dsefcik

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6/25/2014 Topic: Hikes to Local native American campsites dsefcik Administrator	Probably%2520Saber%2520Tooth....%253Athumb%253A%253Cdiv%253E%253Cbr%253E%253C/div%253E%253Cdiv%253ENice%252C%2520hike%252C%2520close%2520to%2520the%2520coast%2520and%2520much%2520cooler%2520temps.%253C/div%253E
6/25/2014 Topic: Poking around near Jacumba dsefcik Administrator	Got out for a few hours and poked around the Jacumba area a bit last weekend. The Shell/Subway was buussyy...lots of folks getting subs and using the facilities. It was kinda hot, maybe high 90's or more. Mountain bikers were there as usual heading out to the Carrizo Tracks. Anyway, just parked and got out and wandered around the boulders for a few hours. Probably the closest I will find to a Kumeyaay shoe Wandering around boulders close to private property with no fences or signs can be hit or miss...this time it was a miss when a friendly dog found me and after a couple ear scratchies and some water we were BF's Found a boulder with some faint rock art Ran into BP on ATV's all decked out in Camelbak gear, nice enough but wow, what a job...! On the way way home I stopped off at the Buckman Springs site and poked around there also. Here is a photo I took of Amos Buckman's house (in ruins) and another from back when the whole resort area was alive and well Also found what I think were the remains of a mine operation, or at least that is what old topos show Anyway, that's it..no mylars this trip..
6/26/2014 Topic: Poking around near Jacumba dsefcik Administrator	Jim (ziphius) wrote: Cool. Daren, have you systematically looked up the pictograph sites you find to see if any are 'new' in terms of documentation? You sure have a knack for finding 'em. I am not sure anything I do is systematic...I think there is a lot of rock art out there, native americans lived pretty much everywhere here for a long time. I just get out and go explore....besides, the dog is who really found it... Oh, and yes, I have found many sites not recorded before and have also (with dstretch) found art at existing sites that were not recorded. Here is a photo of the panel with no dstretch And with, I was really surprised when I got home and saw so much pigment. I wonder what was in the center before it fell off edited by dsefcik on 6/26/2014
6/27/2014 Topic: Poking around near Jacumba dsefcik Administrator	surfponto wrote: I like the past and present shot of the Buckman house. If you look at the vegetation on the small ridge in the foreground it almost looks identical Damn...you are right!...that is pretty cool...good eye Bob..
6/30/2014 Topic: Samurai Surprise...Hit and Run dsefcik Administrator	Ouch...doesn't look tooo bad...broken leafs and such? Or is it really messed up?
7/7/2014 Topic: Arizona/Utah vacation pics dsefcik Administrator	Bullet holes?? Really??
7/7/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	The Bighorn Sheep Count for 2014 was successful and no dead sheep like last year. With my back problems I had to go serious with ultra light backpacking. I needed to pack 4 days worth of stuff in my Mountain Smith TLS fanny pack. We had water cached at the count site already so all I needed to carry was 4 liters to get me up to Rattlesnake Spring in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. We left the parking areas as usual around 4:30pm so that we would catch mostly shade in the canyon on the way up. It is about a 3,000' ascent over 5 miles with some stretches of boulder hopping and climbing. We always take the route up with the dry fall which we ascend without a rope but haul the packs up with a light rope we carry along. It usually will take us about 6 hours to get to the spring so we arrive around 11pm. On our way out 3 days later we do the same thing, we leave in the evening to catch the shadows in the canyon and get to the vehicles just about dark at 8pm. Canon S100 was used for all photos, the zoom on it is amazing and it is ultra light weight and small!! On my drive out to the desert I saw the Banner fire begin with just a small puff as I drove towards Dudleys Bakery, by the time I got to Ranchita it had turned into a big fire Here is Gary & Randy at our count site. The spring is way down in the green brush. The sheep come in from all directions to drink, we just have to count, determine gender and type ie: Ram, Ewe, Lamb, Yearling. They can get mixed up pretty quick when there are 30 of them all down there so we also have to determine identifying features like scars, broken horns, etc. If we don't do that we will end up re-counting them again so it can get pretty tricky sometimes Here are some sheep going down to the spring Here they are drinking from the water hole Here is what our count site looks like to the sheep My entire setup for the trip We managed to count 70 unique sheep over the 3 days we counted, that is a good number. Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time to carry water to our count location, we could not do this without your help! Official Park Results attached to this post.
7/7/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Jim (ziphius) wrote: Looks like your site had the high count for all sites. Animals look a lot better this year, heh? In your 3rd photo, is the animal farthest to the right a yearling? Is there just one lamb in the middle of the bunch? That is a typical number for RS. I would say probably lamb, older lamb, hard to tell in that photo....I see probably 5 lambs in that group. We did see many very young lambs, no horns at all which is not a good sign, they were born late. A couple of lambs in that photo have no horns and were probably only a few weeks old.
7/7/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Jim (ziphius) wrote: Animals look a lot better this year, heh? Yeah, the spring seems to be holding it's own, it was quite full the whole time and never seemed to diminish in quantity.
7/7/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Buford wrote: Thanks for the sheep count info. Looks like fun to me. I have always wanted to participate in the count since I heard about it as a kid. Next year I will try and make it happen. Great, we need 'ya!
7/7/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Jim (ziphius) wrote: Thanks for the close-up of the spring Daren. I've always been curious to know if it was a seep or a puddle, depending on the conditions. Any idea on the depth? Dimensions? Impressive, considering the lame rain year we have had. Maybe some of last summer's monsoon moisture helped things along. edited by ziphius on 7/7/2014 The surrounding dirt area was the bottom which was fed by a trickle on the back wall. That seemed to have dried up last year and was instead bubbling up from the bottom right corner, we dug it out to what you see now and it has thrived for the last year. Approx 25 gallons in it.
