tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18792999339984694572024-03-13T09:41:22.032-07:00It's Always JanuaryA photographer with an engineering background. Lengthy posts of technical points are sure to follow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-63303967738563632562011-05-23T10:43:00.000-07:002012-06-05T10:32:57.528-07:00A Great Loss<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="http://images.artwanted.com/large/61/27590_675161.jpg" /></div>
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Yesterday my family and I learned that we had lost one of our own. My nephew, who was only a few years younger than I and more like a brother to me, had taken his own life. Alone in a car in some back alleyway he had ended his own suffering of a pain that none of us will ever fully understand.<br />
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Who was Brian Clay? I'm not sure that any one person knows that answer fully. Instead he chose to expose only a little bit of himself to each person that he trusted enough to have contact with as he drifted in and out of our lives. He was a good guy though, and I don't think I ever heard him speak out in anger. Even when we fought against each other earlier in life, as boys growing up close in age tend to do, we never held bad thoughts for one another. Although I always seemed to get the better of our fist fights, he always bested me on the courts; whether they were with a basketball or a tennis ball. Seeing him play sports were the times I would see that glow that he seemed to be missing in the rest of him. If only he could have dribbled a ball through life, and launched a mean serve at all those wallowing feelings inside of him. If only, if only...<br />
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Early in life things seemed to be as normal and happy as can be. He had two loving parents and a sister that he was close to, and they lived in a nice house in a new neighborhood. Nothing unusual in high school either, as he scored well in his classes and seemed destined to go on to college and live a perfect normal life. If someone were to compare us at the time, I was the one going down the wrong road and living a troubled life. Alas, things in life are not always as they appear. His parents divorced leaving his mother (my sister) heartbroken and devastated that the life they had was over. Wanting to move on in his own life, his Father grew distant and more involved with the one he started over with (** EDIT I just wanted to add that I'm not placing blame here. Relationships are very complex and I can't claim to know much about theirs. Brian never said a bad word about his father to me **). Though he always maintained a love and connection with his sister, they too seemed to drift off in their own directions.<br />
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Everything changed then. Numerous attempts at going to school always seemed to fail. At one point we were taking classes together at Riverside Community College. I was focused at that point, intent upon changing the course of my life and moving on to greater things. He seemed lost without any drive. We lived together for a short period during this time, and as I moved on to a University, he seemed to regress. At one point he got accepted to a University in Missouri, but there he only collected debts he could not repay and found himself getting deeper and deeper in a hole that he could not dig himself out of.<br />
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As my life evolved into a career and a family, he struggled to hold down a job and drifted between Riverside, Missouri, Las Vegas, and Wichita Kansas. Somewhere in the middle of all of this he tried to take his own life by ingesting a bunch of pills, but this attempt failed and it was unclear to us if he really intended it or if he was calling out in desperation for help. The family rallied around him and gave what support we could. My sister in Kansas took him in and helped him find work, but over time he slipped back into that shell and shut us all out again.<br />
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The last I heard from him was after I got back from my trip down the Lower Colorado River. Upon checking my voicemail I received an upbeat message from him telling me he was back in Missouri, working, and optimistic about getting back in school. By this point it had become a routine. Disappear for months or years without a word, then show up out of nowhere upbeat about his new plans to get everything back on track. There didn't seem to be a middle ground for Brian. Things were either at their darkest, and he never liked to speak to anyone he was close to then, or they were bright sunshiny days and everything would change with this new plan he had. He'd always apologize for not getting in touch for so long, and explain that he just didn't want to bring anyone down while he was depressed. I tried to convince him that those times are when you need the people you are close to the most, but he had his own way of looking at things and could not seem to change them.<br />
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Anyways, I called him up and we spoke for quite awhile about his new job at California Pizza Kitchen. He said he wanted to be a manager there, and that with his previous experience in restaurants that they were going to "fast track" him. I was surprised to hear that he also wanted to come out and hike the Lost Coast with me. I gave him the information and told him I had everything he would need; just get yourself here. It turns out that was the last time we would speak on the phone. I emailed him about the trip, and he got back that things were not looking so good now. Money was tight again, and he had forgotten how much he hated working as a waiter. I told him not to sweat it, that there were many other trips yet to come down the road. Had I known that time was running short I would have bought him a ticket myself, I would have driven out and gotten him; anything to stall the momentum towards the train wreck he was heading for. I guess after all the years of drifting in and out I took it for granted that someday he'd drift back in. I don't think I really knew that there was only so much wind in his sails, and that his journey was coming to an end. The signs were everywhere, but through it all I had grown deaf and blind to it. Was he calling out for help again, in his own way? I'll never know...<br />
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About a month ago I got a series of messages from concerned friends in Missouri that he had up and disappeared again. I wish I can claim to have been really concerned, but he had done this so many times. I spoke to a close friend of his who was convinced something was wrong. He had disappeared before, but never had he left money behind. It turned out he was in Kansas staying with another one of my nephews. We breathed a sigh of relief, but the danger was not gone. After staying with him a couple of weeks he left without a word. This time he would not be drifting off to somewhere else. This time he would not be calling months later with an upbeat mood and another grand plan to change his life. This time it was the end.<br />
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I didn't cry when I got that call that Brian was gone. It should not have been a surprise to me, but truth be told I was shocked. As I'm sitting here writing today a day later the tears are finally coming. The reality that he is never going to just show up in my life out of the blue again is setting in. I can't stop thinking about all the times we were together growing up. I can't stop regretting not reaching out to him more. I can't stop feeling the loss for someone I thought I had lost long ago.<br />
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Over the last 4 or 5 years Brian had started painting off and on. Here's a few of his works from his facebook page (as well as the one above). I tried to encourage his new found passion for art. I always planned to send him supplies. I regret not doing that tremendously. He had mentioned having some newer ones last time I spoke to him, but I never got to see them.<br />
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<img height="320" src="http://images.artwanted.com/large/62/27590_528162.jpg" width="400" /><br />
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We'll miss you Brian!<br />
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*** Edit to Add ***<br />
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Learning more about Brian's death, I discovered that he took his life using a mixture of common household chemicals to create Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) fumes. This is known as chemical suicide or detergent suicide and apparently it's becoming more popular in the United States after originating in Japan in 2007, spread mostly by websites on the internet.<br />
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I realized that in this day in age we're all connected online, and that people looking to take their own lives, as well as those coping with loved ones that have already taken their lives, might find there way across this posting. It is for this reason that I am adding on to this post directed more at them then towards myself and others who knew Brian.<br />
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As my good friend Rob commented below, depression is not a weakness, but rather a sickness in the brain. We should blame those with depression no more than we would blame those that have cancer. It is not their fault, and it is not something that can be simply turned off. Much like cancer it is something that must be treated, and those battling against it have no guarantee that they will win. Likewise those suffering from depression should feel no shame for it. You do not choose to have depression, and I have as much respect for those battling it as those battling the deadliest forms of cancer. Just know this; you are not alone and there are good people out there that care and will help you in any way that they can. Never give up hope, for no matter how bad things seem there is always a way out. See a doctor, speak with a counselor, take advantage of your support group of friends and family. Battle against it as you would battle against a disease, for that is what it is.<br />
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Here are some resources for those battling with this condition:<br />
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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: <a href="http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/">www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org</a><br />
Suicide Prevention Resource Center: <a href="http://www.sprc.org/">www.sprc.org</a><br />
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Here are some resources for those who have lost a loved one to this disease:<br />
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Connect with other parents that have lost a child: <a href="http://www.childsuicide.org/">childsuicide.org</a><br />
For Suicide Survivors: <a href="http://www.forsuicidesurvivors.com/">www.forsuicidesurvivors.com</a><br />
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My hope goes out to all those battling depression, and my heart goes out to all those who have lost a loved one to this disease.<br />
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<img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/103/316231694_c73a27e894.jpg" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-74024287986132468422011-05-08T09:18:00.000-07:002011-05-08T09:25:49.364-07:00Canoeing Workshop<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5682993846&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027/5682993846_e4969811ff.jpg" /></a><br />
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Last weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to take part in a workshop for Red Cross Canoeing instructors to refine our paddling skills and improve our teaching abilities. We were able to fly out Randy Carlson, an ACA certified instructor trainer, and his assistant Zak clear out from Minnesota. We did one day of tandem flatwater paddling, focusing on techniques for teaching the fundamentals of canoeing, then did two days on moving water (The Lower American River which was flowing at 8,000 CFS); one in tandem and one in solo boats. Thanks to a generous grant from the American River Parkway Foundation this amazing training workshop was available to all instructors in our program free of charge. I felt quite lucky to be involved!<br />
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For more information and instruction on canoeing in the Sacramento area go to <a href="http://redcrosscrc.org/canoeing">redcrosscrc.org/canoeing</a>.<br />
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Here are some random photos of the weekend (the green boat is Randy Carlson, the instructor trainer, and his assistant Zak)...<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5682994226&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5181/5682994226_46381f7e5e.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5682994306&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5182/5682994306_cb7e466f0c.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5682994344&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5225/5682994344_cab363f33c.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5682994510&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5229/5682994510_a526a6c309.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5682427821&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5103/5682427821_ecb2071256.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5682994590&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5027/5682994590_93cf80aa65.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5682994938&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5026/5682994938_312083457b.jpg" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-291475726893907062011-05-04T11:12:00.000-07:002011-06-01T16:34:27.377-07:00Lost Coast Gloom<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637979304&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5268/5637979304_aa47f58b7e.jpg" /></a><br />
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I am really behind on my blogging here, as I took yet another trip to the Lost Coast two and a half weeks ago and have yet to share it. Turned out to be a wet and gloomy weekend on the coast, but I'm finding as I explore this area ever year that it has many faces and all of them are quite beautiful.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637979280&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5262/5637979280_757cd790b3.jpg" /></a><br />
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We decided this year to explore the southern section of the Lost Coast that parallels the King Range (north of Sinkyone and Shelter Cove). I had heard that <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637402483&size=large">Shipman Creek</a> was <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637402731&size=large">a great place to camp</a>. On my first trip to the area we had blown by it without exploring, heading on to Buck Creek to be closer to getting out the next morning because a high tide was coming in fairly early. This year I wanted to spend two nights there so I could explore and enjoy the vicinity without the worry of "putting in the miles" each day.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637402543&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5269/5637402543_e6598d5403.jpg" /></a><br />
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So we headed back down that familiar road to the place that calls to me each early Spring. The weather seemed fair enough in the Sacramento area, but as we hit the 101 the clouds began to appear and slowly the sun was being blocked out. Had I known I would not see that sun again until we were on our way out I might have stopped right then and there on the side of the road to bask in it one last time.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637978340&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5309/5637978340_4ebf6b0c1d.jpg" /></a><br />
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We reached Nadelos campground just outside of Shelter Cove fairly early, and found it to be nearly flooded out. In the rain we searched each of the walk in campsites for tent spots that did not resemble reflecting pools whose images were rippled and distorted in the onslaught of drops from above. Nothing looked very promising so we held off setting up, choosing instead to go for food in town and hope the conditions improved. Alas, there would be no break in the rain that night and we drove back up the road to the campgrounds armed with bottled spirits and firewood to brave the weather. <br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637977842&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5144/5637977842_b71131bd12.jpg" /></a><br />
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We drove on past Nadelos campground to try our luck at Wailaki just up the road. The sites did not appear nearly as flooded as the others had been, so we staked a claim and began setting up our tents in the light but steady rain. After a few Eel River Amber Ales, and some Lagunitas IPAs (both fine beers) we challenged ourselves with starting a fire in this damp dreary weather. With the dry (though not seasoned) wood from the store and a fire starter brick we got the fire going, but it was rough going and needed constant attention to stay lit. By the end of the night I had it self sufficient enough to leave a warm flickering light on the tent as I closed my eyes amidst the chattering sounds of raindrops, but it never put off much warmth beyond the edge of the fire ring.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637978268&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5110/5637978268_62fb35195c.jpg" /></a><br />
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The next morning we set off down the coast, heading north to cover 7.5 miles in a strange misty wet haze. Creek crossing were a bit of a challenge this year. None were particularly dangerous, but often did I find myself slipping off a slick rock and coming to be calf deep in the moving cold water. This would not be as big a deal on a sunny day that one could hang their socks on their packs to dry, but this trip would prove difficult for drying out much of anything.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637402283&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5223/5637402283_7099e03a48_z.jpg" /></a><br />
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While having lunch and waiting for the last of the high tide to recede, I happened across this massive <strike>bear skull</strike> (A reader has corrected me that this is actually a large Sea Lion skull....I had no idea they got that big, or had teeth like that!). It always amazes me all the things I find along this shoreline. Everything from bones, to exotic shells, to massive trees, to ship debris intermix with the rock and black sand. You could spend hours walking searching the tide lines.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637977988&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5264/5637977988_8fec97e330.jpg" /></a><br />
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We arrived at Shipman Creek and found it to be completely abandoned. I had worried with it being such a prime spot that others might have beaten us to it considering we had a Saturday departure. The camp had a series of large logs providing some shelter for the tents and a nice spot for a fire ring which wouldn't see much use on this wet weekend. We explored the area and found a beautiful flowing creek sheltered by trees with <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637403351&size=large">Queen Anne's Lace</a> growing abundantly. On the north side of the creek a trail goes back to a nice sheltered campsite. The mosquitoes are probably horrendous at the right time of year back in there though.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637403437&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5263/5637403437_db856906f3.jpg" /></a><br />
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We spent the remainder of our trip enjoying the area mostly to ourselves. This area has a number of <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637402775&size=large">small waterfalls</a> cascading down to the beach, and is really beautiful to see in any weather. We hiked up to <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637403079&size=large">Big Flat</a> to see if any surfers could be <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637978510&size=large">seen at the break there</a>, but between the weather and the pretty small swells we saw none. We saw lots of <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637978478&size=large">pretty wildflowers</a> and other <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637403147&size=large">interesting things</a> just about everywhere we went. The constant mist and off and on rains kept us pretty wet all weekend, but we still managed a humble fire the first night and kept dry in our tents at night. It also helped to have some trail screwdrivers and some vino that I had carried in. Here's my recipe for perfect trail screwdrivers for those interested...<br />
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Start with a small nalgene bottle that shows volume in ounces, a good quality vodka (I like Ketle One), and a single serve packet of orange Gatorade mix.<br />
- Fill the vodka to 4 ounces<br />
- Add the Gatorade mix<br />
- Fill with water to 14 ounces.<br />
