AdventureTaco - turbodb's build and adventures

Re: Manzanar Internment Center

I spent 2 days combing the center years ago for a history term paper. I’d say a lemonade analogy is a huge understatement of the agency the internees took during their time building such a thriving community out of what they were given. They not only cultivated the land for self sustenance, but were productive and helped the war effort with their surplus and goods they produced.

Re: Racism in WWII

Reading as much as I could find both in the museum and out in the camp, it painted a very different picture than just the average citizen was racist. Many people were willing to keep sentimental and valuable belongings for their Japanese neighbors over the duration of the internment for safe keeping. However, at the onset of WWII the Japanese community in California were owners of a $65 million anual farming industry which was stripped of them and never returned. I can only imagine your average American citizen was not in the position to immediately take over these hugely productive enterprises. Furthermore, there were never any Japanese Americans to be found as spies during WWII and only Caucasian natural born citizens were found to be spying on the US for Japan as per documents shown in the museum. Therefore motives of the government who knew this throughout the war must be questionable considering they were the ones publishing the propaganda encouraging interment of Japanese American citizens on the sole reason that they would be spies and fight for the Japanese government. I don’t think I found a total sum profit loss that the Japanese community suffered, but in all skirmishes, there is a loser and a winner and again there is little evidence that average Americans were the recipients of the hundreds of millions of dollars lost by the Japanese American community. Today it is still a poignant consideration to think critically about who is profiting and who is losing from social and political phenomena when learning from the past and how easily many people are drawn to a cause where someone is a natural enemy of popular opinion.

If anyone is really interested in developing their appreciation for how a small group of people overcame impossible odds I highly recommend spending no less than half a day observing the museum and walking the square mile of Manzanar Historic Site ne Internment Camp. I was extremely inspired after my time there and feel I’ve learned much more over the years based on what I experienced there.

 

I first visited Manzanar before the museum was opened, then again several times over the last 15 years. It never fails to move me. My mother was an immigrant whose country was attacked and invaded by the Japanese during her childhood, before WWII, and felt anger, perhaps prejudice, towards many aspects of Japanese culture and history. Never owned a Japanese car (nor German, nor even American; she preferred the neutral Swedes). But she taught us as children that the internment was wrong: like her, they may have been immigrants or children of immigrants, but they were Americans.

Ironically, or perhaps fittingly, in 2007 when I went to the museum with our daughter, the Eastern California museum in Independence was hosting a traveling exhibit on the Soviet Gulags in Siberia. Not quite the same thing, but it might have been with just a few changes in our society and culture.

 

^^^ By the way, to bring things back a little more on topic, I highly recommend driving Silver Canyon from just north of Bishop to the crest of the White Mountains. Not hard core ‘wheeling, but not just a dirt road, and amazing views. I first drove it in 1984 in my 4wd Datsun and have been back several times, a few years later with my Ranger, then the trip in 2007 with our daughter in my FJ80 and again a few years ago in my Taco. Seemed steeper in my 3rd Gen than in the older trucks

 

For a time, it was Garmin's preferred route to ABCPF But it's a great route!

 

LOL. Some truth to that, though I'd hate to have to travel miles on traction boards.

Glad you've found Mojave; it's a great place. Like DV, I think one could spend a lifetime exploring just that one "park," and never get bored.

Awesome story, thanks for sharing!

It's always surprisingly refreshing to me how those who've suffered the most are often the ones to decry the suffering - even in cases where one might suppose otherwise. And it's surprising how often those who've never suffered are the ones to exhibit racist/isolationist tendencies the quickest.

Cool, I looked at that route a bit on a map, but it was slightly out of range for my last trip. I'll make a note of it and try to hit it the next time I'm down there!

 

For those of us coming from the North, Silver Canyon is the quickest way to the core of ABCPF. If you drive all the way on pavement, you effectively drive all the way to Big Pine, up the hill to the park and then back to where Silver Canyon dumps out near the VC. Silver Canyon is a left at Bishop and up the hill. It saves some distance too.

 

Just FYI the top of Silver Canyon is about 10000’ so it’s definitely seasonal. 5500’ of climbing in a pretty short distance - fun. And a good place to spot bighorns.

 

any time you've been near powell/cody wy, you've been near one of these camps. The Heart Mountain Relocation camp sits right in between both towns. Hell you've probably driven right by it.

not much is left. A newer visitor center went up though that is quite nice. I believe George Taki came to open it as he stayed in a similar camp with his family as a kid.

