92Shawman's 1992 3VZ-E SR5 Pickup

Panama:

Spent our first night in Panama City, recovering from the trip there and pausing before the trip to Boquete. Then spent 5 nights in Boquete up in the western highlands. Really beautiful! 5 nights was a little long, but it was a very relaxed 2 week vacation, so it was fine. And it was lovely to spend new year's there!

View of Volcan Baru from the hostel:
Boquete Sunset by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Coffee plantation tour:
Coffee Tour with Mamallena Hostel by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Coffee Tour with Mamallena Hostel by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Coffee beans on the tree!
Coffee Tour with Mamallena Hostel by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Coffee beans freshly roasted!
Coffee Tour with Mamallena Hostel by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Not very expo-friendly...can't store much stuff!
Untitled by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

Visited this beautiful private garden that the owners have open to the public called "Mi jardin es su jardin," or "My garden is your garden"
Mi jardin es su jardin by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Walked around Boquete
Rio Caldera by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Did a tour to Joguata Waterfalls and the Caldera hot springs.
Beautiful falls!
Joguata Falls by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

River next to the hot springs:
Caldera Hotsprings by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Caldera Hotsprings by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

Did a birding tour up farther into the highlands and got some crazy birds!
Elegant Euphonia by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Sulphur-winged Parakeet by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

This one was amusing because I had only just seen the species for the first time at home in San Diego a few weeks earlier
Black-and-white Warbler by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Black-throated Green Warbler by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Sinister bird
Black-thighed Grosbeak by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

More from the birding trip!
More than just birds...
Untitled by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Untitled by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Untitled by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Elegant Euphonia by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Green Hermit by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

Even more...
White-bellied Mountain Gem (?) by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Untitled by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Untitled by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Collared Trogon by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

And the one we were all there to see...
Resplendent Quetzal by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

After Boquete we went back to Panama City and just did day trips out of there for the remaining 8 days.

Did a hike/walk up to the highest point in Panama City, Cerro Ancon, a grand 654 feet above sea level!
Walked past the Canal Authority building on the way up:
Panama Canal Monument by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Canal Authority Building by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

View of the city from the top:
Panama City from Cerro Ancon by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Did another hike out to the causeway islands that were built from material removed in the construction of the canal. Provides for a good view back on the city!
Panama City from Isla Perico by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Isla Perico by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

Looks great Kevin!

 

The creepiest part of the trip:
Isla Perico, the middle island, as a road that spirals up to the top. We saw it on the map and thought it would be interesting to walk up to the top. It was mostly hot and sweaty, but on the last circle we came across this abandoned bunker filled with discarded crap.
Battery Newton on Isla Perico by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

So, as white people in the middle of horror flicks are wont to do, we had to venture inside and check it out. We weren't stupid enough to split up, though, that would've just been suicide!
The main part of the tunnel dead-ended and a side branch came out and the ceiling of the branch opened up to the top of the hill before continuing under ground again.
Battery Newton on Isla Perico by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

At the other end of the exposed section there were a few rooms with big iron gates that were partially closed, giving them the appearance of prison cells. We didn't have head lamps and that was just way too much creep factor for us so we boogied out of there pretty quickly after coming across that surely-haunted area.

Unfortunately the very top was fenced off for radar equipment or something, and there were tons of trees blocking any good views, so that was pretty much the end. On the way back down we opted for the stairs that led up into the bunker and came across the official entrance:
Battery Newton on Isla Perico by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Turns out, it was a WWI battery that held the largest rifle (16") operated by one of the US armed forces at the time to protect the Pacific end of the Canal. I want to say Army but I don't remember and I can't seem to find where I read that before. The only other comparable was in use to protect Ellis Island.

Pretty insane history in Panama!

 

And of course, what trip to Panama wouldn't be complete without a trip to the canal itself?!
Panama Canal by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Panama Canal by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Lining up:
Panama Canal by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Panama Canal by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

We ended that day-trip with a nice night sight of the authority building
Canal Authority Building by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Panama Canal Monument by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

Our last major day-trip was out to Parque Nacional Soberania, a gorgeous rainforest along the canal with tons of bird life. Since we didn't have a car, getting there via public transportation and making a few blunders (getting to the station just after the morning bus, getting off a stop too early) meant that we missed a lot of the morning bird activity, but we still caught some exciting stuff!

Crimson-crested Woodpecker by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Rufous Motmot by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Parque Nacional Soberania by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

We were walking along this old trail, listening to the howler monkeys off in the distance, when all of a sudden we heard a bunch of animals blasting through the leaf-litter, stampeding towards us! We expected that the howler monkeys had tired of yelling and had decided to attack us, but instead there were 15 or so of these other large mammals that ran by us. They didn't seem to realize we were there and had stopped right near us. Of course, with all the vegetation, it was incredibly difficult to get a photograph. This was the best I got:
White-nosed Coati by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

The best I could do was to describe them to my parents, who had spent a fair amount of time in Panama in the late 80's. I described them as "Fox-cat-bear things" because they had pointed, fox-like snouts, cat-like tails, and bear-like bodies and fur. My mom decided to search exactly that and voila! They were "Coati."

