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Vaughn
20-Jun-2016, 20:29
Tomorrow I am off to Redwood Creek again for 5 nights of solo backpacking and photography. Low elevation, I'll hike up the creek bed with 300+ foot tall redwoods on all sides. I am planning on taking the 4x5 and the Rolleicord. Ten holders (Tech Pan) for the 4x5, and 10 rolls (various B&W, including Tech Pan) for the Rollei...no spare film/changing-bag. But I am packing my pack tonight, so we'll see how it all fits in (usually I do not take both cameras). To save space and to have it ready to use at all times. the 4x5 will be carried on the tripod and over the shoulder on the hike in and probably in the pack on the way out (food and film should be gone!) The Rollei, 4x5 film and meter are packed at the top of my backpack so they'll be easy to get to.

Easy hiking -- first downhill for 1.25 miles. We'll see if the Rhodies are still in bloom -- then up the creek for several miles...many mellow crossings, don't expect anything more than waist deep...I wear sandals, pants optional. I'll make only one or two camps, depending on how far I get up the Creek. Looking more for solitude and light rather than exercise. I'll get that next month when I head to the mountains!

Expecting high 70s, and high 40s/low 50s at night...some clouds occasionally. A bit different than my backpack trip there last Thanksgiving -- I camped four nights and in most places the ground stayed frozen all day. But I have a little project happening and will continue as long as my small supply of Tech Pan holds out!

Part of the project: A 4x5 carbon print from a Tech Pan negative; Redwood, Dolason Creek, Redwood National Park

tgtaylor
20-Jun-2016, 21:02
Have a good trip Vaughn.

Thomas

stawastawa
20-Jun-2016, 21:40
Have fun! I just drove through a bunch but didn't stop, hope to do a lot more stopping on the drive back to portland in a few weeks.
sounds like a cool place!

David Karp
20-Jun-2016, 22:26
Have a great time!

Jim Fitzgerald
20-Jun-2016, 22:31
Vaughn, enjoy! Can't wait to see what you get.

Vaughn
20-Jun-2016, 22:44
Thanks, Jim (and everyone!) If my three boys were not scattered (only one is on this continent at this time and he has summer college classes), I'd take them with me and have them carry the 8x10 for me!

dasBlute
20-Jun-2016, 22:59
enjoy your time, may you find some "beginner's mind" up there... :)

Toyo
21-Jun-2016, 02:52
Can't wait to see your results.
I hope that your pack does not weigh you down too much.
Enjoy!
T

goamules
21-Jun-2016, 04:43
Have a good time, good to be out of the heat.

Jim Fitzgerald
21-Jun-2016, 08:36
Vaughn, if my back was not messed up maybe I could have convinced June to let me come down and go with you. I'm thinking my backpacking days are behind me now and my rolling cart is going to get a lot of use. Holland Hill Rd. is looking better and better all the time.

Drew Wiley
21-Jun-2016, 08:47
I'll tip off the Bigfoot hunters that there's another potential sighting!

Vaughn
21-Jun-2016, 08:48
Last internet check before I am off-line for 5 days!

Tim -- we can only hope and get real mellow...
Garrett -- I live in the same climate as where I am going (just 40 miles up the highway). Next month I'll get into the heat when I pack into my old wilderness (Yolla Bollys)!
Toyo -- that is why I bought a smaller pack! No more 90 pounders for me! That was a couple decades ago! Of course carrying the 4x5 on the pod over my shoulder with the pack on sort of defeats the concept of a smaller pack (but the pack itself weighs less!)
Drew -- maybe I should forget about the skinny-dipping then...

The only stops I'll make are at the Visitor Center to get my permit and perhaps a stop to get some rattlesnake medicine. I have always found that drinking a couple ounces of snakebite medicine around the fire at night keeps the rattlesnakes away. Scotland makes some good medicine...

Until next week!

Andrew O'Neill
21-Jun-2016, 17:50
Be safe!