- Shake well and divide with partner (or drink up!).<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637403573&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5149/5637403573_0193419c32.jpg" /></a><br />
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After sharing a few of those we enjoyed our wet wonderland and slept well amidst the sound of pounding waves crashing in. It was a little disappointing not seeing a single sunset the whole trip, but I think I found other interesting things to photograph instead.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637978294&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5145/5637978294_dc805b88c0.jpg" /></a><br />
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Other highlights of the trip were getting to meet both the new Lost Coast Ranger Paul, who was making his rounds, and the old <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637403661&size=large">Lost Coast Ranger DC</a> who was through hiking the 25 miles from Mattole to Shelter Cove with a group. Both are very nice people and very knowledgeable about the area. Truly great resources for having a fun and safe trip in this region.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637403245&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5144/5637403245_6792bb27e3.jpg" /></a><br />
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Some tips for dealing with a wet camping trip:<br />
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- Most good modern tents will stay really dry on a wet trip if you follow a few guidelines. First, I like double walled tents with a separate rainfly. Condensation collects on the inside of the outer rainfly, but the inner tent walls remain dry if you keep them well ventilated and <b>make sure they don't touch the outer rainfly wall</b>. I can't stress this enough. If you have too much gear, or the tent is too small for you and the wall is pushed out against the rainfly, you will get moisture coming in at that point. Also, most tents have a weak spot on the outside where the fly touches the ends of the tents. For this reason there is often a loop sewn in there. Attach some nylon ripcord to this loop and tie it off so that it holds the ends of the rainfly off the tent.<br />
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- Rain gear. I always take rain gear on the Lost Coast this time of year. Tops, bottoms and a pack cover. If you don't have a pack cover a thick large black trash bag works nice. Slide it over your pack and cut out slits for the shoulder straps to come through.<br />
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- Dry bags. I keep my sleeping bag and any clothes I want to keep from getting wet in dry bags within my pack. I could literally fall into the Ocean and assuming I don't get pulled in (a real risk here!) I will have dry clothes and a dry sleeping bag available to me.<br />
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- Pack up your rainfly separately on in-between days. If you are having to pack up in the rain and set up again that night (in the rain likely), then you want to keep your tent that you have done such a great job of keeping dry under the rainfly as dry as possible (it'll get a little wet rolling it up). Rolling the tent up with the rainfly will ensure a very wet inside of your tent when you set it back up. Not the dry comfy place I want to sleep in.<br />
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- Leave the cotton at home! As they say, cotton kills. It keeps moisture right on your skin and does not dry well at all. Wool, Polypropylene, and other quick drying fabrics that draw moisture away from your skin are essential in foul weather.<br />
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- Layers. I wear a light waterproof shell and a breathable soft shell underneath. The shell itself gets clammy and moist inside without a breathable layer in-between.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5637978364&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5146/5637978364_bd127829fa.jpg" /></a><br />
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Gear that worked:<br />
- Ex Officio Nio Amphi pants with vented knee. These things are amazingly breathable. Nothing else dried very well all weekend, but these things stayed dry even in the soaking mist.<br />
- REI Quarterdome UL tent. Light, easy to set up, and stayed dry inside. Perfect size for one person.<br />
- SeaToSummit Event compression dry sack. I love these things. Water can't get in, but air can get out so that you can compress them down real small. I have two small ones that fit either a down sleeping bag or clothes nicely. I also have an Outdoor Research Airpurge compression dry sack that is a little bigger and fits my synthetic sleeping bag.<br />
- Marmot Precip jacket and pants. I'm kind of on the fence still with these. My precip jacket had already failed within a year of buying it so I washed it and my new precip pants in Nikwax prior to the trip. They kept me dry, but after three days in the rain I could see where it was beginning to soak through and fail on the jacket. Great light weight jacket for light rain, but I think I want a Gortex jacket now for serious bad weather.<br />
- Slik Pro 613 CF Carbon Fiber tripod with Gitzo G1177M Magnesium Series 1 head. Slightly over 2 pounds, but is very stable, giving a working height between 7 and 39 inches off the ground, and folds down to a little under 20 inches including the head. It's my ultimate compromise between weight, cost, and stability in a tripod.<br />
- Canon 5D camera. This thing amazes me every time I use it. For not being weather sealed it seems to handle shooting in wet environments very well (your mileage may vary!). I keep it covered as much as I can, wipe it down from time to time, and get the shots I want even in the rain. Shower caps work well to keep some water off.<br />
- Starbucks Via. Not really gear per se, but I really love a great cup of coffee in a light package with almost no cleanup. It's the only coffee I drink on the trail now.<br />
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See everything I took along here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/5606598801/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/5606598801</a><br />
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I have some video that I shot with my GoPro HD camera mounted on my hiking staff that I'll upload as well when I get a chance.<br />
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<h2><a href="http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1081941">Lost Coast 2011</a></h2><object width="400" height="300" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab"><param name="movie" value="http://www.everytrail.com/swf/widget.swf"/><param name="FlashVars" value="units=english&mode=0&key=ABQIAAAA_7wvFEi7gGngCZrOfos63hSN1xyBy-BzBD--25ZLXpVi3GfbehTQlZCXdpUFII2A5CGeExVTCyX1ow&tripId=1081941&startLat=40.0454223&startLon=-124.0773052&mapType=Terrain&"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.everytrail.com/swf/widget.swf" quality="high" width="400" height="300" FlashVars="units=english&mode=0&key=ABQIAAAA_7wvFEi7gGngCZrOfos63hSN1xyBy-BzBD--25ZLXpVi3GfbehTQlZCXdpUFII2A5CGeExVTCyX1ow&tripId=1081941&startLat=40.0454223&startLon=-124.0773052&mapType=Terrain&" play="true" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></object><br />
EveryTrail - Find the <a href="http://www.everytrail.com/best/hiking-california">best Hiking in California</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.everytrail.com/trip/widgetimpression?trip_id=1081941"></script><br />
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More photos here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/sets/72157626539338886/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/sets/72157626539338886/</a><br />
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See my other trips to the Lost Coast for more information about this amazing area. Just click "Lost Coast Trail" under labels on the right. Or just click <a href="http://www.alwaysjanuary.com/search/label/Lost%20Coast%20Trail">here</a>.<br />
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Also I suggest visiting the new King Range Wilderness (including the Lost Coast) blog here: <a href="http://lostcoastranger.blogspot.com">http://lostcoastranger.blogspot.com</a>.<br />
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Check out the old King Range Wilderness blog as well for lots of information: <a href="http://kingrange.blogspot.com">http://kingrange.blogspot.com</a><br />
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Rules and guidelines for the Lost Coast can be found here: <a href="http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/arcata/kingrange/index.html">http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/arcata/kingrange/index.html</a><br />
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Tides Tables (which are very important to know on the trail) can be found here: <a href="http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predictions.shtml?year=2011&stn=6841+Arena%20Cove&secstn=Shelter+Cove&thh=%2B0&thm=6&tlh=%2B0&tlm=5&hh=*1.04&hl=*1.03&footnote=">http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predictions.shtml?year=2011&stn=6841+Arena%20Cove&secstn=Shelter+Cove&thh=%2B0&thm=6&tlh=%2B0&tlm=5&hh=*1.04&hl=*1.03&footnote=</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-55864496498725479652011-03-27T15:24:00.000-07:002011-03-27T21:21:02.027-07:00Lower Colorado River Canoe Trip GPS DataOK, I finally got around to getting the GPS coordinates off the GPS and uploaded the data onto EveryTrail. The best way to view it is to click it to go to EveryTrail, click "view map fullscreen", pause the slideshow and close the image, then zoom in on the route clicking the red dots to view the photos at that location. You'll notice the first portion from Walter's Camp to just before Draper's Cabin is not very accurate. I had forgot to start the Waypoint Tracking on my GPS. From Draper's Cabin on it's very accurate!<br />
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You can download the gpx file of the trip on EveryTrail by clicking here: <a href="http://www.everytrail.com/downloadGPX.php?trip_id=1016499">http://www.everytrail.com/downloadGPX.php?trip_id=1016499</a>.<br />
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<h2><a href="http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1016499">Lower Colorado River Canoe Trip</a></h2><object width="400" height="300" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/get/flashplayer/current/swflash.cab"><param name="movie" value="http://www.everytrail.com/swf/widget.swf"/><param name="FlashVars" value="units=english&mode=0&key=ABQIAAAA_7wvFEi7gGngCZrOfos63hSN1xyBy-BzBD--25ZLXpVi3GfbehTQlZCXdpUFII2A5CGeExVTCyX1ow&tripId=1016499&startLat=33.168783579&startLon=-114.679387193&mapType=Satellite&"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.everytrail.com/swf/widget.swf" quality="high" width="400" height="300" FlashVars="units=english&mode=0&key=ABQIAAAA_7wvFEi7gGngCZrOfos63hSN1xyBy-BzBD--25ZLXpVi3GfbehTQlZCXdpUFII2A5CGeExVTCyX1ow&tripId=1016499&startLat=33.168783579&startLon=-114.679387193&mapType=Satellite&" play="true" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></object><br />
EveryTrail - Find the <a href="http://www.everytrail.com/best/hiking-california">best Hiking in California</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.everytrail.com/trip/widgetimpression?trip_id=1016499"></script>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-80140256343168899222011-03-19T09:37:00.000-07:002011-05-04T17:13:17.848-07:00Lower Colorado Canoe Trip VideoPut together a video of our trip to the Lower Colorado River. See the full trip report here: <a href="http://www.alwaysjanuary.com/2011/02/lower-colorado-canoe-trip.html">http://www.alwaysjanuary.com/2011/02/lower-colorado-canoe-trip.html</a><br />
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<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nY0ydrjlPcU?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nY0ydrjlPcU?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-56036724447191206852011-03-14T19:04:00.000-07:002011-03-14T19:06:09.307-07:00Red Cross Canoeing<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5441560665&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5139/5441560665_0ea6fbac17.jpg" /></a><br />
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Aside from canoeing down the Lower Colorado river and picking up a new canoe, I've been spending a lot of time helping out to get ready for another season of teaching canoeing with the other volunteers in the Red Cross Canoeing committee. I've mentioned it a few times here, but it really is a great program of canoeing classes in Sacramento. The program has been around for over 35 years, and there are some seriously good paddlers teaching for it.<br />
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Anyways, one of the things I have been doing to help out in the program, and in promoting canoeing in the area in general, is to work on the Red Cross Canoeing website. In the past the canoeing classes were just mixed in with all the other American Red Cross courses. This year I have been working with the folks at the Capital Region Chapter to create a bit of an identity for the program. To start with we added a dedicated canoeing section for prospective students to check out. From there, a description of each class and a photo illustrating the class can be found. I'm also adding a photo gallery for pictures we have, and in the future hope to add photos submitted by students of the class and the canoeing they do after taking the class. It's coming together pretty good, and I'm hoping it will help to boost enrollment this year.<br />
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Check it out here: <a href="http://redcrosscrc.org/canoeing">http://redcrosscrc.org/canoeing</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-58453052826943614322011-03-14T18:43:00.000-07:002011-03-14T18:44:50.087-07:00Navarro Canoe<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5522608889&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5522608889_0a141ab827.jpg" /></a><br />
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Jennifer and I have been keeping our eyes open on the local craigslist for a little bigger canoe (okay, maybe it was mainly me looking). We looked into an 18 foot Kevlar Wenonah Jensen, but I had too many questions about it that we passed on it. At the same time a friend of mine told me about a Navarro Canoe that might be coming available. I had seen a few here and there, and let me tell you they are some beautiful canoes. I started searching for more about them and found one listed, but it was in Ashland Oregon (some 4.5 hours away). Seemed too far to go, but I emailed the guy selling it anyhow to get more information about these boats that I was quickly becoming highly interested in. I exchanged a few emails with him, and long story short, he and his wife offered us a very good deal on not only a beautiful 17 foot boat, but some nice paddles, a canoe cart that's more heavy duty than my old one (see my Daddy daughter canoe trip report to see what happened to my last one), and a bunch of miscellaneous PFDs and flotation pads (we can always use extras for guests). They liked the idea of selling the canoe to us, as they too had a boy and girl and used to enjoy canoeing with them when they were younger. It was just too good of a deal to pass up.<br />
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So Jennifer and I made a weekend of it, traveling to Ashland and staying right in the heart of town at the Plaza hotel. We had a really great time there walking around downtown, exploring Lithia park, eating at the Black Sheep pub, and having fun at the Science Works kids center after a delicious breakfast at Morning Glory's. Ashland is a really cool town in a really beautiful area.<br />
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Anyways, getting back to the main reason for our visit, we came back the proud new owners of a beautiful 17 foot Navarro Loon canoe. It is made out of fiberglass with thin cherry ribs lining the inside and beautiful wood gunwales and thwarts. I can't wait to get it out to some of the beautiful lakes that we like to paddle. <br />
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It's going to be like having a beautiful model and a Sherpa to come along on our trips :-)<br />
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Here's a few more shots taken out in the front lawn after I gave it a washing and put a UV repellent coat on the gelcoat.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5523200066&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5523200066_3696ae36de.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5523200092&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5259/5523200092_96847ebe4e.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5522608987&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5299/5522608987_3465398c3e.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5523200260&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5054/5523200260_6249cdfb23.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5523200364&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5296/5523200364_2f69bbb3f9.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5522609245&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5295/5522609245_8cb87b7ff5.jpg" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-73535294778424199312011-02-16T09:48:00.000-08:002011-02-16T09:48:58.817-08:00Seven Wonders<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=408455466&size=large"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/408455466_572cfa419e.jpg"/></a><br />
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"<i>There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.</i>" -Walt StreightiffUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-72791371106582092832011-02-13T08:36:00.000-08:002011-03-27T15:26:09.216-07:00Lower Colorado Canoe Trip<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5441557435&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5441557435_e28b6b7179.jpg" /></a><br />
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This will be my second season being involved with the Red Cross Canoeing Committee here in Sacramento, and this year some of the core members decided to organize a group paddling trip down 43 miles of the Lower Colorado River starting at Walter's Camp near Blythe and finishing at Squaw Lake.<br />
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I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about paddling the Lower Colorado in Southern California. I grew up in Riverside, which is within a couple of hours of the area, and I made it a point to avoid such places as Blythe which is the nearest town to our put-in. On top of that, it's a pretty major commitment to dedicate a whole week to a trip, not just for me, but for my wife who would be home all alone with our two young kids (7 and 3 years old). Still, I have this unrelenting hunger for adventure, and this trip promised plenty of it, so knowing that I'd owe Jennifer big time (which I'm sure I'll be reminded of for quite some time) I hopped on-board for a journey that did not disappoint in the slightest.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5442159436&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5291/5442159436_55b5f3927f.jpg" /></a><br />
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We started our trek from Sacramento to the Lower Colorado by making our way down to Cottonwood Group Campground at Joshua Tree National Park. It was only a short drive off I-10 right on our route to the put-in at Walter's Camp, so it was the perfect stopping point and it gave us a chance at an equipment check prior to setting off down the river. I'm ashamed to say this is the only time I have ever been to Joshua Tree NP. It's an amazing place, and someday I'll devote a whole trip to exploring it.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5441556435&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/5441556435_b4f79316d9.jpg" /></a><br />
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The next morning we made our way over to Walter's Camp after a short stop off in Blythe for some last minute supplies. Robert, the guy that runs the camp and the camp store met us as we pulled up and was a great host for us. Not only was he able to accommodate shuttling our vehicles to our take out at Squaw Lake ($70 per vehicle as of this posting), but he and his wife May also treated us to one hell of a Superbowl Party at the bar in the store (with some of the best fried chicken and other party snacks thrown in for free). We all had a blast. In fact, we probably had too much of a blast as the next morning was quite the struggle to get going. I awoke at 3' in the morning feeling like crap and unable to sleep, but upon getting up to relieve myself I was treated with an amazing array of stars above me. I just had to go back in the tent to retrieve my photo gear (much to the chagrin of Jack who later commented I that I had zipped more zips than any F'er should be allowed in one night). I think Jack later forgave me when he saw the photos I had captured (or perhaps it was the chocolate cake I baked in the dutch oven, but that's for later in the story).<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5442159734&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5056/5442159734_91a1320f76.jpg" /></a><br />
