Some random scribblings

I've been scribbling down stuff for years.. some good, some bad, some ugly. Found these today in the garage when I was cleaning up cat shit. These range from somewhere between good and bad.. to bad, and I'm thinking from the late 80's. I'll stop if ya's gag, otherwise, I might turn over a few more cat turds and see what I can find.


On friends drifting away
I would soon be graduating from college; it was the last summer-term, pretty relaxed, only one or two classes, and we were all getting the uneasy notion that life would be much different in another year.

Sitting on a front-porch, evening fills the sky
We try to catch and stop the sun
Stop another year from slipping by



On being alone
I took a post-college house-sitting assignment at an old 17 room manor house. Everybody I knew was pretty much gone, I didn't have a car or a girlfriend, and I would be starting my first job in a few months. In short, I was bored out of my skull and feeling like my world had vanished in a puff.

Awake at night I sit alone
Defying sleep, still sifting through
Debris left clinging to the day
A single lamp upon the desk
Illuminates my emptiness
In self-defense I turn away
And close my eyes

Smoke spirals from a cigarette
And hangs upon the stagnant air
My thoughts escape, surrounding me
Drifting off to nothingness
Smashed against an ashtray full
Bent and crushed, my dreams and goals
They burn with life
As hot though not as bright



On fucking up
This just came to me while I was painting one day. I was so impressed with myself, I grafitti'ed it onto a wall I was painting. My buddy Dave came over, saw it, and predictably called me a fag. But he still drank my beer. It sounds like something some other fag would write.. so I dunno if I accidentally stole it or not.

A fool paints himself into a corner
And beats upon the floor
An artist does the same
And paints himself a door


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here's my feeble feedback. :?

first of all, they're all great.

the first one is very simple and direct. it also describes how i was feeling during graduation and the end of school in the last couple months.

the second one is really smooth when you read it, which i like. it's not choppy and confusing. i can really feel the frustration and disappointment at the end with the whole cigarette scene and words like "smashed", "burn" and "broken".

the last one is amazing. i have a thing for short little poems like that. they make me smile. another one i love is "The Turtle":

The turtle lives 'twixt plated decks
Which practically conceal its sex.
I think it clever of the turtle
In such a fix to be so fertile.

Quote:

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A fool paints himself into a corner
And beats upon the floor
An artist does the same
And paints himself a door

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Quite brilliant, yes.

well thanks, folks. So far, I guess I'm my own worst critic. :paranoid:

I guess I can slap up some photos too. I'm mostly an outdoor/nature shooter, but I've got a tendency to take a lot of my grandson too.. Of course, I like to combine the two and capture him interacting with the outdoors.

One of my favorites is this one.. Just shooting at the ground on Caldwell Fork in the Smokies (practically my backyard). The funny part was, just out of frame, you would find horseshit.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/autumn.jpg

Makes me almost smell the season (aside from the horseshit, of course).


I love this one... and I've got it framed and hung. My grandson is the only other person in my family who has ever taken a real interest in the mountains. I started him when he was 3 in the Summer and this was from a half year later in Winter. It speaks to me of his surprising confidence in marching toward unknown adventure, small, but supreme in his confidence.

http://home.comcast.net/~flavour/fla...losed_road.jpg

I've also got one of him on the same hike, peeing behind a utility box by the side of the road. His quote was, I recall, "When a guy's gotta go, he's gotta go".

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The rhododendrum is the king of the understory in the Southern Appalachians. June is the month that this shrub, which grows big as trees in the moist conditions of the mountains down here, flowers in mad profusion. We've got two varieties, the larger-leafed white rosebay, and the smaller-leafed purple to pink catawba. I prefer the catawba when it's in flower. Both can form thickets, hells, slicks, lettuce-beds, patches, etc... as I call them, that can make cross-country travel not a matter of miles-per-hour, but rather a matter of hours-per-mile. Voluntarily and involuntary expletives are the norm when threading a route through this stuff (and just try to use a map and compass when all around you is impenetrable green). Interestingly enough (perhaps) is the fact that rhododendrum is often referred to locally as laurel, though laurel is more properly the mountain laurel, with pink-highlighted hexagonal white flowers that bloom in May, a bit earlier than the rhododendrum.

Here's catawba rhododendrum in all its' glory.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/rhodo.jpg


Its' neighbor, the flame azalea is no slouch either.


http://home.comcast.net/~flavour/flavour/flame.jpg


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The 1,000 square miles inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are my stomping ground. I've stomped 3,500 miles through the park, but sometimes you gotta switch hands, so to speak, to keep from getting bored. So I've put in a miscellaneous 500 miles elsewhere.

One such elsewhere, on the Tennessee/North Carolina border is Roan Mountain and the Roan Highlands. This is one of those places that you'd expect to see Hobbits, and the locals hunting them.

At an elevation of 6,285 feet, the summit of Roan Mountain is a 1.6 mile, 773 foot climb front the parking area at Carvers Gap. It's an easy climb, unless you're a flabby out-of-shape pussy. So for all you flabby out-of-shape pussies, here it is.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/roan.jpg

The boulders at the summit would be a good place to hide from roaming Nazgul. And remember, one should not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for it makes them soggy and hard to light.

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I was going to reply with three simple words: "I am impressed," but I blew it.

Loving the last poem, and that shot of your grandson, Flav. We have mountain laurel all along our creek here, and rhododendrum and azaleas all over Pine Mountain. It's gorgeous in the spring.

Roan Mountain looks pretty awesome. This may sound stupid, but what kind of trees are those?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Man of Steel

This may sound stupid, but what kind of trees are those?

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They sure as hell aren't Red Spruce or Frasier Fir. Unless I am wildly mistaken, they are Eastern Hemlock.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/hemlock.jpg


Among the non-Pine conifers, we've typically got Eastern Hemlock, Red Spruce, and Frasier Fir. There are some Cedar too, but everybody knows what they look like. Typically, the Red Spruce and Frasier Fir are limited to elevations around 5800 feet and above in the Southern Appalachians. At these elevations, you're most generally talking about the Smokies. The Eastern Hemlock is abundant from the bottomlands all the way up to the high elevations. Numerous mid to high elevation tree farms around the south cultivate Frasier Fir for christmas trees.

Assuming you know a Pine from your ass (and don't get me going on differentiating the various Pine species hereabouts), the identification of Red Spruce -vs Eastern Hemlock -vs- Frasier Fir is pretty easy. An Eastern Hemlock's needle when pulled away from the branch will reveal a tiny short stem connecting it to the branch. The Red Spruce has a very sharp needle. If you press down on the end of the needle, it will sting a bit. If it looks like a chistmas tree and smell wonderfully strongly of resin, it's a Frasier Fir.


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Thanks! Very educational, as usual. :D

I put it to MoS or any other outdoors type that my buddy Adam is doing no fewer than 3 stupid things here. Can you identify them?