Vaughn
27-Jun-2016, 12:22
I made it back! Used up all my 4x5 film, but used only 2.5 rolls of Tri-X in the Rolleicord. Might try to get something developed tonight. I had still air in the mornings and windy mid-day onwards. The mosquitos obnoxious from late afternoon until dark -- and always busy under the redwoods -- less so on the creek bed. I was enjoying a bug-free moment up above the creek when a fawn wandered by about 4 feet away -- then the mom noticed me, huffed, and all took off...leaving me with all the mosquitos that had been following them around. I had to leave, too! I saw elk, otters, deer, and a wonderful hatching of some sort of gnat that filled the air above the creek. No eagles this time, but a group of vultures took interest in the black shrouded figure on the creek bar -- I waved to them to let them know I was not quite dead yet...in fact feeling much better...

I took ten 4x5 film holders. Mistakes cost me three sheets (15%!) -- my first mistake of the trip was reading my meter wrong -- the exposure time was 30 seconds...not the 30 minutes I gave it. I was using Tech Pan at ASA 16 at f/16 under the redwoods and 30 minutes sounded reasonable. I left the lens open on one sheet and pulled the wrong darkslide on another (working from the front of the camera). So it goes. We'll see what I'll get. I pushed a few things/ideas, so I'll see if they worked.

Very light rain one night -- got to set-up and try out my new MSR shelter (just a fancy tarp) for the first time. Not too bad. I was hoping for some early morning fog, but got mostly sunshine as any fog moved out by sunrise. Only a few lonely rhododendron flowers left from the spring. Found a couple of early ripe berries. Saw a couple people the first day and several people on my last day -- had the creek and the mosquitos to myself for the 4 days in between. All-in-all, a great trip -- and as a bonus, I called in and I did not have to report for jury duty this morning!

Andrew O'Neill
27-Jun-2016, 13:40
Welcome back!

Toyo
27-Jun-2016, 17:07
I made it back! Used up all my 4x5 film, but used only 2.5 rolls of Tri-X in the Rolleicord. Might try to get something developed tonight. I had still air in the mornings and windy mid-day onwards. The mosquitos obnoxious from late afternoon until dark -- and always busy under the redwoods -- less so on the creek bed. I was enjoying a bug-free moment up above the creek when a fawn wandered by about 4 feet away -- then the mom noticed me, huffed, and all took off...leaving me with all the mosquitos that had been following them around. I had to leave, too! I saw elk, otters, deer, and a wonderful hatching of some sort of gnat that filled the air above the creek. No eagles this time, but a group of vultures took interest in the black shrouded figure on the creek bar -- I waved to them to let them know I was not quite dead yet...in fact feeling much better...

I took ten 4x5 film holders. Mistakes cost me three sheets (15%!) -- my first mistake of the trip was reading my meter wrong -- the exposure time was 30 seconds...not the 30 minutes I gave it. I was using Tech Pan at ASA 16 at f/16 under the redwoods and 30 minutes sounded reasonable. I left the lens open on one sheet and pulled the wrong darkslide on another (working from the front of the camera). So it goes. We'll see what I'll get. I pushed a few things/ideas, so I'll see if they worked.

Very light rain one night -- got to set-up and try out my new MSR shelter (just a fancy tarp) for the first time. Not too bad. I was hoping for some early morning fog, but got mostly sunshine as any fog moved out by sunrise. Only a few lonely rhododendron flowers left from the spring. Found a couple of early ripe berries. Saw a couple people the first day and several people on my last day -- had the creek and the mosquitos to myself for the 4 days in between. All-in-all, a great trip -- and as a bonus, I called in and I did not have to report for jury duty this morning!

Sounds like an awesome experience.
It is such times that refresh our spirits.
I am looking forward to your results
T

Jim Fitzgerald
27-Jun-2016, 17:42
Vaughn, welcome home. Sounds like a good trip. Hope the results are what you expect.

Bill Burk
27-Jun-2016, 19:57
I took ten 4x5 film holders. Mistakes cost me three sheets (15%!) -- my first mistake of the trip was reading my meter wrong -- the exposure time was 30 seconds...not the 30 minutes I gave it. I was using Tech Pan at ASA 16 at f/16 under the redwoods and 30 minutes sounded reasonable.