7/7/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Jim (ziphius) wrote: I love it when folks report waterholes in gallon units! Cool. That's how the biologists folks reported it....what would you use?
7/7/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	tommy750 wrote: Guess liquids really were a little scarce up there Hey! one was Gary's...we also had a 1.75L bottle of Cuervo "ta kill ya" buried up there so we were in good shape
7/7/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Nolan (anutami) wrote: That is great love the pdf attachment. So some folks sat for 3 days and did not record a single sheep sighting? Or was there no one at those locations? Yep...you got it, 2.5 days of sitting in the heat and not a single bighorn...our site always has sheep but is the hardest to get to and we usually carry water up during the cooler months to cache for the count.
7/7/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	dsefcik wrote: Nolan (anutami) wrote: That is great love the pdf attachment. So some folks sat for 3 days and did not record a single sheep sighting? Or was there no one at those locations? Yep...you got it, 2.5 days of sitting in the heat and not a single bighorn...our site always has sheep but is the hardest to get to and we usually carry water up during the cooler months to cache for the count. Actually some sites could see sheep but only after another site recorded them so that counts as zero for them....for example, 2nd grove reports ram #1 at 10am and 1st grove reports the same ram at 12:20pm 1st grove gets counted as zero.
7/7/2014 Topic: Arizona/Utah vacation pics dsefcik Administrator	Florian wrote: Tommy, yes, same place. And also yes re bullet holes. -Florian All I got are bad words...I guess there are all kinds...
7/7/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	tommy750 wrote: Here's the spring on 3/8/14 when we hauled water up for Daren, Gary and Randy. It was overflowing to the left down the hillside. I stuck a stick in a deeper part and it was about 10 inches deep as I recall. Glad to see it did better this year than last. Tom Thanks Tom, yeah, that is the usual, overflowing down the side. In cooler months the sheep can get all the water they need from the vegetation they eat, in hotter months they need real water.
7/7/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Oh, OK, I didn't read it that way..Randy, one of our counters is good at figuring that stuff out...on my own I would have been way off... Jim (ziphius) wrote: I'd use the same units. Just excited that someone made a point to make a decent estimate. Much more satisfying than a typical observation of "I dunno, it was a puddle." I get a little excited about desert water sources. dsefcik wrote: Jim (ziphius) wrote: I love it when folks report waterholes in gallon units! Cool. That's how the biologists folks reported it....what would you use? edited by ziphius on 7/7/2014
7/9/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Jim (ziphius) wrote: You guys see any other animal tracks around Rattlesnake Spring? Big kitties? Yes, cat tracks in Rattlesnake cyn and the ranger later confirmed they were tracking a lion a couple canyons over.
7/9/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Yep, that's it....thanks for sharing that view of the spring, I can say I have stared back right at that ridge many times. rockhopper wrote: Daren, Good show! Man that's tough hiking in those high temps. Glad to see your back is getting better. I hope to hike up that canyon some time. Here's a pic of the spring from the ridge trail heading up to Villager Peak.
7/12/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	DesertWRX wrote: 2.5 days at Yaqui pass. Zero sheep but some interesting weather with a downpour Friday a little after 5 and light rain for a short time Saturday. Yeah, Steve said many sites saw no sheep...sorry to hear about that. We did not get any rain, we watched it though come down near the mountains.
7/23/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Florian wrote: Daren, in rockhopper's photo of the spring from Villager trail where is your count site? It is on one of the middle ridges seen below the spring? -Florian Just down to the right of the white patch to the left of the green by the spring, see this photo Also, see my 3D tour here: https://sites.google.com/a/sefcik.com/virtual-tours/2012-bhs-count-site edited by dsefcik on 7/23/2014
7/27/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	That's a pretty cool pic from google earth...trails everywhere! rockhopper wrote: I have another picture from the Villager ridge trail I will find and post. Thank goodness for those Big Horn sheep for pushing thru the back country wilderness and keeping some of the only trails in existence open, even though some are almost straight up! Here it is ils punched in by are four legged friends coming down/up Auga Alta canyon. There was water at Agua Alta spring as of May this year. hopefully the moonsoons coming will recharge the spring. edited by rockhopper on 7/25/2014 edited by rockhopper on 7/25/2014
7/28/2014 Topic: Carrizo Gorge dsefcik Administrator	Nice photos Tom..!! Makes me want to use my DSLR again.... All I got are some old B/W shots, trying for that vintage/period look of the trestle...great trip, glad we went out. My Nagaoka 4x5 wooden field camera (photo courtesy Tom) The trestle, Nagaoka 4x5 field camera, Nikkor 135mm lens, f/64, 1/4 second exposure, ISO 100 Arista EDU film Some random shots from the trip, all b/w is film Still researching the ....something...Headache Bromo Seltzer rock in Jacumba...anybody got the story on it? Is historic as they saved it from destruction from multiple projects I am sure Total Mylar Ballons this trip - 1
7/28/2014 Topic: Carrizo Gorge dsefcik Administrator	surfponto wrote: Very sad about the lambs. Is that due to lack of water? What time did you get started? Bob Hard to say about the lamb, water could have been the problem..we started around 11am and got back to the cars by dusk.
7/29/2014 Topic: Carrizo Gorge dsefcik Administrator	ImpatientHiker wrote: On another note, is it possible to use Dstretch on the Bromo picture? Normal DS #1 DS #2
7/29/2014 Topic: Carrizo Gorge dsefcik Administrator	tommy750 wrote: Jim (ziphius) wrote: I dunno Tommy, your photos are always razor sharp - are you using some secret filters? My "secret" is dragging a glass brick around and then shooting the pic in raw and photoshopping it. Always try to imagine every pic needs to be interesting enough to hang on my wall and try to spend a few extra seconds on the basics like framing, balance, movement. Every once in a while it actually works! Tom You come up with some really cool artistic shots, never forget the power link tower all silver and such.