 

Winter is Coming - Owens Valley #4

I only woke up once in the middle of the night. I was mostly toasty under the comforters, but the top of my head was a bit chilly, so I put on my knit hat as I took a peek through the tent doors to see if it'd snowed yet. To my surprise, not only was there no snow on the ground, but the sky was crystal clear! And so, it was with happy thoughts that I drifted back to sleep - my alarm now set for early-o'clock, having hatched a new plan for sunrise!

Of course, my happy plan was a little less so when the alarm actually did go off - my quick weather check alerting me to the fact that it was just a little cooler than the day before.

Let me get this straight, if feels like 8°F? Hmm, not shorts weather.​

Still, I struggled into my freezing clothes and gathered up the camera gear. Given my camping location, I had a bit of a hike and some climbing in front of me in order to achieve my morning's goal: capturing the sun as it came up over the White Mountains, illuminated the Sierras, and hopefully, framing ******** Petroglyphs with an amazing orange glow.

Looking out to the east, I wasn't sure I was going to make it!​

I quickened my pace, hopping over rocks, jogging through the Tablelands. At least I knew were I was going. Not only that, I had the best possible countdown clock in the world - rays of the morning sun creeping down the Sierras, my goal to reach by the time the entire mountain was bathed in light.

Just a few more minutes before I'm too late!​

My blood pumping, I covered the ground from my camp area in record time. It was a nice feeling - to be warm again, even in the freezing conditions. Of course, I knew it meant quite the slog back to the truck when it was all over - the adrenaline of the hunt likely worn off by that point! But that didn't matter for now, as I raced over the final stretch of ground: I'd made it, and just in the nick of time!

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I couldn't believe my good fortune. I'd gone to bed thinking that ******** - named because of its horizontal orientation, somewhat rare in the world of petroglyphs - would be covered in snow and not even worth visiting. Yet, the morning was turning out to be gloriously sunny and bright - I couldn't ask for anything more!

In less of a rush at this point, I took a few minutes to visit ******** Petroglyphs again, its location close enough - if you know where to look - to warrant a visit.

13 circles, each one representing one cycle of the moon, each year.​

Neil Armstrong eat your heart out. This guy walked on the moon long before 1969. ​

Many moons, but a single sun.​

And then, I set out back towards the Tacoma. I was surprise how far away it really was. I must not be getting too slow in my old age to have covered the distance so quickly! The return trip took significantly longer - it seemed I was stopping every few minutes to capture the sun as it illuminated everything around me.

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Eventually, I did make it back to the truck, still shrouded in shade. I'd nearly hit my step count for the day, and it wasn't even 8:00am yet. #winning

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One of the things about the Volcanic Tablelands - given its relatively high elevation, and reasonable proximity to Bishop, and civilization - is that sprinkled here and there are pockets of cell reception. And, while I had no reception in my immediate camp, climbing up on the rocks behind the truck gave me three bars of LTE. Still a little hyped up on the awesome morning I was having, I gave @mrs.turbodb and @mini.turbodb a call to tell them all about it. Let's just say that @mini was - as any child her age should be - less than impressed.

After catching up on the situation at the home front for a few minutes, we said our goodbyes and I ate a breakfast of rock hard granola bars, having used up the milk I'd brought the previous morning. Then, I got the tent put away and set out for what was essentially a bonus day of adventure!

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As had been the case the evening before, I was - at this point - on a series of roads that I'd not mapped at all prior to setting off on this adventure. Normally one to plan my routes carefully, I found this method of travel invigorating, and I took the opportunity to drive several side roads, just wandering. Several times I even got out of the truck to just hike across the plateau to piles of rocks that caught my fancy.

The entire time, the Sierras to the west, and the White Mountains to the east - each glistening with new snow from the day before - rose up in all their glory against the blue sky.

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I meandered for two hours amongst the volcanic landscape, and by the time I was back on my planned route, the sky wasn't quite as clear as it'd been at the start of the day. Yes, I'd cheated the weather for a few hours, but winter was coming.

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Headed north now, my goal was to explore some of the upper Tablelands - if they are even part of the Tablelands - around Casa Diablo Mountain. At elevations nearly 2500' above the lower plateau, the landscape here is strikingly different - Pinon Pines covering the hillsides, granite boulders rising up into the sky.

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Well, I'd had such a great time on my ad-hoc routes, that upon reaching the higher elevations, I immediately dove off of the road I'd mapped and onto a side shoot that appeared to go to the top of the mountain. I had no idea where it'd come out, but I knew I'd enjoy the journey.

