AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

I have a funny story about the waves. We stopped at their location and looked around - it was just 15 minutes after I'd run over the camera. I'd expected them to be larger, so completely missed them as we headed north to the next rock art site along the same road - me thinking that maybe I'd misremembered where I thought they'd be.

As we got to the next one, I could tell by the landscape that we were in the wrong spot. So we looked around and admired everything... and then headed back. Found the waves the second time, and then continued in the original loop we'd planned, up through the canyon to the northwest.

And the camera is a bummer, but I've been pining after a new one for the last several months. There's no way I would have purchased the new one since I'm a penny pincher though, so this was a good forcing function.

Mirrorless yes, Sony, no. And I'll leave it at that, since I'm sure I'll post up something about the new setup.

New lens arrived yesterday; new body shows up tomorrow. Then I'm heading back down before the snow hits next week!

This was a great trip. One more part to come, which was a highlight for me just due to location! And yes, end of November. I'm trying to post it more rapidly than normal b/c I've got quite the backlog of trips now!

 

OoooOooooOo. You hop on that EOS R hype? Swapping ecosystems is difficult once you're invested in a lens line, it's understandable to stay with what you've got!

 

I think it depends on the lens. Years ago, I'd be reluctant to recommend a zoom but today's are amazing. A 24-105, 70-200, and maybe a 100-400 are all you need for most things. I bought an M6 and an adapter. Even that works really well. Still undecided whether I'll go with a newer body or not.

Anyone see that Nikon took a giant dump? They are on track to lose $720million this quarter.

 

Nikon's been dumping... I sold ALLLLL my Nikon gear a few years back and went in full on the A7 and haven't looked back. Canon's got the lockup on the DSLR market, unmatched bodies on that front, and Sony's got the mirrorless game on lock, Canon's trying to break in now, Nikon has tried for years and hasn't got any traction. How do you like that M6? I haven't messed with that line yet.

 

I decided to look at a paper map of DV to get a better idea of some of these locations, but something seemed wrong about the first map I pulled out of my map box.
Oops! I better archive this one. My 2017 DVNP map looked more useful.

 

I've got a 24-70, 70-200 and have often found the need/want of the 16-35.

 

I hesitated with the WA because it's one of those "love it or hate it" formats.

 

You guys have me salivating for a real camera. I think this will be the year I buy one... trying to save up for one with a full size sensor, I think I could put it to use even if that means not buying a proper set of lenses for a while longer.

Anyway, Dan, I hope you don't mind my asking on your build thread, but... I'm starting to plan a trip to the PNW for this spring or summer, and since you're so experienced in making the drive to and from SoCal, what is your favorite route?

I've already gleaned some insights like "don't drive 63 in a 35" and "don't hit a deer" but any other wisdom for the long drive would be appreciated.

 

I have definitely used my 10-18 on the 80D - primarily for inside cabins, or really nice sky compositions. The 15-35 on the new platform however...costs as much as the camera. So, for now, no wide. We'll see how long that lasts.

I know of no better place to ask a question like this.

The answer really depends on where exactly you're coming from, since CA heads so far east by the time you get down to your area. Here are the routes I consider:

1. From the Mojave NP - I go up 93 through Vegas (fuel), Ely (fuel), Twin Falls (fuel), and Boise (fuel).
2. From the east side of DV - I go up 95 through Beatty (fuel), Tonopah (fuel), and Winnemucca (fuel) to Burns (fuel), where I cut over on OR-20 and -26 to Portland. Then, north on I-5.
3. From the west side of DV - I go up 395 then cut through the corner of CA to Klamath Falls, OR on 97. Then, 58 over to I-5 at Eugene. If I do this right, I can get gas in Bishop, Carson City, and Kalamath Falls.

The #3 route has (by far) the most food options/variety and is our favorite route. But our most common route is #2, because we tend to start DV trips from the northeast.

The only thing I really look out for is spending as little time in CA as possible b/c of gas prices. ID has the cheapest fuel, followed by NV, then OR, then WA, then CA. So, the more you can stay out of CA, the more money you save. CA gas is is $1.25/gal more than OR/WA, $1.50/gal more than NV, and $2/gal more than ID. (-ish). I don't go out of my way to get to various states, but I do try to optimize my fill-ups, which are every ~280 miles or so.