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The morning started out in slow motion with nobody seeming to get it into a higher gear. Eventually we had gathered all the gear and the canoes at the water's edge and began our first loading. Most of us were doubtful that we'd be able to load up two truck-fulls of gear into the boats, but to my utter astonishment everything was quickly swallowed up into the belly of our paddling beasts. I'd like to see someone try to pull that off with kayaks :-)<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5442160128&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/5442160128_8ea53d0de6.jpg" /></a><br />
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So as it was, we set off down the channel quickly arriving at the confluence with the Colorado River which would carry us down through an epic journey. Patrick and I paddled the 19-foot Wenonah Jensen referred to as the River Hippo(I in the stern since I was slightly less hung over) with Russ and John in the Mad River Explorer, Kurt and Noel in the Dagger Legend (Ruth), and Jack in the Bell Wildfire solo. Some of us were paddling harder than others this morning, but none-the-less we arrived without too much effort at our first stop, Draper's Cabin just south of Draper's Lake.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5441556767&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/5441556767_290e35f585.jpg" /></a><br />
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Draper's Cabin was a nice little stop to start the trip. We all agreed that Miner's Cabin further down river had more of an authentic feel to it, but it was still neat to see all the odd stuff (perhaps some original, and some certainly not) and get a feel for what it must have been like to live way out in the middle of nowhere. The view of the river from the hill behind the Cabin is worth the short hike to the top. Since the landing was so narrow we couldn't easily gain access to our food for lunch here, so we paddled a short ways down and across the river to Lighthouse rock for our first meal on the water. <br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5442160046&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/5442160046_facf0e423b.jpg" /></a><br />
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The current on this stretch was moving us at a brisk 2.8 miles per hour with an average paddling speed of 5.3. Even still it was a long first day of paddling with 15 miles to be covered before reaching our campsite. There was some confusion finding 4-S camp as my GPS waypoint appeared way off. I later figured out that the coordinates I had gotten from a Boy Scout troop online was shifted by one site (I had 4-S camp labeled as Outpost camp, Carrizo labeled as 4-S, and so on). We stopped for a bit at Outpost camp as I was feeling a bit ill (ever since I was a kid I periodically get this strange throat constriction that makes me nauseous). By good fortune we decided to push on to 4-S (with Patrick taking over the stern), and we were rewarded by a quite amazing campsite right on the river with a wonderful view of Hoge Rock across the way (see the first photo on this posting above).<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5442160970&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/5442160970_b04bdc4092.jpg" /></a><br />
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We all agreed that 4-S is the prime spot to camp along this stretch of the river. One of the great features of this camp was the new pit toilet system they have there with a solar powered fan that keeps them absolutely non-smelly (works amazingly well!). Though a 4wd road can access the camp, we saw nobody on land or water during our stay here. What about air you say? That's a different story. As I was resting from my illness and my fine camping buddies were unloading and setting up camp (they even set up my tent, what a great bunch of guys!), we heard a helicopter in the distance. Suddenly this Search and Rescue helicopter flew by (perhaps Coast Guard, but I'm not positive), giving us all a wave. They seemed to have flown away after that when suddenly they came in again this time really low doing a partial circle around our camp at an extreme angle all the while smiling and waving. We were hooting and cheering and giving them a big thumbs up for the show. It's good to know there are fine men like that out there to save our butts if we should need them, and it's great to know they like to have some fun just as much as we do.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5442160670&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4149/5442160670_5663155537.jpg" /></a><br />
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That evening Patrick treated us to an amazing Mexican dinner and John, needing only a few words of instruction baked up a yummy batch of Trader Joe's corn bread in the dutch oven to go with it. The food was great, the spirits were flowing, and the stars were nothing short of amazing this night. Noel gave tours of the night sky through his high powered binoculars while Jack entertained us with some great (and often hilarious) songs with his Baby Taylor guitar. I slept with my rain fly off that night and stared up at the stars as I drifted off to sleep for my first good night's rest of the trip. It really doesn't get much better than this.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5441557773&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/5441557773_ee79322c15.jpg" /></a><br />
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The next morning we packed up and headed down the river towards Picacho State Recreation Area. I was in the solo boat for this day and each of us that paddled it agreed that we must find a way to drown Patrick in the river so that we can steal his boat (just kidding Patrick :-). Unfortunately the winds were blowing hard this day, and we even encountered a small section of the river with white caps from the gale. I hung close to the bigger boats and rode out the waves, trying to enjoy my white knuckle adventure. We had planned to enter into the Norton's Landing inlet from down river, but once we saw the entrance to Adobe lake we decided to take our chances through the narrow passageway and dead tree laden lake rather than stay out in the main channel. Let me tell you, I had an absolute blast maneuvering through the twisty passageway and stump filled lake. Unfortunately I had not turned on my GoPro HD camera properly to get this section of the paddle, but I did discover it on our break in Adobe Lake so I got a bit of the dead tree maze and a small section of the reed passageway to Norton's Landing. I'll post those video clips soon.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5442161418&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5442161418_60da416f79.jpg" /></a><br />
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Norton's Landing was an interesting mock mining town. We almost didn't land, as it didn't appear too friendly to those not on a private tour, but we had been told it was a "don't miss stop" by a local who had paddled here often, so we took a quick peak around being very mindful not to disturb anything. It was a bit touristy for my tastes, but the wide array of stuff from old mining artifacts, to rocks, to just antique'y looking things were kind of interesting.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5441558257&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/5441558257_936cb5bcbc.jpg" /></a><br />
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After our short stop at Norton's Landing, we headed down river trying to find the petroglyphs on river left. From my maps and GPS I figured it was just before the first outcropping of rocks that reached the water after the bend in the river down from Norton's Landing. We saw an opening in the reeds, but Patrick made the call that it didn't look navigable for some of our more barge-like canoes. We were bummed to have missed those.<br />
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Just down river a mile or so on river right we came across the first of the Picacho Campground docks. There was a slight disagreement of nomenclature as to which of the two docks was the "upper" and "lower". Needless to say, most of us agreed the one up river was the upper and that is where we first landed to investigate our camping options. From the upper dock we hiked in to see the main car camping campground. This is a nice camp complete with solar showers which I hear put out some great hot water even on a February evening (after my freezing shower at Walter's Camp I abstained). The drawback is that it's a good long walk to the campsites (I'd guess half a mile or so), so we hiked over to the boat-in camps at the lower dock (Patrick's upper dock). There are two group canoe camping sites here, and we were told that we really should have gotten a reservation ahead of time. Fortunately neither of them was taken, so we paddled down and set up camp for the night. Even though it was closer than the other campground, it was still a good 150 yard haul to get our voluminous amount of gear up to camp. <br />
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This evening we split up into a few groups with some of us hiking off to see the Stamp Mill, and some fishing down on the river. The hike to the Stamp Mill in the evening light was really beautiful. Being more of a mountain forest dweller for the most part, I don't give the desert enough credit for the subtle beauties it possesses. The last hour of the day really makes those elements shine.<br />
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The Stamp Mill was once a large building constructed in the late 1800's of native hand cut rhyolite stone. It's said that at one point 700 men worked here processing ore from the mines, but that it's productivity was greatly exaggerated and the whole operation was built on speculator's investment money. It was a regular dot-com boom of the that time that ended by 1910 and the town supporting it was flooded in 1938 by the installation of the Imperial Dam further down river.<br />
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That night we had another fabulous dinner of pasta with sauce complete with sausages and meatballs. There was a great debate between the mixers and the separators of the pasta world, but we compromised by having the separators serve themselves first, while us mixers patiently waited as long as we could for the sauce to penetrate to the core of the noodle bringing pasta perfection. During the preparation I had resumed my dutch oven duties and set out to bake the perfect chocolate cake. I had taken my 12-inch dutch oven aluminum insert, and hand folded it down to the about a 10-inch diameter, placing it in the oven with the cake mix raised on a trivet to get it into the middle of my 14-inch "deep style" dutch oven. After patiently waiting a half hour or so, complete with periodic quarter rotations of the oven counter-clockwise, with a quarter rotation of the lid clock-wise to ensure even heating, it was ready to be taken out. It looked good as I smeared a whole container of chocolate frosting on it, but it would have to wait for some of that massive dinner to digest.<br />
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We spent the next half-hour or so smoking cigars around the fire, sipping wine and taking pulls off of flasks filled with scotch and whiskey while Jack played us some good music on the guitar. For some reason I had wanted to look at the maps I had with me, so I got up and headed towards my tent when I came face to face with a raccoon entering the camp. The words of our friendly park ranger who had collected our fees and treated us with some fresh oranges and lemons came to mind. "Watch out for those raccoons at night, they enter camp frequently". No sooner had I smacked my hands and run off this first critter, than I had turned and saw his buddy getting his first taste of chocolate cake. Oh hell no!!! I charge that sucker with intent to maim and ran him off before inspecting the damage done. Luckily I had gotten there just as he had put his paws on it. Two distinct paw marks had marred my camp culinary masterpiece, but nothing else. We took it over to the fire and promptly sliced that bad boy up, careful to serve out the non-coon slices. Let me tell you, that cake was so moist and delicious that Jack helped himself to another serving that the coons had imprinted. Best damn coon cake on the river!<br />
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The coons enacted their revenge for missing out on the cake by attempting to tear into the trash cans and our action packers pretty much all night long. Patrick had left a granola bar or two in a bag that fell pray to them, but after Noel had single-handedly fought them off and recovered the bag, nothing further was lost other than the ripped and teared remains of the trash bags coming out of the trash cans about three feet from Russ' tent. The rocks had held though, so the cans remained sealed in the morning though they had been ravaged all night. Keep that in mind while camping here.<br />
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On the good side, while packing up in the morning a friendly State Park worker came by and offered to give us a hand with our massive amounts of gear to make up for them having to start work close by with heavy machinery at 6:00 in the morning (didn't wake me, I was already out shooting by then). What a sight it was to see our massive pile of gear swallowed up into this front loader. The fact the we still had a few odds and ends to carry down puts it in perspective just how much stuff one can fit into canoes. I was hesitant to share this, as I don't want to get him in trouble nor do I want every passerby bugging them for a free gear ride, but it just illustrated to me how wonderful the California State Park system is, and how great the people are working for it. Seriously folks, if you live in California vote 'yes' next time the Park System funding initiative comes up. We're very fortunate to have such a treasure in our state.<br />
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Once loaded up again, we set off for our first stop of the day, Island Lake. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me, navigating through this long maze like passageway in the reeds to a lovely lake. Noel and I landed on a small island in the lake and relaxed and enjoyed the day while others fished, paddled, and explored. What a spectacular way to start the day.<br />
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After an hour or two of enjoying the backwaters of Island Lake, we navigated back out to the main channel and headed over to Miner's Cabin and Eureka Mine. This is a great spot to stop and explore the surrounding areas. The cabin is a quaint authentic looking structure (well maintained by the park service), and the area around Eureka mine is great for hiking around and observing the landscape. Russ and Patrick lead a great tour with Russ the biologist giving expert plant identification and Patrick, who used to be an archeologist, giving information about rocks and other interesting features. Being the photographer that I am, I pealed off from the group half way through and took my time backtracking so that I could take in every little detail I found. Below are a few things that caught my eye.<br />
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After a delicious lunch of tuna and avocado sandwiches, we paddled the remaining 7 or 8 miles down river to Ferguson Lake for our final night's stay. This paddle felt the hardest for me, as Noel and I were is the Dagger Legend, which I suspect is much more at home in faster moving water than what we were paddling. None-the-less, Ruth got us there in one piece, and we even got to see a bald eagle feasting on a sandbar along the way.<br />
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Once at the inlet to Ferguson, we were met head on with civilization. A massive river paddle boat was steaming it's way up river towards us. Noel thought it would be neat to see it go by, so we stopped to watch, but slowly we came to the realization that it was headed straight for us into the lake channel. We turned and high tailed it to trying to get out of this massive ship's way, but it slowly but surely gained ground until it was right on us. Pulling to the side, we all prepared to T-up to the wake. For those unfamiliar with paddling one of the biggest fears paddling a heavily loaded canoe is getting hit broadside with a large wake off a motor boat. T'ing up is turning your boat into the wave so that it has less power to tip you over. Anyways, it was quite the surreal experience after a few days of not seeing much of any other soul to have this massive tourist machine going by with about twenty of those on-board firing away at us with their point-and-shoot cameras. I guess for a short moment we were local celebrities.<br />
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After riding out the waves, we made our way through the strong head wind to camp. A couple of friendly folks from Canada were fishing in the spot we had hoped to land at, but after landing elsewhere and hiking over to talk with them they were more than happy to scoot over and allow us to land and set up. Nice people!<br />
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We had another wonderful meal of pot roast and biscuits (which I had actually managed to slightly under cook the bottom of them in the dutch oven with the raised platform inside working so well) along with a very good bottle of wine that Noel had brought. Around the fire we did our best to finish off the beer and spirits, with Noel taking a particular interest in the scotch. The music was great, the companionship second to none, and as the fire began to fade it was time to wrap up the last night of our trip.<br />
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The next morning we high tailed it over to the Arizona channel hoping to avoid many boat encounters. We got there without incident, and had a great time paddling this channel that none of us had been on before (Patrick and Noel have done this stretch of the river, but through the California Channel at the end). For the most part the way is well marked with buoys, but we did get lost once or twice. The scenery through here was very pleasant and only left about a mile of the main channel to paddle to our take out point at Squaw lake. There was a nasty head wind for the last quarter mile or so across the lake, but we all felt surprisingly strong all the way to the end. It was bitter sweet loading up the gear and canoes. Sad to be closing the final chapter of this adventure, but really starting to get home sick to see my family. <br />
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I talked to my 3-year old son on the phone later that day and got all teared up when he asked me if I had found any treasure on the red 'X' on the map. He had seen one of my maps before I left and told me to dig for treasure there. He was so excited about it that it had not left his mind all week. I was a little disappointed to tell him that all I found there was a camp site, but hopefully someday he'll look upon these photographs and read the words that tell a story more valuable than any treasure a pirate can bury. Then he'll know that even in spite of such a wonderful journey, that the treasure I sought most at the end was to see him and the rest of my family that I am truly blessed to have and thankful towards for supporting me in my seemingly never-ending hunger for adventure.<br />
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Here's one last shot of the whole gang at the Squaw Lake take out. From left to right Russ, Jack, Kurt, John, Patrick, Noel, and ours truely:<br />
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The whole set of trip photos can be found here (I highly suggest clicking the slideshow, but also select "options" and deselect "Embiggen small images to fill screen", otherwise the photos will look like crap as I purposefully upload them small for my copy-right protection):<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/sets/72157626040109578/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/sets/72157626040109578/</a><br />
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GPS Data can be found here: <a href="http://www.alwaysjanuary.com/2011/03/lower-colorado-river-canoe-trip-gps.html">http://www.alwaysjanuary.com/2011/03/lower-colorado-river-canoe-trip-gps.html</a><br />
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Video of the trip can be found here: <a href="http://www.alwaysjanuary.com/2011/03/lower-colorado-canoe-trip-video.html">http://www.alwaysjanuary.com/2011/03/lower-colorado-canoe-trip-video.html</a><br />
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I want to give a special thanks to Norma Miller from the <a href="http://www.soazpaddlers.org/">Southern Arizona Paddlers Club</a> for giving us a wealth of information and maps to boot on the area, guiding us to such great points of interest on an amazing trip. The fact that she took so much time to convey so much information touched us all.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-83833235542329406782011-01-23T21:30:00.000-08:002011-01-23T21:33:14.981-08:00SleddingIt was a beautiful weekend in Northern California, so the family and I headed up to our little secret spot for sledding. It's really just a pile of rocks in a campground, but it makes for some fun quick sled rides in all directions. I took my new GoPro Hero HD camera along to see if I can get any fun clips. I'm really impressed at the video coming out of such a small camera!<br />
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Here's a video of us sledding:<br />
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And here's us making a snowman with the camera set to snap a photo every two seconds. The memory card ran out just before we finished, which is why it jumps a bit at the end, but I have the remedy for that on the way in the form of a 16GB SD card. Definitely a fun little camera!<br />