Hint, there are are a very few right ways to get a white gas stove lit, and countless wrong ways. Here, Adam demonstrates one of the wrong ways, the outstanding drunk that he is. Meanwhile, Jody can't believe what he's seeing, but finds it quite lulzy.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/fool.jpg

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lovely photos, dan.

you've got natural skills when it comes to composition, which is obvious in the photo of your grandson. the lighting also suits each picture and the colors of those flowers are beautiful.

i was about to mention the similarity the boulder picture has to the lord of the rings, and there you go mentioning nazguls and wizards.

keep it comin'. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flavour of Night

I put it to MoS or any other outdoors type that my buddy Adam is doing no fewer than 3 stupid things here. Can you identify them?

Hint, there are are a very few right ways to get a white gas stove lit, and countless wrong ways. Here, Adam demonstrates one of the wrong ways, the outstanding drunk that he is. Meanwhile, Jody can't believe what he's seeing, but finds it quite lulzy.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/fool.jpg

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I see too much fuel, too close to gear and a nice bed of dry leaves (unless they're wet). It also appears that he is sitting down wind from the giant flame, along with the gear. Is that a plastic canteen almost close enough to be melted in the heat from the flames? I can't tell how close it really is by the picture.

i see all the same things as you, xaqaria.

Everything Xaq said, except I'm pretty sure that's fuel, not a water bottle? Can't really tell, but the neck looks funky. Could be a Guyot-style though.

Needs bare dirt, at least, if not flat stones.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xaqaria

I see too much fuel, too close to gear and a nice bed of dry leaves (unless they're wet). It also appears that he is sitting down wind from the giant flame, along with the gear. Is that a plastic canteen almost close enough to be melted in the heat from the flames? I can't tell how close it really is by the picture.

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It's not a canteen, it's a 22 oz alumimum fuel bottle (and this trip was only a 2 nighter, get a smaller bottle, jackass!). Really more properly, he's being an idiot because he didn't prime the stove correctly. That fireball is coming out of the burner. The vaporizer loop is obviously still cold, else he'd have a nice blue flame and not currently be the subject of ridicule. Points for all the others. Oh, and he's not leveled the stove, and he's drunk.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/fool.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

you've got natural skills when it comes to composition, which is obvious in the photo of your grandson.

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Thanks. :)

I got purely lucky that he was in the middle of a step, and swinging his arm purposefully to his side when I clicked. But with snapping people, luck is a big part of the equation. Flowers can be really overdone, but wildflowers have their own charm since generally you won't find them waiting in your garden.

I believe that much of composition is DE-composition. I.E. cropping is an art in itself. Then there's rotation, etc. If it were sculpture, I find my images have some granite that needs chipped away before they're done. Here's the raw image:

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/f...losed_orig.jpg


The roadside sign, and the sky beyond the ridgetop had to go. The foreground road is superfluous, and detracts... cropping to make the edge of the road meet the bottom corners seemed the way to go to both fix the foreground clutter and move the boy to a better location relative to the photo. Since the camera was not fixed, several degrees of rotation were needed too. This is so much easier to do with Photoshop or Gimp than in a darkroom!

And the side by side.. with the excess granite chipped away:


http://home.comcast.net/~flavour/fla...osed_road2.jpg


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Meet Kain's friend Ratty. Ratty is a stuffed rat, a perfectly normal friend to a four year old boy.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/bigcreek.jpg


While in the car on the way to the Big Creek area of the Smokies, I argued with Kain that a hike was no place for Ratty. My efforts were quite in vain, as he insisted, "I have a plan."


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/ratty.jpg


It was a warm day for early March... in the 80's. Lots of day-hikers coming and going. First being seen by us, and us being seen by them... from a considerable distance. A practical joking four year old is a wonderful thing.

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hahaha. i don't like kids much but he's pretty damn funny. :) what a great idea.

if my grandma saw him walking towards her with that rat, she'd probably have a heart attack.
back when we had a pet rat, she would watch him nervously when walking by his cage. heheh.

The dot in the middle of this one isn't a defect in the picture, it's an underwater rock.. just barely breaking the surface.. quite neat and odd. I'll just shut-up for a change and post:


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/barb.jpg


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The picture of the lake is breathtaking.

CB, Barbara Lake, Wind River Range, Wyoming.

This is among the first glacial lakes one runs across after hitting the trail from the parking lot at Elkhart Part on the way to Indian and Titcomb Basins... It's certainly not the largest, not by far, but it is the most picturesque. If you google it, you'll find a number of satisfying renditions by others who's attention it has caught.

Here's one example, I wouldn't have skipped the foreground like this one did, but to each his own. Nature gave and took away different things for this person's shot, but nature didn't fuck it up by getting too close, that was his own damned fault (oops, to each his own my ass!)


http://www.gotzfamily.org/~gotz/fun/...l1_slide23.jpg


Nature provides many possibilities for any given subject. Depending on the season, time of day, weather.. you can shoot the exact same frame and get countless results. It just so happened that nature conspired this day to give me the mirror surface with puffy white clouds and trees reflected in the lake. But at the same time, nature didn't give me a good sky or clouds.. they look almost drawn in, and the nearly 14,000 footers in the background (which the guy with the other picture was able to nail) are washed out. (Maybe he was trying for the mountains because the lake is quite a bit less interesting under the conditions he had to work with?) I had 65 pounds on my back for a ten day September trip, so a good arsenal of filters and such had to be sacrificed. September in the Winds can bring you all possible temperature and conditions, you can't go light, and I ran into all of those conditions (more photos of that later). Carrying 65 pounds is a chore anytime, but doing it at 10,000 - 12,000 feet is doubly tough, especially when I'm tuned for elevations under 7,000 feet.

i like your picture more. like waaay more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

i like your picture more. like waaay more.

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Yep, I love the colors of your lake picture. The picture that isn't yours looks much more dull, while yours looks very vibrant!

Goddamn, man.

You are brilliant!

I despise reading others' writing and poetry because it either quite simply sucks, or even if it's good just doesn't do it for me. I am incredibly picky. But,

I loved reading yours.

Well I'm sorry I can't appease your poetic taste, Shift.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shift

I despise reading most others' writing and poetry...

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Fixed ;)
Although I don't think I've ever read yours so I must reserve judgment.

While we're on poetry.. My grandmother (1886 - 1977) was a poet, and about 20 years ago, one of my brothers was able to track down copies of all her known output via one of our aunts and sent it to me. By now, my grandmothers' descendants number well over 100 as she had 4 daughters and 2 sons.

So this got me thinking, what about the poets who have no family? No descendants to pass their work down to? This was prolly early 90's, I was never much for dating my stuff.

