Testing

As time gets closer to the final day before going to Nepal its good to test not just your gear but yourself, I have had 1 day off in the last 16 which sucks but i have been getting up at 5.30am to run and also go to the gym after work, I am around 30lb down in weight but there is nothing like hitting the trails and using the muscles that you will be using on the trek to base camp, I left work on Monday afternoon with 2 days hiking ahead of me, I wanted to push myself to see how the fitness was/is, I set up camp at Hanging Rock SP just before dark and hit the sack, Up and out at 6.30am, The plan was to hike the 5 peaks, I had done 4 before but ran out of water and although felt good to do the 5th peak i didn't, The 5 peaks cover around 10 miles of steep trails, My favorite peak being Cooke's wall for its great views, I trekked up to Moore's wall first then down and up to house wall and Cooke's wall, The trail then takes you down and along before heading back up to Wolf rock and finally Hanging rock over look, The trails are mainly rocks and roots, Very very steep in places and long, It took about 4 hours start to finish, I actually did 6 peaks as i walked back from Hanging rock to Wolf rock as i could then go down the trail to the refreshment kiosk at the lake, My mind was now thinking ice creams and slushies and the temperatures rose to around 90, You can guess my face when i got there and it was closed, I was gutted, The camp ground only had a couple of tents in it as the kids have gone back to school and everything else is closed, The walk from the kiosk to my tent seemed to go on forever but was only around 15 minutes, I spent the afternoon relaxing and deciding what to do the next day, I thought that i could do the 5 peaks again but in reverse, That really would test the fitness as i was very tired from the day or i could go on a trail i had never been on, I read a book and went to bed and thought i would make a final decision in the morning, Whilst reading the book outside my tent i was visited by a white tailed deer with a fawn, I thought that they would spook when they realized i was there but they took no notice and walked very close, I always have my camera to hand so managed some shots, I had seen deer all over the park and when walking the trails they see or hear me way before i normally see them, A bear had also come into the campsite a few days before my arrival,
Today i was up and out at 7am, I filled my new 3ltr Osprey hydration bladder and threw some granola bars into the back pack and left, I decided to walk the Tory's den trail, 4 miles each way, I had the opportunity to connect with the Moores loop on the way back and take me the long way up the Moores wall/knob, Tory's den has some historical importance where the Tory's fought the Whigs back in the days of the British red coats, The trail seemed nice but not challenging well at least i thought until i was on my way back, I had not realized how far down i was going, On the way back there was very long up hill sections, I came to the intersection with the Moores loop and took a left, This was now a 1.5 mile very steep trail all the way up to the summit, I sat at the top dripping in sweat, The temp was now in the high 80's, I was close to 20 miles for the 2 days, Its was very tough going but my legs felt great, No stiffness or aches and pains, It was the hardest trekking i had done so far
I did not take too many pictures as i had shot the peaks before, i did have a new 64gb Sandisk CF card in the camera so it was a test for that to make sure all was ok before Nepal
When i arrived back home there was a small package waiting for me from Hunts Photo, Inside was a Nikon 18-35 along with a Kirk L bracket and B+W polorizer that will be coming to Nepal with me, I need to take the lens out and give it a workout to make sure the photo IQ is good, The tests and reviews on the web say it is, Its way lighter than my 24-70 which will also come along with me


Photographers selfie, Top of Moore's wall with Pilot mountain in the distance

 A little bit of beauty along the trail

 My favorite, Cooke's wall

 The trails can be very steep with rocks and with lots of roots

 Other places are steep steps and lots of them

 Taken at Hanging rock over look, Moore's wall on the mountain top in front

 Late evening guests

 You can see my tent in the bottom right

 Tory's den

Next time i can check out the new lens etc and then start getting everything together