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<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hNN1oZvtPME" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-17470295163166859952010-12-31T14:15:00.000-08:002011-02-15T15:07:10.423-08:00Washington DC<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5310730016&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5289/5310730016_1be89408da.jpg" /></a><br />
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I was on a business trip in the vicinity of Washington DC in early December, so I took advantage of the circumstance and make a couple quick visits into the capitol to see some of the sights. I only had a few hours one night (which was freezing quite literally!), and another couple of hours in the day before my flight back, but I tried to make the most of it.<br />
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After wandering past the White House and freezing my butt off at the base of the Washington Monument, I made my way over to the Lincoln Monument. This was my favorite of the monuments, and it was quite awe inspiring lit up at night. I had initially planned to join a "night tour" of the monuments, but while lingering here, <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5310730404&size=large">dwelling on the words written on the wall</a>, and soaking up every bit of inspiration I could, I saw the crowds of tours come and go. Most of them stayed long enough to snap off a series of shots with flashes blazing at the Lincoln statue, glance around the interior, then disappear. It was in those quiet moments in between waves that I really got to feel the full impact of this amazing structure and statue. A great tribute to a great man.<br />
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Shaking off the bitter cold and biting wind I continued my lone tour in the night. My next stop was the Korean memorial. I only think that experiencing it as I did that night was how it was truly meant to be seen. Walking alone, the dimly lit figures began to appear before me and I was met by a soldier was seemed startled, like he had just heard a sound coming from my direction. I continued on, and was furthered moved by the expressions on each of their faces. So different, so full of emotion, so life like. It felt almost disrespectful to set up my camera and take these photographs, but I did it with a solemn heart, reflecting on the realities that these statues portrayed.<br />
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With my fingers in pain from tightening down the tripod and shooting a set of photographs, I continued on in the 20-some degree night (not counting the wind chill) and headed across the way to the Vietnam Memorial. Walking down the wall alone at night I was crushed by the weight of all those names. Piling higher and higher as you descend the path, the reality of the sacrifice hits you hard and leaves an empty feeling inside. Once again, I almost left my camera in the bag. There is really no image that can purvey the feeling I had here on this bitter cold night. I stood in silence for awhile, touched some of the names, then I took these photographs.<br />
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With a cold body and a colder heart I headed to the metro station went back to my hotel, unable to take the cold any longer, but satisfied that I had gotten to experience a place visited by so many people in such a quiet and intimate way.<br />
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The last day of my trip I set off back into DC before my flight. It was still cold, but not nearly as bitterly as the night of my last visit. With limited time I rushed to the National Archives and spent an hour or so marveling at the founding documents of this country. The words written upon those documents are quite remarkable. I then rushed over to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum and only slowed for a few photos and a quick stop to get souvenirs for the kids. I never got close to the capitol building, but I snapped a quick shot with at 200mm and headed off to walk the loop around the Jefferson Monument, through the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial Park, and along the backside of the Lincoln Monument as I hurried off to catch my plane. Was neat to see these sights, but I wished I could have taken my time a bit more to <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5310141167&size=large">reflect on the words</a> and further appreciate the grandeur of it all.<br />
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Catching up on some old trips. For Thanksgiving this year we went down to Southern California to visit some family, but not without stopping on the way to spend a few nights at Yosemite with it covered in snow.<br />
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We had a blast, and it snowed all day the full day we were there. Seeing Yosemite in the snow is absolutely beautiful and I highly suggest it to those who have never experienced it.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5309773377&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5309773377_cd049c8601.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5310360860&size=large"> <img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5310360860_724dd3cdcd.jpg" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-55260699717576952462010-12-30T10:01:00.000-08:002011-01-23T21:32:50.935-08:00Winter PaddleHere's a little video of my seven year old daughter Megan and I paddling around Willow Creek on Lake Natoma in late December. There are perks to living in California.<br />
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<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ijktYdLaV94?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ijktYdLaV94?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-3975261919036506072010-11-13T20:54:00.000-08:002011-03-15T10:28:52.134-07:00Sawyer Stingray Paddle<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5173291901&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5173291901_44f9b1dced.jpg" /></a><br />
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The first paddle I bought was a Bending Branches Arrow, and that was fine for starting out. It was starting to show some wear though (some of the wood grain was splitting on the shaft) and it isn't really cut out for white water paddling, which is what I'm starting to get into. I wanted my next paddle to be really nice (and really durable). It was a tough choice picking a good paddle for white water, that I also wouldn't mind using on the flat waters that I frequent. I pretty much had it narrowed down between a Mitchell Premier, which is what just about everyone I paddle with uses, or a Sawyer Stringray that I ran across on Sawyer's website.<br />
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All my friends rave about the Mitchell being the best of the best, but I have to admit I wasn't particularly drawn to the black carbon fiber blade. I love the look of a fine wooden paddle, and I fell in love with the photos of the Stingray on Sawyer's website. It didn't hurt that this paddle was co-designed by Bob Foote and Harold Deal. It also helped that it was about $50 bucks cheaper, and I liked the fact that it was made right here on the west coast just 5 or 6 hours north in Southern Oregon.<br />
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At 29 ounces this is no ultralight. Everything about it screams tough though, from it's three piece ash shaft, to it's beefy 8.5 x 21" inch blade, to it's fiberglass coating with a Dynell tip and Sawyer's Tough-Edge. It just feels amazing solid in hand, and I'd feel confident in it's strength in any conditions or grade of moving water. <br />
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Paddling in moving water is really this paddles bread and butter. The tag that came with it says that it is ideal for WW Canoes and Paddle Rafts. My first paddle with it was in an all day solo canoe class taught on some class I moving water of the lower American River. I had paddled this stretch quite a few times both tandem and solo, and I was instantly amazed at the progress I could make while ferrying and catching some small standing waves as compared to my old paddle. At one point I was crossing a section of the river with swift current and aimed well above the point in the eddie that I wished to enter. I put some muscle to the paddle and before I knew it I was in the tree over hang well above my ultimate target point (and ducking to avoid low hanging limbs). That big spooned blade moves the boat with so much more authority than my old paddle that I was somewhat shocked.<br />
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My next experience with it was on the Coloma to Henningsen Park section of the South Fork of the American River. My first Class II white water experience. That weekend was supposed to be the Red Cross white water tandem class, but it was canceled due to low attendance so the instructors (friends of mine) invited me up to try my hand at it in my solo boat (a Dagger Genesis BTW). What a blast! I got myself into a bit of trouble earlier on and flipped, but after that I had a really fun run all the while enjoying the power that this paddle affords me. The burst of speed that a good spoon faced blade gives is great for punching out of eddies, ferrying strong currents, and catching the next eddie on the other side. I can't wait until next summer to get up there again!<br />
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Unfortunately I don't have a case yet that I'm suitably comfortable with taking my nice camera out in white water, so I took some photos on a flat water trip just to illustrate the paddle. I actually enjoy it just as much paddling calm glassy waters as I did in the frothy white stuff. Jennifer could tell the difference right away in the way I can whip our tandem around effortlessly with a few quick sculling strokes. The blade slices through the water very nicely due to it's thin profile (made strong by it's fiberglass coating). It really feels great moving the boat along.<br />
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The only problems I have with it on flat water lakes and such is the T-grip, which is great for White Water control, but not as comfortable for long paddles, and the asymmetrical nature of the spooned blade. This has got me already dreaming about the Sawyer Voyager paddle. It's another beauty paddle made by Sawyer that was made for flat water paddling. At 18 ounces and with a standard pear grip it would be amazing touring lakes or for paddling the Indian Stroke which has in-water recovers that require rotating the paddle (this doesn't work so well with spooned blades).<br />
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All in all though I'm super happy with my purchase and look forward to using this paddle more on moving water and am content with it on the flat stuff until I get another one of their beautiful paddles. I'm quite impressed with the quality, aesthetics, and functionality of Sawyer paddles!<br />
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Here's some photos to illustrate the curve of the blade and the overall look of the paddle. It's a real looker and a useful tool to boot!<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5173896352&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5173896352_1677e49837.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5173896316&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/5173896316_986ce5491e.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=5173291945&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5173291945_3755b3e898_z.jpg" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-52498933284569539412010-08-19T11:40:00.000-07:002010-08-19T11:41:23.951-07:00Daddy - Daughter Canoe Camping Trip<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4900583722&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4900583722_bbbbf8f89d.jpg" /></a><br />
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I spent two nights last weekend canoe camping with my soon to be seven year old daughter Megan. We had a bit of a rough start, but ended up having a wonderful trip.<br />
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Originally I had planned to park at the Lindsey Lakes campground and hike the 1.5 miles in to Culbertson Lake, pulling my canoe and all our gear on the canoe cart. Due to a bit of a late start, we ended up changing the plan and going to a lake that was a closer walk from the car. <br />
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Boy, let me tell you, I'm glad we changed our plans. After initially loading up the canoe it seemed to pull rather well in the flat dirt parking lot. Then we hit the first hill. Man that's tough pulling about 150 lbs of gear and canoe. Next we hit dispersed rocks on the hill of the dirt road. Every time the wheel caught a rock it was a dead stop and a heave to get it going again. Within about 40-50 yards of the put-in I got a little bold and started trying to power through it. The momentum helped a bit on the first few rocks, then the wheel caught a big root and SLAM the canoe went down. After inspection I found that the aluminum bar holding the wheel had sheered clean off. We wouldn't be using that cart anymore.<br />
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Well, whatcha gonna do huh? I immediately set out carry the gear up the remaining portion of the trail (which was even steeper and rockier...in other words the cart would have never made it). After 4 or 5 quick loads the job was done and we packed the canoe up and headed off across the lake; none too soon as the sun was beginning to set at this point.<br />
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With a light breeze, the conditions were beautiful for a paddle. We bee-lined to the opposite shore and began searching in earnest for a suitable camp. The first cove was disappointing, as the terrain past the shore was steep and thickly wooded. The next cove provided a spot or two that may have worked, but were far from ideal. Even with the light fading fast I decided to push on. Finally at the far north-eastern corner of the lake a perfect camp came into view. It had a nice soft grassy landing, followed by the intricate <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4900586562&size=large">fire-ring</a> hidden behind a fir tree that someone had made with a wind block built in against the prevailing winds and complete with a log bench. Just beyond that was a ring of thick White Firs with a perfect flat and cleared <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4900585620&size=large">section for a tent</a>. Beyond that was a <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4899994021&size=large">hillside</a> covered in <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4899993525&size=large">wildflowers</a>. <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4900586786&size=large">What a great find!</a><br />
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The first night felt kind of like a mad rush. It was already coming up on 8 o' clock by the time I had set up the tent, got some beans cooking on the stove and started a fire to cook the hotdogs. Soon after <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4900584492&size=large">Megan</a> had retired to the tent to read some books while I dragged our food bag/ice chest off into the dark woods to find a suitable set of trees to hang from. It didn't help that one of my three ropes that I usually use was missing from the bag (I use two 25 foot sections to hang carabiners from trees, and a third 50 foot section between the two, to which the food is attached in the middle and raised). I made due with what I had, but only managed to get the food about 8 feet off the ground. About two to three feet short of my normal minimum (I managed to get it a bit higher the next day).<br />
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Fortunately, no bears (at least no tall bears) visited our camp that night, and we slept rather well. In the morning I got to check out the area a bit more, and was even more pleased at the spot we had found. Clear across the lake near the trail that goes into the backcountry was the only other occupied camp on the entire lake. Voices drift easily across the water, but still the separation was plenty that we felt very isolated in our surroundings (Megan was a little bummed about this at first, as usually she likes to make friends with neighbor kids while we are car camping).<br />
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We spent the rest of our stay (which included that day, another night, and the next morning) <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4900583998&size=large">hiking</a>, <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4899993779&size=large">paddling</a>, fishing, and swimming in the chilly waters of <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4900584126&size=large">Island Lake</a> further up the trail. We saw an <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4900586656&size=large">Otter family</a> of three constantly swimming near our camp (and munching on crawdads by the sound of it), found an eight inch <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4900583618&size=large">brook trout</a> connected to a line from a spool that the previous occupants mysteriously left behind, and watched in wonder as an Osprey dove down right in front of us to snatch the same fish from the water after I was unable to revive it enough to survive. <br />
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I had a wonderful time spending some quality alone time with <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4899994683&size=large">my little girl</a>. Too rarely do we get time like this to spend together uninterrupted.<br />
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The paddle and hike out was a real challenge without the cart. I calculated the distance from the car to the put-in to be about four tenths of a mile. With each round trip being near a mile I carried as much as I could and we managed to get everything in three loads (including the canoe). Man I was sore and tired after that! <br />
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Still, I would do it again a thousand times over again (though maybe I'd bring less stuff if I knew I'd be carrying it all out).<br />
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** I was purposefully vague about this location, as it is a short distance from the masses of people. Anyone with a blow up raft could make the paddle to this gem of a spot, so I thought I wouldn't make it so easy to find through a google search. Still, anyone familiar with the Grouse Ridge area would know where this is right away. Email me if you would like more details. **Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-4074861035641534502010-08-03T15:15:00.000-07:002010-08-03T15:15:17.344-07:00Lassen Volcanic National Park<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829086149&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4829086149_8fdc5765bc.jpg" /></a><br />
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Finding yourself depressed in late July as the wild flowers are gone, the heat has sunk in, and everything is turning brown? Head on up to Lassen Volcanic National Park where Spring is just kicking into gear.<br />
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My family and I did just that, deciding to embark on our longest straight camping endeavor with the family totaling six nights.<br />
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Our first destination was the southern campground at <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829688564&size=large">Summit Lake</a> where we had reservations for a site that was close to the lake. Ascending into the mountains out of the scorching valley was a pleasant drive. In under 3 hours we had made the journey from the Sacramento area and found ourselves passing through the gates of the national park. Entrance into the park is $10 per vehicle, and it's good for a full week.<br />
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The road into the park is through hillsides covered with <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829693598&size=large">beautiful yellow flowers</a> (mainly <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829083215&size=large">Mule's Ear</a>), and evidence of volcanic activity comes into view all around.<br />
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Soon we were climbing the steep winding roads with <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829694146&size=large">Lassen Peak</a> getting ever nearer, and we found ourselves coming across <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829086929&size=large">lots of snow!</a> What started as patches here and there quickly lead to 8-10 foot snow drifts on the side of the road and large frozen over lakes with bright aqua blue waters melting from it here and there.<br />
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At last we arrived at our campsite and began to settle in. It was a decent site. Not the largest or most private site I've ever been to, but not crammed either. <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829694512&size=large">The lake</a> was in view, but we were not right on it as I had hoped. Between us and the lake was <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829085349&size=large">a lush meadow</a> with <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829078399&size=large">a beautiful clear creek</a> running through it. Then there were the mosquitoes. Not long after arriving we were scrambling for bug juice and shedding our shorts for long pants. The onslaught can only be described as a hoard of hungry bloodsuckers; eager for a bite on the newcomers. I quickly learned that the "non-toxin" "natural" stuff is just junk. They darted right through that like a runner broaching the tape of the finish line. Take my advice, bring the good stuff!<br />