A poet died
His words were tucked away
His life, his love, his memory
A tombstone, name and date

A shoebox on an attic shelf
I lift the dusty lid
Beneath uncaring rafters
His dead words once more live

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Meet the American Pika. He's a relative of the rabbit, and he lives at high rocky elevations in the American West. He's also cute as hell. I offered him 5 bucks to pose for me, but he said he has no use for our currency, asking instead that if any eagles or other birds of prey might be about that I give him and his buddies a heads up.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/pika.jpg


MoS is totally gay for this picture.

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Yes, yes I totally am.

But I'm going to kill you for oversharpening it when you resized. :mad:

That picture of the glacial lake? Expletive amazing! And the poem about dead poets...deep and evocative of pondering.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Man of Steel

But I'm going to kill you for oversharpening it when you resized. :mad:

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Oh boo hoo. :roll:

You only noticed at all because I sent you un-futzed original. I only applied the unsharp mask with a radius of 3 and an amount of maybe 0.35.. you think I'm gonna stick a professional camera/lens in a backpack, especially one with 65 pounds of other shit in it? In short, and I say this with great love and respect, bite me. :tonguewiggle:

[edit]
Here's the same thing, sharpened per your specifications, and dammit, you're right Photoshop DOES sharpen a lot better than Gimp.


http://home.comcast.net/~flavour/flavour/pika2.jpg


But you're still an ass-hatter. :laughhard:

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shift

I despise reading others' writing and poetry because it either quite simply sucks, or even if it's good just doesn't do it for me. I am incredibly picky. But,

I loved reading yours.

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Thanks Shift!

I hope I didn't over-sharpen my words.

:::Gives MoS a dirty look:::

See? No more noise or artifacts.


You know I love you like an uncle, Flav.

A story in 4 photos:


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/tl1.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/tl2.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/tl3.jpg


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/tl4.jpg

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That's awesome, almost unreal. How far apart in time did you take the photos?

It almost looks like the seasons.

Let's see..

the 1st was 9-7-2003 @ 18:40 (the previous evening)
The 2nd was 9-8-2003 @ 16:05 (storm comes rolling in)
The 3rd was 9-8-2003 @ 18:19 (thickest fog I've even seen, 10 minutes later, the picture would have been pointless.)
The 4th was 9-9-2003 @ 10:21 (next morning after a night of rain, snow, sleet, hail, wind and lightning. Had the temperature not been hanging around freezing, but a bit lower, estimate would have been 18 inches of snow.

Incidentally the spot for burying Kiza is probably a couple miles further up the basin, away from the lakes.

Here's another perspective on the location of the camp. You can see the glacial stream emptying into the upper of the 2 Titcomb lakes, with Summer Ice Lake tucked in behind and 500 feet higher to the left of the peak known as "The Buttress". The camp we would be at several days after this photo was taken (from a 12,000 foot gap on a ridge on a shoulder of Fremont Peak separating Indian Basin and Titcomb Basin) would be to the near side of the glacial stream, several hundred yards upstream and blocked from view by the ridge itself. The lakes and camp lie at 10,700 feet, so I'm 1,300 feet above for this shot. The areas of white are not snow cover, but rather glaciers.

I wish the sky would have been more compelling for this shot, but the cloud cover (only slight hints of blue in thin spots in the cloud cover) and lighting conditions that took away the sky probably gave me a few things I couldn't have captured under better sky photography conditions. And yes, the lakes up there really do appear to the eye in that insanely gorgeous color when viewed from higher up.



.http://home.comcast.net/~flavour/flavour/12000.jpg

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No bites on the last one? Shit. Tough crowd.

Filed under "what in the hell is this thing?"


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/f...tf_is_this.jpg

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Seneca Lake in moonlight:


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/moonlake.jpg

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Closer to home, Big Creek at the far eastern end of the Smokies is known for having insanely emerald green water at some of the deeper holes. This one, Midnight Hole, is the jewel of Big Creek.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/f...night_hole.jpg

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And the way I like to see it:


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/f...night_kain.jpg

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Oh my goodness, Dan! Who knew we had a superb photographer hiding out in the shadows! I love them, I love so many of them that it'd be tedious to point out which ones I loved.

Great work!

The winter of 2003-2004 was rough for me. I've hinted at the ordeal to a few of you, but it's not something that I talk about unless there's a very good reason for me to bring it up. When things are bad, no matter how bad, I still believe they will get better. It's just been long enough for me to look back without being sucked back.

This one is brand new since I put it together just now, It's unpolished and needs work, but I like it.

The folly of despair
No sight of simple truth
Life does cruel things to us
But life drifts on, carrying us past
Lest we dwell too long with pain

But what of our season of pain?
Does it linger here too long?
Heartbreak may be out-lived
Though never quite out-run

And the sun slips low into the sky
Through Winter Solstice days
In vain to warm our frozen world
But higher each new day

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Impressive for such a shit talker ;)

Your poems that I read are very good and have a great flow. The pics are amazing as well; I absolutely love post #40, it is so serene and dream like...

Good job ol' chap!

Thanks Xoxy! And Thanks dod.. uh, I think! From one shit talker to another. ;)

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This is obligatory, so I might as well get it out of the way.

This is Patty, she's 8, and she's a big baby at 100+ pounds. Half Black Lab/Half Rottweiller, she's still got a bit of her brown yet to shed out from Winter, by Fall she's jet black all over.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/patty.jpg

This is Allie, she's also 8, and is a total shit. I'm talking absolute shit. She doesn't care one bit either. Her attitude is, "Yea, I'm bad, and you're happy to see me!" Allie has to be the most symmetrical tuxedo cat I've ever seen.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/allie.jpg

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This is me and my buddy Robert at the top of Grassy Ridge Bald (elevation 6,189 feet), a few miles on the other side of the Carvers Gap parking area from Roan Mountain. Robert is a bit of a character... well, actually, quite a character. Robert keeps quite a gut for a hiker, possibly due to the fact that he thinks nothing of lugging a full case (24) of beer as far as 20 miles on his back just so, as he puts it, "I can get a good drunk on". One can remind him that liquor is more compact, but he won't hear it. The man loves his beer.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/f...assy_ridge.jpg

This was my sig picture for the longest time, but I had to cut some of it off to fit the sig.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/skyblue.jpg

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More from the Smokies... I love this place.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/ac.jpg

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And more... Inadu Creek (I think).


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/inadu.jpg

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sorry i haven't commented in a while.

all of the pictures you've posted so far have been beautiful, as well as the poem you wrote.
keep it up. :)

Damn, man... Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Loving the new stuff! That last picture especially, I really dig the long exposure. I want details/EXIF on that one!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Man of Steel

Damn, man... Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Loving the new stuff! That last picture especially, I really dig the long exposure. I want details/EXIF on that one!

