and the start of the work week. The only fly in the ointment was we received 10" of new snow overnight and driving when we needed to was not very safe. So, we played at Zoar and drove back early. Here's a shot of Chris topping out on one of the climbs at the Cuts.

There should be more coming this coming weekend.

Cheers!
Lizz

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T19:06:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to all who tune in here. I hope this new year is a fabulous one for everyone.

Anyway, today is New Year's Eve. As is usual in New England the weather decided to be somewhat contrary. We received about 10" of the nice white fluffy stuff. The driving from Boston wasn't too bad since most folks took the day off. Once I cleared northern Worcester County it was clear sailing all the way. Of course, I arrived at the Rolling J Farm, dumped my stuff and since it was late in the day I went off with the cameras to see if sunset would try to match Sunday's show. It wasn't quite as spectacular, but was pretty nice. My feet were really cold by the time I got back to the truck and headed home. Here's an HDR image from an overlook of the Deerfield River in the misnamed Florida, MA.

Happy New Year!
Lizz

Exceptions to the Rule

2008-12-29T18:04:00.000-05:00

OK, so not every image taken this time of year NEEDS to be converted to black and white. I was on my way back home (the eastern home) on Sunday afternoon. For the most part it was a very warm (for December) but overcast day . The warm air over the snow was producing fog here and there, so I figured that this would be the order of the day. Foggy fields and woods with just a hint of the hills in the background and possibly godbeams from a hole in the clouds should yield something interesting, in either color or B&W.
A Field Above Shelburne, MA

I drove around a bit, but had an idea where I wanted to go for the end of the day: Priest Brook in Royalston, MA. But I left a bit later than I should have for that particular location, so I gassed up the truck and continued eastward. On my way I decided to drive long Rt 122, which parallels the Quabbin watershed for about 10 miles. I stopped at a boggy area and got out to survey the possibilities. I found a decent place to pull over and wandered over. I shot a number of uninspiring images and was just about to give up and just drive home when I saw it. In a big patch of overcast that I thought was so thick that no sunset could possibly burn through, patches of crimson were appearing amongst the gray of the clouds. It built and built until the sky was on fire. After my experience in the spring where I watched the most spectacular sunset in Death Valley with my cameras neatly re-packed in my pack, I vowed to wait until I was absolutely certain it was dark. I'm glad I did!

The Quabbin Watershed, Petersham. MA

Enjoy!
Lizz

InterSeasons

2008-12-27T08:17:00.000-05:00

For anyone who has lived in New England any length of time, you know about the two major interseasons. I'm coining this phrase "interseason" to describe the (hopefully) short period of time between the end of autumn and the first snows and the end of snow and the fist green buds on the trees and blooming of the early wildflowers. Once the leaves have turned and fallen to the ground, the landscape becomes fairly devoid of color. The trees, once brightly adorned are now bare and a variety of grays and muted browns. The grasses are mostly brown and the hills have taken on a stark appearance in preparation of the winter to come.

What is a photographer to do? This question plagued me as I hiked into Hamilton Falls in Jamaica State Park, VT one Saturday after Thanksgiving. There was just a dusting of snow here and there along the West River. I was struggling to find a composition that would excite me and lamenting the lack of color when it struck me. Of course!!! Black and white!!! My partner shoots 4x5 black and white and the images are quite spectacular. She has been chiding me for some time to shoot black and white, but I'm a little slow.

Using a digital camera allows for such flexibility. I capture the image in color, adjust tones and colors in Photoshop and use an adjustment layer to convert to black and white. It's a non-destructive means of conversion and I have the color version, too. I am by no means very adept at this, but I'm learning. Here are a couple of images from my day in Vermont.

The Dumplings, West River Vermont

Hamilton Falls, Jamaica State Park, VT

Snow!

2008-12-21T16:20:00.000-05:00

Yes, folks it's finally snowing here in the northern Berkshires. There's a good foot of snow on the ground and it's still coming down. Last week's ice storm didn't touch our old farmhouse and it was looking pretty bleak. An all brown and gray palette doesn't feel very wintry here in New England.

Yesterday the storm let up enough for me to get out with my camera so I headed up to Rowe and Pelham Brook. Of course I had to also check out the Zoar Roadcuts for climbable ice. Nothing to climb yet, but it's coming. Here are a couple of images from a very quick stop along the brook. It was getting dark and I needed to get home and stoke the stove.

Back

2008-12-14T15:26:00.000-05:00

OK, so it's been pointed out to me (by more than one person) that I have been slacking on my blog. I have been out shooting a lot and my images have gone up on my website (www.lizzbartlett.com) but I have neglected this blog, which really allows me to do some commentary.

So, I'm going to try and remedy that. I really no longer have excuses. My thinking was that by the time I shot my roll(s) of film and had it/them processed and I could sort, edit, scan and process the selected images that I was waaaaaaaaaaaay past the time when I could make any appropriate comments. But I haven't shot any film since April when I got the D300. Kinda sad to see my trusty F100 languishing in the shadows. :-((

This past week produced an ice storm of epic proportions throughout New england. Our old house in western MA was unscathed but the higher elevations got hammered. Power may not be restored for nearly a week. It was however, beautiful to see and photograph. Here are a few images from the past couple of days. This very blue image is of the East Hawley Rd looking north.

These other two are from sunset spent with TCR up in Ashfield. For those of you who read his blog, Little Bang Theory, this is what I was looking at.

Thanks for reading!
Lizz
a.k.a. Frau Biergut

HDR

2008-06-02T21:31:00.001-04:00

So, I was asked what the other apple blossom images looked like and whether any of them were the (according to the meter) proper exposure. Here is the series of 5 exposures, each 1 stop apart from slowest to fastest shutter speeds. I think that the middle image is at the "proper exposure according to the meter set in Matrix Mode. I don't think that any one image is better than the composite. What do you think?

Thanks for reading!
Lizz

More D300

2008-05-17T21:43:00.000-04:00

Tonight I went looking for some nice sunset images to try out a new technique with the D300. But as I was driving around some of the local apple orchards, the clouds moved in. It wasn't going to be as exciting, but it wasn't a total blow out, though and I got to try a couple of compositions. The apple trees are all in full bloom and they were literally buzzing with bee activity. It's also wildflower season and I'll post some of the new images from last weeks trompabout.

Here's tonight's attempts at HDR (High Dynamic Range) which combines images that cover a range of exposures into a single image. It looks a lot more like what our eyes can distinguish. See what you think.

It started raining as I drove home and it's been gently coming down since. A nice little soak for the grass I just dosed with Weed N'Feed.

Thanks,
Lizz

D300

2008-05-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since my last post here. As soon as I arrived home from the desert, I got sick. Real sick, like walking pneumonia sick. I'm still not 100%. So, the details of the trip kinda languished and I got busy with stuff. like getting images from the trip up onto the website. I changed the portfolios around a little to be able to have a "New works" portfolio. I have about 14 or 15 images there from Joshua Tree and Death Valley. Go to and check the "New Works"portfolio. I hope you enjoy!

So, I finally did it. I caved. I have joined the Dark Side and bought a digital camera. After reading the reviews and doing some shopping I got me a Nikon D300. I'm still on the overhanging part of the learning curve, but I'm doing some things that I never did with film.

Like shooting kayakers in the local rivers enjoying the spring runoff. One of the first days out with this camera I drove up and down along the Cold River looking for boaters. The water was high and there are several ClassIII or harder runs. So I found Pinball and waited for the boats to arrive. Just as I was about to leave, I saw a brightly colored helmet go bobbing across the river and slip in the lee of a boulder. Soon a half dozen or so others joined him. They reconnoitered for awhile and then, down they can one after another. Here are a few of the images.

I was really impressed with the continuous focus feature that allowed me to use Aperture Priority and lock onto a kayaker and follow him through the run, from the top all the way through to the next rest. Also, the light kept changing so I could change ISO settings on the fly and keep my speed to where I could freeze the action. Several of these images are at ISO 800 and there doesn't appear to be much noise. I'm looking forward to more chances to photograph action.