Turns out it led up the hill to an amazing camp site. A place I hope to return when the weather is just a tad warmer!

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Making my way back down, I took another spur, working my way around Casa Diablo, several old tailings piles visible on the side of what was clearly an old mining road. Patchy snow covered the road in places, and I marked a few more worth camp sites before the road rejoined the main drag through the uplands.

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Back on a main thoroughfare - now Chidago Canyon Road - I had a decision to make: continue up into the mountains, or make a quick run down to Red Canyon - a beautifully narrow and twisty canyon that we'd travelled through on our previous trip.

Deciding I was in no real rush - except that I wanted to be off of the Tablelands before the snow hit - I opted for the side trip, turning the truck east and coasting down the hill towards my destination.

Yep, I made the right choice to come this way.​

Definitely the right choice.​

Having seen the entirety of the canyon the last time we'd been through, the snow on the White Mountains added a whole new dimension, and I was glad I'd decided not to rush towards the new - proving once again that it's important to stay centered in the "now," because even the familiar may be different, and it's worth enjoying!

As I headed back up the way I'd come, I got another view - this time in the side mirrors - that made the whole thing worthwhile.

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Back on track now, my next stop was at mine I'd found as I was looking through satellite images of the area - the Lone Star Mine. Worked for gold, silver, and lead, a vertical 2-compartment shaft plunged 125 feet below the still-standing headframe, and apparently then continues for another 185 feet at an 80° incline, with three horizontal tunnels at various depths.

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Some 5,000 tons of material were mined, at reasonably rich values - 17% lead, 26oz silver/ton, and $10 - $20 gold/ton.

In addition to the headframe, an old - but newer than the mine - Datsun sat deteriorating below the mine, and an old mining cabin had seen much better days.

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By now it was getting on 2:00pm, and I knew from a few checks of the weather forecast that I didn't have much more time before clouds - and snow - moved into the area. In fact, there were already chain-or-snow-tire restrictions on US-395 to the north, the direction I was heading. So, with a couple hours still to go before I could even get to the highway, I decided to start making my way that direction - following a road that I hoped would take me there.

For a while, the road - FS-03S99 - climbed higher an higher. In the end, reaching nearly 8,000 feet before heading back down the other side. The views here were far-reaching and spectacular, all of the Tablelands stretched out below me.

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And then, as I made my way down the north side and towards my exit at Benton Crossing Road, I caught a flash of movement to my right. A deer. I wondered to myself - if I stopped the truck, could I approach for a photo or two?

It was amazing how close I ultimately got - moving slowly and keeping downwind of the three-deer family. The two parents seemed alert, but relatively unphased by my presence, while the youngster was going completely crazy, running from one parent to the other, bounding off and then back again, curious.

Well, hello there.​

A few more miles through patchy snow were all that was left between me and airing up, and those miles rolled quickly under my tires. It'd been a great day - different, and better, than I'd hoped - exploring somewhat randomly through an area I'd never visited before. As I reached pavement, the great views were behind me, so I simply turned the Tacoma around to enjoy them while I aired up and transferred the fuel from the Jerry cans in order to avoid another pricey California fill-up.

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And then, as I pulled away, a break in the clouds.

What a parting view!​

If my day exploring was better than I could have hoped given my expectations, the drive home was exactly the opposite. Winter was most definitely coming. That snow storm that I'd expected the night before had apparently stalled over the Sierras, and I drove through white-out conditions between Reno and Mt. Shasta.

The going was slow, but I must admit that it was beautiful.​

Averaging less than 35mph, it took me several extra hours to reach my pit stop at Castle Crags state park, and boy - I was exhausted when I got there. Still, the trip had been a huge success, and as always, I can't wait to go back!

 

@turbodb you are a better man than I to be up for sunrises, especially at 8° F. One of my favorite things about the eastern Sierra is the reflected glow of the setting sun on the White or Inyo Mtns, which can be enjoyed at a more reasonable hour. BTW a cheap(er) place to get gas (and beer) out there is the store at Benton.

 

That's cool. I'd love to stop by sometime when we're in the area.

I mean, it only felt like 8° F, so don't give me too much credit. LOL. I was hoping for sun on the White Mtns the evening before - even had a spot picked out with a prime view, but alas - clouds. Like anything, clouds are a tradeoff - if they'd stuck around, it wouldn't have been so cold in the morning!