Let's see, If my calculation is right that's 2/3 stop less than 100 times the necessary exposure... even without reciprocity law failure. That's not much worse than placing Zone I on Zone VI which I did not so long ago. I printed such a negative a couple weeks ago... (Developed N-1) My highest density on negative is 1.8 in the clouds. It printed fine on Grade 2

Vaughn
6-Jul-2016, 16:04
Off again!!!

I am off for a couple more nights of backpacking in Redwood Nat. Park tomorrow -- taking the 4x5 and six holders of Tech Pan. Also taking one of my boys -- Bryce, just got home from a year in Bolivia and a couple nights out will help readjusting to CA culture and the English language! I'll leave the Rolleicord home this time. Last month's solo trip (for 6 days) in the same place, I took both cameras, all told -- 22 pounds of photo-related stuff. By leaving the Rollei & film at home, and taking six 4x5 holders instead of ten, this trip's camera gear will be around 17 to 18 pounds. If I load up the kid with the food and stove, this will be a walk in the park!

My tripod and head weigh 7 pounds (old Gitzo Al. 300 series w/ Bogan 3-way head). For several hundred $$$ I could up grade to a carbon fiber and knock 3 or so pounds off there, but it is nice having a pod I feel I could knock a bear's nose with and get his/her attention!

Bill -- I had direct sunlight drifting slowly through the otherwise dark scene -- that negative most likely will be toast. I will try to reduce my percentage of errors this trip!

Jim Fitzgerald
6-Jul-2016, 16:12
Awesome! Enjoy. If we weren't getting ready for a trip June and I could make a trip down.

Drew Wiley
7-Jul-2016, 08:26
It will be a drippy weekend, if not outright raining. Even down here in the Bay it is virtually raining from heavy fog. Yesterday it never got up to the mid-50's, and it will probably be a bit lower temp the rest of the week. I wanted a knee workout Saturday so went up a steep section of Mt Tam, which can be wonderful this time of year in terms of soupy soft fog-lit forest. The trail is a bit popular, though never crowded like down the opposite side in Muir Woods. I had my gear propped up about 15 yards off the trail. Several "hey doood" type twenty-somethings stopped on the trail to catch their breath. One of them shouts over, "Totally awesome
camera!; is that an 8x10?"... "Yep". We ain't in Kansas.

Vaughn
11-Jul-2016, 08:32
I had a great trip. Yes, rain all day on our full day on the creek. We had sun going in and a nice evening, but clouds were coming in so we set the tents up. Rain started at dawn, heavy at times, but mostly a light drizzle that hardly got you wet. Actually close to perfect weather! My son had just spent a year in Bolivia -- at 1000 elevation above the Amazon. He appreciated to coolness! Under the redwoods was fine -- some big drips (besides myself) and there are always dry spots where the rain could not get too.

Took 6 holders, exposed 6 sheets of film for 4 images. Took a bit of a fall on my right knee climbing up a 30 foot gravel bank -- bruised it pretty good...some swelling, but it is still strong structually. I'll ice it up today. I have a Jobo 3006 Expert Drum on its way to me, and I'll get bust processing 4x5!

Photo: Tending the fire, Redwood Creek, July 2016 (not LF).

Drew Wiley
11-Jul-2016, 08:48
Hope that knee heals well. I took a couple of good skids last summer on wet rock in the high country and bruised my elbow, but that was due to detouring around
some cliffs that would have entailed the risk of a fatal skid. Guess we're not getting any younger. I have the typical aging/reading-glasses problem of not judging close distances well, so walking poles are always handy for gauging precise step distance when necessary, just like an ice axe is for probing snow bridges. Those
older redwoods can be magical in the rain, just like big umbrellas.

dasBlute
11-Jul-2016, 09:41
looks like a great trip, plenty of time to walkabout, imbibe the beauty, thanks for sharing

Jim Graves
12-Jul-2016, 00:13
Oh, man .... that looks like home!