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Sure, I really didn't do a lot of setup, I was shaded at ISO 100, so I knew I'd get an appropriate exposure for the moving water. The conditions were shaded, so I didn't polarize (though I had my filters with me for a change).

Word of advice for folks who haven't done a lot of moving water photography, too short an exposure freezes the water, losing the sense of motion, too long an exposure overdoes the effect.

Exposure:Auto exposure, Aperture-priority AE, 1/11 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 Flash:Off, Did not fire
Focus:Auto
Date:November 22, 2003 2:55:58 PM (US Eastern)
File:1,536 × 2,048 JPEG (3.1 megapixels)
1,310,377 bytes (1.2 megabytes) Image compression: 86% Color

Here is largely the same shot only with a 1/28" exposure. Not nearly as good, the water motion is apparent, but a bit too frozen still. Not as much to work with in Photoshop for the water's shading and I did all I could for the exposure in Photoshop without overdoing it. Underexposed a bit, ISO 200 - 400 would have been better. Dynamics are just plain better on the one I posted first.


http://home.comcast.net/~flavour/flavour/inadu2.jpg

I love winter hiking. As long as it's not windy and you're fueled up and moving, you can be perfectly comfortable with temps in the 20's. You're producing so much heat that it feels like a stroll on a 60° day.. well, your hands do get a little cold so that's why they invented gloves.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/icy.jpg

Crap.. I worked the greens a little too much without paying attention to the selection tool. I think I turned my hair green. :oops:

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Ahaha

Wow, that was quick! I expected a much smaller aperture for that pic; wasn't thinking about the diference in point and shoots, better DOF at wider apertures. The exposure of 1/11 was perfect; I really don't think you could have gotten it any better. Incredible picture, man.


And yes, your hair is green. So are your boots, and your five o'clock shadow is tinged green too. :P

Damn MoS, you're right about shooting raw.

Here's some screwing around I did with one of Kain's toys...


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/spino.jpg

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When I was 22 or so, a girl and I were crazy about each other. It was love, more or less, but the relationship would fall apart and come back together, until it was such a mess that any good times were hard to recall for all the bullshit drama. We should have called it quits much sooner. I sent this to her, she thanked me, and we went our separate ways more or less at peace.


Are we ghouls set upon plundering a quiet tomb
Where sealed within lies the remains of our love
And now exposed to careless touch
Crumbles before us to dust

So let us meet here not as thieves
But remember that which rests within
Gently lay a rose before the iron gate
Turn and slowly walk away

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So, does anybody here remember when I used this photo as my avatar?

It was after the "Sisyphus rolling the rock" animated avatar, and before my current 4 year-old art avatar.

This one I call, "Way too Close with non-minty-fresh breath"


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/tooclose.jpg

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By popular demand:
:split:

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Elephant Head (~12,200') sits at the opposite end of Indian Basin in the Wind River Range from Fremont Peak. It's easier to climb than it looks, actually being a non-technical climb with only a scary spot or two, but the saddle in the more gradual ridgeline between it and Ellingwood Peak (more on Ellingwood later!) is hidden from view. At the top is a decent-sized (a couple hundred yards across) and remarkably flat area with fantastic views.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/elephant.jpg

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Ellingwood Peak (13,052') is the most visually arresting peak I've seen... ever. I sat and stared at it for a solid hour. You can just see Ellingwood Glacier peeking out from behind the foreground knob. The climb via the north arete is a 15 pitch 5.6 climb, beyond my abilities. The mountains' official name "Harrower Peak", I wholly reject, as do many others.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/f...ellingwood.jpg

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Stunning photos!

I hope I get a chance to go hiking in the mountains some time soon. :)

A better look at Kiza's last resting place. Yes, it was a cold cold day, all the better to keep Kiza from stinking while I drag him up there.

Mount Helen (13,620') in the background, Wyoming's 5th highest peak.

Me in the foreground messing up the view.

Kudos to anyone who can identify the black and blue jacket (3 words, well maybe two) I'm wearing.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/helen.jpg

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'Highly technical clothing', wasn't it? Do I get my kudo's now? No?!? Thats ok. I never really liked them anyway. I especially like post # 63. It looks like lava flows. I'm pretty jealous. Is that wyoming as well?

No kudo for you! Yep, it certainly is Wyoming. I took a lot of pictures out there since it's so very different from my southeast stomping grounds.

One of the first thing that strikes you when you're around 2.5 miles in elevation in a very un-impacted place (other than the fact that carrying heavy shit on your back is harder), is the sky. It's insane blue.

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After 10 days in the high Rockies, we were ready to get back to town, drink beer, dance with women, etc. Among the dozen or so guys I camp with regularly, there's an unwritten rule that if two guys wear the same jacket, they're automatically queers. But three guys? Just wow! They knew the rule, they did it anyway... they deserved all the abuse they got!


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/last.jpg


Something's wrong with the picture though.. it doesn't quite capture the trip the way I'd like... Photoshop to the rescue!

Spoiler for Perfection!:

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/f...last_sepia.jpg

.

Jesus man, you are good at this.

Smile man. You look so fucking bored. xD

I was at White Spot tonight for a birthday party. I saw a man who looked a lot like you, so I stared at him. He stared back.
THEN I PUNCHED HIM RIGHT IN HIS NIPPLES.

Part of that story is a lie.

I awoke this morning and noted that I had nipples.
Nipples.
Strange, I thought to myself, why would a man have nipples?
What use are they?
Then it occurred to me -- nipples are for smashing.
So I took off my shirt, stretched around a bit, then ran straight
into my door, nipples first.
My nipples hit the frame and shook it to its very core.
That door fears my nipples.
For my nipples are for smashing

Your reply was impressively fast. Faster than your nipples hitting the door.

I awoke this morning and noted that I had nipples.
Nipples.
Strange, I thought to myself, why would a man have nipples?
What use are they?
Then it occurred to me -- nipples are for smashing.
So I took off my shirt, stretched around a bit, then ran straight
into my door, nipples first.
My nipples hit the frame and shook it to its very core.
That door fears my nipples.
For my nipples are for smashing

All together now!

Senseless Banter is the next door down, you two. lulz. And if you knew anything, you'd know that nipples are for making chili, just ask Jeff.

Thanks SomeGuy!

Tara, I subscribe to the the "old woodsmen school of posing for photographs", those guys never smiled, so I'm in good company.

I got lost...now that /b/ is down.

Thanks for the directions!

When you have a grand-kid, one of the things you do is make other people look at pictures of the kid, it's what you do. Here's the boy at 6 months, before he became an outdoorsman. "Do I have to look?", you ask. Yes, you do.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/6mo.jpg

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Coming into the Winds from Elkhart Park, after maybe 2 and half days hiking, you'll reach Island Lake. Once you sweep a counter-clockwise arc around the lake, you've reached the big granite. Indian Basin and Titcomb Basin await.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/island.jpg

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I love your skill.

