6th grade camp!

[John Kasaian]

I'm helping chaperone my son's 6th grade class at a mountain camp/outdoor nature school:D
http://www.calvincrest.com/?i=12801&mid=1000&id=302058
I'm trying to decide if I should take the 5x7 Speeder along---I'll have a few hours of free time each day but I won't have a lot of time (nor likely, peace & quiet) to get into a photographic frame of mind.
Has anyone here travelled this path before me? Any suggestions?

[Richard Wasserman]

Isn't that pretty much what Ansel Adams did in his early years? Worked for him....

[cdholden]

Not related to LF, but getting your child interested in NOLS wouldn't be a bad thing. 6th grade might be a couple years away though. I'll offer to mine when she gets older.
http://www.nols.edu/

[jp]

The getting away from the normal activities in life might get you into a photographic frame of mind. I'd bring a camera for sure. If you don't get nature photos, you'll have some people photo opportunities for sure.

I went away a week at a time as a boy scout when I was a teen. I'd bring my camera along and have a good time exploring and photographing when not doing structured activities.

[Drew Wiley]

Looks like that is in the Fish Camp vicinity. Nelder Grove shouldn't be too far back on a well
graded dirt road, also San Joaquin Dome. Pick up the FS map at Oakhurst if you don't already have one. Bull Buck tree is designated the biggest in the world (FS measuring rules,
not NP rules which put the General Sherman tree first). But you probably already know about these places. Or you could hit up the sequoia grove just inside the s. entrance of
the park. Personally, I prefer some of the less publicized spots, like the little pools and
falls on Nelder Creek.

[Terry Hayden]

I'll second Nelder Grove. It's actually right up the road from Calvin crest. you will be turning off of Sky Ranch Road to get to C.Crest. Staying on Sky Ranch road will bring to ta left turn into Nelder Grove. It's the lowest stand of giant sequoia in the sierra. There is both the shadow of the giants trail and a nice campground upstream
from the trail ( left or right at a dirt intersection on the way in ). There is a good website devoted to it http://www.neldergrove.org/

Have a great time - but don't expect to get any sleep. I did the same routine when my son's class went to Sonora in 6th grade - fun but exhausting.

[John Kasaian]

I agree that Nelder Creek is a fine location, I especially like the pools just down stream from the Shadows of the Giants nature trail, its just that I'm not sure how much time I'll get away from the 6th Graders. I'd imagine that the nature trail would be part of the course but I'd expect we'd be either vanned or bussed in as it is quite aways from Calvin Crest.

[Drew Wiley]

That strong crisp light in the sequoias would seem to be a wonderful match for you carbon printers. The contrast range in our coast redwoods
over here can also be incredible in open sun. The last time I visited Nelder Grove was when my dad was 92 and I drove him over the loop trip
from North Fork up to Granite Creek (our old family camping haunt) then
back toward Oakhurst. The next year his bones started getting brittle so
we had to move him over here to the Coast to keep an eye on him. I've
been up in the Clark Range a few times since, however. Now my nephew
is taking his family to Granite Creek. Apparently folks have been going there in the Summers for at least 12000 years, the artifacts would indicate. Wonder what all those memories would add up to? Maybe someone will find a cave with some Palaeolithic carbon prints in it.

[Bill Burk]

I say bring the camera and (depending on your style), maybe 24 sheets of film. What you'd usually shoot in a day or two. I've done a week at scout camp with a view camera and because of the intense agenda only had time to shoot a dozen sheets...


Bull Buck tree is designated the biggest in the world (FS measuring rules, not NP rules which put the General Sherman tree first).

Wendell Flint's account of the Bull Buck in "To find the biggest tree" is that it "compares favorably" with the General Sherman using the American Forestry Association formula: add the perimeter in inches at 4.5 feet above the ground, the height in feet, and one-fourth the average spread of the crown in feet.

Hmm, mixing inches and feet sounds like a great way to start an argument. In an article I found doing a random google search the AFA formula is said to uphold General Sherman above the Bull Buck, but the General Grant tree would be ahead of General Sherman, using Wendell Flint's own measurements.

Oh, man Terry, Clough Cave Grove is listed in Flint's book as the lowest elevation at 2,800 feet. I didn't mean to come in and argue about the biggest and the lowest like I'm some kind of expert. I just wanted to say go see some trees!

I count among lifes treasured memories a few moments I got to spend looking at the wall of the cabin that Flint co-owns with his photographer for the book, Mike Law. Seeing topo maps tacked to the wall with penciled outlines around where the groves are, drawn in by these surveyors, gave me a sense that there was still work left to do (they weren't in ink) ...

[Drew Wiley]

Yes, the Bull Buck is both impressive and an impressive way to start an argument. It has
a massive tapered base but less overall board footage than the Gen Sherman. And that's
why it's still standing - nobody had a crosscut saw long enough! As it was, they cut these
tree from way up on scaffolding. All the other mature sequoias in Nelder Grove were felled,
and some are still lying there because they couldn't figure out how to move them. The
sheer waste of the act is appalling, but back in those days is was all about conquering
the frontier and felling the biggest tree possible.

[Michael Clark]

Don't know how busy you will be ,but a bunch of six graders can be a handful, I have always thought that I could sneak away for an hour or two with my sons boyscout troop but it never happened . Theres all ways something going on, so left the big camera at home and took the 120 med format for "Scout" photo's glad I did got some great ones of my son.

Mike

[John Kasaian]

I just got back & I'm exhausted. The other chaperone in the cabin snored like a pig farts, every 3-4 seconds with runs approx. 18-24 minutes with barely a respite in between!
I spent much of my time running the grisgris on the rock climbing wall or drinking coffee, and trying to sleep in the car when I wasn't helping with the outdoor classes.

[Vaughn]

Glad to hear that you made it out alive! Sleep depravation torture!

Our environmental camp was the fifth grade and for two nights. Only about 50 miles north in the redwoods. I remember cooking a lot of pancakes and washing a lot of dishes! Activities for the day were well handled by the staff. I am afraid that I was probably the one who snored in our cabin -- two adults and a dozen or so boys!

Vaughn

[John Kasaian]

If the kids were bigger---maybe 8th graders---we would have given the other chaperone a "blanket party"