7/29/2014 Topic: Carrizo Gorge dsefcik Administrator	tommy750 wrote: dsefcik wrote: The trestle, Nagaoka 4x5 field camera, Nikkor 135mm lens, f/64, 1/4 second exposure, ISO 100 Arista EDU film Thanks for posting you pics, Daren. Sorry for my ignorance, but how much postprocessing can you do with this negative? In PS, you whip through about 10 different filters and make any individual corrections to colors with a slider. Do you have to shoot ten different pics all with different filters and then tweak them while exposing your paper? --Post--processing..?? First I have to actually process them...developer/agitate/stopper/fixer/etc...then dry, scan and then post process..just one photo, only a hair of USM since my scanner sucks. On a light table I can read the graffiti on the railcar on the far left at the edge of the trestle on the plain negative. The only filter I used was a Y48 yellow filter on the lens...that's about it. With a real 4x5 scanner I could get another 1-2% around the edges, right now it is cropped off because my scanner is only meant to go up to 120 format negs. 10 different pics?? you're funny, yeah, just carrying 3 film slides with 2 sheets each was 3lbs, nevermind the camera, light meter, cable release, filter,focusing loupe, etc...digitl has some advantages.
8/1/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	DesertWRX wrote: Kjhung... A little late replying... The rain was right on Yaqui Pass and also a lot south. Fish Creek has had a lot lately. San Felipe wash by Borrego Buttes has had water in it too. The storms are happening a lot lately, but away from Borrego Springs. Rained some in Culp Valley Monday too. Might be more tomorrow out here. Anything worth driving out to see? Big storms or flash floods? Or just some regular old rain?
8/2/2014 Topic: Carrizo Gorge dsefcik Administrator	rockhopper wrote: Great report and photos! In the news a while back the was a group of investors planning to open the rail line down to Mexico. Any new info? That train ride would be one of the top train rides in the world and would bring in tourists from all over. Oh, Oh! Maybe better if left as is. After all is was/is the impossible railroad! Tom kept saying the whole time we were out there they should just open it up to tourists...would make tons of money.
8/2/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Nolan (anutami) wrote: dsefcik wrote: DesertWRX wrote: Kjhung... A little late replying... The rain was right on Yaqui Pass and also a lot south. Fish Creek has had a lot lately. San Felipe wash by Borrego Buttes has had water in it too. The storms are happening a lot lately, but away from Borrego Springs. Rained some in Culp Valley Monday too. Might be more tomorrow out here. Anything worth driving out to see? Big storms or flash floods? Or just some regular old rain? I am out in blair valley and just regular ole rain out here...so far The weather is very nice for some hiking edited by anutami on 8/2/2014 Looking forward to a TR....
8/2/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	DesertWRX wrote: It rained quite a while out here today. Nothing heavy, but enough to get the Ocotillo green I bet. I just got a weather bulletin warning about flash floods in the mountains and desert...
8/2/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	Nolan (anutami) wrote: dsefcik wrote: DesertWRX wrote: It rained quite a while out here today. Nothing heavy, but enough to get the Ocotillo green I bet. I just got a weather bulletin warning about flash floods in the mountains and desert... I got a weather bulletin as well, but from Ranger Steve who was curtious enough to stop by my campsite. i have to say he is one of the best rangers I have ever met in all the parks we have been to. Nothing too crazy out here, but wow Daren you were right it is ALWAYS desert season. Thanks You won't find a better ranger than Steve, just don't drive off road.... edited by dsefcik on 8/2/2014
8/4/2014 Topic: Bighorn Sheep Count 2014 dsefcik Administrator	DesertWRX wrote: Boy did Borrego and Ocotillo Wells get hit hard yesterday!!! A weather spotter had 2.8" of rain afternoon. Lots of flooding. 78 & S22 were closed. The county road crews are very busy this morning. Listening to them on the scanner. Yeah, someone I know who lives out there sent me some pics, he had 2.5" in his yard...lots of flash floods on the highways.
8/5/2014 Topic: North AB day trip, 8/4/14 dsefcik Administrator	Thanks for the pics..hopefully I can get out there this weekend, heard there may be more rain.
8/5/2014 Topic: Mud Caves via Vallecito Creek in Summer dsefcik Administrator	Nice! The summer is the best way to see the caves, glad you guys got out there. I am surprised ranger Steve was out at Blair, that is ranger Jenifer's territory.
8/8/2014 Topic: Carrizo Gorge dsefcik Administrator	@railexplorer: Thanks for the (seemingly) knowledgeable info, still think the tourist idea would be great, maybe pedal powered rail bikes...
8/10/2014 Topic: Carrizo Gorge dsefcik Administrator	@railexplorer: Thanks for all the info, you seem to know a lot about the railway...good to have you post here about it.
8/10/2014 Topic: Mud Caves via Vallecito Creek in Summer dsefcik Administrator	DesertWRX wrote: I don't think Jennifer is a ranger here anymore. bummer...I liked her..you know that for sure?
8/20/2014 Topic: Butterfield Ranch/Mason Valley rock house and mine dsefcik Administrator	I don't know anything specific but that area was home to lots of mines and cattle ranches. You might want to ask inside the Butterfield store, I met the owner of the ranch there once and she was very friendly and encouraged me to go explore the stone ruins.
8/22/2014 Topic: Butterfield Ranch/Mason Valley rock house and mine dsefcik Administrator	Doug sounds familiar, maybe he is the gentleman I always see during the summer when I stop in for ice (Butterfield has block ice at local grocery store prices and reasonable beer selection also). He always seems eager to talk about the area.