And yeah, don't hit any deer.

 

I've done the trip in reverse a couple of times from WA on down. I second the thoughts on option #3 except that I'd also encourage staying on the east side of the mountains all the way up to Ellensburg WA and cross the pass on I-90 (if you're going further north anyway - otherwise drive the Columbia river west on either side)

Why? All the emptiness north of Bend OR is beautiful too. And I-5 is just another freeway in my mind.

$0.02...

-E

[QUOTE="
The answer really depends on where exactly you're coming from, since CA heads so far east by the time you get down to your area. Here are the routes I consider:

1. From the Mojave NP - I go up 93 through Vegas (fuel), Ely (fuel), Twin Falls (fuel), and Boise (fuel).
2. From the east side of DV - I go up 95 through Beatty (fuel), Tonopah (fuel), and Winnemucca (fuel) to Burns (fuel), where I cut over on OR-20 and -26 to Portland. Then, north on I-5.
3. From the west side of DV - I go up 395 then cut through the corner of CA to Klamath Falls, OR on 97. Then, 58 over to I-5 at Eugene. If I do this right, I can get gas in Bishop, Carson City, and Kalamath Falls.

[/QUOTE]

 

WA is the shit. I love having mine.

 

Not everyone does. I love it. But not so much for WA but super close ups of flora and fauna.

 

I like it for both. Plus it is fun to get creative with it and the distortion.

 

I've read about the variances for the Canon versions. I've had a tab open on my browser with B&H for the f4is version for far too long. It shares the same filter size as my other L lenses.

 

Great write up.

My old bike riding grounds, other than ‘newer’ signage everything still looks basically the same from when I lived down in the Valley back in the mid 80’s.

I used to drive up front Daylight and park at the lower mine site, get the bike out and crank it up to Chloride cliff, hike around, take a jaunt down to the Big Belle mine- that place is still an open air mining museum, I was always so impressed with the amazing amount of effort expended to get the ‘Oro’ the logistics alone boggled the mind.

Then the nice hike out was always worth it,(15-20 minutes down 45minutes back up) the views from the top stunning as always, with subtle differences that always made me wish I had brought my camera (usually left behind after the first 2 met brutal ends due to hard ground contact) luckily my old steel framed MTB was like a tank and almost as heavy survived. So all the epic the shots are etched in my mind and a few languish in a big box of slides out in the shed.

Those were some of my best days riding around the valley. Then the best part of course was the raging downhill back out to the truck and a couple cold beers and sandwiches in the ice chest before heading over to Beatty for some supplies or back down to Cow Creek.

So glad to see these pics and know that there is still some major appreciation out there of what I will always believe is one of the most powerful, and scenic areas on the planet.

Thanks for keeping the torch lit.

 

I always recommend quality zooms for landscape work. "Zoom with your feet" isn't actually a real thing - that changes the composition. "Zoom by cropping" is the only thing you can actually do with a prime and you hardly have to crop at all to be worse off than with a zoom. Now if you were Ansel Adams with 20 square inches of emulsion to crop from and the only lenses that existed were primes well then of course shoot your landscapes with primes

Very old news. That's exactly what they forecast in their November Q2 financial report. It's restructuring losses so not actually related to sales or revenues. A bunch of the photography click-bait sites rechurned the very same forecast in the past few days on account of a Japanese site publishing an interview with a Nikon executive. But the forecast loss is nothing new at all. Still, need to get people to click so repost old information with misleading context.

It'll be interesting to see how many manufacturers the market will support going forward. The market and supply chain became incredibly bloated compared to film days during the digital transition. It'll need to contract again to something more sane as it was in the film days. Will there be four, three or just two left standing?

And Dan - if you are going to kill a camera kill it good! Nicely done

 

Our First Time to Hunter Mountain and Hidden Valley - Loose Ends #3

Our spirits still high having hiked Funeral Slot Canyon and from our encounter with the F-16 as we climbed past Father Crowley Point, we turned off onto Saline Valley Road, just a little after 3:45pm. It was 45 minutes before sunset, and with quite a few miles to go before we reached the area we wanted to camp, which - to this point - I'd only narrowed down to somewhere on Hunter Mountain.