So, that's about it for now. thanks for reading
Lizz

Spring Trip 08, 1st entry

2008-03-06T12:00:00.000-05:00

I am back from 3 weeks in the desert (Joshua Tree N.P., Mojave National Preserve and Death Valley N.P. with a side trip to Bishop thrown in for good measure). The few times I had internet service during the trip, I had technical troubles and couldn't upload my entries. Sooooooooo, now that I'm back home, it appears that I'll be able to re-cap for all who might be interested. I'm going to break the entries up into semi-logical bites so it isn't just one HUGE and tedious thing to read. It's good to be home. Now I have over 1000 new images to edit!

So, the big event has finally arrived. I left Boston on Thursday February 28th and was checked in to the Motel6 before midnight, Vegas time. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow and I didn’t wake up until after 7AM.

It was OK, though because I had shopping to do. There is a very nice Whole Foods in Henderson, NV and right across the street is the REI. I laid in supplies that would keep without cold, such as Annie’s mac and cheese and pasta with tomato sauce. And I also bought a BIG bag of coffee so that the ritual continues! Bottles of gas and a few other items and I was on the road west.

I drove through the Mojave National Preserve but didn’t see much in the way of wildflowers. I checked out the Kelso Dunes, and also the restored Kelso Depot, a very cool old time railroad station complete with a lunch counter. Unfortunately, the counter is not yet open, though the NPS is looking.

I decided to go to Joshua Tree instead. There were reports of lots of wildflowers throughout the park. They were right! My first exposure came on the drive from Mojave through the town (?) of Amboy on Rt.66. All along the way were fields of what appeared to be Desert Sunflowers and when I got out to take some photos I was amazed at the fragrance. The valley was just alive with the perfume of the flowers.

Anyway, I pulled into the Park after dark and found myself a campsite. I pitched the tent, got out the sleeping bag and made myself a nest. I was asleep in no time, again. Still on that east coast time, I guess. I slept pretty well and was up around 4Am and since I’d been in my bag for 8 hours already I got up and drove to the Ocotillo Patch and waited for sunrise. The dawn was pretty nice and I think I got some nice images.

Ocotillo Patch at Sunrise

Once the light was up a took more images around the patch before moving back north to the Cholla (pronounced Choya) Garden. I took more images there and ran into a guy from Gloucester. Imagine that! Anyway, the sun was up, it was getting warm and I NEEDED some coffee.

The Ritual, JTree Style!

After some oatmeal and some perked coffee I was back out and on my way to the south gate and Cottonwood Springs. I checked in at the ranger’s station and headed on up to Lost Palm Canyon. It’s about 4 miles in from the parking area and it is an oasis complete with a grove of California Fan Palms. I lounged around in the shade, took my shoes off and let the cool breeze dry my back.

Lost Palm Canyon

After about 45 minutes of this, I headed back down to my car. The light was improving as it was late afternoon and that nice low angle sunshine was making the shadows long. I stopped at a few places on my way back to camp and took more images of flowers. The Sand Verbina was blooming in a number of places and I had to stop.

Anyway, I arrived back at camp just as it was getting dark. I fired up the stove and made some dinner. It wasn’t too long after eating and cleaning up before I was ready to sleep again. I was out like a light only to be awakened by my tent shaking in the wind. It just came in gusts and shook the whole thing, even blowing up through the floor! I still slept OK, but I got up once to bring the pots into the tent and make sure that the tent fly hadn’t been torn.

That pretty much summed up today (Sunday). The wind was so strong that I couldn’t even set up my tripod or light the stove. I kept moving around trying to find a place to hike or something that wasn’t getting slammed by the wind. I visited a few of the nature walk loops and did the hikes around them. After yesterday, I needed something easy as my legs were a little bit sore.

So, since Sunday was a breeze, I think I may stay one more day and hope that the wind dies down some. It appears that it is letting up a bit as I type this. I’ll keep you posted!

Lizz March 2, 2008 Joshua Tree National Park

Site of the Week

2008-02-24T09:23:00.001-05:00

Last week my website was chosen by liveBooks to be one of their "Sites of the Week"! I'm really honored because these folks see really good photography all the time and so far a few of them have commented favorably on mine. Check it out here http://www.livebooks.com/community/index.php then click on the Sites of the Weektab and choose Week2. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Lizz

Practicing My Scales, Grayscales That Is!

2008-02-18T13:35:00.000-05:00

The sun has been absent quite a bit lately. A week ago I was out running errands and I brought along my N80 with the 20mm lens and ISO 100 (Kodak 100VS) color film so I could hand hold the camera. The sun was really just a pale, brighter spot in the otherwise gray overcast. All along the routes I drove, there were just beautiful winter scenes in shades of gray. All the trees were still draped in shrouds of white from the previous storm. The images looked almost like I was shooting black and white except for some hints of color here and there.

Here are some of the images from the day.

Here are a couple leftovers from the fall.

Welcome to the 90's

2008-02-10T11:27:00.000-05:00

Well, now I’ve gone and done it. I am now a Dot Com. Check it out! www.lizzbartlett.com I have been struggling for over a year to build my own website so that I would have an internet presence for my photography. It’s harder than I thought, especially having it look professional, work on all the key browsers and be easy to update. After all, I want to be out shooting, not learning HTML!

So, as we approached the New Year I decided that 2008 would be the year that I actually try to make a (at least part-time) business of photography. As part of that decision I hired a developer to build my site. I had been reading Elizabeth Carmel’s PhotBlog about her experience working with liveBooks, a developer for photographers by photographers.

She had had a very positive experience so I started going through their website and learning more. As I did this I also started noticing other folks whose sites I had been admiring and had been built by liveBooks….Robert Glenn Ketchum and Carr Clifton to name but two. The fee was reasonable and the tools for maintaining the site myself i.e. uploading and managing images are easy to use and very powerful. There are also business tools and databases.

I’m very happy with the end result and my experience was excellent. Visit the site and let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Lizz

Surgical Strike-Zion

2007-11-23T11:08:00.001-05:00

Surgical Strikes. That’s what I call my short trips to places of interest, such as national parks. I usually try to coordinate them around some sort of business, like a conference, so that I use a few vacation days and work pays the airfare and some of the other expenses. This strategy has worked pretty well bringing me to places like the Channel Islands NP off the coast of California, Rocky Mountain NP, Joshua Tree NP, Anza Borrego State Park, among others.

This time I applied the technique (minus the corporate input) to seeing Zion National Park. I noticed that several of my favorite photographers (Jack Dykinga and David Muench) both were teaching workshops in Zion in early November. I figured they must know something that I didn’t and after a bit of investigation I discovered that early November is when the leaves change in that part of the country. The Aspens turn a brilliant yellow and the maples are a deep crimson. I had some personal time to use up and I found a reasonable airfare, so I booked myself a surgical strike to Zion covering November 8-10.

I left Boston around 5PM on Wednesday November 7 and landed in Las Vegas around 10PM PST after a brief stop in Salt Lake City. I grabbed the rental car and checked into the Motel6 in Vegas around midnight. This Motel6 is on Dean Martin Blvd which runs parallel to The Strip, but is separated from The Strip by the 15 running N/S. I could see the big black pyramid of Luxor and the towering Mandalay Bay but where I stood was a world away. Anyway, I tipped over and was asleep in no time.

I woke up around 7AM, checked out almost immediately, grabbed a MacBreakfast and was soon on the 15 heading towards Utah. It took a almost 3 hours to get to Springdale which is the little town just outside of Zion NP. I bought some supplies for hiking and breakfast and headed into the park. I got my campsite, set up the tent and went for my first hike.
The Front Porch

The Back Porch

The nice thing about November is that you can drive anywhere in the park. From March until the end of October, however, to go up into Zion Canyon you must ride on the shuttle. I’m sure the shuttles are convenient and are absolutely necessary during the peak visitation season, but I do like the freedom to move around at my own pace.

I decided to hike the Emerald Pools Trail which takes you up from the canyon floor along a really nice trail to lower, middle and upper Emerald Pools. The upper pool is set below towering red walls and if you want to hike further, you have to be able to rock climb. I took some photos at each of the 3 pools and then took the upper trail back down which made a loop and gave a really nice view down into the canyon.
Looking Back Down the Lower Emerald Pool Trail

The Upper Emerald Pool

View Down the Upper Pools Trail

Once back down, I drove up to the very end of the canyon to the Temple of Sinawava just to check it out. It was getting late afternoon and the light up in there was gone, so I turned around and headed to the eastern section of the park. This requires going through a tunnel that was built back in the 1930s and is low and narrow. The rangers stop traffic when a large vehicle needs to pass through, so I had to wait for a large trailer to make its way through.