I need to get my aging body into shape and back up to The Avenue of the Giants, Richardson's Grove, Patrick's Point, Prairie Creek, Fern Canyon, Howland Road, the Lagoons, Redwood Creek, The Lost Coast, Humboldt State Park, the Jetty ...... it's a long list and I've left a lot out!!

And I've always wanted to photograph the Kinetic Sculpture race on Memorial Day weekend ... a true event ... tried to make it again this year ... but life has a habit of getting in the way.

One of the best and least traveled large format areas!

If any forum members can make it up there you can't find a better host/guide than Vaughn ... and he's quite knowledgeable about the local craft brews.

Look forward to seeing your photos and hope to make it up in mid-October.

Jim Fitzgerald
12-Jul-2016, 01:31
Jim, June and I are hoping to make a trip to the Redwoods in October as well. We will be heading to So Cal for our meet and greet in November. It would be good to see you and Vaughn again as well.

Vaughn
12-Jul-2016, 08:38
I'll keep October open! It is a fine time to be in the redwoods.

Jmarmck
12-Jul-2016, 10:11
Reminds me of the Buffalo River back home. Solace for the soul. I sure could use some of that.

Jim Graves
13-Jul-2016, 22:10
Jim, June and I are hoping to make a trip to the Redwoods in October as well. We will be heading to So Cal for our meet and greet in November. It would be good to see you and Vaughn again as well.

PM me and post your plans when they get sorted out ... maybe we can coax a few other photographic reprobates up there (or, down there for you now, I guess.)

It truly is a magical area.

stawastawa
14-Jul-2016, 17:43
I missed my chance a few weeks ago to meet Vaughn, and would love to have another chance =)
Plus get to be with you Jim and Jim.


PM me and post your plans when they get sorted out ... maybe we can coax a few other photographic reprobates up there (or, down there for you now, I guess.)

It truly is a magical area.

Vaughn
14-Jul-2016, 19:04
October - so far away, and so quickly to come! A gathering will be fun!

I am stealing a photo taken by my son -- I am borrowing his digital camera, trying to photograph a couple of carbon prints for publication (I know enough to get into trouble). The card has his images from our backpack trip and I grabbed this one. The PhotoShop mess is all mine, but he took the photograph (and I am waving a flashlight at the tent and trees behind me).

Warming My Bear Feet by the Fire. Redwood Creek, July 2016

Vaughn
14-Jul-2016, 19:10
I missed my chance a few weeks ago to meet Vaughn, and would love to have another chance =)
Plus get to be with you Jim and Jim.
Sorry we missed each other! I was worried you followed my suggestion of Covelo and the Middle Fork Eel River, went there and were never heard of again! Next time!!

Drew Wiley
15-Jul-2016, 10:50
Once I'm retired in the near future it will be nice to have more opportunities take Hwy 1 all the way north again. My past custom was to fly my wife up to her
family home in Portland, then slowly work my way up the coast and various back roads to meet her there, and then drive straight back on the ugly fast freeway, including its atrocious Central Valley heat. Need my truck AC repaired first, before I start that routine again.

Jmarmck
15-Jul-2016, 11:52
Hmmm, You should come down here and experience the southern heat and humidity. I'll take Death Valley at a 105 better long before 95 here in S Georgia.
I was out shooting lightning last night about two hours past last light. Sweat was still rolling down my head and back in the dark. But it is lightning season now so you gotta pay to dance.

stawastawa
15-Jul-2016, 23:08
Naa we ended up enjoying the coast around klamath.
the covolo area swimming hole does draw me though!


Sorry we missed each other! I was worried you followed my suggestion of Covelo and the Middle Fork Eel River, went there and were never heard of again! Next time!!

Jim Graves
16-Jul-2016, 01:12
Sorry we missed each other! I was worried you followed my suggestion of Covelo and the Middle Fork Eel River, went there and were never heard of again! Next time!!

Ha! I have a cousin who owns the bank building in Covelo (no longer a bank and I certainly won't guarantee what goes through there ... but he once owned a twin engine C-119 WWII airplane and is only a free man today because the search warrant was thrown out) and a friend who owns a huge ranch near Fort Seward ... .