8/27/2014 Topic: Racetrack Mystery Solved dsefcik Administrator	Are there any rocks left out there or have they finally all been taken?
9/2/2014 Topic: 2011 Hallmark Everest popup camper for sale dsefcik Administrator	That's a nice setup....way out of my league...I thought getting a new foam sleeping pad from the surplus store was a big upgrade for me...
9/14/2014 Topic: Sunrise Powerlink construction kills night skies dsefcik Administrator	kylekai wrote: Looks like we might now get 500 kV transmission lines thru the park: http://tubbcanyondesertconservancy.org/index.html#transmissionlines Didn't even know such a website existed...wonderful...
9/15/2014 Topic: September Rain? dsefcik Administrator	anyplace with historic data?
9/15/2014 Topic: Little Blair and Thomas Mountain dsefcik Administrator	Thanks for the report David...I am thinking of heading out soon myself. Was the register still on Shake? I just got back from a week in the southern Sierras and am starting to see registers everywhere disappear, in fact a quick google search of summit registers missing will turn up some disappointing results. I noticed several years ago the register at Telescope Peak was gone and recently somebody here mentioned the Sombrero Peak register was missing. Several peaks I summited last week in the Sierras were also missing registers....very sad.
9/15/2014 Topic: Little Blair and Thomas Mountain dsefcik Administrator	hikerdmb wrote: Here is looking down on the campsite from the Shake BM. Great thing about that photo is you can also see the Quake peak....Shake & Quake in Earthquake Valley edited by dsefcik on 9/15/2014
9/15/2014 Topic: Little Blair and Thomas Mountain dsefcik Administrator	hikerdmb wrote: I didn't look for the register on Shake so can't help with that. I have also heard stories of missing registers all over the Sierra. I think the story I read came to the conclusion that they were being taken because of some of the names in the old ones and because some people felt the need to "save" them before they were "taken." Would love to see some pics and hear about the Sierra. This is the first summer in 25+ years I did not make it up there. I should have a couple sign in's on the Shake register...ditto on the reason why they are missing. I will have some photos soon, just haven't had time yet, got back Sat night and just trying to catch up. Mostly car camping for 5 days and then a 3 day backpack to Olancha Peak. The southern Kern river was DRY in Kennedy Meadows and in Monache Meadow it was barely 5 inches deep, it was just plain dry everywhere, unbelievable.
9/19/2014 Topic: Little Blair and Thomas Mountain dsefcik Administrator	Yeah...you got me...I was not looking closely enough....nice catch.. tommy750 wrote: dsefcik wrote: hikerdmb wrote: Here is looking down on the campsite from the Shake BM. Great thing about that photo is you can also see the Quake peak....Shake & Quake in Earthquake Valley edited by dsefcik on 9/15/2014 BM Quake is on the ridge between Blair and Little Blair so it wouldn't be in this pic looking north into Earthquake Valley. This was a test right, Daren?
9/20/2014 Topic: Little Blair and Thomas Mountain dsefcik Administrator	I should have looked more closely, looks like Granite off to the left in the distance....thanks Tom for keeping me in line.... Digging thru my mazillion photos I found one from Shake looking towards Quake...Tom, can you please put it thru your verification test? David, sorry to go off topic from your post.. dsefcik wrote: Yeah...you got me...I was not looking closely enough....nice catch.. tommy750 wrote: dsefcik wrote: hikerdmb wrote: Here is looking down on the campsite from the Shake BM. Great thing about that photo is you can also see the Quake peak....Shake & Quake in Earthquake Valley edited by dsefcik on 9/15/2014 BM Quake is on the ridge between Blair and Little Blair so it wouldn't be in this pic looking north into Earthquake Valley. This was a test right, Daren?
9/23/2014 Topic: Olancha, Sirretta Peaks and Monache Meadows Sierra dsefcik Administrator	8 days and 7 nights in the great outdoors of the Southern Sierras. We got rained on the second night out and my military bivy kept me dry all night, after that we had sunshine the whole rest of the trip. The Sierra mountains are dry, I mean really dry. The Kern river was not flowing at all thru Kennedy Meadows and many places that normally have a flowing stream were dry or only had pockets of old water. Gary masterminded this trip and we had a great time. I took most of these photos with my Pentax 6x7 MF film camera and the B/W photos were from a rescued 1936 Zeiss Nettar 515 I purchased and repaired the week prior to the trip. I also took my Anba Ikeda 4x5 wooden field camera but only took a single photo of Olancha Peak with it. Fuji Velvia film is great stuff and produces some very vivid colors. Some of the negatives (really transparencies) I purposely scanned the edges of and softened a bit to give them more of a vintage look. My Canon S100 took some of the quick shots needed and inside Packsaddle Cave. One of our first trips was out to Packsaddle Cave. An interesting site to see for sure, all the stalactites have been broken off and stolen and graffiti on the walls date back to the early 1900's. Trash, clothing, bedding material all are littered about inside the cave. But it is still a neat place to crawl around in and check out. Some of the stalactites are trying to make a comeback though as water continues to seep thru the ceiling of this ancient cave. Inside Packsaddle Cave Some of the stalactites are forming themselves again but I will be dead before they are large Here you can see the vandalized and broken stalactites. The whole cave is like this and is mostly associated to the early 1900's The graffiti inside the cave dates from the early 1900's to one day before we were there...people actually go there armed with paint ready to write on the walls. I did not take pictures of any of the large and just sickening stuff, just a few of the really old pencil ones that were way down deep in the cave, the ones where you need to belly crawl to get to There is even "rock art" in the cave..! We setup base camp near Big Meadow and explored the Domeland Wilderness area for several days. One of our day hikes was up to Sirretta Peak. Here is Gary and Joel at the top. While we never