Dave

Off to the Boonies

A 2 day break from work all of a sudden became a 4 day break, We quickly found a camp site on line in Boone NC, We have not been there for a few years, The break started badly as we hit heavy rain on the way and when we got there it was pitch black and our camp was under a few inches of water, Nothing for it but to camp somewhere else and sort it in the morning, It continued to rain all night and was very grey in the morning but mountain weather is very changeable and unpredictable, The over cast conditions made it perfect for waterfall photography so we drove up the Blue Ridge parkway to Linville falls and spent a few hours photographing the waterfalls and streams in that area, This is something we did for a couple of days, Really working the area hard photographically, On the 2nd day we went further along the Parkway and had a late lunch at Little Switzerland, When we left we spotted a bear with 2 cubs near the road, Unfortunalty the traffic pushed the bears back into the woodland and for 30 minutes we watched the cubs at distance playing in the trees, It was great to watch but photographically poor with just some snaps for memories, The weather seemed to change every hour or less, One minute rain the sun then overcast, I took a trail to the bottom of the gorge to get a different angle on the falls but there were lots of others down there and i had a hard time of getting a shot without people in the shot, In frustration i tried to hop across some rocks and get further out, Doing this i missed my step and took a really heavy fall hurting my back, thumb and toes, The trail down to the gorge base was the most dangerous trail i have been on and extremely steep, I had no problems getting up physically but once at the top found myself once again on the deck as i slid on wet clay, The town of Boone has change considerably since our last visit, Mostly now new and double what i remember, Its a good place to base yourself as its not far from the parkway and there are a lot of trails if hiking is your thing, I will let the images do the talking but i have to say that i am pleased with what we got in such a limited time

The top of the Linville Falls

 The main falls at Linville with the top falls visible as well as the viewing platform

 The sky was changeable from dramatic to very overcast

 Looking the other way down the Gorge

 A small stream as you leave the car park at Linville

 Best memories were the bears, A heavy crop but you can clearly see the young bear

 Mist rising up to Linville viaduct

 Plenty to shoot whilst waiting for the weather to change

 This falls was tucked away although near the road, 1st image without a polorizer

 This image with the use of a polorizer to remove the glare from the rocks

 A little color in some of the trees

 A little beauty, I spent some time shooting this fall even getting into the water

 Again a polorizer removes the surface glare

 Some detail work

 Nearly killed myself getting this shot, I have the bruises to prove it

 Blowing rock

 Some great cloud formations, The polorizer deepening the colors of the sky, Saturating the greens and bringing out detail in the clouds

 From the gardens at bowing rock

 We desperately looked for a place to shoot the sunset

 Then we found this and watched as it developed into one of the best sky's i have photographed

 Back at camp and some painting with light before bed

A great trip and great photographic light conditions and with photography its all about the light, Not a great deal of hiking but we got a good workout each day
I have to say the love affair with the Nikon D800E continues, I love what it gives and with photoshop and Nik filters you get spectacular photographs that print beautifully

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Dave

Best laid plans

Its always difficult to make plans when dealing with mountains, I had another 2 days off and wanted to get away from work asap, This did not happen and i was late leaving so tried to make up time in travel, This also did not happen as i was stuck in traffic, In my panic to get there i pulled off the interstate to grab a burger and hit a curb with my rear wheel heavily scuffing the alloy wheel, This will bug me for a long time until the wheel is refurbished, I was heading to spend the first night on the Blue ridge parkway in Virginia, a 3.5 hour drive, I hit storms as i got into VA with lots of lightening and extremely heavy rain, The narrow twisty roads bring my speed down to 20 miles per hour at times as i struggled to see the road, I arrived at the campsite at 10pm and boy was it dark, I had to decide whether to sleep in the car or put my tent up, In the end i got the tent up and settled in before the heavens opened again, One thing that came out of the deluge was that my Big Agnes tent is totally water tight, I love that tent, The plan was to get up early and photograph Mabry mill just down the road, I have shot there before but wanted better light, I was up and on the road at 7am, The light was bright and there was a mist, I arrived at the mill and instantly started to shoot but knew the light was not great, I decided once i had some shots to grab some breakfast in the cafe there and see how the light was once i had a full stomach, Once i was full of blueberry pancakes i walked out and instantly noticed the better light, I shot the mill from various angles then hit the road heading back to McAfees Knob, The forecast was not great but i decided to get up there and make my mind up whether to stay the night or give it best, I wanted to get shots on the knob at both sunset and sunrise and also during the night, I packed my 50ltr Osprey backpack with tent,food,water and camera gear, It weighed 35lb but felt like 50lb, I got to the top quickly considering and hung around there taking shots and talking to people, There was a family from Scotland and a couple of girls from Florida, I took images of them and myself, The sky was great but quickly changeable, There was a 90% chance of rain from 6pm and during the night, That news was enough to make my mind up and in the end i decided to make my way down and head home, There is always another time and stormy weather on top of a mountain is not the nicest place to be, There is always another time, So my days off did not go to plan but there was some good moments, My time up to the Knob with a heavy backpack was the same as my last visit with a much lighter backpack so i guess the leg presses in the guy are working, Either way its all good exercise,

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The beautiful Mabry Mill

Back on McAfee's Knob

The girls from Florida

Kirsty from Aberdeen about to move and school at Penn State

You can see how changeable the sky and weather is and that's the magic of shooting in the mountains

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Dave