Good to know about Benton. I've never made it that far NE, but the gas everywhere else is $$$. I guess California is like clouds - tradeoffs!

 

So beautiful......one day I hope to take this trip!!

 

Wow what an awesome build. congrats

 

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Pahranagat Man - Mid-Winter #1 (from Mid-Winter Mojave)

With winter wearing on here in the gloomy pacific northwest, I suggested to @mrs.turbodb that perhaps we should take after the school system and celebrate our own Mid-Winter Break. Somewhere with sun, preferably. Honestly, I was a little surprised at how open to that idea she was, and quickly realized that I was behind the eight ball to figure out a plan that would keep us busy for a week! There are worse problems to have, obviously.

I considered the obvious options - heading down to Death Valley, which we both love. Spending some more time in the Mojave Preserve or venturing to Joshua Tree National Park for the first time. Ultimately however, I settled on an idea that I knew we'd both very much enjoy - we'd head back to the eastern Mojave. We'd been there only once - almost exactly a year earlier - and since then I'd found dozens of additional destinations that I'd missed on our first pass through. Plus, I'd get a second shot at taking her to Whitmore Overlook on the edge of the Grand Canyon - still one of the most dramatic views I've ever seen. It was perfect.

Creatures of habit, we got started early on a Wednesday morning, many hours of pavement in front of us before we'd reach our destination - just outside of Wells, Nevada - for the night. It was a reasonably pleasant drive in good weather, except for the strong headwind. We weren't setting any gas mileage records on this leg of the trip!

Now, most of our winter trips to places like Death Valley have us passing through Wells with many more hours to drive, so we were quite happy to arrive sometime after 10:00pm. The first place I'd decided we should check out was the ghost town of Metropolis, and I figured that camping there would allow us easy access to exploration in the morning.

@mrs.turbodb gave me only a small sideways glance due to the sketchiness of the area as we arrived, and soon the tent was setup and we were cozy under the covers, the skies clear but patches of snow and ice still covering the ground. I set my alarm for "before sunrise," and slept quite soundly through the night.

It was cloudy when we woke up, but the sun did poke through just a little onto the mountains in the distance.​

Metropolis was established in 1910 by Harry Pierce as an agricultural community. In 1912 a rail spur was built for services as the population Grew to 700. A request for water from the nearby Bishop Creek Dam, built from 6.5 million brick remnants of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, was denied thus dooming the town. Lack of water, a typhoid epidemic, rabbits and mormon crickets led to the town's demise. The town ultimately died in the 1940's when the last school and post office closed.

There's not much left of Metropolis today, with only the foundation of an old hotel and the entryway of the Lincoln School still standing.

We camped next to the only thing left in town, so it was easy to look around when we awoke in the morning!​

The Lincoln School in its hey day.​

It took longer to eat breakfast than it did to explore Metropolis, which has clearly seen better days - most surfaces decorated with a variety of sprayed paints. A little disappointed that none of the vandalism was Superman themed, we climbed back in the truck and pointed ourselves south again - now travelling along US-93, the Great Basin Highway.

Alone in the high desert.​

On either side, ranges. In a place like this, it's quite clear what people are talking about when they say "Basin and Range."​

We passed the time listening to podcasts and the radio, the sound deadening of the cab a godsend given the headwinds that were even stronger than the day before. The winds here usually blow out of the north, so you can imagine how happy I was to encounter exactly the opposite.

Some four hours later, we found ourselves on NV-318 at the turn-off to the White River Narrows, in the Basin and Range National Monument. There are several concentrations of petroglyphs throughout this part of Nevada, and our plan was to visit as several of them over the course of the next couple days.

This close to the freeway, the roads were in great condition and we didn't even need to air down.​

One of the things we discovered was that Lincoln County and the BLM had placed visitor logs and descriptive guides at each of the petroglyph sites, giving visitors who stumble upon these gems - instead of simply racing by on the freeway - a bit more context as they immerse themselves in the hunt for rock art.

The first site we came upon was on the back side of some well patinaed rocks right next to the road.

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There wasn't a lot here compared to some of the other sites, though we did find this little guy, who seems quite happy to me - almost as though he's dancing.

Happy dancer.​

Nearby, we found our first example of what historians think may be imagery of a fence used by Native Americans to herd or trap animals in the narrow canyons found in the area. Of course, we have no idea what the imagery really means, as there are additional theories that I'll touch on in a moment.

