Now that you got a camper, You gotta see this!

[UncleTim]

House On Fire

[UncleTim]

Man that was hard.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Kodachrome Basin SP in Utah...



Cottonwood Canyon Rd, nearby

[John in Santa Cruz]

Carizzo Plains, central California during a rare 'super-bloom'

[UncleTim]

John, I am consistently impressed with your photography.


Thank you for sharing.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by UncleTim

John, I am consistently impressed with your photography.


Thank you for sharing.

You might be amused to know, those are all cellphone pics from my Google Pixel. Since I got it my bag of DSLR and lenses has been neglected

[UncleTim]

Even more impressive.



Not sure how you get that depth of field with a phone.


Nice work.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by UncleTim

Even more impressive.



Not sure how you get that depth of field with a phone.


Nice work.

daylight, and inherently wide angle lens. the Google Pixel family of phones have awesome little cameras in them.

[Roger C H]

I like Mt. Rainier from the Sunrise side:

[UncleTim]

Bryce and Zion N.P. Lower Utah.

Usually you see these parks together. They are quite different.

Zion valley floors are about 3,000 feet above sea level while Bryce is at 8-9,000 feet. They are about 75 miles apart (driving).

Zion is the most vertical park this side of Yosemite. Bryce is basically a Badlands strip of colorful eroding mud soil horizons.

Here are some photos of the Subway in Zion and along the Virgin River hike. The Bryce shots are from the Amphitheater and Wall Street hike.

[UncleTim]

Sara and I took Zen up to meet her "Home" campground, Brainard Lakes Recreation Area, Pawnee campground (el. 10,300'). We got reservations for four nights and were in place by 3 pm. Brainard is a magical place, with five lakes within easy hiking distance, in two huge drainages, and a mountain range that is simply drop-dead gorgeous. The East / West Continental Divide makes it's furthest eastern movement here. The peaks range from 12,000 feet to over 13,000 feet. Brainard lake is at 10,300 feet high and you can drive to it!

The one thing that makes Brainard Lakes a world class destination, has to be the moose population. It is simply the best in the world that I have ever seen. It is common to see four big bull moose at the same time, and I was able to do that this trip. The big beefy boys weigh in at 1,100 to 1,200 pounds. They are the most dangerous animal in North America and a group of us were able to get within 20 feet. In three weeks, that will not be possible. We had deer in camp, warnings of active black bears, mountain lion warnings on the trails and moose at any juncture. Glorious moose. If you get a chance to see this place, simply go!

[gbaglo]

"They are the most dangerous animal in North America and a group of us were able to get within 20 feet".


Why would you?

[UncleTim]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

"They are the most dangerous animal in North America and a group of us were able to get within 20 feet".


Why would you?

Believe it or not, it was safe. It is hard to resist. We know these beasts and they are quite relaxed for now. In three weeks you will not be able to do that. You will have to allow about 50 yards due to their unpredictable nature and the sloughing of velvet. Right now you can run a dog by them and they are cool with it. An obvious indicator of their mood.


After a few decades, you fool yourself into believing you can read the animal. Hey, I hope you like the shots!


You think these are dangerous? Try class V rapids.

[mvassallo]

Glen -- it is not a problem until it is a PROBLEM! When hiking I always carry bear spray which saved the day in the summer of 2016 with a cranky bull moose. Moving in with the hair on his back raised when a quick squirt of bear spray turned him 90 degrees and he moved off 20 yards and looked back. After that, I have it on my shoulder strap ready if needed. I tell folks that any animal can have a bad day, I just don't want to be part of it.

[tburt]

Very Beautiful. Another addition to our list of places to see.

[dfandrews]

Camping at Whitney Portal CG:

(1)Looking east just before sunrise at the Inyo Mountains (about 11,000' elev.)
(2)Looking west just as the sunrise reached Mt. Whitney (14,482' elev.)
(3)Lone Pine Creek (at about 8,000 ft., downstream from our campsite)

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by UncleTim

You think these are dangerous? Try class V rapids.

No thanks. "Dangerous Canyon Ahead, Take Out Now!"
I did swim and was rescued by another member of the club. A couple feet further down the river, he would have had to let me go.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by UncleTim

Sara and I took Zen up to meet her "Home" campground, Brainard Lakes Recreation Area, Pawnee campground (el. 10,300'). We got reservations for four nights and were in place by 3 pm. Brainard is a magical place, with five lakes within easy hiking distance, in two huge drainages, and a mountain range that is simply drop-dead gorgeous. The East / West Continental Divide makes it's furthest eastern movement here. The peaks range from 12,000 feet to over 13,000 feet. Brainard lake is at 10,300 feet high and you can drive to it!

The one thing that makes Brainard Lakes a world class destination, has to be the moose population. It is simply the best in the world that I have ever seen. It is common to see four big bull moose at the same time, and I was able to do that this trip. The big beefy boys weigh in at 1,100 to 1,200 pounds. They are the most dangerous animal in North America and a group of us were able to get within 20 feet. In three weeks, that will not be possible. We had deer in camp, warnings of active black bears, mountain lion warnings on the trails and moose at any juncture. Glorious moose. If you get a chance to see this place, simply go!

Wonderful pictures ! Pat

[Rossue]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

Camping at Whitney Portal CG:

(1)Looking east just before sunrise at the Inyo Mountains (about 11,000' elev.)
(2)Looking west just as the sunrise reached Mt. Whitney (14,482' elev.)
(3)Lone Pine Creek (at about 8,000 ft., downstream from our campsite)

Nice! We hiked up from then closed Lone Pine C.G. to Portal a month ago. The road to Portal was closed with $1,000 fines for entering. Susan heading on Thursday with our daughter to tent camp. Is Portal c.g full?

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Nice! We hiked up from then closed Lone Pine C.G. to Portal a month ago. The road to Portal was closed with $1,000 fines for entering. Susan heading on Thursday with our daughter to tent camp. Is Portal c.g full?

Ross, Yes, full: (caveat) we found out that all the on-line reservable ones are taken, but there are firstcome-firstserve sites that turn up each day. We stayed the first night at Lone Pine CG at the edge of the valley floor, but it was 105° in Lone Pine during the day, and 98° at our campsite at 7:00 pm. Turns out the camp host is an old friend of my fishing buddy, and next morning he told us that we might find some sites up the mt. We were able to leave the trailers in place, and then drive up the mountain to Whitney Portal, just in time to see the rangers updating the site reserved signs. Talked to them, and then were able to get a couple of sites together, pay the rangers right there, and we had the sites for 5 days. Went down the mt., and hauled the trailers up the mt. (5 mi. of 15%) to their new temp. homes.
The rangers pointed out that a lot of people reserve sites, but then don't show up and don't cancel, so the rangers can release the sites after a day or so of no-shows.

Fishing: first stocking of the year for Whitney Portal was last week up by the store. There are a few German brown trout, and by now the stocked rainbows have scattered down stream.


Edit: the restaurant portion of the store is indeed open, for outside dining only.