Immediately on the eastern side of the tunnel is the carpark for the Canyon Overlook Trail. This is a pretty short (0.5 miles one way) trail to the overlook. I had wanted to do this hike after seeing a David Muench photo of sunrise from the Overlook. I wanted to see the trail in daylight in preparation for a pre-dawn hike with a headlamp so I could photograph sunrise a la Muench. It’s a well marked trail that ends at a railing and a look over the edge down into the canyon and beyond. Underneath, but out of view is the Zion Arch. I set up my tripod and waited for sunset chatting with many of the people who had hiked up to check out the view. I shot some nice images and then hiked down, getting back to the car before dark.
Sunset from the Canyon Overlook

Zion is quite the place and it does attract lots of photographers. I have not seen so many tripods and expensive rigs all in one place before. As I drove down from the Overlook there were still lots of people all set up on the bridge over the Virgin River getting the last shots of sunset and the Watchman. I’m glad I chose the Overlook and avoided the crowds. I continued into town for dinner at The Bit&Spur where I had a lovely pasta dish, washed down with an Evolution IPA. Next year I’ll try the Polygamy Porter.

After dining, I went back to my camp and after watching the stars for awhile I turned in. It was nice and cool and quiet when I fell asleep. I woke up in a few hours and it was like I had pitched my tent in a wind tunnel. IT WAS HOWLING!!!! The fly was flapping like crazy and I could have sworn it was raining. I slpet on and off for a few more hours, but as 4AM rolled around I had to get up. I needed to visit the facilities and I had already been lying down for 8 hours. I was amazed as I poked my head out of the tent to see that the sky was clear and full of stars.

I sat around at the picnic table as I decided on what to do. I really wanted to get out to the Canyon Overlook, but I kept talking myself out of hiking in the dark. All the “ohmagawds and whatifs” were rolling around in my head. Finally, I got going. I decided to go for it. Of course, I sat in the car for awhile offering the same arguments against, but as the night began to give way to light, I shouldered my pack, put on my headlamp and started walking.

Surprisingly, the hike was very relaxing. While I was relaxed and happy to be up and moving, my attention was very focused on the trail, lit by my headlamp, since there are several places where there is a long drop off to the dry wash below. I arrived at the overlook in plenty of time to set up my tripod and wait. It was quiet and clear. I was glad to have my warm jacket with me since the temperature was hovering in the upper 30s.
Sunrise from the Canyon Overlook

As the sun came up, I was all alone at the overlook. I kept expecting to hear voices coming up the trail to join me at first light. As first light passed, I thought for sure someone else would join me. Nope, I spent an incredible 2 hours watching the sun rise and illuminate the Towers of the Virgin with a gorgeous alpenglow. I returned to my car and still no one was there. Happily I returned to my camp for the morning ritual. (See the description in the Rocky Mountain post below)

Unfortunately, I goofed the day before and bought the wrong gas for my stove. No coffee. No oatmeal. What to do? I could go into town, buy another can of gas for my stove, come back, perk coffee, make oatmeal and waste the rest of the morning or I could go into town and visit the Mean Bean and get the necessary sustenance. That was the right choice! I walked in and ordered the largest coffee I could along with a breakfast sandwich. Mmmmmmmm and served up by a guy wearing a T-shirt that said “Never let a C student run your country!”.

I took my nectar and manna and split for the park. I ate as I drove up to the Temple of Sinawava and my date with the Riverside Walk, the paved trail that leads to the Virgin River Narrows. The late morning light backlighting the brilliant yellow Aspens along the rushing Virgin River suggested photo after photo. It was really hard to find something that wouldn’t be so obvious. I was set up to take an image and was framing my shot when a party of 3 walked past. One of the men said “There’s a photo up in there somewhere.” I agreed and they kept walking along.
Along the Riverside Walk

I walked up all the way to the end of the Riverside Walk taking more photos and reveling in the light. I took a few images at the trail’s end and was considering walking further up the canyon. I had to think hard about it. I had been talking to one of the park rangers the day before and he told me that the water was about 50°F. That’s cold and my feet are not really happy in the cold. As I was considering what to do, the same group passed me. Another one of the guys asked me if I was thinking about going up stream. I recognized him as one of my favorite landscape photographers, Jack Dykinga ( www.dykinga.com ). Of course, I said I was absolutely going up into the Narrows. He then asked if I’d carry his pack.
Looking Up Into The Virgin River Narrows

As we were hiking up into the Narrows I struck up a conversation with another member of the group, a woman named Jillian Robinson, a documentary film maker from Tuscon. In addition to Jack Dykinga, I was hiking with Jeff Foott, another professional photographer of some note. I was welcomed into the group and was able to spend most of the afternoon watching how these folks worked. Jack just tromped up into the Narrows, saw an image, set up his 4x5 camera, metered the scene and started taking pictures. Then just as quickly he moved to another spot and did the same thing. Then back to the first place for more. Then he made all of us get that same image.
My Version of the View Up the River

The View Down River in The Narrows

So, about the time that Jack ran out of film I needed to get out of the water. My feet were beginning to feel a bit like wooden clubs on the end of my legs and I needed something to eat. We walked back downstream and back to the cars. I said goodbye and went and ate some cheese and nuts and bread, feeling very satisfied and really lucky to have been there to hang with those folks.

After I finished eating and drying out, I went off in search of the evening spot to shoot sunset. I thought maybe at the same bridge with the hordes, but that I would venture down next to the river and get more of the scene looking up. The light did not cooperate very well and there were low clouds moving in. The spectacular show of the night before did not repeat, so after a few lackluster shots I went into town for another dinner and sleep.

My plan for Saturday was to break camp and head up to the Kolob Canyon area to either hike into the Subway or around to the Double Arch Alcove area before driving back to Vegas and an early morning flight on Sunday. Double Arch Alcove was suggested by both Jack and Jeff as one of THE places to go, especially with the foliage as beautiful as it was. I had my backcountry permit for the Subway and I had details for the Alcove and just needed to make up my mind.

Making up my mind was decided by my dinner. I had ordered a pork tostada and a couple of IPAs. I went to bed happy and full only to wake up a few hours later trying to decide whether to puke or shit! I ran to the bathroom and spent the next hour sitting there. I went back to my tent and fell asleep again only to wake up again in a little while with the same problem. I spent the next few hours voiding everything that was inside me. Once the sun was up, I started to break camp and it took awhile because I had to keep stopping and resting and fighting to keep from puking. After a couple of hours I felt a little better and figured a small coffee would be OK. Thus fortified I decided to forego and ideas of hiking that day.

So, I did something else I have done in the past when I explore a new area-I decided to drive and see the countryside. And what better way to do that than to drive up to Bryce Canyon NP. After all it would only be about a 1.5 hour drive and I would be able to check it out for the big spring trip next year. So, while still feeling like I was going to hurl, I pointed the car east, drove through the eastern section of Zion and on up to Bryce.

Once in Bryce, I drove all the way to the end of the road and slowly worked my way back to the entrance stopping at each overlook and taking some photos. This canyon is unique geologically, filled with structures called hoodoos. The hoodoos are artifacts from erosion of the very soft sandstones in the area. As they erode, short, deep canyons are formed. In Bryce, there are thousands of these canyons creating a maze of passages. Ebeneezer Bryce once remarked “It’s a helluva place to lose a cow.”
Sunrise Point-Bryce Canyon

The View From Bryce Point

Bryce is at over 8000’ so each time I tried to hike out a little ways at the overlooks, I would get really winded, my head would start to pound and I’d feel sick all over again. But I stopped at each overlook and made mental notes about good spots to take photos at either sunrise or sunset.

By the time I had driven all the way through the park it was getting late, so I bought a Coke and began the drive back to Vegas. I returned to the same Motel6, took a shower, re-packed and fell right asleep. My alarm woke me up in plenty of time to get to the airport for my 6:30AM flight home. After a quick change of planes in LA I was headed home, arriving in the early evening happy and tired. I can’t wait to go back next year for a whole week.

'Rahdo, dude!

2007-09-26T20:42:00.000-04:00

As I prepare to (finally) upload this entry, one of my best friends, Chris (moron) LeMay is getting settled in his new city of Boulder, CO. I am REALLY envious!