saw any bears we saw lots of tracks and other signs of bears pretty much every day. The trees are great for bears to dig their claws into and they love tearing up signs posted along the trails. I totally forgot to check the trees for any bear fur that may have been stuck in the bark. Some great bear scat Bear tracks on almost every trail for miles at a time Here is some coyote ( I believe) scat fresh on the road as we walked back into camp. The coyotes would howl every night across the meadow. My fellow hiking companions did not seem to show the same enthusiasm for looking at and analyzing all of the varied animal scat we found. Several areas we saw deer and large areas showed signs of bedding for them. Here is a good example that shows the legs being bent and the hoove areas A different day saw us hiking up to Taylor Dome AKA Miranda Dome. Here is Gary ascending the last section that requires some very careful hand and foot placement. From Taylor Dome looking down at Big Meadow. We are camped way past the meadow somewhere near Salmon Creek. Here are some of my old school film shots of Gary and I on top of Taylor Dome. Olancha Peak is way off in the distance in these photos and is where we would be heading to in a few days as the last part of our trip. On our way back to camp we stopped at Salmon Creek. It was pretty much dry as could be with only a few pockets of mosquito water. Gary has been going to this same place for 30+ years and has never seen it dry like this. Somewhere on the way to Taylor Dome, the rock climbers have left rope and other climbing stuff all over the faces of this boulder outcrop. Next stop on the trip was to Monache Meadows and Olancha Peak. Here is Gary crossing the Kern River...hardly any water at all! Monache Meadows is a big place and was open enough to take some sunset/sunrise photos. We were finally camping someplace where we were not covered by trees. This is Monache Mtn at sunrise. It got down to 20 degrees that night and my water was frozen and my hands quickly became numb as I got up and started taking early morning photos. Still going with the Fuji Velvia slide film and my old cameras I found the cowboys and cattle rustling around out in the meadow. I love the deep rich colors of the velvia film The old 1936 Zeiss folding camera got a chance to photograph the cattle as well. The shutter was frozen shut from the early morning 20 degree coldness on the first shot but freed up for the second. You can see there is a light leak on the top of the photo At sunset I setup my 4x5 field camera to take a photo of Olancha Peak. The Fuji Velvia film looks great in person and on a light table. Here is the setup, notice the 7lb Pentax 6x7 camera hanging from the tripod to stabilize the light weight wood camera The composition on the ground glass And finally the photograph from all of that work. The 4x5 negative from this camera scanned at 9600 dpi is almost 200 megapixels! We would be backpacking to Olancha Peak the next morning. Our campsite and Monache Mtn in the distance Olancha Peak standing tall at 12,132'.... We did a very leisurely 3 day backpack trip up to Olancha Peak from Monache Meadows. Gary and Joel on the PCT Here is a great view from one of my camping spots. That military bivy is one of my best camping purchases ever, it is tough and water/wind proof. Since I carpooled with Gary I packed light (sorta), this was most of my stuff for 8 days. Here is a photo from the Zeiss camera of the same vista At the top of Olancha you can see almost everywhere, especially over towards Whitney and Langley If you are interested in a full 360 view you can click this image to view and download the original sized photo It was a great trip!
9/23/2014 Topic: Olancha, Sirretta Peaks and Monache Meadows Sierra dsefcik Administrator	Olancha's North/N. West slopes are easy, the rest are steep, scree filled cliffs. Looking down at the 395 form the top gives you a kinda vertigo feeling.
9/23/2014 Topic: Olancha, Sirretta Peaks and Monache Meadows Sierra dsefcik Administrator	tommy750 wrote: Looks like another great hike, Daren. Wish I could have joined you guys. Did you use a backpack? Noted the water level of Lake Isabella is down to 10% of capacity. Wonder if they're doing any rafting these days on the Kern. People were skiing on the lake with tree branches sticking up all over the place, looked pretty sketchy to us. You can see the pack I used in one of the photos, I carried that for 3 days and tried to keep it as light as I could. The other days I used the fanny pack.
9/25/2014 Topic: Two nights in AB after summer dsefcik Administrator	I am also looking forward to getting back out there...thanks for the update. BTW, the rangers generally appreciate knowing about the BH Sheep that have died so if you have an opportunity to photograph it and get the location you can send it to them or to me and I will forward it on. Daren
9/25/2014 Topic: Olancha, Sirretta Peaks and Monache Meadows Sierra dsefcik Administrator	rockhopper wrote: Great trip report and photos with different cameras. My brother is up there right now! Just a little further north. I will be heading up to the Sierras and then further up to Eureka next week to visit family. We have a cabin to stay in near the San Joaquin river. Mt Olancha is the last highest peak heading south until you hit San Gorgonio. I found an arrow head just below Olancha peak near the Owens lake bed about 20 years ago. Lots of obsidian shards near the passes too. The views to the east are just fantastic. How were the mosiqutos? Down with the lower water? I am going to be doing the rain dance soon myself! Mosoquitos were not too bad, Gary swore they would be in swarms near Salmon Creek but we saw very few...so there you have another probable low water side effect., Yeah..lots of obsidian and several points were found by us in various locations on our trip.
9/28/2014 Topic: Olancha, Sirretta Peaks and Monache Meadows Sierra dsefcik Administrator	Great photo Jim, yeah, Olancha seems prominent from many of the southern areas. I am hoping to get out some more now and do some day hikes and maybe some short backpack trips that don't involve carrying 11 liters of water....
10/14/2014 Topic: Ghost Mountain with Huel dsefcik Administrator	This is great great Mark, thanks for posting...I was not aware Huell had passed, sad, I enjoyed his shows.