Once you hit the upper 1/3 of California (excluding the I-5 corridor - and some of that is dodgy) ... It's like the Ohio-Kentucky/WestVirginia borders ... but 4 times as large with 1/4 the population ... fit in or keep moving!

Well, Vaughn ... you know from all your backpacking and ranger years in the Yolla Bollys.

California has a cosmopolitan image in other states but you get into these areas and you start thinking about the movie Deliverance ... there is a frontier mentality and a fiercely independent streak running through the populace ... and maybe a few illegal confections ... not all of them of the mellowing sort.

Leszek Vogt
16-Jul-2016, 01:33
Indeed, Jim. This movie can easily play out in Yuba City, Marysville, Olivehurst and the like. I used to go through these towns several times per week in the later years of the 1990's (all the way to Redding)....so I'm not relying on someone telling me the story. Vaughn, however, is lucky since he's dealing primarily with the college town next door.

Les

Vaughn
17-Jul-2016, 18:45
Just returned from taking one of my boys to Ashland (Talent, OR, actually) -- ended up rafting a day down the Rouge River just above the Wild & Scenic portion.

I returned via Hwy 3, south from Yreka, then the Folks of the Salmon Road out of Etna to Hwy 96 (Klamath River Road). As remote and wild of a country as you ever will drive through in California...and some of the prettiest. Not for the meek and definitely not for flat land drivers. The PCT crosses the road at the pass above Etna.

Missed out again in Etna! The Brewery there is only open Thursday, Friday and Saturday...dang it! But given the road -- probably a good thing...hard to limit oneself to a pint!

Drew Wiley
18-Jul-2016, 08:18
Sounds wonderful. The more curves on a road the better!

Vaughn
18-Jul-2016, 09:22
Sounds wonderful. The more curves on a road the better!

And a large percentage of it 1 lane wide with the classic cliffs on both sides -- one up and one straight down to the river. I think I saw just 5 or 6 vehicles and lots of mining claims. All paved, though.

Drew Wiley
18-Jul-2016, 09:51
Pavvvedd??? Isn't that cheating?

Vaughn
18-Jul-2016, 11:41
Definitely! If the road was not paved, it would just be another Forest Service road that I have spent much time on. The pavement made it fun!

And driving a 2002 Toyota Avalon, Touring model (my parents car I inherited) is probably cheating, too. What a sweet driving car. Stiffer suspension to feel the road...and working air conditioning to keep my feet cool as I drove with window and sunroof open.

Not as 'cool' as driving my 2002 Eurovan Weekender campervan (and I do miss the extra sitting height and the resulting view), but my mileage in the Avalon is 50% better than the van.

Drew Wiley
18-Jul-2016, 12:02
The main reason I "cheat" and prefer paved roads myself is simple. I don't need a dust cloud over my camera if someone drives by, provided I find a safe enough turnout for a picture to begin with.

Jmarmck
18-Jul-2016, 12:30
I would say, get off the beaten track but that is nearly impossible now-a-days. There is always a dust cloud nearby. There is a highway in Arkansas (Hwy 23) runs from I-40 at the town of Ozark up to Hwy 16 from Fayetteville, on to Huntsville then Eureka Springs. It is goes though what we lovingly call Booger County. The road is locally known as The Pig Trail, the portion to Fayetteville anyway. It deserves the name, though, I fear that over the years it may have been tamed with some widening and corner cutting. Some of the most beautiful country you will find anywhere. It may not be as dramatic as the Sierra Nevada but it is every bit as gorgeous. Hwy 7 is nice on the east end of Ouachita Mtns and on up into the Ozarks. Some of the side routes long the Buffalo River are breath taking. Look up Hawksbill Crag, or Big Bluff on the Buffalo River.