“‘Rahdo, Dude!” Apparently this is THE way to say it according to my colleague Hans. Not only do you say it with your best Valley Boy/Girl inflections, but you also have to hold your hands with the thumbs and little fingers extended and the other three fingers folded like this:

With your hands folded like this, you waggle them back and forth while saying” ‘Rahdo, dude!” This is the proper way to refer to Colorado. While I was there no one did this.

I arrived in Colorado at the Denver International Airport late in the day on August 23 after a flight where the flight attendants were kept in their seats with seatbelts on. Denver is perhaps my least favorite place to land due to lots of wind and very few smooth landings. So, I was expecting a terrifying landing complete with firetrucks and a slide down the emergency chute. It turned out to be the smoothest landing I have ever had in Denver.

After collecting the big yellow duffle and my other bags, I picked up the rental Jeep and headed up to Longmont for a stay at the Super8 motel. I figured that I would like a night to collect my thoughts, take a shower in the morning before heading up to Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park (RMNP). It was the right thing to do because I had never been in this part of “Rahdo, dude” and would rather explore during the light of day.

I checked out the next morning and went to the Albertson’s I had noticed the night before to load up on supplies for the trip. A full shopping cart later, I headed south to Boulder to visit Neptune Mountaineering and pick up a couple other things I needed, like a stove and fuel. This place is really neat with little “museum” nooks containing climbing gear from the ages scattered around the store. I could have spent the entire day in there just browsing, but I was on a mission.

So. After collecting my stuff from the store, I drove through Boulder up to Lyons where I picked up CO Rt. 7, which took me all the way up to Estes Park. This route is jaw dropping gawjus! It passes below Long’s Peak, part of my quest, while continuing north. I stopped in to the ranger’s station at Long’s and picked up a map and other info before heading down to Estes Park.

Estes Park is a real tourist trap with t-shirt shops and knickknack shops cheek by jowl along Main St. and tons of people strolling along. I am told that by now, the town is pretty much rolled up for the winter and largely deserted. Anyway, I continued through to get up to the RMNP Visitor Center to get more info about camping.

Now, I must admit to a rather lengthy and strenuous debate with myself about actually camping, alone, for 3 days. I have gotten so far away from my dirtbag roots, that the thought of it was beginning to terrify me. Oh, what the hell, I’ll just get a room for tonight. I did this in CA in June and it bugged me. I finally settled down and got some cash and headed back up to Long’s, where there is a drive-in, tent only campground. Perfect base of operations! The extra bonus is sleeping at over 9000’ which is one of the recommendations for acclimatizing to the altitude.

Home

So, I found a site, paid the $60 for 3 nights and pitched the tent. I had no sooner finished this than it started to rain. It was the afternoon thunderstorms that roll through the mountains during August. I climbed into the Jeep and tried to wait it out. It stopped long enough for me to cook dinner (Mmmmmm…..Top Ramen) before it started again. Once again it stopped and I decided to head down to Lily Lake and see if it would clear enough for some sunset photos. Nope, it just kept raining, so I turned around and headed back to camp.

The T-storms continued throughout the night waking me several times. The lightning flashes quickly followed by thunder (Eeeek! That was close!) gave me pause as to the wisdom of my decision for camping. But, I decided to see what the morning would bring.

I got up about 90 minutes before sunrise and raced down to Lily Lake again. I didn’t worry too much about waking anyone else since most of the folks who camp at Long’s are there to actually try and climb to the summit (14,275’). This usually means up and ready to hike by headlamp at 3AM. This early start is crucial to success, since you want to be on the way down in time to miss the afternoon storms. Once it started to brighten I was witness to the deposit of snow on the mountains. August 24 and there’s snow in the Rockies. I like winter but that’s pushing it a bit.

Once the light was gone, I went back to camp and made breakfast. This included “The Ritual” started by Chris LeMay and me back in Tuolumne. The ritual is strong, black coffee perked on the camp stove. This is the requirement for breakfast. Everything else is just fluff. The Ritual

After breakfast I packed my stuff for the first hike. Over dinner the night before I had settled on hiking the Glacier Gorge trail out to Mills Lake which has a beautiful view of the back side of Long’s Peak as well as views of Hallett Peak, Chiefshead and the Spearhead in a beautiful alpine setting. Only problem was that I was staring late and by the time I arrived at the parking area for Glacier Gorge, it was full. I could take the shuttle bus that the Park Service runs, but I thought I’d see if the Bear Lake lot had any slots available. I could connect up to Glacier Gorge Trail from Bear Lake and it was only a wee bit longer so I figured why not.

There were plenty of parking spaces there since it is one of the most popular spots in the park. Bear Lake is only about 300’ from the parking area and the entire trail around the lake is handicapped accessible. There are those who would argue that a handicapped trail around a lake is an abomination, but I would much rather have those be able to enjoy what I take for granted. The more people who can participate in the outdoors, maybe the more people will voice disapproval when the government wants to limit the parks. Or not. I still would like to think that they would.

The hike was really enjoyable and I was really glad to have spent the night at altitude because I did not suffer any ill effects. In fact, I felt so good, I decided to extend my hike and go out to Black Lake. It added another 4.5 miles to the trip, but it was well worth it. As soon as I left Mills Lake, the crowds thinned and I was pretty much alone until I made the return trip. I made it back to the camp in good style, had a beer while cooking dinner (Mmmmmm….Top Ramen) and was asleep soon after. Chief's Head
Glacier Gorge
Black Lake

Chief's Head from Black Lake

There were no T-storms on Friday night, so I slept through. At least until everyone else in camp started preparing for their assault on the Long’s summit. Most folks were turned back on Friday due to the snow at the higher elevations, so, coupled with regular weekend traffic, it was really crowded on Saturday. I got up early enough to shoot sunrise, but the light was pretty boring.

After “The Ritual”, I packed my stuff again for a hike up to Chasm Lake, which sits at the base of the east face of Long’s Peak, aka the Diamond. The Diamond is one of the most prestigious alpine rock faces to climb in the country. It was really humbling to sit below it and gaze up. By the way, it’s HUGE! Once I was above treeline I ran into a steady stream of people on their way down. Saturday was another tough day to summit due to dangerously strong winds. Conga Line

Much of the hike is above treeline and the lake itself sits at nearly 12,000’. It was a beautiful day. Again. And I was alone at the lake for nearly 30 minutes before anyone else arrived. There were, however, climbers calling to each other up on the face. I could only imagine how miserable it had to have been Thursday night with all the rain and for them, snow. Chasm Lake and The Diamond
View Down from Chasm Lake

After eating a bit of lunch, I headed back down. This was my second day of hiking above 10,000’ and I was pretty tired. I made some dinner (Mmmmmm…..Top Ramen) and had a beer while I built my campfire. It was, after all, Saturday night and what would a Saturday night be without a fire. This is another tradition from weekends at the house in Charlemont. I was asleep soon after the fire died down to coals.

Sunday was checkout day and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. My legs were sore from the pounding down the trail and I needed a break. Jackie, the host for the campground, suggested that since I had only seen a small portion of the park, that I should drive the Trail Ridge Road. Jackie and her husband Kas, are retired folks who sold all their possessions and bought an RV. The Rv is home. From my several conversations with her, they are having a ball. A tip of the old chapeau to them!

Anyway, the Trail Ridge Rd is the northernmost road in the park and most of it is in the alpine tundra zone. I decided that this would be a perfect way to get my self over to Loveland by Sunday night so I would be ready for my training class (the actual reason for my being in ‘Rahdo, dude in the first place) on Monday. I was impressed to see the number of people on bikes pedaling their way up and over the Divide. The road crosses the Continental Divide and then continues west and south ending up on the western side of the park down around Grand Lake. Robert at the Continental Divide

From there I drove north to Walden and Gould and then down through the Cache le Poudre canyon. This was spectacular but was so busy with fishermen and kayakers that I couldn’t find a place to pull off and get out. It also was another rainy day, so I just kept driving, finally ending up in Loveland by way of Fort Collins. All in all, a pretty nice and low key day and the perfect way to end the vacation part of my trip.