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I'll tell you what though, I'm sure we got more mosquitoes being so close to this <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829696284&size=large">meadow</a>, but it was one of the more <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829696460&size=large">beautiful meadows</a> I've ever photographed.<br />
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Once we got over the initial shock of the clouds of tiny little blood suckers, we carried the canoe down to the lake and set off for a short paddle. Short is really the only way to describe paddling on Summit lake. We were literally doing laps around it in intervals of less than ten minutes. It is also not as clear as many of the high alpine lakes in this area, but it has a certain charm to it. Beautiful Red Firs line the shore, and from the far east side there is <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829697212&size=large">a fabulous view of Lassen</a>. I also enjoyed paddling it <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829085983&size=large">solo in the morning</a>, hunting for the <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829084251&size=large">rays of sunlight</a> coming through the trees and <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829086591&size=large">illuminating the misty fog</a> left on the surface.<br />
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The next morning we headed over to the <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829080491&size=large">Kings Creek</a> trail head for a couple mile hike to Kings Creek Falls. Looking for a sign, we drove right by the unmarked parking area until I finally used the GPS to find it. There was plenty of parking right off the road, but not a single car was there (the advantages to visiting a National Park on a week day).<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829080289&size=large">The hike</a> was <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829079619&size=large">very pleasant</a>, descending gently with the creek for the first mile or so through <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829689798&size=large">patches of snow</a> and past <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829078783&size=large">beautiful meadows</a>. The next part of the trail was supposed to be down a rock staircase <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829690048&size=large">along the cascades</a> leading to the falls, but we found yellow caution tape stretched across the trail, an obvious indication that this section was closed. We had to detour around on the "horse trail", which added quite a bit of distance. All in all we ended up hiking a little over 3 miles round trip, which isn't bad, but it's pushing it a little with <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829690678&size=large">two young kids</a> (especially carrying the 3 y/o down and up the steep part). Still, it was worth the trek and <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829690212&size=large">we got to visit</a> a <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829691906&size=large">beautiful</a> waterfall with no one around. I'd like to come back and see it again when the flows are not so intense. From pictures I've seen it gives a more spread out "spidery" look.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829693468&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4829693468_91519500f5.jpg" /></a><br />
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We capped off the day stopping off at the south entrance visitor center to learn all about volcanoes and have an ice cream. As a last activity of the day we headed to Sulfur Works to see some neat volcanic activity, but only the parts right along the road were open. The path leading up into the hills where the rest of the sights were was free of snow, but it was still closed. I'm thinking they had not gotten a chance to put up the walking platforms, but I'm not really sure. It seemed to be a theme of closures and missing signs with no real apparent reason. I would not say good communication is one of the strong parts of the park. On top of that Bumpass Hell was also closed (this one due to snow), so we didn't get to see a ton of gaseous steam or other neat stuff. There was some <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829082289&size=large">pretty cool boiling mud</a> along the road at Sulfur Works though. All the more reason for us to visit again.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829695554&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4829695554_687ddaaf10.jpg" /></a><br />
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The next day we took it easy and visited the northern section of the park, hiking to <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829695340&size=large">Lily Pond</a>, learning more at this visitor center (including a good movie), and stopping in at the store at Manzanita Lake for supplies and a shower (this is the only shower facility in the park). Bring some cheap flip flops if you need to shower here, as the smell of mildew was quite pungent.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829696644&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/4829696644_06c9397eb5.jpg" /></a><br />
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We spent the last evening relaxing at the lake. We took a last paddle, and had smores around the campfire. It had been a good spot to explore the main portions of the park. <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829081545&size=large">The kids</a> had made friends in a neighboring camp whom they had snow ball fights with in a snow patch and played constantly on the hammock with (which they affectionately called the "hang-a-mat"). We had fought hard to deal with the mosquitoes, and they had either started to lighten up a bit, or we had started to run out of blood.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829695822&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/4829695822_3e1164f298_z.jpg" /></a><br />
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Soon it was morning and time to <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829086783&size=large">pack up and move on</a> to the next site. I had taken one last morning solo paddle on the lake before lugging it back up to camp to load it up with all our other stuff for the hour drive or so to our next stop at Juniper Lake. We stopped for lunch in Chester, and to restock one last time before taking the dirt road up to the campground with not even running water (just a pit toilet).<br />
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Pulling into the camp road, I begun to feel a bit nervous as quite a few cars were parked at the trail head outside. Then we saw all the inland sites, save one, filled up. This seemed odd on a Wednesday. Another turn of the road and the reason became clear. I gate now blocked our way with a crude sign stately simply "Road Closed, Walk-in camping only" with a date of the prior Friday. Oh man, this was about to get a whole lot more complicated.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829089127&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4099/4829089127_d2b85e242b.jpg" /></a><br />
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I walked down to the lakeside camps and found a couple occupied, but mainly open sites. The site we had taken last year, the one I had dreamed of while planning this trip, lay open in front of me. I tied my red bandanna to the pole to mark it mine, and set my resolve and I walked the near quarter mile back up to the car. Jennifer knew right away that I had set my mind to it, and quickly I began unloading and starting the long haul of carrying most of our stuff down on my back. <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829699706&size=large">Megan</a> kept me company while <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829698872&size=large">Jennifer</a> stayed and watched over the sleeping <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829699128&size=large">Andrew</a>. After a few trips Jennifer carried a few things down while I rested. A few more trips later and I was carrying the cooler loaded with ice; and setting it down to sit awhile; and carrying some more. I'd guess it took a little under an hour in all to "portage" all our stuff down including the canoe. <br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829701876&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4829701876_65a5e94f67.jpg" /></a><br />
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After setting up <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829698360&size=large">the tent</a>, there was only one thing to do. I got into my bathing suit and lunged myself quickly into the chilly water. Whew-wee that was a rush!<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829701042&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/4829701042_2d57e97b28.jpg" /></a><br />
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I must say, I was a bit sore from the haul, but the payoff was worth it. We had a prime spot on one beautiful lake with only a few neighbors. You could literally make a day out of watching <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829089371&size=large">the beautiful waters</a> change to all kinds of shades of blue and green throughout the day, and it was for the most part peaceful and quiet (at least as quiet as can be with <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829692502&size=large">a 3yo</a> and <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829692634&size=large">6yo</a> along).<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829702902&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4829702902_d92d92ef64.jpg" /></a><br />
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After a long day we <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829702818&size=large">enjoyed the sunset</a> over the lake before having some smores around the fire, and then finally got the kids down for sleep. I went out again after they had dozed off and enjoyed the fire and the peaceful serenity of it all. As the moon came up over the trees I was drawn out onto the lake to paddle in silence over the calm water. The lake is <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829097623&size=large">so pure and clear</a> that I could see the rocks on the bottom some 20 feet or more below in the moon light. <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829708876&size=large">Simply magical!</a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829090429&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4829090429_bb4679f4f6.jpg" /></a><br />
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The next day we set off intending to hike to Horseshoe Lake, but we never made it there. A little ways in to it we realized that we were all a bit too tired to make the hike and turned back, choosing instead to picnic at <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829701618&size=large">the northern shore</a>. The rest of the day was split up between <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829091509&size=large">swimming</a>, <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829709018&size=large">paddling</a>, and just <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829099763&size=large">hanging out</a>. <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829708598&size=large">Not a bad way to spend your time</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829707164&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4829707164_67efeea580.jpg" /></a><br />
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On our last full day we hiked up to Crystal Lake. Though it is a bit steep at parts, it's not far at all, and even <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829084485&size=large">Andrew</a> made the walk there and back all on his own. What <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829097151&size=large">a great little hiker</a>! <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829707358&size=large">The kids</a> <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829096183&size=large">waded</a> in the shallow lake, which was somewhat warmer than Juniper, and we <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829702712&size=large">enjoyed</a> a good snack up there.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829099083&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/4829099083_8414e362af.jpg" /></a><br />
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The hours drifted away our time on this beautiful lake, and before we knew it we were turning in for the last night. The road still lay closed, and I was giving up hope that it would reopen before we left the next morning.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829704454&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4829704454_f7aefd62a9_z.jpg" /></a><br />
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Sure enough morning greeted us with beauty all around, but not with a road to drive out of it. New neighbors that had joined us the day before gave me the idea for an alternate exit; and exit on the water. The group camp, which had suspiciously opened itself (it only had some caution tape crossing the road when we first went by it), was my destination. With canoe loaded down I paddled the short ways over and dropped everything off at the shore. Only one more trip was required to get a few more things <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829099899&size=large">and the family</a>. We did one last loop around the camp area before pulling in for good and loading up the car which we parked a short ways from the beach. This proved to be much easier than carrying it all, but the funniest thing of all was the Ranger showing up as I got the car to load it. The road was opened as we pulled away.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4829698998&size=large"> <img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4829698998_d58fe0371a.jpg" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-78453014265217442852010-07-13T11:38:00.000-07:002010-07-14T13:38:38.825-07:00Utica Reservoir<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4788884839&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4788884839_866d60d22c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789515252&size=large">My wife and I</a> had our first opportunity to get out for a few nights without the kids to get a little sanity time. We talked about everything from backpacking to staying at a B&B someplace, then the idea came up to get out far enough away from people like backpacking and yet take some of the comforts with us. This is made possible by traveling in a way that natives people have done for thousands of years. <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789513468&size=large">By canoe</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4788884439&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4788884439_52d1364753.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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We arrived at our destination after a short paddle of a mile or so. The canoe, <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789513546&size=large">loaded down with everything we'd need for two nights of camping</a>, glided through the water with little effort and felt quite stable. So comfortable have I become paddling in this canoe, that I rarely stow away my expensive camera anymore so that I have it on hand to take shots during the journey.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789513802&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4789513802_3580c80957.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Our camp, located on the south-eastern portion of the largest island on the reservoir, was a beautiful spot to stay. We had a large opening with a fire ring and <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789514250&size=large">big flat cooking rock</a>, all surrounded by a ring of tall trees. It worked out perfect that our cooking and eating areas were down-wind of where <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4788886273&size=large">we hung our food</a>, which was down-wind of were we pitched our tent. This is ideal in bear country that gets enough use that they have become accustomed to <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789515640&size=large">getting food from camps</a> (even on an island; remember they do swim). Unfortunately we didn't see any though.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4788887955&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4788887955_fae2875476.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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As we had come in late in the day, we had only time left to set up camp, cook a delicious meal of chicken fajita burritos, enjoy <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4788884761&size=large">a cold beer</a> and <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789513866&size=large">some wine</a>, and relax by the fire.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789514866&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4099/4789514866_d2040f32fc_b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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The next morning <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789515124&size=large">I got up early</a>, as usual, and had lots of time to make some coffee (Starbucks Via instant coffee is a godsend!), take a quick <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4788888417&size=large">solo paddle on the glassy water</a>, and explore the island a bit before <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789514948&size=large">Jennifer</a> awoke. <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789516042&size=large">Mornings like this</a> make life worth living.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789515726&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4115/4789515726_c05df711b1.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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After breakfast we set off and paddled the further reaches of the lake. It's such a beautiful place to paddle with all the <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4788887129&size=large">granite rock and pine trees</a>. The only thing missing is a high snow covered peak to give it some scale. All the same, it's hard to complain when you are slicing silently through clear waters with the sound of the birds and the breeze being your only distractions.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789515822&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4789515822_7f5d6d4d4d.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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We did a small hike to <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789515916&size=large">an unnamed lake</a> (a pond really), but did little else except relax and enjoy the solitude.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4788887469&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4788887469_cf493ef6d9.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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The winds kicked up in the middle of the day, so we spent most of our time hanging from a hammock, reading a book, and for a short while revisiting civilization over at the neighboring Union Reservoir boat launch for a quick visit to the pit toilet.<br />
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All in all, it was a fabulous day, but before we knew it we were grilling sausages for dinner, swatting mosquitoes as the sun went down, <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789517104&size=large">enjoying a roaring fire</a>, then <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789517430&size=large">I found myself alone</a> on a tall rock behind camp in pitch dark staring up at the milky way. Memories like this make up <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789517680&size=large">a well lived lifetime</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4788888725&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4788888725_6268c94625.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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All good things come to an end though, and with canoe laden with gear we set off on the mirror of soulful water and with each dip of the paddle drew ourselves closer to the drive home. This is not such a bad thing though, as even after only a couple of nights we grew to miss the little ones. We return home with a little more glow in our lives knowing that yet again we have experienced something special.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789517980&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4789517980_07f216c519.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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If you'd like to visit Utica Reservoir, take highway 4 out of Angels Camp east into the Sierras past the town of Arnold. Before hitting Bear Valley turn right on Spicer Meadow Reservoir Road and take the paved road 6 or 7 miles until the junction to Union and Utica Reservoir. Take this dirt road a few miles, staying to the left toward Utica Reservoir at the split with the road to Union. Bring a boat, but leave your motor at home as only self propelled watercraft are allowed on this lake. Camping is allowed all over the lake, so even on the most crowded of weekends you'll likely find a great spot if you don't mind paddling for a short while to find it (most good camp sites are only a mile out with the furthest being 2 miles).<br />