​

While airing down, I saw a spec in the distance. A bird, I thought initially, turning to tend to the next tire. But something in my brain urged me to take a second look. It couldn't be a plane at this time of day, could it? - it was too close to sunset, surely. But boy, that spec wasn't moving like any bird I'd seen; I grabbed the camera just in case. As the solo F-18 roared overhead a few seconds later, an involuntary smile spread across both our faces - the experience always a novel one for those of us who don't live near a base.

​

Saline Valley Road was as corrugated as ever, but with the tires aired down and ADS suspension, we made good time - soon finding ourselves in the Joshua Trees of Lee Flat, their Seussian shapes, like aliens on the landscape.

​

We wound our way through the flat toward South Pass, Hunter Mountain growing larger in front of us with every passing moment.

​

Except for a looking at each other an noting that we were in new territory for the both of us, we didn't even pause as we transitioned off of Saline Valley Road and onto Hunter Mountain. this is an intersection that I've driven through perhaps half a dozen times - or more - in the last several years, at first not knowing where this road led, then unable to travel it due to conditions. I was probably a bit more excited than I should have been, but you'd never have known it from our nonchalant attitudes!

It didn't take long for us to gain enough elevation that snow started to appear not only along the side of the road where it was shaded by Pinion Pines all day, but also along the road itself! Nothing deep or hard to traverse, but a reminder that the road might not be passable for that much longer - not until spring at least.

​

We wound our way up, cresting the top at 7,100', the air significantly cooler than it'd been when we started our hike some 100' below sea level, earlier in the day. And, with the sun now below the horizon, we got a bit of a show, as the whispy clouds picked up the last of the light.

​

​

It was nearly dark as we pulled turned onto the road leading to Hunter Cabin, our fingers crossed that we'd find it vacant, with a flat area to setup camp. We were in luck, and within just a few minutes we were all setup and dinner preparations were under way.

It was chilly, and after a tasty meal - chicken salad with avocado, bell pepper, and tomato - it didn't take much convincing to get us out of the cold and into the tent. Already - though it was only 6:00pm or so - we could see the moisture from our breath as we exhaled, and I hoped that the little bit of shelter we had from the pines would be enough to keep any ice from forming on the outside of the tent, since we'd likely be out of camp before it had a chance to melt.

With plenty of time to sleep, we'd gotten nearly a full night's rest when we heard another vehicle coming down the road around midnight. They must have noticed us as well, finding a spot nearby - but out of view - to set up for the remainder of the night. We'd end up chatting with them for a few minutes the next morning when they came over to check out the cabin - a nice couple of guys in a 4Runner, out enjoying the remote reaches of the park... same as us.

​

Built in the 1860s by William Hunter, the cabin served as a home base where he raised pack mules used to haul material for nearby mines - including Cerro Gordo - and making a considerable profit in the process. The cabin was abandoned by the early 1900s, though it was used sporadically for ranching as late as the 1950s.

We'd arisen early again, and as the sun broke the horizon, we were already cleaning up after breakfast and stowing the tent for the day - one I'd been anticipating for some time: my first exploration of Hidden Valley. We rolled out of camp and along the ridge leading northwest well before 8:00am.

​

The entire way, the views were tremendous. To our west, the Sierra Nevada Mountains just peaked over the top of the Inyos. To our south, range after range shown blue in the distance.

​

Well hello, Sierras - I see you peaking out there.​

​

Panamint Valley in the morning sun.​

Eventually, we got our first glimpse of the valleys north of Hunter Mountain - not Hidden Valley yet, but Ulida Flat. Separated from Hidden Valley by a small set of hills, as we dropped down off the mountain and onto the flats, a relatively dense grove of Joshua Trees covered this section of our route - one that I can only assume is seen by significantly fewer than some stands in other areas of the park.

​

​

I'd marked a few places that I'd found to explore prior to setting out, but given that the entirety of my research had been done from the comfort of my desk at home, I wasn't sure whether the roads - which looked passable on satellite, but you really never know - would be in good enough condition for us to traverse. Luckily, things looked promising as we turned into the Cottonwood Mountains for our first side trip - the Ubehebe Talc Mine.