By the Time We Got to Woodstock

2007-07-18T18:32:00.000-04:00

“By the time we got to Woodstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration”
Joni Mitchell

Holly and I made the trip to Woodstock on Saturday to hear photographer Robert Glenn Ketchum speak at the Center for Photography www.robertglennketchum.com . He is one of the leading voices of the conservation movement and is one of the most respected environmental photographers on the planet. If you can think of a superlative, it applies to him and his work. So, he was leading a workshop there and part of the deal is that the Center has the workshop leaders give a lecture on Saturday night. It’s open to the public and so we decided to go. It’s about 2 hours, maybe a tad longer, and not a bad drive, even if you take the long way.

After running errands in the morning, we headed out just past noon with the intention of meandering our way to NY. Everything was going along just fine and then….. SURPRISE! We’re going to CLIMAX! It was all I could do to hang on to the steering wheel. Thank goodness Holly had made the trip before and knew what to expect, but I was not quite prepared.

Anyway, the town of Woodstock is a hoot with everyone trying to purchase a bit of the cashay, dahling of the ever so trendy happening that is still Woodstock. Mixed in are the burnouts who never could quite bring themselves to leave. It’s hard to walk the streets and keep a straight face.

The lecture began more or less on time and was definitely worth the drive. One of the very cool directions he is moving in is tapestry. He has been working with the Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute in China for a number of years. The embroiderers actually take his images and copy them exactly into tapestries, some of which are 6’x14’. I have only seen images in his book Regarding the Land . Pretty amazing stuff.

That;s about it for now. I gotta go find my tie-dye and love beads.

My Week in SoCal

2007-07-08T08:29:00.001-04:00

CAUTION: LONG POST AHEAD!
As mentioned in the last post, I was off to San Diego in late June. The purpose of the trip was to attend the AAPS(American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists) National Biotech Conference where I was presenting a poster covering some of my recent work. Unlike many of the others attending, I did NOT take the red-eye home or even fly the next day. Hey, when I get my airfare paid by someone else, I use it to my full advantage!
Pretty Swank Digs!

The View From My Balcony

I arrived on a Friday night, picked up the rental car and checked into the hotel too late to get any food. So, I got up early enough to get a big breakfast the next AM before attending the all day forum concerning protein precipitation. I know, it sounds thrilling, right? Once over, we went to dinner at a fabulous pub with Julie (old climbing bud), who as it turns out is coming back to Boston after completing her post doc at UCSD. When I told her of my plans for Sunday she mentioned that the area I had chosen to hike had burned 3 years ago and was now on its way back, but was still pretty ugly.

Her recommendation was to head up to Idyllwild and hike around the historical (from a climbing perspective) Tahquitz and Suicide Rocks. Tahquitz back in the late 50s was the site of the first 5.9 in the U.S. This was the stomping ground of the L.A. based climbers who were at the vanguard of Yosemite big wall ascents and the first ascent rosters are a who’s who in American climbing. This was a really good suggestion. It was cooler since the hike was at a bit of altitude and a beautiful trail led to the summit of Suicide Rock where I lounged in the sun. Sorry no photos yet since I forgot Dig It! Al, the little point-and-shoot camera I use for capturing shots along the way. Once I have some of the images from slides, I’ll post them.

After Sunday it was back to business at the conference with full days of hob knobbing with my fellow wizards occupying my time. However, on Wednesday the only topics of interest to me were in the morning so I had the JEEP loaded and ready to roll by noon and I was off to Bishop, 360 miles to the north.

I arrived in Bishop around 7PM after some stops and some slow traffic. The 395 past Adelanto is really a 2 lane road with lots of semis heading both north and south. There are some passing areas but not nearly enough so it was a pretty long drive. I wasn’t quite sure of where to park and sleep, so being kinda hot, tired and hungry, I decided to take Tom Bodett up on his offer and booked a room in a Motel6. When I went into the office I thought I had stepped into a John Waters film and Divine was behind the counter. I don’t think I have ever seen eyebrows like that except on Divine and I gave a quick shiver and handed over my credit card.

I was up somewhat early the next morning but was having trouble deciding where to go and what to do. I think one of the consequences of withdrawing from Celexa is a sort of anxious muddled feeling that sometimes gets in the way of making decisions. Anyway, I went to the Buttermilks outside of town and drove up through there to evaluate the weather and find a camping spot. The Buttermilks are at a high enough altitude that it gets nice and cool at night, so sleeping in the back of the JEEP wasn’t going to be too hot and uncomfortable. After finding the perfect place to sleep on Thursday night and I headed back to town and an Ortega omelet at Jack’s, home of THE best breakfasts in this section of the Universe!

I finally made a decision about what to do and checked out of the Motel6 and headed up to South Lake and the trailhead for the Treasure Lake trail. South Lake is about 15 miles up and outside of Bishop. The road ends at the lake, which if it isn’t entirely man-made, is at least man-enhanced by the construction of a dam at the north end. The trail starts at about 9500’ above sea level, which means I was huffing and puffing while putting on my boots!
The view down the trail toward South Lake

Shooting Star along the trail

Thankfully, the same folks who built the trails in the White Mountains of NH did not build the trails out in the western states. See the post below concerning the Nelson Crag Trail. The Treasure Lake trail steadily climbed, but the use of switchbacks made it much easier than the typical White Mountain beeline. I took my time and made it to the lakes in pretty good style. Of course my non-Alpine start of around 10AM insured that I would arrive at the lakes at midday, perfect timing for photography. NOT!!!! Midday is probably the worst time to try taking good photos and the resulting images are not among my best. No problem though, since my aim was to hike and be out and about in one of the most stunning places on the planet.
Mt. Goode from Treasure Lake

I was back to the JEEP around 3 and a call back home was in order. Holly asked about my plans for the rest of the day and suggested that I think about capturing sunset at Mono Lake, since there we really had no sunset images from there. I figured why not? It’s less than an hour north along the 395, I could have dinner at the Mobil Mart and be back to the Buttermilks and the camping spot I had scoped out early enough. I headed north and decided along the way that I would go by way of the Benton Rd which would connect with the 120 and bring to the Tufa State Reserve from the south. It was the right choice and had me driving through beautiful backcountry.

I arrived at the Reserve with plenty of time to scope out the Navy Beach. The Navy Beach is the location of the sand tufa which are quite different from the more well known tufa of the lake. I wandered around looking for spots to set up for the sunset and having figured it out, I went for dinner.
The Navy Beach

Now dinner in Lee Vining, CA may appear to have limited choices and for the most part this is true. However, they also have Tioga Toomey’s Whoa Nellie Deli stuck in the corner of the Tioga Mobil Mart. Dinner at a gas station? you ask. Yes! And it is worth the drive. Fresh made on the premises are cheescakes, chocolate cakes, pies and more. Pork tenderloin, a steak salad that will make you salivate like Pavlov’s dog, fish tacos and jumbo burgers are just a few of the entrees. They also have wine and beer. Mmmmmmmmmmm!

So, I said hello to Matt the Chef (I understand that he actually is a trained chef) and ordered up a cheeseburger to go. I grabbed a six of Fat Tire Ale and headed back to the Navy Beach to wait for the sun to go a bit more. Apparently this is one of the spots on Mono Lake where people swim. A guy was there with his kids and he had the van all tricked out with tunes, a grill, coolers and beach chairs. Looked like a lot of fun. I ate my burger and washed it down with a couple of Fatties and listened to some classic rock while the sun slowly dropped.