10/14/2014 Topic: Ghost Mountain with Huel dsefcik Administrator	ImpatientHiker wrote: Soon after his passing, somebody spraypainted "RIP Huell Howser" on the railtanker next to the Goat Canyon trestle. I was just out there...didn't see it...will look again next time...thanks for that...
10/15/2014 Topic: AB overnight 10/14/14 dsefcik Administrator	Good to see someone getting out there...hopefully I will too..!! Looks like some Talapia frying up.
10/22/2014 Topic: Return to Ghost Mountain dsefcik Administrator	Definitely a cool setup Nolan..looks like a lot of work though.....glad you guys are getting out to the desert, hopefully I will get a chance soon also.
10/22/2014 Topic: Borrego History Authors Day dsefcik Administrator	I am sure these are all great books, I personally own the Missions of San Diego one and enjoyed reading it.
10/22/2014 Topic: Early Morning Coyote Canyon dsefcik Administrator	The bypass rd is 2wd into Collins Valley? Is it open now? I have forgotten the seasonal dates.
10/23/2014 Topic: Yuha and Mt Springs Exit dsefcik Administrator	Nice TR Tom, I like the freeway shot with the car lights...looks like you are also getting some good use out of the fisheye. If you wondered how Tom gets these geoglyph shots, here he is on a recent trip to the Mojave photographing the Mojave Twins Here is a very skewed 4 photo stitched panorama of the Mojave Twins, both of these are from my Pentax 6x7 film camera
10/23/2014 Topic: Yuha and Mt Springs Exit dsefcik Administrator	tommy750 wrote: [ Would be hard to tell that's not the way it actually looks. Is your file like 300MP? Tom No, scanned those small...24mp...you can see the left photos are not as sharp and the exposure is different. That 8lb camera is hard to hold steady on top of your truck..
10/24/2014 Topic: Water at Dos Cabezas Spring? dsefcik Administrator	No idea on spring level but I have seen normally wet areas this year completely dry so plan accordingly. I have hiked sacatone to goat cyn a few times, I can't really think where you will be "running", and about a 3'k elevation gain/loss. Be sure to report back!
10/24/2014 Topic: Water at Dos Cabezas Spring? dsefcik Administrator	No idea on spring level but I have seen normally wet areas this year completely dry so plan accordingly. I have hiked sacatone to goat cyn a few times, I can't really think where you will be "running", and about a 3'k elevation gain/loss. Be sure to report back!
10/25/2014 Topic: Tule Mtn/Dos Cabezas Spring Loop dsefcik Administrator	"was" ?? so this TR will continue..??
10/25/2014 Topic: Driving The Mojave Road dsefcik Administrator	Took a drive out to the Mojave Road with Tom and his friends, we started at the Colorado River and made it to Kelbaker road where we ran out of time and everyone decided to head home since it was Sunday. I took along my big Pentax 6x7 120 format film camera and my Nexus 7 tablet. The Pentax takes great photos and the Nexus makes a great navigation device, I had downloaded all of the maps onto the device before leaving and used Backcountry Navigator Pro for the navigation app. It all really works great, don't think I'll be going back to my small screen Delorme anymore. Tom has some VERY nice photos of the trip, way better than anything I have, hopefully he will share a few. You can find all the info you want to know about the Mojave Road on this website http://www.mojave-road.com B/W photos taken with the Pentax 6x7 with Ilford SFX 200 film, Red 25A filter and developed with Ilford DD-X Driving the road thru the joshua tree forest Somewhere in Lanfair Valley, next to the bus I think This is on the Fort Piute Trail This is the Fort Piute Valley / Canyon, you can see the remains of the fort in the lower left. The was running water in the stream. Camped at Fort Piute Cool old corral Lots of petroglyphs along the way Joshua Tree forest Old cabin along the way The Lava Beds near the Lava Tubes, this stuff is really hard to walk on! Parked somewhere, can't remember but apparently I went for a walk... Enough black & white, here is some color stuff from the Nexus 7 Sunrise at Fort Piute Sunset at the Lava Beds My truck after Tom's friends got hold of it at night Nice old Native American trail I stayed an extra night so this was my last night's setup before going home Trying to catch the sunset reflection of Baker in my rear view window Red Spotted Toad More 'glyphs Tom at the old cabin Our caravan of vehicles The frog shrine Lots more photos of the trip are here on my gallery Total Mylar Balloons this trip - 1 (not photographed)
10/26/2014 Topic: Driving The Mojave Road dsefcik Administrator	Nolan (anutami) wrote: Awesome trip! Thanks for sharing. Whats up with the lights on your truck? Makes me want to get out there and give it a go Tom's friends brought some Xmas lights and I guess my truck was the tree...
10/26/2014 Topic: Driving The Mojave Road dsefcik Administrator	Tom, you have a lot more great photos you are not sharing but the rabbit dropping IS MY FAVORITE!!
10/26/2014 Topic: Driving The Mojave Road dsefcik Administrator	rockhopper wrote: Neat Trip! Neat traveling on a trail that's thousands of years old and still dirt! I've been on parts of it and traced most of it on google earth. The ancient ones followed the water. Many of the walk in wells have been erased by the sands of time. Those petroglyphs were markers describing what's ahead . Great photography once again Daren! Did you get near Mitchel caverns ? Thanks rockhopper..Mitchel pretty much has everything closed and the signs have the name erased from them, they have been vandalized into complete closure....they may open again this year their website says.
10/26/2014 Topic: Driving The Mojave Road dsefcik Administrator	Jim (ziphius) wrote: Interesting that there are so many petroglyphs on such small rocks, have only seen photos of larger panels before. Looks like they made a mini Burning Man piece of art out of Daren's truck, heh? Great photos guys. It was kinda like an Easter Egg hunt...it was fun finding them...