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Also, if you area in the are be sure to stop by Calaveras Big Trees State Park. We stopped in on our way out and walked the North Grove trail which is a flat one mile loop with amazing trees along the way.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=44789518398&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4789518398_817f9d0d7f.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4788889209&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/4788889209_32cd0f6ab7.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4789518678&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/4789518678_72503fee83.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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As usual all photos and hyperlinked words can be clicked for a large photo view.<br />
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The full set of photos that I processed from this trip are here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/sets/72157624483475846/detail/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/sets/72157624483475846/detail/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-46529161591910817372010-07-03T09:58:00.000-07:002010-07-03T09:58:37.618-07:00Desire to CreateI feel strange today. I have this desire to create, but I have no vision. I feel really disconnected from my artistic side yet I yearn to get it back.<br />
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I was going through some images I have created and this one seemed to reflect my mood. It's inspired by an Arno Rafael Minkkinen image done in the same pose (though much better than mine). Sometimes all we can do is marvel in the creation of the masters and hope to glean a spark of their imagination.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=2942858285&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/2942858285_034db3819c_o.jpg" width="500" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-59814176183635906832010-06-26T16:38:00.000-07:002010-06-29T12:51:08.764-07:00Camping at Lake Britton<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736565096&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4736565096_8112eeeca4.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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My family and I spent Memorial weekend car camping at Lake Britton and exploring the area. It was kind of a last minute decision (within a couple of weeks) to go camping over the holiday weekend, and as expected just about every place we looked into in the Northern California within 3 to 4 hours of Sacramento was all booked up on reservations. This led me to start looking for "first come first serve" spots, and it turns out that PG&E has quite a few of them. I narrowed my search to the Hat Creek and Burney area and decided we would just go from campground to campground until we found a spot. First stop, Lake Britton where the majestic McArthur Burney Falls pours in to.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736565028&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4736565028_8d0bb36bce_b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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The first campground we checked out was Dusty campground which is just over the bridge once you hit Lake Britton heading north on highway 89 after passing the town of Burney on highway 299. This small campground only has 7 total sites, two of which are group sites. This is a very no frills campground with a couple of pit toilets, no running water, and no campground host. What it has though is pretty direct access to a narrow finger of the lake. Nearby is also the railway bridge made popular in the movie "Stand By Me" (the one they ran across and were nearly hit). Unfortunately every site was taken, but based on the generators and speakers mounted in the trees, I wasn't all that disappointed.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736583234&size=large" title="IMG_8440 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4736583234_b3d2f16278.jpg" width="500" height="358" alt="IMG_8440" /></a><br />
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Next up was North Shore campground. We were hopeful since it has 30 sites, but all the same being the Friday of a holiday weekend, I was getting nervous that we wouldn't find anything on the lake.<br />
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To our relief we found the campground with many sites still available. We scored a spot with views of the lake that was just a short walk down to. I would have liked to be a bit more spaced out from our neighbors, but all the same I've stayed at more cramped. We staked our claim, unloaded <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735945387&size=large">the canoe and camping gear</a>, and settled down for a relaxing rest of the day. It was a pretty uneventful day aside for loud redneck fight breaking out somewhere in the campground an hour or two after we went to bed. It really shows a lot of class to scream obscenities at each other in a family campground in the middle of the night. Luckily the kids are heavier sleepers than we are and were thus spared the episode.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735928287&size=large" title="IMG_8227 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/4735928287_6ec68df017_b.jpg" width="534" height="800" alt="IMG_8227" /></a><br />
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The next morning after breakfast we loaded up the canoe and headed west along the north shore with Clark creek being our destination. Donna Sylvester of <a href="http://www.eagleeyeskayak.com/">Eagle Eye's Kayak Guide Service</a> was kind enough to give me this information about the waterfall at Clark creek and I hope she doesn't mind me sharing this great tip. If you ever were to need to rent a kayak or hire a water guide in the area, don't hesitate to contact Donna for her services. She seems to really know the waters in the area well and is a very nice lady.<br />
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From Donna:<br />
<i>Take the hike up to Clark Creek Falls. It is a little rugged in parts, but well worth the 1/2 mile hike. The water going into the cove is shallow, stay to the right of where the creek flows in, but not too far. Look for the rocky area near the shore. That is the best take out spot. Otherwise you will sink into some really nasty black mud. The trail is a little to the right of that. It starts out pretty nice, but will eventually look like it ends. Look for the rocks we stacked up. You will have to climb to higher ground by the rocks and walk up on the newer trail up there for a little ways until it looks like the trail ends again, then go down a short, but steep embankment, back down to the original trail. The falls are beautiful right now; as is the creek. I have never seen them so big and full of water. </i><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735928897&size=large" title="IMG_8238 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4735928897_bb9db80b9a.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="IMG_8238" /></a><br />
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This proved to be a wonderful tip. <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736566456&size=large">We had a great time</a> paddling to and from <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735928669&size=large">Clark Creek falls</a> seeing <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736565334&size=large">otters</a>, <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736567096&size=large">turtles</a>, ducks, and even a <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736567228&size=large">bald eagle</a>. The falls themselves were beautiful this time of year and from what I hear were flowing a bit more than usual with this wet year.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736565524&size=large" title="IMG_8224 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/4736565524_e0d0a89f36.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="IMG_8224" /></a><br />
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We seemed to make it back to our campground just in time, as the lake suddenly started to fill up with fast motorboats dragging skiers and tubers alike all over the place. Some were even blasting loud music as they went. What a stark contrast to the serenity we were just afforded with our quiet paddle and peaceful hike.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736568030&size=large" title="IMG_8302 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4115/4736568030_01c1a50e2b.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="IMG_8302" /></a><br />
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Later in the day we made our way over to McArthur Burney Falls State park to see Burney Falls. <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735930133&size=large">Andrew fell asleep</a> on the way over, so we spent the first half an hour or so hanging out by Burney Creek upstream of where the falls were. This proved to be a nice quiet spot to sit in the shade and watch the numerous fly fisherman reeling in the occasional Rainbow Trout.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736568370&size=large" title="IMG_8318 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/4736568370_4d26cea67d.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="IMG_8318" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735931681&size=large">The Falls</a> themselves were spectacular, but by then it was not the ideal light to view them. All the mist was lit up by the harsh sun and pretty much washed out the view. Compare with the photos I got <a href="http://alwaysjanuary.blogspot.com/2009/10/burney-falls.html">last time I was here</a> under better light.<br />
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After taking in the falls and hiking back up, the kids (and Jennifer) had some ice cream before we headed up the road to the Hat Creek Recreational area.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735932073&size=large" title="IMG_8347 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/4735932073_1560e07c25.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="IMG_8347" /></a><br />
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Our destination up the hill was one big cavern. Subway Cave is a massive lava tube leftover from when the region was shaped by massive amounts of volcanic activity. There is a series of reflectors along the path within that signal <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736569684&size=large">sign posts</a> that tell about the features seen within the cave. All of us thoroughly enjoyed walking through the long lava tube. Be sure to bring flash lights and a sweat shirt if you go, as most of it is in <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736569832&size=large">complete darkness</a> and it's quite chilly in there year round.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736569614&size=large" title="IMG_8348 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/4736569614_d9efe5c0d6_b.jpg" width="800" height="534" alt="IMG_8348" /></a><br />
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After a full day of exploring the area we had little problems falling asleep this night (well, after I asked the neighbors to turn down their police scanner that is).<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736575668&size=large" title="IMG_8360 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4736575668_9ff93535be.jpg" width="500" height="358" alt="IMG_8360" /></a><br />
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The next morning we loaded up the canoe and headed east to paddle the waters of Ahjumawi Lava Springs State park. The put in is located at a place called the Rat Farm. It's called this as it used to be a muskrat farm. In fact, you can still see many muskrats in the area as when it closed down they simply released them (sigh...).<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735939355&size=large" title="IMG_8386-1 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/4735939355_b4feb8ecb5.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="IMG_8386-1" /></a><br />
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I have to admit I was a little nervous going on such an ambitious paddle with both the kids (mainly with Andrew the 3 year old). I couldn't get the visions out of my head of paddling the amazing <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735940877&size=large">aqua blue clear waters</a> of the springs though, so we stashed away some secret weapons (lollipops) and hoped for the best. The paddle in went really well. We had magnificent views of both Lassen and Shasta along the way, and though it was a bit further than I remembered before long we found ourselves approaching Ja-She. The waters here are simply magical as they become completely clear as you get closer and they start to take on an amazing shade of blue.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735940567&size=large" title="IMG_8408 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4735940567_c0307f501c.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="IMG_8408" /></a><br />
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We took out on a bank to the left of the bridge, and spent the next hour or so <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736576086&size=large">eating lunch</a>, <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735940067&size=large">fishing</a>, and just <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735942465&size=large">marveling at the water</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735941115&size=large" title="IMG_8418 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/4735941115_c4ef870606.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="IMG_8418" /></a><br />
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After coming this far I just had to go further, so we portaged the canoe over to the other side of the bridge and <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736578464&size=large">continued up the springs</a> to the head water. Quietly paddling along here you find yourself asking is this really so amazingly beautiful, or am I dreaming the whole thing. It's that stunning.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735941515&size=large" title="IMG_8421 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4101/4735941515_22e9f1ddbf.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="IMG_8421" /></a><br />
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Unfortunately, a three year old has not experienced enough life to know what an amazing thing he is experiencing. So quickly it was time to go, and fast. We abruptly headed back for the Rat Farm, even taking the most direct route through where the motor boats pass to get back as quickly as possible. Though I feared the melt down was eminent, it never really came. Jennifer complained a bit of the long paddle, but over all we kicked some serious butt in covering the 3 miles or so in 40 to 45 minutes.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736579812&size=large" title="IMG_8433 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4736579812_1a13d9442b.jpg" width="500" height="334" alt="IMG_8433" /></a><br />
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It was sad to leave, but all the same <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735939499&size=large">I feel very lucky</a> to have been able to share this amazing place with <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736578214&size=large">my whole family</a>.<br />
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A couple of things to watch out for if you visit Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park are the rattlesnakes and the stinging nettle. The rattlesnakes are a dark almost black color in this region, and blend in quite well with the dark lava rocks. Just move around with purpose and make a bit of noise and they'll either get out of your way or give you a good warning not to proceed. The <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4736576548&size=large">Stinging Nettle grows abundantly around the banks</a> of the water and you'll know if almost immediately if you get into it. They are <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4735939651&size=large">covered with fine white hairs</a> which deliver a nasty sting of formic acid if you touch it with your bare skin. Hydrocortisone cream will aid in relieving the pain if you happen to get it on you.<br />
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We headed back to camp for a relaxing dinner and debated heading out that night. We decided to stick it out though and got to hear some amazingly loud good ole boy music as we were trying to get to sleep :-) What can I say though, you sometimes have to put up with stuff like this on a holiday weekend. All in all though, it was so worth it to take in all the amazing sights. We counted 11 or 12 bald eagle sightings (unfortunately none in good range of my camera), countless turtles, otters, many waterfalls, amazing springs. Not a bad weekend at all!<br />
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** Click any photo on this page or hyper-linked words for a bigger view. **<br />
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More photos can be found here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/sets/72157624363152998/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/sets/72157624363152998/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-5304740406345380782010-03-31T17:13:00.000-07:002010-04-08T14:24:39.202-07:00Lost Coast Again<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477685117&size=large" title="IMG_7339 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7339" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/4477685117_c50c3944e0.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I've been real quiet in blog-land, but I finally got out on another adventure; this time back to <a href="http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/arcata/kingrange/index.html">The Lost Coast</a>. This year I decided to just do a portion of the trail so that I could explore some of the ridges above the beach, and so that I wouldn't have to pay for <a href="http://www.lostcoastshuttle.com/">the shuttle</a> (which is reasonable if you must do the whole 25.5 miles, but still $200 is a bit expensive). I got a hold of <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478307502&size=large">my nephew Josh</a> and he readily agreed to accompany me on a few night stay. <br />
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Wednesday I got off work early, met up with Josh and headed to REI for some last minute pick ups (namely he needed <a href="http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/arcata/kingrange/bears.html">a bear canister</a>) before heading out on the long drive to Mattole beach. We made pretty good time to Garberville (that place can be a whole story in and of itself....Weird place!), but just then the "light rain" that was forecasted hit us and we had to drive through a constant downpour for much of the long winding road to the coast which took a few hours. I had planned to stay one night at A.W. Way state park campground, but we figured if we're going to get dumped on it might as well be at the trailhead, so we pushed on to the beach.<br />
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Surprisingly, once we pulled up the rained stopped and we had plenty of time to set up our tents, drink a six-pack of beer(Eel River Brew Co. Porter), and explore the beach a bit in the moonlight before heading off to bed. Seemingly minutes after retiring to bed it started to pour again. Timing is everything.<br />
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The next morning the rain magnificently had stopped again, and we made a quick breakfast and packed up for the hike in to Cooskie Creek. Last year we had eagerly headed straight for the water to start the hike, but this year I knew better and stuck up high by the hillsides finding large sections of bluff trails that were so much easier to walk on. So quickly was our progress on these trails, that I was amazed to see the lighthouse come into view just as we reached the private cabins at four-mile creek (which funny enough is only about 3 miles in...Somebody sure liked to exaggerate). A nice thick log provided a perfect bridge for our first major creek crossing which went smoothly.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478307372&size=large" title="IMG_7268 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7268" height="800" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2777/4478307372_0053dbe970_o.jpg" width="534" /></a><br />