A fence to usher dinner to an early demise? Perhaps. Or perhaps not.​

Come along child.​

Lots of bighorn sheep in this area.​

At the third site we visited, the only etching on the entire rock was a horizontal line with several vertical lines intersecting it. Another fence? Perhaps, but over the years, another theory has been floated as well - that this could be some sort of solstice timing device.

Just another fence, or an elaborate solstice calendar?​

You see, as the sun moves across the sky on the summer solstice (June 20 or 21 depending on the year), a shadow protrudes down across the rock face towards the calendar fence. At the same time, a shadow from the main cliff on the left moves to the right across the rock face shading the fence pickets one after another. At exactly the solstice, the shadow-dagger from above stabs the fence just as the right-moving shadow merges with the shadow-dagger to form a single shadow.

Clearly we timed our visit incorrectly, since the entire thing was shrouded in shadow while we were there.

By now it was nearing 1:00pm and both of us were getting hungry. We agreed that we'd eat lunch at the next petroglyph site- not too much further up the road. When we arrived, @mrs.turbodb got busy assembling sandwiches, and I set out to find the three panels that made up the site.

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All of a sudden, a low-ish flying F-15 came roaring over the narrows wall. I got the camera up as quickly as I could, but not really quickly enough.

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Just as I was starting to bring the camera down, I caught something moving in my peripheral vision. A wingman, of course. And then, to both my - and @mrs.turbodb's, who was watching from her vantage point - delight, the second F-15 proceeded to do a barrel roll as he fired his afterburners and climbed up after his buddy.

Exhilarating, low-level, barrel roll. Highlight of the day? Hell ya!​

It was pretty exciting to see this - bringing back memories for me of my time in Death Valley's Hidden Dunes. I'd had more time to see and prepare for the planes that flew through on that day, and I'd had a better angle with the light, but this was pretty damn cool as well. Plus, I was using a <div style="border:2px solid red;background-color:#ffcccc"><h3>This content will be shown once the post | 4949 | involuntary-evolution-to-a-new-camera-and-glass-canon-r6 is published.</h3></div>new camera setup this time<div style="border:2px solid red;background-color:#ffcccc"><h3>This content will be shown once the post | 4949 | involuntary-evolution-to-a-new-camera-and-glass-canon-r6 is published.</h3></div>, and was impressed with its ability to autofocus as I tried to quickly track the plane as it screamed across the sky.

So.​

Freaking.​

Awesome.​

We kept our eyes peeled as we quickly plowed tuna sandwiches and potato chips into our mouths, but alas - no more low-flying planes graced us in that narrow valley. We got the bed of the Tacoma put back together, and resumed our exploration of petroglyphs.

A large, but in my opinion somewhat confused-and-messy, panel.​

It turns out that the last set of panels we'd discover in the White River Narrows were - by far - the best. This was somewhat surprising to me as they weren't the hardest to get to, or most remote. In fact, I'd say they were quite the opposite. Still, they were northerly facing, so I suppose that helped to protect them from sunlight and weather more than many of the rest.

The first panel we found was so crisp and bright, even without really knowing what it was, we enjoyed it!​

Many recognizable subjects.​

A huge panel over 40 feet long!​

This man does not strike me as quite as happy as the one we'd found earlier. Understandable I suppose, to be unhappy with no legs.​

The longest fence.​

Feet.​

We would see this people-holding-hands motif several times on this trip.​

We'd spent only a little under two hours at the White River Narrows site, but boy, it'd been a tremendous start to the rock art we'd see on the trip! As we headed back out the way we'd come - which I should note was not the plan, as I'd thought that the road was a loop road back to the highway - I filled @mrs.turbodb in on our next attraction: the Mt. Irish petroglyph site!

This is one that I'd really been looking forward to, because it contains several instances of a humanoid figure known as Pahranagat Man. Unique to the Pahranagat Valley, the spatial placement of this figure is thought to be representative of a "power being" of perhaps a spiritual or supernatural nature, protecting and watching over the areas in which it is etched.

Anyway, even now my excitement is getting the better of me. First we had to get to Mt. Irish - which meant another drive south through the tiny town of Hiko, then we had to hope that the whole place wasn't covered in snow - the elevation of just over 7,200' reasonably high for this time of year.