Vaughn
18-Jul-2016, 15:04
In case one is wondering what the road looked like:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Forks+of+Salmon,+CA+96031/@41.3395775,-123.3990933,3a,75y,289.78h,61.3t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1soyHQWegJ5bi19jLG9BuqSQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DoyHQWegJ5bi19jLG9BuqSQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D173.10191%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x54d19248bdee0b13:0x9151dd6c2934d362!8m2!3d41.2577185!4d-123.3226085

Drew Wiley
18-Jul-2016, 15:37
Where's the last part of the sequence with a logging truck barreling around the corner at 60mph ?

Vaughn
18-Jul-2016, 16:51
Drew...the trucks haul logs -- they are called log trucks. The trucks themselves do no logging. Where did you grow up? ;)

Jim Graves
18-Jul-2016, 21:57
Vaughn ... The road you took runs along the North Fork of the Salmon River (from Etna to the "settlement" named Forks of the Salmon [a general store & trailer post office]) ... there is also a road that roughly parallels it to the South along the South Fork of the Salmon (from Callahan [store/bar but no post office] to Forks of the Salmon.). It is at least as dodgy but has some nice camping areas and a few very accessible but lightly used lakes within easy hiking distance.

My brother drove a "logging" truck for a number of years (that's what we called them) ... whenever he had a redwood log so large that it filled the trailer all by itself he would attach a sign to the back end of the log saying ... "The Last Redwood" The other sign he carried said "Earth First - We'll Log The Other Planets Later" ... the sign had a picture of the Space Shuttle with a log boom protruding from the cargo bay. A little jibe at the environmentalists shadowing the redwood logging industry.

Scary business getting those logs out of the woods ... they often used one of the larger Caterpillar tractors as a braking device ... after loading the log(s) on the truck at the landing they'd attach a chain from the front of the Cat to the truck and inch them down the inclines from the landings to the more level access roads ... not something I'd want to be involved in!

Vaughn
19-Jul-2016, 08:51
In the Forest Service I hauled our mules around in a stock truck and trailer -- sharing the roads with log (or logging) trucks. Once the drivers realize that I respected their job, and that I do the right things when we meet at narrow spots (most of the road), they returned the respect and we worked together to get up and down the mountains. But I really do not know what they thought about the longhaired bearded hippy in a FS uniform -- normally someone they would have considered a combination of the two worst possible attibutes (hippy + gov't).

I've looked at that intersection to Callahan -- - but since that takes one east to Hwy 3 then Weaverville, that is sort of heading the opposite way to home...I'd rather hit 299 at Willow Creek and not have an extra hour drive on 299 with its construction and tourists. One of these days, though!

Log vs logging truck -- I have been razed a couple times for calling them logging trucks by local timber industry folks. But I think they only make the distinction if they want the person (outside the industry) they are talking to feel like they don't know anything. Amongst themselves they don't care what one calls the truck. More of a joke to me.

Drew Wiley
19-Jul-2016, 09:22
Vaughn - both my father and I amassed quite a collection of old logging gear. He collected axes etc in Minnesota and Oregon and Washington, and me from the
Sierra. Each region had its own preferred styles. We also had a small forest of long saws, pikes, etc. At that time there will still remains of flumes and trestles,
now all gone. But when the axe handles were starting to rot, we tried to donate the collection to the local narrow-gauge RR museum, but it eventually the collection ended up with another family member, since neither I nor the museum had sufficient space. A friend of my father named Gene Rose, whom John K. also knew, published a number of historical book on the early logging era, along with Howell North Press here in Berkeley. Since these lines were also associated with the the early infrastructure behind the hydroelectric development of the San Joaquin River basin, they constituted some of the greatest engineering achievements in human history up to that point, often in incredibly steep terrain. The first locomotives were literally hauled with ropes by Indians and oxen up
one of the first grades, itself too steep for an actual rail line. Lots of log trucks (what they haul) or logging trucks (the industry they apply to, just like a logging
axe), have slid off that grade, clear down a thousand feet or more. A more modern road has since been constructed. The main commercial tree was sugar pine,
which was cut mainly in the 1880's, then again in the 1950's and 60's. Now nothing is left of that industry locally except salvage logging.

Sal Santamaura
19-Jul-2016, 10:50
...I have been razed a couple times for calling them logging trucks...You seem to have grown back up to full height quite nicely since those incidents.