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At the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punta_Gorda_Light">Punta Gorda Lighthouse</a> we took our packs off and explored the <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477683547&size=large">tide pools</a> a bit, as we had arrived at close to <a href="http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_predictions.shtml?year=2010&stn=6841+Arena%20Cove&secstn=Shelter+Cove&thh=%2B0&thm=6&tlh=%2B0&tlm=5&hh=*1.04&hl=*1.03&footnote=">low tide</a> (this is particularly important for the next few miles of the trail). The weather was great as we <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477683161&size=large">spied on lounging seals</a>, and discovered all kinds of <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477683661&size=large">neat things in the pools</a> and about.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478307848&size=large" title="IMG_7292 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7292" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2767/4478307848_be366dc90c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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As we returned to the sheltered lighthouse <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477683835&size=large">the rains came on</a> and proceeded to pour. It was kind of surreal to watch out at <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477683921&size=large">all the rain</a> while cooking and eating a hot lunch in the dry shelter. Once again fortune smiled upon us, as just when we started to pack up the rains stopped again.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478308164&size=large" title="IMG_7307 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7307" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2787/4478308164_9c0719726b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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For a good couple of miles the weather was fair, and at one point I started to lather up in sunblock as the sun dared to show itself. It was at about this time that I marveled at how fortunate we were and the gods decided to show me who is boss. I had just about enough time to put away my camera, put my pack cover on, and get out my light rain jacket before it started to rain on us. It was not real heavy, but certainly not a sprinkle either. I do have to admit, I rather enjoyed the shower. In the back of my mind I was a little worried that we'd get dumped on all weekend though.<br />
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Before long we had hammered out all 6.8 miles to <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478308596&size=large">camp</a> (man it sure felt easier this year). The whole way in I had envisioned us staying in this large drift wood shelter on the north side of the creek, but to my amazement the entire thing was gone when we arrived. A smaller piling of drift wood had replaced it a bit further from the creek (which I suspect wiped out the prior one), but we decided to cross over to the south side and stay where I had set up camp last year.<br />
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This crossing was a bit more dicey than the one at four-mile creek. There was a very thin (and very wet) log up river a ways where the current was really moving, or rock hopping down by the waves that were still pretty far receded from the tide. I opted for the log, Josh opted for the later. In the end we both crossed dryly and met at our camp for the next two nights.<br />
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We enjoyed another clearing in the rain to set up camp and check out the area. Unfortunately a campsite just back from us was littered with camping gear that was apparently <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4482129402&size=large"> abandoned</a> by whomever had inhabited it. I couldn't believe <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4482130400&size=large">all the crap</a> they hauled out there and left. There was a collapse 4-man tent (Some Wal-Mart brand), two burner stove with a full canister of propane (they must not have stayed long), a big rectangular Coleman sleeping bag, a thick car camping sleeping pad (more of a mattress), a dog leash, and bits of food and food wrappers all around. I was disgusted by what I saw, and took photos of everything and I sent them to <a href="http://kingrange.blogspot.com/">the local ranger</a> after we got back. I was relieved to hear back from him stating that he's planning a trip in the next week or so with an empty pack to recover <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4482130404&size=large">the mess</a>. I hope he gets a volunteer or two to help drag all of that out (if I was local I certainly would lend a hand).<br />
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Anyways, after consolidating the mess a bit, I put that behind me and returned to enjoy our camp. The rains came back for an hour or so, which had me <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478308416&size=large">holed up in the tent</a> for a bit <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478308482&size=large">listening to music</a> and hanging my socks to dry. At 4:00 or 5:00 the rain was heading out, so <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478309440&size=large">I enjoyed</a> a hot meal hunched up by the wood shelter (wearing my flip flops of course...I'll never go camping without them again!). By the time I had finished eating it had cleared for good and we were presented with a double <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478309182&size=large">rainbow</a> as a peace offering from the gods. The light was fantastic and the sunset most memorable!<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478309092&size=large" title="IMG_7329 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7329" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2764/4478309092_379311e7d5.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478313832&size=large" title="Lost Coast Sunset by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Lost Coast Sunset" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2804/4478313832_0326d84745.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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We drank <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478308668&size=large">vodka and Gatorade mixes</a> with an occasional pull off of Josh's flask full of Johnny Walker, and worked hard to get a fire going in the wet conditions. We tried about everything, tissues, white fuel from my stove, but it continued to fizzle out. Finally Josh pulled out his propane stove and held it to our bundle of wet kindling until it dried enough to stay ignited. It still took a good half an hour to forty-five minutes before we had a decent size fire, but it was so worth it.<br />
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The next morning I awoke early and enjoyed the first light of the day with a hot cup of <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478313028&size=large">Starbucks Via coffee</a>. That stuff is really good; perfect for backpacking! From a hill behind our tents I sat and watched spout after spout shoot up from near the horizon and could even occasionally see a whale breach. To top it off the sky was blue and it promised to be a beautiful day.<br />
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After a long slumber <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477688273&size=large">Josh</a> awoke and we packed up for the day. Our plan was to head up river and catch the Cooskie Creek ridge trail that was eight tenths of a mile up. We planned to then head up to the ridges to the south leaving the ridges to the north to explore the next day with the packs. That is until we began to realize how hard going it is bush whacking up this creek. It took us well over an hour to make our way up, and we decided then and there that we would not be taking the packs up this way the next day. Perhaps when the water level is lower it would be easy going, but after all the rain of the last few days it was flowing pretty good. We climbed steep hills covered with poison oak (mostly following animal trails that dead ended), hugged rock croppings along the waters edge, and trudged through the mud of a whole hillside that was sliding towards the river. <br />
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At one point I was holding what I thought was a big stable rock while I maneuvered around a corner only to have it come loose and pull me right off the ledge and into the creek. Luckily I landed on my feet and my expensive camera gear was spared the bath. Quite a start to an eleven mile hike we had planned for the day (most of which would be with wet socks/boots).<br />
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Once we found the trail I washed the mud off my boots and hung my socks to dry as much as they could (the sun was being stubborn and hiding behind clouds). I had an interesting backpacker meal of Tofu Pesto Pasta, and pumped enough water for us to get up and over the ridge.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477686755&size=large" title="IMG_7428 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7428" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4477686755_c17f704031.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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It was <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478310624&size=large">nice</a> to get on an established trail, but this was not designed as a <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477686625&size=large">hiking trail</a>. The path is an old 4WD jeep trail leftover from when this area was not a protected wilderness. It was super steep and unforgiving without a single switchback that I could count. The views were nothing short of spectacular though, and I was motivated to keep moving knowing that we had to cover 4 miles up the ridge before hitting the trail junction that goes 3 miles back down to the beach all the while gaining 2400 feet and losing it all. To add to the sense of urgency we estimated that we needed to get down to Randall Creek on the beach by 5PM so that we'd have enough time to make the remaining 2 miles back to camp before the tide came in (that part of the trail is impassible at high tides). This would sure be a good test of my knees!<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478311130&size=large" title="IMG_7433 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_7433" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2732/4478311130_3328990956.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477687115&size=large">was amazed</a> at how good of time we made making it up to the first ridge at about 1,200 feet. The ocean below was spectacularly beautiful, juxtaposed beneath the steep green hills we were hiking upon. The ridge we would come down looked so far away though, we were only at half the elevation and it was already after 2:00. We pushed on keeping up a good pace, stopping once in awhile to take in the majestic views and snap a photo or two.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478311416&size=large" title="Spanish Ridge by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Spanish Ridge " height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2757/4478311416_33506b4999.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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By 3:30 we had reached the summit and the junction of the Cooskie Creek Trail and the Spanish Ridge Trail that we would be taking down. Words can't describe very well how breath taking the view was, and my photos pale compared to my memory of it. The tide was coming though, and we had an hour and a half to descend 2,400 feet on a steep 3 mile trail.<br />
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Shortly after the peace, the solitude, the quiet beauty of our surroundings were shattered by two dirt bikes approaching quickly. They knew they were breaking the law, and I glared at them harshly as they flew by us; both of them gunning it as they passed to throw up debris probably in an attempt to keep me from photographing them. I reported the time and location of their activities, but I wish I had fired off some photos to get something to identify them. Who knows though, out there miles from anything I might have gotten myself run down if I had attempted it. Jerks like that absolutely disgust me.<br />
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Soon after all that was left of them was they track they had cut into the trail and the hillside. The <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478311518&size=large">views soon took over</a>, and I was too busy enjoying myself to think of them any further. That's about when I heard an odd sound coming from a dark forest that we had approached off a side trail that cuts northwest towards Randall Creek. Three deep toned primal sounding hoo sounds. I called to Josh and asked him to listen. Again, "hoo hoo hoo" hit my ears clear as day. Josh heard nothing. Thoughts of Sasquatch, skunk apes, big foot or what have you crossed my mind. This is after all the Humboldt Coast which mythically is home to such creatures.<br />
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I later talked to a Ranger who had a much more logical explanation that I can buy. He says these parts are home to owls that can have a particularly deep tone. Still, it is kind of fun to think "what if".<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478311816&size=large" title="Spanish Ridge Hills by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Spanish Ridge Hills" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4478311816_2072554636.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Diving into the woods to get a photograph of Big Foot would have to wait. We have a high tide to beat to get back to camp. We continued down what I can only describe as <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477687679&size=large">the steepest "trail" I have ever been on</a>. Surprisingly I held up rather well though with only a bit of a burn in my knees. Josh, who makes a living hiking up and down hills with the Forestry said even his knees were hurting, so that's to be expected. Within an hour we were a stones throw from the shoreline, crouching down to get some photos of a few poppies that had popped up.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477687923&size=large" title="Poppies by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Poppies" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4477687923_bc69814c2b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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At 5 o' clock on the nose we crossed Randall Creek and headed north through the tidal zone. We still have plenty of room to get by, but we could see in places where it would have been tough if we had waited any further.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477687961&size=large" title="Eggs, or??? by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Eggs, or???" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4477687961_3758d37805.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Once at camp <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478312576&size=large">I</a> had <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477688023&size=large">my favorite backpacker meal</a> (lasagna!), we drank lots of spirits and enjoyed the sunset before starting <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477688749&size=large">a roaring fire</a> with the drift wood that had dried out all day. So comfortable were we by the fire sipping Whiskey and smoking a cigar that before we knew it, it was midnight. What a fabulous day!<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4477689621&size=large" title="Lost Coast Sunset by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Lost Coast Sunset" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/4477689621_9d21bd89a7.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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The next morning we were pretty beat from the long hike and decided to pass on exploring the northern part of the Cooskie Creek Trail (another 2400 foot climb just didn't sound fun anymore). Besides, we had to move our camp further north and we would be stuck until after lunch waiting for the high tide to go out.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=4478313204&size=large" title="Lost Coast Hills by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Lost Coast Hills" height="334" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4478313204_baaaa22cb0.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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By the time we hit the trail we made great time moving north. So much, that as we passed Sea Lion Gulch and the Lighthouse we decided to just keep on moving and head all the way out. Another storm was set to come in over night, and the thought of getting all wet again just to pack up in the morning and leave was not too appealing.<br />
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By 5:00 we had covered the whole 6.8 miles, changed into some clean clothes, and dunked our heads into the cold water from the spigot (people passing by in full on jackets seemed somewhat amused). <br />
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All that was left was the long drive home.<br />
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See what was in my pack here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/4448610795/in/set-72157623614577555/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/4448610795/in/set-72157623614577555/</a><br />
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Full set of photos can be found here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/sets/72157623614577555/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/sets/72157623614577555/</a><br />
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GPS data is posted on EveryTrail here:<br />
<a href="http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=557207">Lost Coast March 2010 at EveryTrail</a><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="344" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.everytrail.com/iframe2.php?trip_id=557207&width=500&height=344" width="500"></iframe><br />
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<a href="http://www.everytrail.com/">Map your trip with EveryTrail</a><br />
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Be sure to check out my Lost Coast Trip from last year: <a href="http://alwaysjanuary.blogspot.com/search/label/Lost%20Coast%20Trail">http://alwaysjanuary.blogspot.com/search/label/Lost%20Coast%20Trail</a><br />
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BTW, clicking on any photo on this page will give you a slightly larger view (on black of course), and any word that is a different color is a link to a photograph.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-35352972875737583522009-12-21T08:17:00.000-08:002011-02-15T16:23:02.307-08:00My Mean Face<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/390891715/" title="My Mean Face by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="My Mean Face" height="500" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/154/390891715_e626c418a3.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I've found it fascinating for quite some time that by far my most popular image on flickr is the the one above featuring "my mean face". This image has been viewed over 5,000 times, well above any nature image, or beautiful child portrait that so much of my stream features.<br />
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Truth be told, I'm kind of partial to it myself. I'm really not a mean person, but the image kind of captured that spark of rage that we all possess somewhere inside of us (some of us just hold it deeper inside I think).<br />
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Anyways, the real reason I'm posting about this is that the other day I got an interesting request on flickr. A graphic design artist contacted me asking for permission to display in her portfolio a print work art piece that contained my image. Being a lover of art I agreed right away. I must admit, I've always had a strange curiosity of how an artist would interpret one of my self portrait images as well.<br />
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Anyways, without further ado, here's the work of art featuring my ugly mug by an artist who goes by monasita and entitled "ill give you love":<br />
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<a href="http://www.behance.net/Gallery/ill-give-you-love/372874">http://www.behance.net/Gallery/ill-give-you-love/372874</a><br />