10/27/2014 Topic: Yuha and Mt Springs Exit dsefcik Administrator	tommy750 wrote: Yeah the red and green ear tags with the matching red and green collars were kinda interesting. Is that the standard tagging technique?? I don't know. Was nice to see a bunch of sheep where there weren't any a few years back. Tom I have seen some goofy combinations of colors with the tag/collar sheets they give us at the sheep count. I don't really know the reason behind it though.
10/27/2014 Topic: Interesting new book dsefcik Administrator	Mark was talking about his book at the last count....should be a good book, he knows just about everything about the bighorn, he is extremely knowledgeable and it is always great to listen to him speak about them.
10/29/2014 Topic: Palo Verde canyon hike dsefcik Administrator	Yeah, the bighorn can be very elusive and they very well could have been watching you, they just blend in so well you may never see them. Thanks for the report!
10/30/2014 Topic: Palo Verde canyon hike dsefcik Administrator	Did the tanks have any water? Enough for the BHS that you saw all the scat from?
10/30/2014 Topic: Tule Mtn/Dos Cabezas Spring Loop dsefcik Administrator	Back in my ultra days...yeah...not doing that much anymore so power to Mr. ImpatientHiker..... surfponto wrote: This sounds right up your alley Daren dsefcik wrote: "was" ?? so this TR will continue..??
10/30/2014 Topic: Casey Nocket : Vandalism Case at National Parks dsefcik Administrator	Interesting....
11/4/2014 Topic: Halloween weekend trip dsefcik Administrator	YES..love the scat photo...!! Definitely recognize the spot, great area but way more prone to the cold and rain then lower down on the floor. Tom and I were also out and I am working on some photos to post. Looks like folks are starting to get back out again now that it is cooling down. What did you do out there other than bend a tent pole?
11/4/2014 Topic: Halloween weekend trip dsefcik Administrator	Nice..I like the clouds...so..a good, fun, mess around trip, no real agenda..I like it....
11/5/2014 Topic: Indian Valley / In-Koh-Pah Mountains Backpack dsefcik Administrator	A 2 day backpack trip out into Indian Valley and the In-Koh-Pah mountains area with a couple friends. Great weather, saw some wildlife and enjoyed the great outdoors, also tried out my new Fujifilm XE-1 camera. My back is still messed up but I have acquired mostly all ultra light weight stuff now and can keep my pack down to about 20lbs with 2 liters of water, food and some booze....that is about my limit for now. I also carried another 2 liters of water in my hands, so 4 liters total, 2 each day. Tom and Joel putting on their more than 20lbs backpacks...I know how that goes.... We came across an old cow carcass and Tom was quick to start pointing out how my back was messed up using the cow spine as a visual aid. Apparently this cow had a pretty screwed up back also Gorgeous views of the desert floor and the surrounding Laguna Mountains. Clouds and light drizzle were moving in. This was an old runway/airstrip back in the day, you can see the old winsock pipe and harness still standing A panorama of Indian Valley Lots of bony scat along the way and many morteros full of scat, what did the native americans do to keep animals from crapping in their grinding holes? With the drizzle and dark clouds in the sky I picked out a nice boulder overhang to setup for the night Tom had a real nice tent setup Joel had a visitor snooping around his tent and backpack...Foxy Loxy had no fear.... Found a few pictos along the way Whale Peak Welcome to Ocotillo California Total Mylar Balloons This Trip - 6
11/6/2014 Topic: Indian Valley / In-Koh-Pah Mountains Backpack dsefcik Administrator	Jim (ziphius) wrote: Good-looking fox. How far south into the In-Koh-Pah range did you guys go? I look at the topo lines of that area and get inspired to really get back into the nooks and crannies of the region. Future trip for sure. Looks like some of your scats might have some reptile parts in there, heh? Were those pictos a new find for you? edited by ziphius on 11/6/2014 we did kinda farted around the most northern area. I did find new pictos this trip but hey are not much to look at. If you are interested in a trip out contact me via email, I may be going back out tomorrow or Sat.
11/6/2014 Topic: Indian Valley / In-Koh-Pah Mountains Backpack dsefcik Administrator	surfponto wrote: I second the cool looking fox comment. Great find on the pictos also. Can't believe your back is still messed up, sorry. Sucks you have to end the trip with a drive thru wind farm hell. Yeah, the wind farm...what a mess....
11/7/2014 Topic: Halloween weekend trip dsefcik Administrator	I really liked my Trangia alcohol stove and used it for 5+ years but handed it down to my son recently and bought a Snow Peak stove and cup setup to combat my back problems and move to lower weight items in my pack. The snow peak stove/cup/110 gram fuel cartridge weighs 13oz total and can last me 4-5 days of boiling water for coffee and dinner. My trangia with fuel bottle couldn't come close to that, and my new setup is way smaller. Here is the Trangia Your cat food can stove reminded me of another friend of mine who did the same thing on a trip to the Sierras(not Gary), it worked but seemed to use a lot of fuel and needed a lot of wind block. How does yours work? Do you make a new one for each trip or the same one? The alcohol stoves are quiet, cheap, pretty much bomb proof and can use almost anything flammable, they are great heating devices but I have to admit my new fuel canister based setup is pretty nice, only the refuse guilt factor gets in the way...
11/7/2014 Topic: Halloween weekend trip dsefcik Administrator	So kinda hijacking this thread with a topic had millions of times before on other more targeted forums....I just weighed one of my old 4oz bottles of denatured alcohol full and it weighed...4oz, add a 1/3 once cat food can and an aluminum foil wind shield for 90% of the desert hikes I do and it is much lighter than my new 13oz setup. The speed is not important to me, the alcohol stove was fine, I really, really liked the quiet of it....may need to give the cat food can a second glance....