All of your pictures make me so happy and excited about exploring that my heart actually races.

Your grandson was adorable. Too bad he's older now.
Heheh, jk.

Thank ya's.

Everybody is from somewhere, but sometimes it takes a long time to discover that somewhere. It took me 31 years to discover that the Great Smoky Mountains is that somewhere for me.

Starting at the the Cosby Campground, the Snake Den Ridge Trail doesn't mess around headed for the crest of the Smokies. It climbs 3,400 feet in just over 5 miles. When you get near the top, you'll pass some jet wreckage scattered about the woods, the Smokies eats aircraft (More on that Later). Finally you approach the crest and the Appalachian Trail at Inadu Knob, the last few yards look like this:


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/sdr.jpg

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Summer in the Smokies can be a hot, sticky, nasty, hell of sweat and insects. Every now and them the weather stays nice for a week, and if you happen to have a week of vacation when it's nice, you're guaranteed a great trip. Here are me, Jim, and Jon at campsite 84 at the confluence of Sugar Fork and Hazel Creek, deep on the North Carolina side of the park. This was day three of a five day trip. The image quality isn't that great since it's a scan from a photo, but interestingly enough, the guy who took the photo, we'd met the night before camping by himself. His name was Eric, and he happened to be Jeb Bush's staff photographer (this was back when Jeb was Gov. of Florida). Turns out that Jim was the only Republican in the crowd.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/sugar.jpg


This is also the only known photograph with me sporting a goatee.

.

When I was seven, my parents took us all to the Smokies. It was odd as an adult to come across places that were "new", and to suddenly recover the memory that I'd been there before... mostly touristy spots near the roadside.. but that's how it goes when the parents take you along. Even back then, I recall seeing a backpacker, and thinking to myself, "That's what I want to be doing." It would take another twenty-four years to realize that notion. This shot is near and dear to me. I discovered it in a pile of slides my Dad gave me after my Mom died in 1992. The photo is a slide scan, so again, the quality isn't the greatest, but that hardly matters. In the shot is my mother and myself at age 7... about the same age as my young hiking partner is now (he'll be 7 in a couple weeks). Do I know where this shot was taken? Of course I do, precisely.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/1970.jpg

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Foot logs beat the hell out of stomping through an icy creek in the winter. Often as not, you're gonna have to get wet, so these things are nice when you can find them. Here's one of the longer foot logs in the Smokies, maybe the longest, crossing Cataloochee Creek at the Caldwell Fork Trail terminus.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/caldwell.jpg

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One more for the night. Kain at 14 months. Does anybody notice a pattern in the places I've taken the little guy?


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/14mo.jpg

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Is #83 in NC? If so, I've been there. If not, then I'm confused as usual.

Damn, ignore this post.. doubled up.

Phil, 83 is just up Hazel Creek from 84, at the confluence of Bone Valley Creek and Hazel Creek, both in North Carolina.

84 does not allow horses, so it is quite attractive. 83 allows horses, so while in a pleasant setting, it has all the niceties of a horse camp.. flies, horseshit, garbage, fire-rings piled 3 feet high with a mixture of ash and discarded tin cans, more flies, more horseshit, and more garbage.

I hate fuckin' horse-packing in the park, fuckin' hate it.
(and before some horse-packer has a go at me on this, YES, the bad ones DO ruin it for the rest of you).

.

I've never seen a foot log before.
IT'S AWESOME.

I would much rather splash around in the creek, but that's just what moose do. Don't mind me.

Tara.. I ran across a mother and baby moose my first day on that trip out west. I'd gone down maybe 3/4 mile from camp to check out a small glacial lake, and they were off in the woods nearby. The kid wasn't too interested in me, but the mother watched me intently. I was about 20 yards from them. No camera with me, damn. When a large maternal animal keeps her eye on you for more than a few seconds, it's time to move along, which I did.

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A;lkjaf omg. That's amazing. A little scary, but amazing.

I saw a young black bear once, across the street on some train tracks. It stared at me, so I threw my arms in the air and went GOBBLE GOBBLE GOBBLE!
It ran off as fast as it good, ears back and bum tucked in. :P

lulz! Black bears, I've run across no less than a hundred, hit one with my car, and so far haven't had any of them give me much lip. The funny thing is, out of a hundred plus black bears, how many photos do you think I've managed? Exactly one mother and cub. When you're working your way closer to a female black bear, slowly... and suddenly you hear your buddy (well behind you) say, "Awwww!! Isn't that cute!", you freeze and back the hell away. She's not alone, junior is with her. I respect black bears, I don't take shit from them, but I respect them.. but mamas with cubs, watch your ass.

I've only seen 3 wild bears in my entire life, all black. Part of me wants to see many many more, and part of me wants to stay in tact.
I would love to go to Yellowstone one day to photograph the wildlife there.

Running into a buck of any kind during breeding season would be bad too. I do not want to be impaled by a huge rack. Well, not that kind of rack anyways.
Some racks are okay.

This aircraft wreck has been sitting on a mountainside in the Smokies since shortly before I was born. Such locations are closely guarded secrets to those who have the connections to learn of their exact whereabouts along with the navigational skills to find them. Six people (all aboard) died in this mishap, and the idea of directing gawkers to such a location is repugnant. "Smile for the camera next to the death-scene!", no way I'm gonna be a part of that. I visit these sights, I respect these sites, I document these sites. The Smokies with its thousand square miles of high peaks and ridges trap more than its share of aircraft. Oddly, since documentation of these unfortunate statistics began, the decade of the 2000's has, thus far, been the only decade without such a tragedy. This one is a scan from a photo in my collection.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/crash.jpg


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And speaking of black bears. Near the end of the steep hike down from the crash site, I ran across a black bear, only this time I actually had my camera hanging around my neck. As I talked about in a recent post, I worked my way closer and closer.. until my hiking partner let out with, "Awww.. Isn't that cute!", then I backed the hell away. I was still able to capture this shot, my only adult black bear shot in this scan from a photo.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/mama.jpg

A bit later, from a much safer distance, I got a picture of what I had not noticed when I started toward the bear for a shot. Say hi to junior (peeking out from high on the slender tree to the right of frame).


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/cub.jpg

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Yes Bears!!

Two more, then I'm done for the night.

Some of you might be aware that I am rather ichthyophobic, I really don't know why, but I am. The phobia doesn't extend to being in the vicinity of fish, but is limited to touching or handling them. Can't do it, won't do it.

So you might be surprised to find me on Hazel Creek at the Proctor Campsite near the creeks embayment to Fontana Lake, one fine summer evening, doing this:


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/fishing.jpg


Explanation: Someone had to be there to take the picture. Jim volunteered to unhook and eat anything I caught.

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I love the light fog in the distance, but who's that dumbass blocking the view? :|

Haha, jk.