After the trail we hiked back to the road and just meandered along before the bus came to take us back to the city. Got these little antwrens fussing about next to us:
Dot-winged Antwren by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Dot-winged Antwren by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Also got a gorgeous blue-capped manakin but the photo was so backlit and the bird so utterly and completely black that it doesn't really look that interesting.

 

The last bit was just walking around the older parts of Panama with ruins and buildings from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Started in Casco Viejo, one of the more touristy spots but with some beautiful buildings and views of the ocean and the city.
Casco Viejo, Panama by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Casco Viejo by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Casco Viejo by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Casco Viejo by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

The Bridge of the Americas, bridging the canal at the Pacific end:
Bridge of the Americas by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Casco Viejo by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Untitled by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

And, of course, it was a national memorial day so the ruins at Panama viejo were closed. This was the only one we could really check out. Crazy contrast with the skyscrapers not a block away!
Panama Viejo by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Oh, and I forgot about a day trip out to Isla Taboga, but I just took the gopro there since we were just spending all our time at the beach there and didn't want to take anything that we would worry about getting stolen when both of us were in the water. The gopro was nice so we could just take it in with us, but the photos weren't super stunning so I never uploaded any. I might look at them again and change my mind, but for now, that'll finish the Panama trip! A fantastic two week trip!

 

Great photos man!

 

Thanks! Got a few more from my last anza trip that I'll post on the next page.

 

Some really spectacular photos! Loving the Panama Canal pics too.

 

Anza Borrego: Rockhouse Canyon Road, Clark Dry Lake, Borrego Badlands, The Slot

Went on a photo trip with a buddy and our high school photography teacher to capture the full moon and the line of planets across the southern sky. I also wanted to check out Rockhouse Canyon because I had never been up that way. We got on the trail, wove our way through the campers set up right off the main road, passed clark dry lake, and got up to the junction with Butler Canyon. Since Butler Canyon road was pretty short on the map we decided to check it out. It dead ended in a large but secluded valley between a few small hills, and with the overcast skies it was eerily quiet. Really nice for lunch, though!

After lunch we made our way up Rockhouse Canyon again. Got caught up in the middle of another off-road trio but mostly kept up with the lead guy in a mid-80's toyota while their last two vehicles lagged behind for a while. We got to the end of the road, expecting the "Hidden Spring" that the map shows at the end of the road, but it turns out the road now ends about a half-mile down the canyon from the spring. We parked and I hiked up to it. It was pretty interesting to see all the mineral deposits on the rocks around the spring, and the rock itself was cool and fractured. Not much in the way of spring water, though. The folks we joined up with were expecting hot springs that they could jump into, not the 2 square foot stagnant pool that it was! They were pretty bummed. I just thought it was a cool thing to see, but I definitely want to hike farther up the canyon some day.

Hidden Springs by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Rockhouse Canyon by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Lots of cactus growing out of the rock.
Teddy bear Cholla by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Untitled by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Intriguing farther up the canyon
Rockhouse Canyon by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

My friends left me a note that they had gotten bored and told me later that they were kind of shrugged off and ignored by the other group of people, so they left before I got back from the springs and went to go check out Clark dry Lake. I didn't mind, I ended up catching up to them before they got there.

On the way back:
Rockhouse Canyon by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Dry lake:
Clark Dry Lake by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Clark Dry Lake by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Miniature scenery:
Untitled by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

The lake was pretty interesting, but my friends were primarily interested in the sky photography and were under-impressed with the location, so we headed off towards the Borrego Badlands.
Passed by the entrance to Font's Point and it was a literal parking lot of cars, it was absurdly busy. Saw that and immediately kept on driving to the next trail that cuts into the badlands and got into Short Wash, which I always enjoy because it starts on top of the badlands and then drops down into the middle of them.
We found a spot to pull off and set up for the night and hiked around looking for views!

Borrego Badlands by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

One of my favorite species of cactus
Fishhook cactus by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Water is a very powerful thing
Mud flow by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

The clouds made for a very impressive sunset!
Borrego Badlands by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Borrego Badlands by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

Moon was quite full
Untitled by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

The setting moon in the morning made for some interesting scenery photos. One of my friends had gotten a photo of me hiking on this same ridge line and combined that photo with one she took on my camera to show me silhouetted next to the moon. Very cool!
This was just my shot. Quite difficult to get the light balance right...
Untitled by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

 

After shooting and experiencing the sunrise we had a day to kill so I decided to show them The Slot. This was my third time driving into it. Such a cool spot!

Took Fault Wash south to get there. Very interesting terrain.
Fault Wash by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

THE SLOT
The Slot by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

One of these days that thing's gonna come crashing down...sure don't want to be around when it does!
The Slot by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

The Slot by Kevin Shaw, on Flickr

After a quick walk through the slot canyon we drove out to the main road and headed towards home. Stopped at Dudley's Bakery (famous for it's amazing breads) for lunch and parted ways after that!

Until next time...

 

Looks like your trip was a lot of fun!

 

Yeah it was pretty great! Had a good mix of challenging and easy trails and canyons and open areas.