good stuff Garrett and as usual
two neighbours of mine were intending visiting Yosemite a few weeks back, I stressed that they should avoid 'the Valley floor' AND instead travel to the higher meadows
best
andrew
good stuff Garrett and as usual
two neighbours of mine were intending visiting Yosemite a few weeks back, I stressed that they should avoid 'the Valley floor' AND instead travel to the higher meadows
best
andrew
Ah, the Karakoram. My best view out of a $1/a night hotel room with running hot water! Wish I was into LF back then..... Sadly only 35mm shots. Still what a breathtaking sight - reminded me of a giant organ at the back of a gothic cathedral. Won't be back in Pakistan any time soon sadly ... too dangerous now.
Kings and Sequoia NPs are the best kept secrets in California, and I wish we could keep it that way. Let all the clicksters flock to Yosemite to try to be the next Ansel Adams, give me Kings/Sequoia any day.
Great minds… exactly as I do.
They are kept that way. Kings Canyon, now part of SEKI, was conceived and is maintained as a roadless backcountry wilderness park, the only one so designated in the lower 48. My favorite road sign, ever, is posted on CA 180 from the west, just at the margin of the orange groves outside Minkler, that advises the road to Kings Canyon does not cross the Sierra. If frontcountry crowds are bothersome, there's plenty of seldom and sporadically used backcountry, my favorite and highest of the entire High Sierra.
East Lake
My family all said they enjoyed Kings Canyon much better than Yosemite (though we really liked the Toulemne Meadows in the high country of Yosemite). Here are a few snaps of the Kings river:
Some asked if I shot wetplate there so I should confess. No, I didn't even take LF. Though I missed having a LF camera, we were so busy hiking, fishing, eating, driving....it would have been hard to work it in. I figures all these domes and trees had been shot before with LF (but maybe not wetplate!), so just shot some black and white 35mm with my Nicca rangefinder and an Elmar 50/3.5, and these colors with a Pen-F 25/4 adapted onto my Fuji X-E1.
I've got some shots here, and will load more as I get them developed: https://www.flickr.com/photos/garret...57645336832963
Garrett
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With butter and salt and pepper! Everyone likes that shot, and me washing my hair!
Garrett
flickr galleries
Were you in any shots? – funny I must missed that one.
FYI, I hiked from Boyden Cave down (on) the South Fork to Yucca Point once at very low water, and have kayaked the Class V - VI Kings Canyon run many times.
Winter in Yosemite Valley is magic. Fall and Spring are also very nice, but the crowds are starting to build. There is NO good reason to go to The Valley in the summer. Ugh...
All in all, sounds like a great trip!
ROL - have you done the Paterson Bend run on the SJ yet, or down the N Fork of the Kings thru the "Hell Hole", or the Middle Fork of the SJ? Just curious, cause
it's a fairly small fraternity that even knows about those places. Had an interesting conversation with a fellow last year who came all the way from Virginia, then
backpacked a kayak over Bishop Pass, then all the way down to Trimmer. He didn't remember much of the canyon - was too busy working the water - but it was
one heck of an adventure. I'll probably head to the Wind Rivers this Sept due to the higher forest fire risk here. But I always keep multiple options, and never finalize till the last minute. Weather changes, fires come and go. I really love the lower Kings in the early Spring. And Garrett - if you want some cheap thrills, try pulling your trailer up the road of the North Fork. Blind switchbacks on a one-lane road with five hundred foot drops, and no guard rail, are alway fun. But upriver on the South and Middle Forks, Kings Canyon is really the epitome of what a Natl Park should be. 95% of the park has zero roads (none in fact if you exempt Cedar Grove), and a significant part of that has no trails. Even a very popular spot on a main trail like Evolution Valley is relatively quiet - except for the skeeters in July!
But oh my, the alpenglow in that spot in October!
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