While swimming in a lake one year, I caught a small fish with my bare hands.

19 December 1999. Almost ten years ago. A steep 3 mile climb from the road to Thomas Divide via Kanati Fork, and that was it. I'd hiked every mile of every trail in the national park. I was like the 70th person with documented proof of doing them all.. today, there are more like 300 people who've done it. The challenge has become very popular over the past decade. There are around 800 miles of maintained trails in the Smokies, and I had to hike and re-hike many of them to hike them all, I was up to around 1,500 trail miles by this time, far short of the 4,000 have today, and if I hadn't been relatively inactive since '04, I'd be closer to 8,000 miles.. which is why I have to get off my ass and do the tough miles... but hiking with a little kid is so much more fun, although less physically demanding!

This spot also happens to be very close to the spot where, on the first day of Summer 2002, I briefly forgot how to walk and carry a pack. My right shoulder will never be the same, ever. But more on that later.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/finished.jpg


No Tara, I didn't smile. See my previous explanation. :P

Phil, same jacket, I've had that thing forever, and since nobody has claimed the kudos, it's a Marmot Driclime Windshirt. I recommend this jacket to ANYONE thinking of spending time outdoors in the wild. But get the ORIGINAL, It took Marmot a few years and some fooling around with the design to realize it didn't need any improvement. $50 if you're willing to look for it hard enough online, about $100 at the outdoor shops, worth every penny and then some. The inner DriClime layer is very soft, very warm, and highly hydrophobic.. which means it's happy to move moisture away from your skin, and toward the nylon shell where it evaporates. Get it soaked, no problem, the damned thing can be shaken dry. Highly technical, indeed!

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In that picture, I'd have to say the lack of a smile works.
You actually look quite dashing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

You actually look quite dashing.

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Big words, considering... ;)

It didn't occur to me until later how well camouflaged I was for my surroundings in this shot. I could be fairly invisible from a distance.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/camo.jpg

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Yeah, really. It took me a half a second to see your legs there.

Love all the recent pics, you definitely have to climb Rainier and take some pictures. I've hiked a decent way up and illegally camped on it with some friends a few years back; it was amazing.

Yeah and #102 is great how you camo in with the scenery. You don't look too bad either ;)

Thx again folks! dod.. you're hot for old dudes, admit it.

It is just me, or is Kain looking at the camera like, "WTF?"


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/feb03.jpg

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The 2nd to last one was a great pic of you. Ahem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flavour of Night

Thx again folks! dod.. you're hot for old dudes, admit it.

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Who's old? :P

And yeah, what I talked to you about on DV Chat. You have some of the best scenes going on in these pics. The scenery is usually just mind-blowing. It's better than some of the best photo manipulations I have seen. But the quality could really be improved. It's almost heart breaking to see such a beautiful landscape with mediocre quality. :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Xox

And yeah, what I talked to you about on DV Chat. You have some of the best scenes going on in these pics. The scenery is usually just mind-blowing. It's better than some of the best photo manipulations I have seen. But the quality could really be improved. It's almost heart breaking to see such a beautiful landscape with mediocre quality. :p

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Heh heh.. I like it harsh. :D

A long time ago I decided I'd just shoot 3 MP and forget about it. Relying on my digicams' internal JPEG compression was a bad idea. I fully embrace shooting in RAW mode... MoS talked me into that, and it didn't take much convincing. I also have gotten lazy a lot about using autofocus. Manual focus is better, nearly always. Note to self: Take the time to do it. My unwillingness to add the weight of a solid tripod to my pack also hurts! My Fuji S7000 is beat all to hell from the wear and tear, so once I decide on the dSLR to replace it, I might be afraid to take it on the more grueling trips.

The thing I have to work on is whether I'm the one holding back my equipment, or my equipment is holding me back.. so far, it's probably some of both.

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I hope I remembered Jeff's font color correctly, blue, isn't it?

A Question to Consider

Amid the noise, amid the fail
In blueish font, a question came
"Flav, Are you afraid of dying?"
I considered a moment
The long ages before my birth
And how they felt to me
I considered too
The long ages to come when I am gone
And how they'll feel to me

I was not at all adverse
To times before I came
So I'll not be too adverse
To times when I have gone

So no, I'm not afraid of death
Though I'm not too keen on dying
Rather I fear becoming so accustomed to living
That I might forget to do it right

.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flavour of Night

Heh heh.. I like it harsh. :D

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Don't get me wrong. I think you're pictures are still amazing. (Heh, they're better than any of my sad attempts :p I'm no one to speak) But I definitely think they could be much, much better. But it would be a pain carrying a DSLR around. :/

They could be a bit clearer. But overall they're awesome.

Still no progress in getting a dSLR picked out. It's like being in the market for a new roommate, once you commit, you're kinda stuck with it, and if it drives you crazy, too bad.

If you ever see a picture, and the water looks like this next shot, someone's taken extreme liberties in photoshop. I only mention this, and only did this because this is what the postcards in the shops around the park typically look like, except with better cameras. I've been to this spot dozens of times, and the water has never looked like this once... but it does on the postcards! In truth, we all know that postcards are written and sent to make the folks back home insane with jealousy... by presenting an idealized version of wherever it is we happen to have gotten off to.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/tooblue.jpg

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-cough-GET A NIKON-cough- :)

Nikon.. exactly where I'm leaning. but WHICH?

Might as well post something before I try to go to bed.

Maybe I should call this one, "Dude, Where's My Tent?" Yep.. I routinely look like this in the morning. I don't like morning. Well, at least the waking up part.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/morning.jpg

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At school in my photo class, we only had one digital camera. It was a Nikon D40 and although it's an older model, it's still an amaazing camera. Plus you'll save a lot of money since it's both old and you'll have to buy it already used. I find that any Nikon from the D series is great. My friend got one of the newer ones that's over $500 and she's not even a photographer. She barely uses the damn thing. I'M SO JEALOUS.

The Canon Rebel XTi is also a good one. My friend has one and it's magical. Personally I prefer the Nikon though.

So around the D40 - D50 range is good both technically and price-wise.

Hope that all helped (Shift and Josh are good to ask too).

I might have already eliminated that series.. but since I haven't been taking notes (which I should be doing), I can't remember why... shit, start over.