Cresting the ridge - the mine just on the eastern side - we got our first glimpse at the old cabin used by miners who worked this area, for some 40 years - starting in the mid-1940s.

​

Production through the mid-1950s totaled several hundred tons, with shafts sunk into the mountain along the 500' talc zone. In the mid-1970s, the mine's present owner - Cyprus Industrial Minerals Company - acquired the property with the intention to continue development. However, mining operations have been hampered by the site's inaccessibility and by the narrowness of the access road, which the National Park Service would not allow the company to widen. (Go NPS! )

The site itself was actually quite interesting to explore. With lots of narrow gauge rail still installed and snaking between the shafts and ore chute, it was intriguing to think about how things were moved around up here some 50 years ago.

​

Some serious engineering went into this site.​

​

Secondary shaft with dual access. Follow the talc, wherever it goes!​

​

This enormous ore chute had dual loading doors.​

As we explored the mine above the cabin, we noticed an old automobile carcass down in the valley. We could have easily just passed it by, having already explored around the cabin, but what fun would that be? A quick detour as we headed back toward Ulida Flat and Hidden Valley was well worth it to check out this baby-blue-beauty.

​

Back on the main road, we climbed the small rise south of Hidden Valley just after 9:30am. It was an exciting moment, though perhaps a bit anticlimactic given the rather pedestrian nature of the view - at least compared to other more colorful valleys and ranges in the park - as we continued down to the valley floor.

​

Comparatively pedestrian, but still a sight to behold.​

Situated between the Cottonwood and Dutton Mountains, Hidden Valley is significantly less flashy than its sibling to the west, The Racetrack. With no meaningful dry playa, grandstand, or sailing stones, it's no wonder that Hidden Valley sees orders of magnitude fewer visitors than its neighbor. To us, this was a good thing, as we had the whole place to ourselves, free to explore at our leisure.

​

I'd considered - and even mapped - a hike up into one of the canyons in the Cottonwood Mountains, but in the end we left that for a future trip, as it was apparent to us both that there was plenty to keep us occupied in Hidden Valley for much longer than the single morning we'd allocated on this trip.

​

Dry, this was a fun, silty road. Wet, it would be treacherous.​

​

I spy with my little eye, a fault. Or the backbone of a mountain.​

One place that we did decide was worth an extended exploration was one of the more popular attractions in the area - The Lost Burro Mine. As we pulled off the main road and up to the Lost Burro camp, @mrs.turbodb read a bit from Hiking Death Valley to give us a sense of the history of this place.

​

​

​

Reasonably well preserved for a reasonably accessible mine, after checking out the small cabin at the bottom of the camp, we peeked into the dugout before heading up the wash to check out the remains of the mill, still standing guard after all these years.

​

​

As well, we ventured further up-canyon to several of the mine shafts and tailings piles that littered Lost Burro Wash. Barrels, still full of ore lined the pathways, mine shafts in various states of disrepair peppered the hillsides.

​

Eventually we made our way back down to the Tacoma, talk of the various relics we'd seen, and when we could come back to explore Hidden Valley in more detail, the focus of our conversation.

​

At that point, I think we both thought that we'd be heading north out of Hidden Valley and then west towards Teakettle Junction and The Racetrack. But, as often happens, we were distracted by something along the way, and soon we were headed up the a side canyon in Lost Burro Gap to check out the narrows and dry falls.

​

​

I don't know if it was lucky or not, but only the first dry fall was climbable, and we reached the second - a 25-foot tall, impassable wall - only a quarter mile or so up the canyon. That meant that we lost almost no time with our little detour, and still got to see some seriously cool geology!

And from there, we continued back on our planned route, pulling up to Teakettle Junction just as three other vehicles were leaving; we were definitely back in the "well-travelled" portion of the park!

​

A few minutes looking at tea kettles - the entire collection of which were less than three weeks old (!) - and it was time to head south towards an icon of the park: The Racetrack.

​

We'd been to The Racetrack once before - on our very first visit to Death Valley, but it's a bit out of the way and we'd never been back since. We both really enjoyed our walk out to The Grandstand the last time we'd been here, and so pulled over to give it a go again this time around.