As long as the theme is word use. :D

Drew Wiley
19-Jul-2016, 11:37
Under those circumstances, nobody called them either log truck or logging trucks - they used unprintable expletives instead!

Vaughn
19-Jul-2016, 11:54
You seem to have grown back up to full height quite nicely since those incidents.

As long as the theme is word use. :D

Like the coastal redwoods, I sprout when razed. It is a fine sight to see a ring of 5 or 6 ten+ foot diameter trees, each around 1000 years old -- and they are the same tree (genetically) as the remains of the original redwood that they spouted from and now surround -- so the sprouts, being the same tree as the original, could easily be a couple millennia old. One appreciates something alive and in the same spot for so long. But nothing beats bringing one back into the Now as meeting a log truck on a blind curve of a narrow dusty road!

Editted: And thanks Sal! The word I should have used was "razzed" instead of "razed". Dropped a z and changed the meaning.

Jmarmck
19-Jul-2016, 12:07
At such times one can only hope to come back as a sprout because that log truck will be the first step to make that happen.

Drew Wiley
19-Jul-2016, 12:22
.... if you have a thousand years to wait. It ain't like sugar pine. Farmed coastal redwoods grow quickly, but the lumber isn't anywhere near the quality of old-growth lumber, which I refer to as "pinkwood". The heartwood is nominally decay resistant, but the growth rings aren't anywhere near as dense, so water penetrates much more easily, and decay is more likely. 98% of old growth now cut; so the tiny bit remaining mainly survives in formal parks and preserves.
The bigger impact of clearcutting is the destruction to the ecosystems which redwood forests once kept intact. For example, a farmed forest only have about 10% of the organic biomass as a temperate old growth forest. The there is the fact that old-growth redwood and fir forest were superb fog collection machines. That's where most of the health of our coastal rivers and salmon runs came from rather than sheer rainfall, and why drought has so a severe impact now. Even on low rain years, these tree would collect the fog and channel in to their root systems, and their surplus as runoff. But where I came from it was mainly pines
and firs and cedars providing income. The pioneer lumbermen just wanted to conquer the West, and didn't have single thought about consequences to their actions. Later I grew up learning from very responsible professional foresters who knew to keep old growth trees intact at distinct intervals, so the flying squirrels and chickarees would do all the replanting for them. It all depended on the specific jurisdiction. Certain others were miserably managed and are an
eyesore to this day.

Drew Wiley
19-Jul-2016, 12:24
Scuse me for the confusion. "Pinkwood" obviously refers to farmed redwood, not old growth, which is indeed has deeper colored heartwood.

Vaughn
19-Jul-2016, 12:36
Back in the 70s the timber companies and the forestry program at HSU that they funded, try to convince us all that a second growth forest (after clear-cutting, planting and spraying) has more growth occurring per acre than old-growth forest (thus their argument that clear-cutting was good and helped the earth). No real numbers to back up their claim -- and now the numbers are in and the timber companies and their pocket professors have been shown to be more propagandists than scientists. For the record -- now that the companies have cut themselves to extinction and no longer have influence in local education, the Forestry Dept has changed dramatically and looking at the whole watershed picture and are not just shrills for the lumber companies. They even have female professors in the department now!!!

Good Doug Fir will outlast second-growth redwood in the ground.

Jmarmck
19-Jul-2016, 12:36
I grew up in a house that was basically a redwood log cabin. 8" thick, flat on the sides, tongue and grooved bolted together. Quite a unique house for Arkansas. We treated it every few years with a mixture of pinta and linseed oil. Great house. The wood proved to be good insulation....fire retardant as well. Split level on a slope looking into the ravine and woods. Flat roof with tar and pea gravel. There was a gun smiths shop made of the same material. There were also shooting benches made of redwood but those did not weather as well. Part of the yard was a old gun range with cement pads and walls for target stands, and long benches on raised foundations.