Now for a photo... This is a fairly common sight in the some of the more heavily settled areas during the pre-park days. The cabin has long since vanished, but the chimney remains. Black and white seems a nice touch here.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/chimney.jpg

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This is one of my very favorite spots in the Smokies. It is just above Campsite 90 on the Eagle Creek Trail, just as Eagle Creek reaches its' embayment at Fontana Lake. In this photo, the lake level is down just far enough to expose the lake bottom, adding some dynamic to the photo. When the lake is full, the bare lake bottom is not visible, and the whole thing is a large calm pool. This is a scan from a very scratchy and dusty photo, so I had to do a lot of processing to conceal the damage. The photo was also somewhat blurry, so the image is sharpened rather severely. The tree limb hanging out over the water (which adds some more nice dynamic) is long gone.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/eagle.jpg

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Noland Creek in North Carolina, and no, I didn't fall in. But Robert did. Robert's nickname is "The Baptist", because he's always falling into creeks. On this particular occasion, after Matt and I had crossed the makeshift footlog, Robert inched his way along... It probably didn't help that Matt and I were standing on the bank critiquing his performance, rather obnoxiously. He made it halfway, lost his balance, got pissed, half jumped/half fell into the creek and stomped/splashed across cursing profusely. The only words other than "f*ck!" that we could discern was a reference to "Going home and selling this shit". Robert usually isn't happy when the joke is on him, and Matt and I tried desperately not to lose our shit laughing. We failed badly... which pissed Robert off doubly. It was nothing that a couple beers couldn't cure once in camp another mile or so upstream.

Robert snapped this one of when I wasn't looking, otherwise I would have seen the camera, started showing off, and probably would have gone in the water.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/noland.jpg

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A stupid little poem from chat...


Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
And if I WILD before I wake
I pray the Lord my bed not shake

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We should have a Dream Views 'Lucid Dreaming Poetry Contest' or something.

On the other hand, let's not. :P

This image is pretty shitty, but it shows something you don't see everyday, fog down below. What's really cool is when you get above 5,000 feet or so, and the fog is solid with the cloud tops down around 4,500 feet or so. The effect is that peaks and ridges above the cloud tops will appear as islands in a sea of fog. I wish a had a good shot of this, but this shot of the fog rolling up the valley is as good as I have... well, so far.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/fog.jpg

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Compare to post #111, not too great a shot, but the different season is obvious.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/full.jpg

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Robert, myself, and Matt. Robert is the one who hauls cases of beer over great distances. I'm the one who calls him an idiot for hauling cases of beer over great distances (but I'm never too proud to beg for one). Matt has an interesting story. Some years back, he was rope climbing on Cherokee Bluffs across the river near downtown Knoxville. He had a little accident on the rope and left one of his thumbs dangling by a shred of flesh. Fortunately, the U.T. Medical Center is pretty much right on top the bluffs more or less. After what he describes as an "insanely expensive" helicopter flight up to Lexington (I think it was), he got it re-attached. His thumb works, more or less.

If you're not adverse to walking crazy distances with shit on your back, heat, humidity, sweat, bugs, and squatting in a parcel of dirt, backpacking might be for you.

Note the obligatory bad-ass non-smiling poses. it was too damned hot and sticky to smile. The only reason we had a fire going was that insects can't handle smoke.

Yea, I know, the photo quality is crap.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/f.../merobmatt.jpg


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OK, the only reason for this next shot is that every single guy who has ever drunk beer in the woods and sees a camera pointed his way has done this. So, if you've drunk beer in the woods and anyone's ever pointed a camera at you, and you claim you haven't, you're lying. No matter how many times I see this stupid pose, it's still good for lulz. Thanks Jody.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/chub.jpg

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I used to do that with my pretty scarf and claim that I had rainbow pubes. Then I would attack-hump people.

So it's clearly not just guys and beer cans.

FIRST POST ON PAGE 6, I WIN CHRISTMAS!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flavour of Night

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/fog.jpg

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:O 'tis amazing!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

FIRST POST ON PAGE 6, I WIN CHRISTMAS!

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In your sad 25 post per page little world...

Meanwhile, I've got it set for 10, so you're lost somewhere in the middle of page 13. :)

To everything thus far that I have not yet replied to, I love it.

And I have a Nikon D40, man. It's half of what makes me my living, and it's a good camera. No built-in autofocus, so older lenses that rely on the camera's autofocus won't have autofocus. Maybe that's why you ruled it out? Still a great camera, though!

The D40 I used had auto focus. Guess it had a newer lens? :? And yes, it is a great camera. Tres magic.

I'm starting the whole search over for the dSRL.

Before I destroyed my right shoulder, this was a great way to camp. The bonus was, I could carry more iced beer stuff, and I wouldn't have to carry it on my back. Santeetlah Lake is in Western North Carolina, close to the Smokies. From a scanned photo.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/f...santeetlah.jpg

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Sweet baby Jesus on a flying kanagroo in space orbiting around MARS!!

I love kayaking and I've only had the chance of going twice in my life.
Over here in Vancouver we've got places that will take you on a 6 day kayaking/whale watching trip. We've got the biggest orca population in the world. AND GOD DAMN IT, I WILL GO ON THAT TRIP!

I've gone on awhile here and a to a few folks in chat about how I trashed my right shoulder. It was the first day of Summer 2002, and I was headed out a ridge to a campsite maybe 6 miles away. I'd gotten maybe a half mile from where I parked, and I kicked a root sticking out of the trail. I stumbled, and should have just gone down, but I tried to recover. This resulted in a 10 yard running stumble that ended with me finally going down with the momentum of my stumbling run along with my weight and the weight of my pack all going into the one spot where I hit the ground first.. my right shoulder. I couldn't feel my right arm, but I still finished the two night trip. So I spent the next year trying to work around whatever was wrong. It's amazing how much you can lift in a gym when you've got cortisone lying to you that everything is OK. The MRI couldn't pin anything down since the damage was hidden deep inside the socket, so it was off to the orthopedic surgeon. He knocked me out and started poking around in my shoulder. Then he found this:

Spoiler for Don't worry, no blood:

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/notgood.jpg

That's my socket (glenoid) and the white stuff is cartilage, it's supposed to be a nice smooth sheet covering the bone. Uh-oh.


Time to start ripping the confetti out of there:

Spoiler for Shredded:

http://home.comcast.net/~flavour/flavour/shredded.jpg

So here I am, minus this:

Spoiler for I was using this.:

http://home.comcast.net/~flavour/flavour/thatsucks.jpg

That's a lot of cartilage, 20 mm (almost an inch) across, I liked it better when it was on the inside, this stuff doesn't grow back. :(

Ten days after this little operating room orgy, I was back on the trail. :D

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Remember the pika from a bunch of posts ago?

I was able to snap another one a few days later. This shot didn't turn out as crisp, but it's pretty neat because you can see how well camouflaged he is.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/pika3.jpg

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Double Island (aka Campsite #78) on Fontana Lake in the Smokies. The naming of this island might seem odd since there is only one Island. A look at the topographical maps shows two islands. So what gives? Back in the 1940's, when Fontana Lake was formed by the damming of the Little Tennessee River at Fontana Dam, the full pool elevation was defined as 1710 feet. With Fontana Lake at 1710 feet, the island gets split in two by a narrow and shallow strip of water that covers the low saddle across the middle of the island. This is the condition shown on the topo map. In reality, Fontana Lake is never filled beyond about 1703 feet. At this level, the saddle across the middle of the island is above water... and thank goodness, since this is the only decent camping spot on the island.



http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/double.jpg


And one heck of a nice camping spot it is. My trusty Walrus Rapeede tent is pitched. I've had this two man tent for better than a dozen years; it hasn't leaked a bit in all that time. Not even half a foot of wet snow can bring this thing down... steep sides for great snow-shedding, but it does give up some shoulder room in the trade-off.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/double2.jpg

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It's going to be a Canon 50D.

