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More hiking stuff Just a photo for now, though. Click for high res. More hiking photos here
Hiking Journal - Big Basin - 1/23/2010 It's been raining pretty much non-stop in the Bay Area, which really sucks as we've been somewhat antsy to try out LiQUiD's new camera/laptop backpack. We're willing to suffer the rain--just not so willing to ask our electronics to do the same. Saturday was the only day (for over a week on either side of it) that had any significant period of dryness. The morning was raining, but the afternoon looked clear. Thus a short hike was decided upon as we didn't want to be out much past sunset. Just in case, I loaded my iPod with both Dvorak's and Mozart's requiem. If I'm going to be stuck in the wilderness at night I'm damned well going to listen to the right music. The road to Big Basin is incredibly fun to drive. Most of it is one-lane with a turn every twenty feet or so. It's a slow but fun drive over the mountain, worth it even if you don't intend to camp or hike. We didn't get started until around 2:30 so didn't have much day left. A forest rains long after the sky clears. The trees were covered with water, dripping slowly onto us. Water poured down the trails in ad-hoc streams. At times we second-guessed the trail, not sure if it was just temporarily a stream or if we'd missed a turn somewhere. I carried Liquid's tripod in my pack. The tripod is too tall so sticks out like a pole. The wind over the past week knocked over several trees, creating hazards. I'm fairly certain I resembled a giant lobster crab-walking under these, trying (but failing) to keep the tripod from catching overhead branches. As trite as it sounds, I listened to Dvorak's New World Symphony as we hiked. My ears were sore when it finished so didn't bother with an encore. Besides, the streams and falling water were pleasant enough as they were. In the end we opted not to even use the tripod--the ground was too muddy. The sky was also urgently pushing us for time. We really didn't want to be out much past sunset and were making slower progress than desired. Turns out swapping lenses whilst protecting them from the raining trees is a time-consuming process ;) A forest grows dark long before sunset. The ground will be cast in shadow while the sky glows vibrantly. This worked to our disadvantage as, without the tripod, it's difficult to hold the camera steady enough to facilitate a slow shutter. Many of the nicer shots blurred due to this. We stopped for a snack around 4:20 on a fire road and took the opportunity to refresh our buzz (weed and hiking go together wonderfully, I should add.) In addition to the camera, lenses, laptop, tripod, flashlights, snacks and other miscellaneous gadgets we carry a pair of fold-up chairs. Like the tripod these are too tall to fit in a backpack. They can be slung over the shoulder or carried by hand, however. These chairs are a slight extra burden to carry, however more than pay off when you set them up. The comfort of being able to stop wherever you like and sit in comfort is beyond my ability to properly express. We turned back shortly after this (well, diverted to a trail leading back to park HQ rather) due to the setting sun. I think we took some of the best pictures during this time. It started to rain again, although the same canopy that had been dripping on us all morning now protected us from the onslaught. Indeed, it was only slightly more wet with this light rain than it was without. The rain clouds floating through the towering redwoods provided some amazing views. Sadly, the increased moisture also prevented Liquid from switching to a better lens. It was growing dark, anyway. Well, darker--the trail had been in deep shadow since we finished our snack. We hiked down a different stream we hiked up. The flashlights helped, but this was still the longest 0.9 miles of the trek. The darkness increased the difficulty of distinguishing trail from creek, making for a fairly slow descent. Still a very fun, if short, afternoon. Hopefully Liquid can get some more pictures posted soon. We're anxious for the weather to clear to try out the new photo equipment properly. Alas, rain seems to be the perpetual forecast. Fucking rain.
Squirrel! So, I recently got into photography with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi Camera.. You can check out my gallery here, but I'll likely be posting lots of pics to coldink in the near future =D I've just been very busy lately.
Neat photography Full gallery here: http://www.pinktentacle.com/2009/04/...c-projections/
Tokyo Twilight Zone http://shinsato.cool.ne.jp/twilight%20s%20english.htm
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