Vaughn
19-Jul-2016, 12:59
You were lucky then -- the wood of redwood burns just as fast as any other soft wood. But being that thick, I imagine it would slow fire down a bit. It is the bark that has the most resistance to burning -- and insulation. Local ice houses had hollow walls that were then stuffed with shredded redwood bark.

Drew Wiley
19-Jul-2016, 13:01
The house I recently sold was all old growth redwood. A lot nicer than the only house I have left, but figured I just won't be able to keep up the mountain much longer anyway, and want to do other things during retirement, though I do have repairs here too. Funny you mention guns. My lab was previously a commercial
gunsmithing shop. The old gunstock slots have been replaced by lens shelves, and everything remodeled to omit dust and light. The problem with redwood or cedar
up in the hills was with acorn woodpeckers. They loved that soft stuff. The only reason I didn't have a problem with them personally is that it was at low enough
elevation to have even softer digger pines available, which they preferred. But the school campus ten miles away also used redwood, and they had to keep a guy
on staff toting a .22 all day long.

Vaughn
20-Jul-2016, 08:05
Heading back up to Ashland via hwy 96 to pick up one son in a few minutes. Taking another son to give him mountain driving experience. Wish me luck and godspeed!

Might return via Folks of Salmon -- but if I do, I'll be driving!

Drew Wiley
20-Jul-2016, 08:21
Heck, when my dad wanted me to learn to drive he just turned me loose in the pasture with the ole GMC truck. What could go wrong out there? Then he kinda
changed his mind after spending the afternoon winching the truck out of the creek!

Jmarmck
20-Jul-2016, 09:39
Umm, flipped a GMC on its side in the middle of the dirt road. Got away with that. "The cab is lopsided cause it got hit by a bail of hay, honest!". Flipped a Ford tractor. Well my fiend was driving. Didn't get away with that one.

Good luck with that one Vaughn. :wink:

Jim Graves
20-Jul-2016, 19:38
There are a number of places where you can see some beautiful old growth Redwood heart wood ... but my favorite is the Redwood Room ... an Art Deco bar in San Francisco's Clift Hotel on Geary street two blocks up from Union Square.

The walls, ceiling and columns were made from a single old growth redwood ... used to be a great martini bar ... until the owner of Studio 54 bought the Clift and yuppified it some. Still often makes the list of "Greatest Bars in The World."

Bob Sawin
20-Jul-2016, 20:02
Definitely! If the road was not paved, it would just be another Forest Service road that I have spent much time on. The pavement made it fun!

And driving a 2002 Toyota Avalon, Touring model (my parents car I inherited) is probably cheating, too. What a sweet driving car. Stiffer suspension to feel the road...and working air conditioning to keep my feet cool as I drove with window and sunroof open.

Not as 'cool' as driving my 2002 Eurovan Weekender campervan (and I do miss the extra sitting height and the resulting view), but my mileage in the Avalon is 50% better than the van.





Best regards,

Bob
CEO CFO EIEIO, Ret.

Vaughn
20-Jul-2016, 22:32
I have returned! He did fine. He was starting his turns a little late, but smoothed the turns out eventually. Also the longest continous driving he has done -- the first 180 miles were mountain highways (299/96) and the last 30 miles were Hwy 5. He got some experience waiting for construction activity. His arms and shoulders were sore -- a little tense, perhaps. Quite nice to be able to watch the scenery for a change.

We picked my other son in Talent, OR and stopped off in Ashland on the way back for pizza. Ashland is sort of the Arcata of Oregon...only a lot more money and a lots less visible homeless. Interesting walking around with my sons -- I am sure those young ladies were not checking me out! Nice drive again back via Forks of Salmon, but hurried it a little as 12 hours on the road is enough (arrived home at 8:10pm).

Bummer though -- gave a lift to a PCT hiker from Etna to the PCT. He put his pack in the trunk and took his stuff out at the trail (it crosses the road at the pass). We looked around some, then took off. The fellow left his hiking poles in my trunk. So I need to figure out how to get them to him -- can't remember his name, but he is a fellow trail maintenance dude. At least I know where he is heading! I'll check the maps and see where the next re-stocking place is on the PCT.