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Awhile back I posted a shot of the summit of Roan Mountain on the Tennessee/North Carolina Border. This is a shot from the parking area at Carvers Gap. Head in one direction, you end up on top of Roan Mountain. Head the other direction, you end up on top of Grassy Ridge Bald. This scan from a photo shows the mountainside in the direction of Grassy Ridge Bald.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/cg.jpg

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Kids should stay this age forever, or as least a bit longer than they do.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/tt.jpg

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Roan Mountain in the background, me showing off in the foreground. Not the sharpest shot, but I still like it.



http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/roanat.jpg

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flavour of Night

I guess I can slap up some photos too. I'm mostly an outdoor/nature shooter, but I've got a tendency to take a lot of my grandson too.. Of course, I like to combine the two and capture him interacting with the outdoors.

One of my favorites is this one.. Just shooting at the ground on Caldwell Fork in the Smokies (practically my backyard). The funny part was, just out of frame, you would find horseshit.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/autumn.jpg

Makes me almost smell the season (aside from the horseshit, of course).


I love this one... and I've got it framed and hung. My grandson is the only other person in my family who has ever taken a real interest in the mountains. I started him when he was 3 in the Summer and this was from a half year later in Winter. It speaks to me of his surprising confidence in marching toward unknown adventure, small, but supreme in his confidence.

http://home.comcast.net/~flavour/fla...losed_road.jpg

I've also got one of him on the same hike, peeing behind a utility box by the side of the road. His quote was, I recall, "When a guy's gotta go, he's gotta go".

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This picture is wonderful, and I loved what you showed us about cropping it. I also noted that there's a perfect heart just above the arch and to the right side of it... I remember seeing a whole collection once of natural hearts that someone photographed, and it was charming. I have one that forms from the dust in my driveway in a spot that's recessed just a tiny bit, I guess. I can sweep the driveway and it disappears, but it's back again soon!

wow.. cool, never noticed the heart!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flavour of Night

wow.. cool, never noticed the heart!

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LOL... it's probably being so loved that gives him all his confidence! So the heart is perfect there!

wow you've got some beautiful photos there, also its good to see other BC ppl here.. you should come to van city and surrounding intereior area/ okanagan sometime, some shots to be had there, also much of it is camping friendly!

Dreamnoob, I've never been to BC.. but I'm not adverse to the idea. :)

yes theres some awesome sights here but you are a fair distance away, i should make a thread w/ my artwork and photography and drawings and such.. hmmm

Bobs Towers (13,060') from way up close. (At least I'm pretty sure it is. This would make the peak tucked in behind Miriam Peak). I wasn't going to get too much closer without climbing equipment and rock skills I don't possess.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/f.../bobstower.jpg

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I'm not sure what that last one is anymore. I was all over the top of Titcomb Basin, and I guess I have an excuse to go back to Wyoming now and figure it out.

From a much greater distance, I can say with certainty, that from left to right, you're looking at Woodrow Wilson Peak, The Sphinx, Bobs Towers, and Miriam Peak. Gannett Peak, Wyomings' highest, is hiding being them. The relatively low Dinwoody Pass (12,800')(far right) is the gateway to Gannett Peak from Titcomb Basin).


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/wwspbtmp.jpg

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Take that picture, insert me riding on a bear (with antlers of course), and you have one of my most wanted LDs.

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

Take that picture, insert me riding on a bear (with antlers of course), and you have one of my most wanted LDs.

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If you want to ride a grizzly, be my guest. I'll be somewhere else. No telling if he might still be hungry after he finishes with you.

I figured out where that picture I thought was Bobs Towers was taken. It was taken a mile roughly WEST of Bobs Towers. So sue me.

I can't find a name for the pair of peaks, but they're located on a ridge due north of Knapsack Col at the top of Twins Glacier, about 1000 feet along the ridge rising up from the col at elevations of ~12,900 and 13,100'. I'm sure they have names or a common name between them.

You really needed to know all that, didn't you? I might bore the hell out of you, but the next time you're lost in the wilderness with no damned clue where you are or whether you should shit or wind your watch, you'll be wishing you listened better! :damnit:

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Did it rain? Did I make it to camp before it started? Did it keep raining? Did I care either way?

Yes, yes, no, and only kinda.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/roan3.jpg

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I didn't remember I did this until yesterday when it struck me.. so I stitched a dozen or so images together in Photoshop,
and here is a 360° panorama of upper Titcomb Basin in Wyomings Wind River Range. I did all I could with brightness,
contrast, and exposure to match the frames, but with all the different directions, getting it perfect wasn't possible.
The left and and right edges represent where the scene repeats.

This gives a sense of how freaking cool this place really is.

---->>>---------->>>---------->>>---------->>>---------->>>---------->>>---------->>>---------->>>---------->>>--------->>>---------->>>---------->>>---------->>>---------->>>---------->>>---------->>>---------->>|


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/panorama.jpg

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OK, first of all, the pair of peaks I mis-identified as Bobs Towers is definitely The Twin Peaks (13,185'). But, I'm still going back there, even if I don't have that mystery to solve any longer.

Every now and then, you get a "you are here" glimpse that gives you an insight into how tiny you are. The blue dot is my tent.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/camp.jpg

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Ridge upon ridge, fading off to eternity...


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/ab.jpg

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wow.. honestly looks like a mind blowing place.. looks almost like a diff planet

Really beautiful man.

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Originally Posted by dreamnoob

wow.. honestly looks like a mind blowing place.. looks almost like a diff planet

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Naw.. just North Carolina. :)

And now for Virginia.. Here's something very close to where Xox lives.. maybe a dozen miles away. The wind is calm, the temperature is about 20 degrees, and I'm headed uphill. If you've been paying attention, you'll know I'm dressed appropriately. When I hit the open grass-land at the top around 5,000', and the wind hit, it was a different story. We got driven to the shelter for a 2 day white out.

Interestingly enough, we ran into a guy there named Brad who said he'd come up here to "get away from it all and the smoking and drinking". I just had to shake my head and tell him, "Buddy, you've come to the wrong f*cking shelter". We had a carton of Basic Lights and enough liquor between us to do some serious self-inflicted damage.


http://home.comcast.net/%7Eflavour/flavour/mr.jpg

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