11/7/2014 Topic: Halloween weekend trip dsefcik Administrator	tommy750 wrote: I purchased as my first stove ever, the JetBoil. Now, I find it mocked on ultralight sites as the "JetBrick." Weighed it last night at 14.1 oz and the partly used canister at 6.4 oz. Does boil 2cups in 3 minutes and the insulated cup is kinda nice. Even caught Daren admiring it but he'd already had a few That JetBrick is actually kinda cool, I was digging on it...ahhh..a few ounces here, a few ounces there....can't add up to much can it...???
11/7/2014 Topic: Halloween weekend trip dsefcik Administrator	Jim (ziphius) wrote: tommy750 wrote: dsefcik wrote: "...just weighed one of my old 4oz bottles of denatured alcohol full and it weighed...4oz".. Just, wow. So, the bottle itself weighs zero ounces! yeah..OK, that didn't really come out like I meant...all I can say is my scale must be off or REI has made their generic 4oz bottles magic somehow.....
11/7/2014 Topic: Indian Valley / In-Koh-Pah Mountains Backpack dsefcik Administrator	hikerdmb wrote: Sorry your back is still hurtin. Glad you are still out there. Looked like a great trip. Thanks David, hope to see some TR's from you soon.
11/7/2014 Topic: Halloween weekend trip dsefcik Administrator	tommy750 wrote: Actually, 4 oz of alcohol volume are 3.3oz of alcohol weight. If the plastic bottle weighs .7 oz, then 4 oz = 4 oz. Daren, your empirical prowess is just, wow! Yep..that is what I meant..thanks Tom..!!
11/8/2014 Topic: Halloween weekend trip dsefcik Administrator	Jim (ziphius) wrote: Reminds me of my argument for freezing some of my water bottles prior to hitting the trail...... solid water is 'lighter' than liquid water. Hey...I also do that..!!
11/8/2014 Topic: Geoglyph Hunting With Harry Casey dsefcik Administrator	Nice, sorry I could not join you today, looked like fun. Too bad about the snake and tire tracks, that was the first thing that caught my eye.
11/8/2014 Topic: Santa Rosa Hiker In Trouble dsefcik Administrator	Interesting...keep us posted...who carries a red flare hiking??
11/8/2014 Topic: Santa Rosa Hiker In Trouble dsefcik Administrator	So, probably night hiking to begin with? Keep us posted..thanks...
11/8/2014 Topic: Santa Rosa Hiker In Trouble dsefcik Administrator	so a campfire gone wrong, not a flare...??
11/9/2014 Topic: Indian Valley / In-Koh-Pah Mountains Backpack dsefcik Administrator	Florian wrote: The picture of Whale mtn is very familiar to me. I often camp along the road very near when the picture was taken from. Beautiful. I've always wanted to hike into the valley above Canebrake. -Florian edited by Florian on 11/9/2014 My son and I have camped in that area many times with that view, a couple times with snow on Whale Peak while we were warm down below. You should hike into Canebrake, it is an amazing remote area and you can get in there via Indian Valley. If you are into lots of hiking, one route is up and over False Sombrero and then down into the valley, another route folks take is from McCain Valley down Pepperwood trail. Either way it is an amazing place.
11/9/2014 Topic: Halloween weekend trip dsefcik Administrator	Pic #4 is pretty cool...great views...
11/9/2014 Topic: Best Mylar Ballon Trip dsefcik Administrator	Nice...I always watch for the brush sweeps in the sand but have never seen a balloon sweep before...
11/9/2014 Topic: Best Mylar Ballon Trip dsefcik Administrator	Florian wrote: Just want to say how much i love all the people on this forum. Picking up the balloons and trash. Such a great group of people. -Florian
11/12/2014 Topic: Best Mylar Ballon Trip dsefcik Administrator	DesertWRX wrote: Got back today from a 3 night stay at the Arroyo Salado campground. Picked up only 3 on my morning hikes. Just amazing how many there are out there, I picked up 3 and left 2 to finish rotting in the cholla this last weekend.
11/13/2014 Topic: Rockhouse Canyon in Carrizo Gorge Backpack dsefcik Administrator	Veterans Day solo backpack trip out to Rockhouse Canyon in Carrizo Gorge. Was supposed to go with Tom but he couldn't make it. Took the new Fuji XE-1 camera, I still don't feel in command of it yet, especially with the night and star photos. The camera works quite differently then my Sony DSLR cameras. Biggest problem I noticed was it seems to focus past infinity but of course I couldn't tell until I got home and looked at the pictures. Good trip, found the palm oasis and stopped by the pictograph site. The old ranchers shack is still standing. Remnants of the old road into the canyon before the park put the bollards up I got in late at night and started looking for a place to put my sleeping gear down and found this guy Not proud of any of these star shots, I need to dial in the new camera and it's settings Moonrise Here is a photo of the ranchers shack from an April 1947 Desert Magazine article and below is one I took on this trip. Much of the ocotillo still stands but one in particular right behind the shack is now gone. And some random shots inside the shack So now for the real agenda of the trip....follow the water pipe from the trough up the mountainside and see where it goes Along the way I found a Sky Blazer that expired in Oct 1961 Those damn ranchers were tough, that pipe went up 1,000+ feet to a palm oasis up on the ridge I lost the pipe in several places and it is now since broken apart but I could find sections all the way up to the palm grove Awesome views of Carrizo Gorge and the desert floor up at the palm grove Some artifacts along the way Figured I would stop and check out the pictographs while I was out that way Total Mylar Balloon count this trip - 3 (sorry, no picture)

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