Once the burger was gone and the light was changing for the better I grabbed my camera and tripod and wandered out amongst the tufa. I spent the next hour or so happily shooting images of these little deposits. The tufa form in the very alkaline waters of Mono Lake when fresh water from underground springs bubbles up into the lake, mixes with the carbonate rich water and form an insoluble deposit of calcium carbonate. There are 2 kinds of tufa, the calcium carbonate variety and the sand tufa, which are formed of sand cemented into columns that support a calcium carbonate crown. The 2 types are quite different and striking in their own right.
Full moon rising

My plan was to finish up after the sun had dropped behind the mountains and head on down to the Buttermilks, but as I walked back into the parking area, someone else was there parked next to my JEEP. In passing I mentioned that I was impressed with the van conversion (this minivan had been converted for roadtripping with a sleeping platform/storage set up that replaced the back seats) and this elicited an invitation for a glass of wine. I wasn’t really quite sure what I would be doing the next day and figured that a stay at Mono Lake for sunrise would be a wonderful thing to do, so I accepted the wine. I spent a lovely evening chatting about all sorts of topics and was up for a beautiful sunrise at the Lake.
I love the sight of sand tufa in the morning

The view toward the more famous south tufa with the Dana plateau in the background

After taking a number of images at sunrise, I headed back over to see Matt for breakfast. While eating I decided that I would head up to the Little Lakes Valley at the top of Rock Creek Canyon. I hiked one of the trails last year and figured I’d take another trail up towards Mono Pass to Ruby Lake. It was another gorgeous day and starting out at 10,000 feet it was already nice and cool. I hiked steadily up to the lake on another really nice trail. The view back down the trail

Bear Creek Spire at the head of the valley

Once there I found a sheltered spot, though not too sheltered since I wanted the wind to keep blowing the bugs away, to bask in the sun. this little alpine lake is surrounded by some of the most spectacular rock walls I have seen. Apparently this was one of Galen Rowell’s favorite places and I can see why. The Ruby Wall from Ruby Lake

After shooting more film, I headed back down to the JEEP and a trip into Bishop for a visit to Rowell’s Mountain Light Gallery. This is a compulsory stop for me whenever I am anywhere near Bishop. I was able to catch the Carr Cliffton (http://www.carrclifton.com) exhibit which was there for only another few days. The images on display were breathtaking and I am very fortunate to have seen them in person. Of course I had to buy some books and replace my missing ring adapter and filter holder for the neutral density split grads that I REALLY could have used in the morning at Mono Lake.

OK, it’s Friday and I have to be back in San Diego on Saturday evening to re-pack everything and be ready to leave on Sunday morning. I can a. Stay in Bishop overnight and drive back the way I came or b. drive to Joshua Tree National Park, spend the night and drive back through the park on Saturday. This way I could check it out for next year’s Most Excellent Month of March Extravaganza. I chose b. Joshua Trees

Joshua Tree is a most extraordinary place. I was very impressed with the beauty of the area and the campgrounds are amongst the best I’ve ever seen. I started out in the NW corner of the park which is in the Mojave Desert and slowly drove SE through the Park. Joshua Tree National Park

Eye Candy for Dr. Dover

Cholla Cactus Garden

About halfway, there is a transition zone where I drove down from the Mojave into the Sonoran Desert. This was marked by the Cholla Cactus Garden which is amazing. The two deserts are strikingly different with the Sonoran being hotter and more barren. Both are quite beautiful however, even if it was 115°F in the Sonoran Desert. Just before I left the Park, I saw a flash of something off to my right. It looked like a mule, but I only caught a glimpse of the hind end. As I drove a little further I could see the head of a Desert Bighorn Sheep. He had the full set of horns and was quite magnificent. We gawked at each other for a few seconds before he ran off and I kept driving.

Once out of JTree, I had another choice. I could go west to the ocean and continue along the coast to San Diego or I could go a little bit further east and see more desert. I opted for more desert. I drove over to the western shore of the Salton Sea, home to a newly discovered school of pupfish. Pupfish are endangered and thought to be extinct in the Salton Sea, but there they are and they have scientists scratching their heads trying to figure out how they got there.

About halfway down the shore State Route 22 heads west towards Borrego Springs and home of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, another destination for next March. I quickly checked out the park’s visitor center, got a map and some literature and was on my way back to San Diego. The Badlands in Anza-Borrego State Park

Anyway, the rest is pretty much anticlimactic. I checked into a Days Inn, re-packed my stuff, made my flight on Sunday in plenty of time, and am now back home. Whew! Another whirlwind tour of California!

You came DOWN the Nelson Crag Trail?

2007-06-25T11:46:00.000-04:00

Vindication is sweet. For 4 hours Kim and I had been struggling down the Nelson Crag Trail, one of the steepest trails on Mt. Washington. Cursing was one of the major components of our conversation. The Nelson doesn’t end at Pinkham Notch, but 1.6 miles north of there near the start of the Auto Road. Thankfully the Old Jackson Rd trail is mostly flat.

Even though we were late to get back to let Rosie the Chihuahua out, we needed to stop in the Pinkham AMC shop to buy a book. We met up with a fellow hiker from earlier in the day and began comparing notes. She had taken the Lion’s Head trail to the summit while we had diverted and taken the Alpine Garden trail so that we could view and photograph the alpine flowers that were blooming.

She then inquired as to our hike down from the gardens. We responded that we came down the Nelson Crag Trail. The news that we had done this caused several of the other patrons to put down the books, t-shirts, mugs, etc they were ogling to chime in, nearly in unison “YOU CAME DOWN THAT TRAIL?” The general consensus was that this was not one of the trails to come down. It is unrelentingly steep and much of it is in very thick woods. As I said earlier, vindication is sweet!

Tuck's from the LionsHead Trail

We had started the day hiking up the Tuckermans Ravine Trail to Lion’s Head and up to the Alpine Gardens so that we could photograph the tiny alpine flowers that were in bloom. There were blooms all along the trail including plenty of Bunchberry and Clintonia a.k.a. blue bead lily.
Bunchberry in bloom

There is actually a fairly small window for the alpine blooms and mid to late June is the usual peak season. I think we were there just a wee bit before true peak. Don’t get me wrong it was gorgeous up there, but the Mountain Avens were still mostly buds, waiting to burst in the next few days and the carpets of blooming flowers were scattered. Since this was my first, but not last trip to the flowers, I may have been expecting more than what is typical.

There were diapensia everywhere and scattered in amongst them were Lapland Rosebay and the tiny Mountain Azalea. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful little stream that led into a small marsh. Hellebore, Hairy Deer Grass were the prominent species there. Continuing along the trail we came to the junction with the Huntington Ravine Trail and considered, only for a moment mind you, descending by way the HRT. It would have involved 3rd classing down some sections with exposure all around. I haven’t been climbing much and my head wasn’t up for that.

The view across the Gardens from the top of Huntington's

So, a quick consult of the map showed that making a loop hike by going down the Nelson Crag Trail would be almost the same distance and since we always think covering new ground preferable to back tracking, we opted for the loop. Note to self: Never take the Nelson Crag Trail again!
The point of no return

Once down and with book in hand we retreated back to Kim’s house in Conway to a very happy (and relieved) little dog. Margaritas and some raviolis and soon the Nelson Crag Trail didn’t seem so bad. Of course 3 days later my thighs still had twinges of stiffness from the constant set of 2.5 miles of deep knee bends.

So, I’m off to San Diego for a conference with other biotech geeks. Aside from I love what I do and I’m presenting a poster of some of my work, I am also going to boogie up to Bishop for a few days of hiking before heading home.

Spring at the Rolling J Farm

2007-06-10T10:15:00.001-04:00

June 9, 2007

It’s taken me a little mental re-organization to admit that the BLOG doesn’t have to be only for trips. It can also be used for keeping in touch with folks and a means for showing off the gardens. So, here’s a brief update from here at what I call the Rolling J Farm.

The seasons here at the farm tend to revolve around the fire…winter the woodstove, summer the grill. Cooking on the woodstove or over a wood fire in the fire pit is waaaaaay more satisfying than turning on the electric stove. This time of year after Saturday chores, time in the garden and a bike ride, we start the fire in the grill. A gin&tonic to fight malaria from any potential mosquito bite and watching the traffic roll by is quite relaxing. As you can see, it's quite a comfortable set-up.

So, tonight I’m here at the Rolling J Farm with Mr. Cat while Holly is at Harvard making Livingston Taylor look good. The last of the Harvard events (the 35th reunion concert) is tonight and so begins the final countdown to her summer vacation. Mr. Cat is patrolling the attic and I’m finishing a fabulous porterhouse and watching the lightning bugs. Mmmmmmm.. fresh kale, asparagus from our garden and steak from Avery’s. It doesn’t get a whole lot better. All complimented with a lovely Pinot from Paul’s (http://www.hilltownwinemerchant.com/) in Shelburne Falls. Even the No-See-Ums seem to be a bit more relaxed tonight and are not intensely eating my feet.

Last weekend we were able to get most of our plants into the garden beds. Tomatoes, potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, kale, hot and sweet peppers and alliums of many sorts-onions, leeks, shallots, scallions. I’ve also started transplanting Ostrich ferns under the crabapples so we can have our own supply of fiddleheads each spring.

In the dooryard gardens all the herbs are growing great guns and I’m going to harvest some to dry. Oregano, thyme, savory, sage, and tarragon all seem to have survived the winter unscathed.