Pulling off the road, our fingers were crossed that the snow level was higher than our area of exploration.​

We've arrived, and there's no - or very little - snow!​

The Mt. Irish area has many concentrations of rock art, and though I knew of several, I'm sure there are dozens more that could be discovered - perhaps for the first time - over the course of weeks or months, by exploring the rocky mountainsides. Our first stop - at Echo Rock - gave us just a little taste of what was to come.

Echo rock earned its name because if you yell in its direction, there is a wonderful Echo... from the canyon walls behind it!​

Bighorn sheep, and... a little devil?​

From Echo rock, it wasn't far to Piute Rock, where there were several intriguing glyphs. Even without a Pahranagat Man, this might have been my favorite collection of the bunch.

Lone sheep.​

Here's that motif again. A family of five.​

Silly string man, so happy!​

Look at that rack.​

Next, we headed to Shaman Knob and Shaman Hill. Here is where we'd find the highest concentration of Pahranagat figures, though they'd be dwarfed by the enormous numbers of bighorn sheep carefully carved into the stone.

We didn't know it at the time, but we'd call this sacred place camp for the night.​

Pahranagat Man.​

Man with spaceship; Man with carrot.​

A small tinaja we found.​

Pahranagat Man.​

Pahranagat Man.​

Just a few of the bighorn sheep. Still so clear.​

It was evening by this point, so I was extremely surprised when we were buzzed by an F-35.​

There were several dozen panels to explore on Shaman Knob and Shaman Hill, and I think we visited most - but not all - of them. You see, one of the little guides - which existed here, just like they had at the White River Narrows - suggested that there were another set of panels that I'd not known about, down a road that looked like it might be a fun drive as well. So, with not much time before sunset, we headed out that direction - the lure of a dancing sheep, coyote, and life-sized bighorn, too much for us to resist.

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Reasonably quickly, we found the little dancing sheep and sneaky coyote.

A cute little guy, little sheep was obviously happy with the life he'd been given, and who could blame him in a place like this?​

Not far away however, this coyote stalked the little sheep. Watch out little sheep, don't become little sheep chops.​

It took a bit more searching for us to find the life sized bighorn. That was just fine, because along the way there were several other panels to keep our interest piqued, and remind us that we could spend days, weeks, or months here and constantly find new things. And then, around a corner, we found it.

A big bighorn. Note the lens cap I placed near its horns for scale.​

By this time, it was getting close to sunset, and we still didn't know where we were going to setup the tent for the evening. Also, @mrs.turbodb had a phone meeting that she needed to attend, and though we knew that if necessary we could head back into Hiko where there was good cell coverage, the ideal situation would be to find a camp site with service.

The view into the Pahranagat Valley, a bit of light spilling in under the clouds.​

As it turned out, when we got back to the truck at Shaman Knob, we found a fire ring nearby and - when we held our phones just so - a bar or two of LTE. Perfecto!

We pulled the truck into a spot near the fire ring, and a bit sheltered from the now northerly wind - of course it was out of the north when we weren't driving south - and prepped a delicious dinner of my famous tacorittos with guacamole. So. Good.

We didn't get much of a display in the sky - there were just too many clouds on the horizon - but it was clear that the military was flying much later into the evening for some reason, and we'd continue to hear them even after dark as they buzzed around, kicking on their afterburners and breaking the sound barrier a time or two - albeit at higher elevations.

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It'd been a great start to the trip, and we were even a little ahead of schedule. I'd only planned to investigate about half of the Mt. Irish petroglyphs on the first day of our trip, but we'd seen all the sites I'd planned, and more.

And that would turn out to be a good thing come morning - because as well laid as my plans had been, there was an idea kicking around in the back of my head. An idea that would either make me a genius or prove that I was crazy...

 

Man, that R6 is nice!

 

The pic of the "F-16" is actually a F-35

edit: Sniped by m3bassman

 

+1 on this.

I'm a Fuji guy, and have too much invested in lenses to make the switch, so I'm kinda hating on the terrific quality of these pics!

Looking forward to the post about the new camera setup!

 

Thanks. Photo quality seems excellent in most cases, so I'm mostly happy there, though I still have a few little workflow things to sort out. Battery life and lens size/weight are by two biggest gripes.

No way! I've never seen an F-35 before (that I knew of), so that's super cool. Thanks for the ID assistance. I've updated the post.

 

Got this shot of one in Star wars canyon back in March '18...not the clearest shot but i'll take it...

 

It still has a 1500 foot restriction. Which means they fly above the canyon at times. There are other areas along the low level sidewinder route where you can get above the aircraft as they flyby but it usually requires a pretty good hike.