​

It was a nice stroll, and The Grandstand is most certainly an interesting island in the middle of a geometrically fractured landscape, but it was interesting to experience for a second time. There were two aspects of the experience that I found surprising. First - the degree to which - what must be a huge amount of - foot traffic between the parking area to The Grandstand flattens the parched playa. Get off the main line a few hundred feet, and the cracking and shrinking of the top layer of mud is much more pronounced - something I hadn't noticed on our first trip a few years earlier. Second, as cool as The Racetrack is, I find the Alvord Playa much more alluring. I don't know why that is exactly - perhaps the surroundings, or maybe the history with Jessi Combs, or maybe just the fact that it's even more remote than Death Valley - but I found myself "ready to go" much sooner than I thought I'd be, the draw of this popular place in the park no longer as strong as it once was.

And so, before long, we found ourselves eating lunch at the top of Lippincott Pass, its imposing sign standing guard above the grade.

​

Lippincott has quite the reputation amongst Death Valley fans. Perhaps due to the sign, or maybe because of the way the road is cut into the mountain, there are tales of woe about traversing this route. Personally, I've never found it all that interesting from a road perspective - even when it hasn't been graded for a while, and portions are washed out, it has always seemed reasonably tame to me.

I mentioned to @mrs.turbodb - perhaps a little too hopefully for her taste - that maybe it would be different this time.

​

The views - as always - as we dropped down into Saline Valley, were breathtaking, our progress slowed dramatically by my constant desire to hop out of the truck to snap a few photos.

​

​

​

The views back up canyon were nothing to scoff at either, the south end of the Last Chance Range colorfully gleaming in the mid-day sun.

​

In the end, we reached the bottom of Lippincott with just about as much drama as we'd expected - none. We did, however, notice that the old Death Valley National Monument sign that stood guard several years earlier was no longer there - a bit of a bummer, given its historical relevance.

​

Great views the entire way down.​

And with that, we'd reached the end of our trip and the beginning of the drive home. Sure, we still had the entirety of Saline Valley Road to drive, as well as the climb up and out of North Pass (another first for us), but those are corrugated highways as far as we are concerned. With no time to venture up side roads, we made our way over the endlessly bumpy terrain as quickly as we could - stopping only once - when we couldn't resist a final shot of the Inyos rising up before us.

​

Eventually - much butt-rattling later - we reached Big Pine-Death Valley Road where we aired up for the last time - another great trip in the books. We'd gotten through most of what we'd planned - tying up several loose ends from pervious adventures and opening up new possibilities for the future.

​

And - to cap it all off - as we headed north past Bishop on US-395, the sun set over the snow-capped Sierras, the last of the light illuminating the highest peaks in the Inyos as though they were on fire! I can't think of a better end to such a fun few days!

​

​

 

Wow, that photo of the talc mine shaft is epic!

I'm tuned in and eager to hear what camera you went with. I'm suddenly thinking about pulling the trigger on an A7 myself, well above my planned budget, but I read that I can probably get an adapter to fit all my old Hexanon lenses to a mirrorless body. My hope is that these plus the kit lens would keep me entertained long enough that I wouldn't immediately bankrupt myself buying new lenses. I guess I'm stating this here because I'm looking for free advice.

Thank you and to @EricOutside for the advice regarding travel routes from SoCal to the PNW!

 

Well, I know someone with an extra 10-18 now, should you ever find yours at the bottom of a ravine again...

Glad you enjoyed it! Was a really fun place to explore. Would love to get to the Big Bell Extension some day.

Hmm, a positive spin on the situation. I like it.

Before you get a full frame, look through the options for glass - both cost as well as trade-offs if adapters are needed. As an example - with the Canon line (and Nikon as I understand it), you can use the EF-S (crop frame) glass, but when you do, it reduces the resolution by the crop factor (60%), so you end up with a much-smaller-than-native-photo. Not an issue if you plan to get all new glass anyway or go for a sensor with monster resolution (40+MP), but if the idea is to use what you already have...it's something to consider.

 

at the waucoba saline big pine intersection...your airing up from what gravel pressure to what road pressure? I don't see a gage unit on the mozilla from your compressor..what set-up you have there?...cool route...presently cabin fever for being there.....