The iris, peonies, mountain rue, and tansy are all beginning to flower and the gardens smell lovely right now. I’m in the process of building another small stone wall in the gardens to shore up some slumping soil and create another tier for plants.

There’s always stuff to do here at The Farm. Stay tuned for more!

Retrospective Part Deux-Yosemite and the Rest of the Trip

2007-04-08T09:21:00.000-04:00

OK, I have to finish this before I forget too much. So prepare yourself for a long entry!

We spent Friday night in Lone Pine, CA in another generic chain motel. It was inexpensive and plenty comfy. The big surprise was the dinner we had in town at the Merry Go’Round. Holly had the elk and I had a very nice pork loin. They had a fine wine list and we totally enjoyed ourselves. After a week of dinner at the Stagecoach in Beatty, this was downright civilized. Who knew?

We were up early again on Saturday morning to catch the sunrise in the Alabama Hills, below Mt Whitney. The Alabamas have quite the history in the movie biz with many films shot there over the years including Treasure of the Sierra Madre with Humphrey Bogart and loads of westerns starring John Wayne. The landscape is unique and the granite boulders and outcrops contain arches and other features. We wanted to be there for the first light on Mt. Whitney framed by the arches.

We spent a couple of hours there and after the light changed, we headed into town for breakfast and then to check out of our motel. Today’s mission was to arrive in Oakhurst, CA on the other side of the Sierra so that on Sunday we could head right into Yosemite Valley. Since most of the roads across the Sierra are closed in the winter we had a choice of either driving north to Tahoe, like last year, or going around the southern end. This year we chose to go the southern route which was really nice. It was also shorter. Duh!

We drove through the Kern River Valley through the mountains. This was a beautiful twisty, turny road with spectacular river views. Several times Holly asked if I would please keep my eyes on the road. ☺. Once we came out the other side we were in Bakersfield and The Oil Valley. It is truly as lovely as it sounds. One bright spot along this route is the number of farm stands along the road north of Bakersfield. We stopped at what turned out to be the last stand and bought some fruit from one of the nicest old timers ever. He was reluctant to let us go, but when we did finally take our leave, he walked right out into the road to stop traffic for us.

On our way north to Oakhurst, we decided to take a detour through Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks. After getting our map at the gate, the road began to go up. And up. And up. Oh, and did I mention the road goes up from there? It’s miles and miles of swithbacks up the side of the canyon until it finally levels off. We kept going until we arrived at the General Sherman grove of giant sequoias. The General is considered to be the largest living organism on the planet at 275’ tall and a circumference of 102’. It’s also ~2500 years old. A teenager to the Bristlecones I visited last summer, though.

After we finished ogling the General, we realized that the sun was going down. Since daylight savings is early this year, that meant it was pretty late and we needed to get going. So, we headed down the other side of the park. And down. And down. Finally we hit Fresno and the freeway north. In no time we were cruising into Oakhurst and the next Best Western (Apologies to Richard Shindell). Dinner of oranges, grapefruits, nuts, etc. as we settled in. It was late and we were asleep in no time.

We took full advantage of the complimentary breakfast the next morning after which we headed to Yosemite. There was still plenty of snow at the higher elevations and the Mariposa Grove and Glacier Point roads were closed for the season so those will have to wait for another visit when it’s warmer. After about an hour we arrived at Inspiration Point, at least the parking area for it. This is the first real iconic view of Yosemite Valley, made popular by Ansel Adams, as we drove up the 41. This was Holly’s first visit to the Valley and the look on her face summed it up nicely.

This was actually my first time driving in the Valley and it took me a little time to get myself oriented. On that first day we poked around, visited the Ansel Adams Gallery where we picked up a small photographers guidebook to the park and Holly surprised me with a beautiful wooden walking stick. The rest of the day was spent locating the spots mentioned in the guide. After a day of exploring we headed back to the motel and had a nice meal at one of the local steakhouses.

These are Yosemite Falls which in March are thundering down out of the high country from all the snow melt.
This is a shot of Half dome taken from the Sentinel Bridge near Cook's Meadow.

The next morning was a repeat of the previous one. We arrived in good style at the Park. We did a little more shopping at the Adams Gallery and in the afternoon took a short hike up to Mirror Lake with stunning views of Half Dome and surrounding peaks. It was warm and sunny and so I took advantage of THE perfect spot for a bit of relaxation beside the lake. As we wandered back down to Libby, the clouds that had been promised began to arrive.

Tuesday was another drive day with our destination Napa for a visit with Charlie, Judy, Jen and Auggie. We drove up through Sonora and some of the vineyards in that area and then over to Napa. We had a dinner that couldn’t be beat that evening and some of the best possible wine in the company of some of the best people on the planet. The visit was much too short and we said goodbye with the idea of coming back in July for one of the jazz concerts at Mondavi.I’m keeping my eyes out for a good deal on airfare.

We left Napa after a stop at a local shop that presses its own olive oil. This is like nothing we can find in Cambridge. We had a 3 liter bottle shipped to us along with a ound of dried porcini mushrooms. We drove over to the coast and meandered our way along Rt.1 across the Golden Gate and into San Francisco. That drive is one of the prettiest anywhere and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our first stop in the city was to be The New Lab, which is the place we have our film developed before our flight home. Their average turnaround is 2.5 hours, even for Holly’s 4x5s. After 2 aborted trips over the Bay Bridge (Lizz somehow needed to cross to the East Bay) we finally got to the lab. We dropped off the film, had a pint of beer and a bite of food at the Thirsty Bear just around the corner. And then headed up to visit with some friends and dinner in Half Moon Bay at one of the best sushi joints in the area.

Kimber and Steve are in the process of closing up their house in San Bruno and going over to Asia for, as Steve puts it “At least a year”. Our guess is that they move over there permanently. They are both going to be working for the summer with a trekking company that does hoseback treks into Mongolia. Once it turns cold in the fall, they plan to begin a southern migration through China into Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. We both hope the very best for them and we’re going to be following their exploits over the web. Technology is a marvelous thing, eh?

We got a late start from San Bruno, shipped some of the items we picked up during the trip back home, got our slides at The New Lab (with the requisite ogling on the lightbox) and a late lunch at the Triple Rock Brewery in Berkeley. While we were in Berkeley we HAD to stop at The Missing Link bike co-op and pick up a few things. I was able to score a couple of Missing Link jerseys, one for me and one for Chris (our beloved airport chaffeur in Boston).

We spent the night right near the Oakland Airport and were up the next morning very early to catch our flight back to Boston. It was an uneventful flight and we arrived back pretty much on schedule. Ho Hum!

So now the work has begun to sort through the images. I have nearly 400 slides to go through and Holly hasn’t even begun to develop her 4x5 black and white images yet. As I get some of these scanned and prepped for printing, I’ll post them on the blog. So stay tuned, the trip continues!

Retrospective 1-Leaving Death Valley

2007-04-01T10:00:00.000-04:00

OK, so we’re back home now. I discovered that trying to keep the blog was nearly impossible with all the driving to and from our shooting spots, up early to catch early light and staying out until after dark for sunset. Most of the trips were 100 or so miles 1 way and much more than an hour. So, I’ll catch up in retrospect.

On Thursday March 15, we were up, checked out of the Motel 6 by 5AM and on our way to the Mesquite Flat Dunes. We were first on the scene, but as the dawn approached we were joined by a growing number of others chasing the light and some of the iconic images of Death Valley. There muffled conversations and we could see parties of photographers staking their claims when suddenly there it was, the light everyone was waiting for. I don’t think I have ever heard so many shutters clicking all at once in my life. It sounded like a Washington news conference.

So, we gathered our images and headed back to Libby. We stopped at Stovepipe Wells for breakfast and continued on our way west. First stop was Wildrose Canyon and the coke kilns. Apparently, back in the mining days, one of the mining companies figured that it would be easier to make the coke for the smelters right there in the area rather than to import it. So 10 kilns were built, each about 25’ high by 30’ in diameter (or it might be the other way around and pine was harvested from the canyon to produce coke for the gold and silver smelters about 30 miles away. I think they were only in operation for a few years before going idle. Anyway, these kilns have been restored and are quite a sight.

Next we hiked into Darwin Falls, which is a lovely little oasis deep within a canyon. It’s a pretty easy hike, though it involves a tiny bit of easy rock scrambling. It ends at the falls, which are about 30’ tall or so and they cascade into a beautiful pool.