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Pretty cool huh?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-32743404835743946872009-10-05T10:32:00.000-07:002010-04-08T14:26:43.406-07:00Burney Falls<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3976411300&size=large" title="Burney Falls by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Burney Falls" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2544/3976411300_bd1353ff0a.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Every since moving up to Northern California two years ago, I have had two waterfalls on my mind that I absolutely had to visit. One was <a href="http://alwaysjanuary.blogspot.com/2009/07/mossbrae-falls.html">Mossbrae Falls</a>, which I hit up earlier this summer on my <a href="http://alwaysjanuary.blogspot.com/search/label/Lake%20Siskiyou%20Trip">Lake Siskiyou camping trip</a>. The other was Burney Falls.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3977434598&size=large" title="Burney Falls by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Burney Falls" height="334" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3445/3977434598_5885ea9050.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Seeing as how McArthur-Burney Memorial State Park was only six miles off the highway I was traveling on for my <a href="http://alwaysjanuary.blogspot.com/2009/10/ahjumawi.html">trip to Ahjumawi</a>, there was no way I was going to let this opportunity slip by. So heading back down highway 299 towards Redding we turned off on highway 89, heading north for the short drive to the park and the falls the lie just within.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3976789343&size=large" title="Burney Falls by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Burney Falls" height="334" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3450/3976789343_63fa12cf33.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Compared to the long hike down the side of railroad tracks in the glaring sun to get to Mossbrae, the experience at Burney Falls is instant gratification (there are advantages to both though, with more seclusion to be found at Mossbrae). A short walk from the parking lot gives your first view down into the canyon that the falls are pouring into. Breathtaking even from here.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3980825822&size=large" title="Burney Falls by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Burney Falls" height="336" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2530/3980825822_45a091211c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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As you descend to the base of the falls there are a few nice stops for taking it all in before being dumped into the spray zone at the bottom. Determined to get some great closeup shots I continue along the edge of the pool working my way up as close as I could get to the falls. This turned out to be a great decision, as the mist shooting off the crashing water was not blowing in this direction leaving me with a dry vista with perfect views of the falls.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3980025471&size=large" title="Burney Falls by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Burney Falls" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2539/3980025471_794090ed0e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I was also fortunate in that this time of year (just after the start of fall) the sun is far enough south in the sky that even at around noon the canyon remained mostly in shadow. This allowed me to get nice even exposures with relatively long shutter speeds on the tripod to blur the water into the silky form that is seen in these photographs.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3980826942&size=large" title="Burney Falls by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Burney Falls" height="500" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2637/3980826942_91bf4db999.jpg" width="334" /></a><br />
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I must say, Burney Falls did not disappoint. If I had to rank all the waterfalls I have ever seen on beauty and majesty alone, Burney Falls would currently fall at the top of this list. It was an amazing experience standing below, feeling the power of these falls, and witnessing the splendor in which they make their decent. Astonishing!<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3980826656&size=large" title="Burney Falls by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Burney Falls" height="800" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2490/3980826656_91dfdf8849_o.jpg" width="534" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3980825536&size=large" title="Burney Falls by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Burney Falls" height="800" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2478/3980825536_8c6aec1381_o.jpg" width="537" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3980011131&size=large" title="Burney Falls by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Burney Falls" height="800" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3419/3980011131_d4dcc4d457_o.jpg" width="534" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3980000457&size=large" title="Burney Falls by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Burney Falls" height="800" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2524/3980000457_c680032487_o.jpg" width="534" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-40858083296344856062009-10-02T19:43:00.000-07:002010-04-08T14:27:08.070-07:00Ahjumawi<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973105921&size=large" title="00141 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="00141" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2662/3973105921_2837346d55.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I spent last weekend paddling and camping at Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park. Basically it is a huge collection of springs flowing into where Big Lake, Fall River, Tule River, Ja-She Creek, and Lava Creek converge. Together they form one of the largest collection of fresh water springs in the entire country. Yet this park only gets about 2,000 visitors a year making it the least visited park in the California State Park system.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973106549&size=large" title="00076 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="00076" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2644/3973106549_15ea39a13a.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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A good part of the reason that this park is so infrequently visited is the fact that there are no roads to it. To get to this special place you have to go by boat and parts of the waterways do not allow any motorized boats at all. So this seemed like the perfect place to <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973873956&size=large">test out my canoe with a weekend trip</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973106043&size=large" title="00038 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="00038" height="334" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3482/3973106043_9de51a2d4e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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With the canoe loaded with tents, sleeping bags, stove, ice chest, fishing gear and everything else we needed for the weekend, <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973871646&size=large">a buddy of mine</a> and I paddled our way the two miles across the lake and over to our destination Crystal Springs campground (it actually ended up being further by the time we paddled up and down a few waterways looking for the camp).<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973872708&size=large" title="00069 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="00069" height="334" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3427/3973872708_a5872af73e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Finally we caught sight of what appeared to be a landing spot. Sure enough just inside the tree line was one of the three available camping locations <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973872440&size=large">in this campground</a> (there are three separate campgrounds, <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973106977&size=large">Horr Pond</a>, Crystal Springs, and Ja-She Creek each with three well spaced out sites). This turned out to be our favorite of the three sites, so we unloaded and <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3976329272&size=large">called it home for the next two nights</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973106087&size=large" title="00047 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="00047" height="334" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3484/3973106087_a5b9e80535.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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We spent most of the first day settling in and <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973874110&size=large">doing some fishing</a>. There are some <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973106015&size=large">seriously big rainbow trout</a> that call this place home. My favorite spot to fish was right off the footbridge on Ja-She creek.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973872584&size=large" title="00060 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="00060" height="500" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3435/3973872584_df23e1080e.jpg" width="334" /></a><br />
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We started off the next day by hiking the <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973873400&size=large">spatter cone</a> loop trail. I wasn't all that impressed by the spatter cone itself, but it was really neat seeing all the lava rock strewn about, and the lava tubes were really cool to climb down in (literally cool as it was 10-20 degrees cooler than the outside air of the hot day). We also found this <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973106863&size=large">black berry bush</a> on the way that was just overflowing with ripe berries. <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973873146&size=large">Oh so good</a>!<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973107067&size=large" title="00114 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="00114" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/3973107067_e15d7c793e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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My favorite part of the trip by far was when we paddled up Ja-She Creek. The water there was amazingly aqua blue (see the first picture on this page), and I wish I had done it justice photographically. We saw lots of neat rock fish traps that have not changed since the Pit River Indians used to use them for harvesting spawning fish. The clarity of the water and the hues of blue were spectacular. I hope to go back sometime in the spring (and fight the hordes of mosquitoes) to see the waters when the clarity extends beyond where the creeks and springs come in (this time of year the main body of water was pretty murky and green with algae growing everywhere).<br />
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Until then <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973873474&size=large">I'll</a> have thoughts of paddling my canoe solo Canadian style in the <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973873576&size=large">first light of day</a>, gliding on the crystal water coming out of volcanic springs.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973873768&size=large" title="IMG_4987 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_4987" height="358" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2665/3973873768_a6d34b0ab0.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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To get to Ahjumawi take the 299 out of Redding towards Burney and McArthur. At McArthur turn north on Main st (a left if you're coming from Redding). This turns into a dirt road. The way isn't marked very well, but stay right, across the canal, and follow the road to the Rat Farm parking lot. Launch your boat here, and paddle up the narrow water way until it reaches the main lake. From here head across to the northern shore line and follow it towards the west. After a short while you'll see Horr Pond. It's marked with a series of State Park Property signs and is enclosed by small islets that ring it. No motor boats are allowed in here and the first campground is located on the shore. I personally found the other two campgrounds more attractive.<br />
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Continue west, exiting the Horr Pond ring of islets, and follow around the next peninsula you hit. On the far side of this peninsula head up into the cove to Crystal Springs campground. You'll know you are in the right place when you see an old abandoned cabin at the northern most part of the cove. This is where the "<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3973106611&size=large">iron ranger</a>" is, which is where you deposit your camping fees. <br />
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In front of that cabin in the main landing spot and where I would land for camp site number 6. Number 6 is not right on the lake, but up the road a short bit to the east and on the left (this might be attractive in peak mosquito seasons). <br />
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For campsite 4 there is another landing just to the left of that "main" landing. This campsite is where the pit toilet resides and is fairly close to the water.<br />
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To the right of the main landing, past all the rock ringed (fish traps) springs is another takeout for campsite 5 (this might actual be a better place to land for site 6 as well, but you have to go through 5 to get to 6). This was where we stayed and it provided the closes access to the water with a nice shady spot just inside the tree line.<br />
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The final campground, Ja-She creek, is a bit further west of Crystal Springs. You'll see a concrete boat ramp, and this is the takeout for all three campsites. It's a little ways from the ramp up to the sites, and I found them to be a bit closer together than the Crystal Springs sites. Still nice spots, and they are closer to my favorite area of the park which was Ja-She creek coming in further up into the cove from the boat ramp.<br />
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BTW, while you are in the area I highly recommend stopping off at Burney Falls. We stopped by on our way home and I blogged about it here: <a href="http://alwaysjanuary.blogspot.com/2009/10/burney-falls.html">http://alwaysjanuary.blogspot.com/2009/10/burney-falls.html</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-3782018495784852582009-09-18T19:26:00.000-07:002010-05-07T09:06:30.094-07:00Juniper Lake<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3930114605&size=large" title="IMG_4536 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_4536" height="334" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3526/3930114605_cef9e5a283.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Not wanting to give in to the end of camping season just yet, my wife and I decided to get away for Labor Day weekend and try someplace new. We had always wanted to <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3930115003&size=large">check out Lassen National Park</a>, and recently we read about a beautiful pristine lake there called Juniper Lake. What a magnificent place it was.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3930114545&size=large" title="IMG_4519 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_4519" height="358" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3439/3930114545_2ae99a24ce.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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The lake sits in the south eastern portion of Lassen National Park about 15 miles outside the small town of Chester. The road up isn't too bad until you hit the last 5.5 miles which is a barely maintained dirt road. Clearance is not an issue on the road, it's just wash-boarded really bad in certain areas. You can easily cruise along at 15-20 miles an hour most of the way, with just a few spots so bumpy you have to slow to a crawl for a minute or two to keep from rattling your teeth out. All in all the half hour spent on this part of the road is well worth the treasure that awaits on the other side.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3930897364&size=large" title="IMG_4613 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_4613" height="358" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3532/3930897364_4864291a93.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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The lake itself is not that large, only about a mile and a half long with 5 miles of shoreline. It's really the perfect size for <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3930114207&size=large">paddling around in a canoe</a> or kayak, which is particularly of interest here as there are no motor boats allowed. It won't take long paddling out to realize why they have protected this gem from the possibility of pollutants of motorized boats. The clarity of the water and the shades of green, to blue, to aquamarine are just unreal. It really struck me as a miniature lake Tahoe in the beauty of the water and it's colors.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3930897942&size=large" title="IMG_4568 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_4568" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2434/3930897942_285181eb5f.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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With only 18 sites in the campground, and our hopes set on one of the four prized lake front sites, we decided the best way to go was to have me leave a day early, arriving on Thursday. It's a good thing I did. I was initially one off of the four prime spots, but while unpacking a friendly neighbor stopped by and let me know that the people at the site on the other side of him were leaving early the next morning. What a great tip this turned out to be (Thanks Mark!!), as by next morning I found myself setting up (again) in one of the most beautiful campsites I've ever stayed in. The views of the lake were just unreal, and we had perfect access to put our canoe in the water.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3930897984&size=large" title="IMG_4631 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_4631" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2441/3930897984_4b65b5bcf6.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Fully relaxed from my night and morning alone in paradise, I decided to take a hike up to Crystal Lake before going back down into Chester to meet the family. What a great little lake that was as well. With only about a half a mile hike from the trail head up a fairly steep trail, I was rewarded with this beautiful lake that I found myself completely alone at. Yup, a quick skinny dip was definitely in order and the water felt great! I took a picture set up on a timer, but Jennifer didn't seem too happy with my idea of linking to it (no matter how many disclaimers and warnings I put along with it). It's probably a good thing. The human eye can take only so much brightness. Below is a g-rated photo of the lake.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3930114361&size=large" title="IMG_4508 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_4508" height="358" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/3930114361_182491ce40.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Once clothed and down the trail again I met up with Jennifer and the kids down in Chester. We only spent a couple more nights there, but it was an amazingly beautiful place to spend the weekend. We <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3930897276&size=large">paddled the canoe</a>, hiked around a bit, and just <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3930115277&size=large">hung out and relaxed</a>. What a wonderful place to camp that I'm sure will end up being a yearly trip.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3930896998&size=large" title="IMG_4517 by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_4517" height="800" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3510/3930896998_94dcd5846a_o.jpg" width="534" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1879299933998469457.post-55749757274199291722009-09-11T22:36:00.000-07:002010-04-08T14:27:58.006-07:00Artist Reception<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3911725660&size=large" title="My Display by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="My Display" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2516/3911725660_96ede16211.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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My whole family and I made it down to the Urban Hive for the Vox Artist Reception night of the Second Saturday show that is going on tomorrow. A ton of great work up there. Didn't get a chance to talk to many people. Was too busy taking it all in and <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3911749750&size=large">chasing my son around</a> keeping <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/januaryphotography/3910967677/in/set-72157622219331007/">him happy</a> and out of trouble.<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3910926315&size=large" title="Vox Flickr Show by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Vox Flickr Show" height="334" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3616/3910926315_ba8b0585c9.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Above is my display (on the left) with the family "posing" in the foreground. It was awesome to see <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3911749796&size=large">my prints</a> up on display at such a cool venue amongst so many other great photographers.<br />
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Here's a few more views of the show:<br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3910926431&size=large" title="Vox Flickr Show by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Vox Flickr Show" height="334" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3493/3910926431_6140d57d4c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3911708672&size=large" title="Vox Flickr Show by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Vox Flickr Show" height="334" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2571/3911708672_e63b8f1ee5.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3911713552&size=large" title="Vox Flickr Show by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Vox Flickr Show" height="334" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3437/3911713552_285e99198b.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=3911725614&size=large" title="Hive Hallway by WriterOfLight (Randy), on Flickr"><img alt="Hive Hallway" height="500" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2513/3911725614_589ca335ed.jpg" width="334" /></a><br />
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Can't wait for tomorrow!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0