After the hike we checked into our room at the Panamint Springs Resort (PSR) and had a cold pint on the porch while waiting for the light to change. After our pint and a little snooze (this is where the trip gets a bit more civilized) we drove down into Panamint Valley to photograph some old abandoned cars in the evening light. Phil had taken us there last year, but Holly’s images weren’t what she wanted so we had to go back. This year we both scored some nice ones, as well as some interesting shots of the sunset.

Dinner, sleep, an excellent breakfast and we were off out of Death Valley Nat’l Park for another March. We stopped at Father Crowley Point to say farewell and continued up to Bishop for the required stops at Mountain Light Gallery and Wilson’s Eastside for some gear shopping. On our way back down to Lone Pine we stopped at the Manzanar Nat’l Historical Site, which was an internment camp for Japanese Americans during WWII. The stories of this site, and others, made us think of the profiling and paranoia that is happening today surrounding Arab Americans. I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same and just when you think we might have learned something…...

Long Days

2007-03-20T10:34:00.000-04:00

Man, these are long days! Usually by the time we're back to our room and finished with dinner, it's nearly 10PM. Up early the next morning and off again leaves little time for blogging.

Sorry about the lack of photos for a while. When I posted Day at the Races the pics would not upload, and being strapped for time I just posted text. This is really the first solid internet connection we’ve had sine we left NV, so The Racetrack photos are now up!

After the Day at the Races we slept in a bit longer than usual and after a breakfast at the Stagecoach, we headed back into the Valley for some reconnaissance. We arrived at Badwater just about at high noon. That day we set a record of 98 degrees. Mind you the OFFICIAL temperature is taken at Furnace Creek, in the shade and 3 feet off the ground. Needless to say, it’s hotter just about anywhere else. No good photos to show since everything down there is blinding white.

From Badwater we made our way to Artist's Drive where we had scored some nice images last year. Unfortunately, this year was different and wedidn't shoot any film. We did hike up into one of the little canyons off the road and after some scrambling made it up into a nice amphitheater.

After the hike we decided to explore Warm Spring Canyon. which is another very bumpy ride. The terminus, at least for us and our intrepid little Jeep, was Warm Spring Camp. This is a lovely little oasis that had been the site of very civilized mining camps, complete with a swimming pool! Sadly, the pool was not operational that day. There are some equipmentrelics from the mining days and abandoned structures. The Brittlebush was in bloom and the temperature was actually pleasant.

Though we realy wanted to stay, we reluctantly turned back and headed off to Dante’s View for sunset, another goal for this trip. Dante’s gives a spectacular view of the valley and in one shot it is possible to see the lowest (Badwater) and highest (Mt. Whitney) places in the continental US.

The next day we got up and went directly to the Furnace Creek Inn for breakfast. It was an extravagance, but hugs from Betty are worth the price of admission. She remembered us from last year and is really excited at the possibility of getting her own strawberry hat like mine. After a fabulous feed we visited the Harmony Borax works on our way to the Mesquite Flat sand dunes to scope out morning photo ops. It was once again REALLY hot so we found the trail to follow, did a quick check of the spot and went back to Libby for an air-conditioned ride back to Beatty. We visited the Beatty Historical Museum and then went to the ghost town of Rhyolite for sunset.

Stay tuned for more!

A Day at the Races

2007-03-14T19:10:00.000-04:00

Apparently, Sunday was the big NASCAR event down in Vegas. We went to breakfast with many of the folks returning from their pilgrimage. So, in honor of NASCAR we decided to go to the Racetrack ourselves. No, not that racetrack. THE Racetrack. Home of the moving stones of Death Valley N.P. Moving stones? Keep reading.

So, we loaded up Libby, our rented Jeep Liberty and headed out. Now, getting out to the Racetrack is not trivial. After over 60 miles of paved roads our route turned to dirt at the Ubehebe Crater. The Racetrack Rd is some of the most rattling washboard you can imagine. Its really stunning scenery as the road runs southerly through a valley. There’s a fairly large population of Joshua Trees along the way and lots of cacti all shadowed by spectacular mountains.

After about 20 miles of this we came to the first landmark: Teakettle Junction. Teakettle Junction is a signpost adorned with teakettles originally placed by a prospector to mark the trail junction and as a means to leave a note for those following. The tradition continues today.

The Racetrack is another 6 or so miles along the road. We arrived with enough time to go and explore and find the best stones to photograph. For you who are unfamiliar, the stones here are of interest because they move across the playa, or dried, flat lakebed without human intervention. No one knows for certain since no one has seen them move, but the current theory is that when the fine-grained clay of the playa receives enough moisture to wet the surface and the wind picks up, the stones are blown from their current position to somewhere else on the slick clay. They come to stop when the clay dries and they wait for the next bit of moisture. Some of these stones travel quite a ways coming to a rest more than a 100 feet away and some weigh several hundred pounds. During their journey, they leave trails in the mud.

After spending more than an hour out on the playa photographing the stones and their trails, it was time to head back. All told we spent nearly 6 hours in the Jeep for a few hours at the Track. Well worth it!

2007-03-12T12:06:00.000-04:00

Vegas! Baby!
We made it! After getting up at 3AM to make our flight, we had a pretty uneventful flight from Boston to JFK to Vegas, baby! We gathered up our 150+lbs of gear and got our rental SUV.

First item of business-Cruise the Strip!

It was really a hoot. It’s as tacky and gaudy as seen on TV. And folks seem to love it.

As soon as we cleared the Strip, we headed north to Pahrump, NV. First glitch of the trip….I didn’t lay out the route like I always do, so we ended up north and east of our target. A quick perusal of the map and we landed in Pahrump without further ado. We laid in supplies and were off to Tecopa Hot Springs for a loooooooooooong soak after a looooooooong day on the road.

Tecopa is a really cool place, an oasis in the desert. There are about 100 full time residents between Tecopa and Shoshone, but it’s a little artists enclave. There are several resorts in the area all with hot mineral springs for their guests to use. So, after a shower to wash off the travel of the day, we slid into 104 degree water and felt the miles melt away.

After the soak, we made dinner in our kitchen, toasted with champagne and were about to turn in when we decided to check out the “Star Party” going on behind our cabin. Apparently, this is a regular deal here. A couple of astronomers (Check them out at www.astrochannels.com ) have set up camp there and have an amazing set up. The telescopes are hooked into computers and they have a digital feed to a projector focused on the side of their trailer.

We saw spiral nebulae, Saturn, and many other astronomical wonders. Finally, the day caught up with us and we turned in.

On Sunday we got up and drove up through Death Valley to our Motel6 in Beatty, NV. Our home for the next few days.

Today we’re off to The Racetrack to photograph the moving stones. More later!

Cheers!

Kick Off to a New Adventure

2007-03-06T18:58:00.000-05:00

March 5, 2007
“If you aren’t living on the edge, then you’re taking up too much space!”

That line was the inspiration behind Doug Robinson’s essay in the 2002 Black Diamond catalog written for the 30th anniversary of his groundbreaking, 1972 piece “The Whole Natural Art of Protection”. The article was written to challenge today’s climbers to step out of the comfort zone and try new things. Leave the gym, abandon the top-rope, go light and fast in the mountains.

“Climbers know a lot about the edge, so we’ll just rewrite that line: Close to the Edge. The name of a climb says it better. Not on, and certainly not over. Close is close enough. And you are the only one who knows, for you, for your next move, how close is close enough.”

It can also be a metaphor for complacency in general. If you’ve already seen the re-runs, change the channel. If you’re comfortable, shake it up! Put Tobasco on your eggs! If there are new places to go, go!

“Every step toward the edge adds adventure. If you’ve got it wired, you’re taking up too much space again. Nobody said this would be easy. You’ll know. Make that poised commitment, though, not reckless.
The edge is where evolution happens.
Now, step away from the vehicle.”

Holly and I leave in 4 days for our second trip to Death Valley. During this trip we plan to stay for the first week in and around the Park before heading to Yosemite for 2 days. Holly has never seen Yosemite and I can’t wait to see her face as we round the bend and there are The Gates of The Valley. It’s usually an awe inspiring site.

I’ll be updating the blog as often as I can with pictures and some descriptions of where we are and where we’ve been. Stay tuned as we move closer to the edge.

Lizz