Packed for Death Valley but What Am I missing...

[Richard K.]

I was so happy to see that everything I need for my upcoming trip by train to Flagstaff and then by car to DV and JT fits into my siutcase (barely!!) with a small lens case and boxes of film to still fit on top, but I feel like I'm missing something...

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn15/RichardK47/SuitCase.jpg

Oh, I know what you are thinking! Where's your tripod dummy?!?!? Well it's in its own case:

http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn15/RichardK47/Ries.jpg

So there it all is...but still...what have I forgotten...:confused: :)

[John Jarosz]

um.... clothes?........

[jeroldharter]

Don't see a:


lens
light meter
empty film boxes
empty backpack


I would add a small space blanket to the kit. They are small, cheap, waterproof. Where you are going they make an excellent ground cloth on which you can place your gear when you stop to take picture. It helps keep sand, mud, salt, etc. off your gear. Cleaner gear = cleaner film.

[Richard K.]

um.... clothes?........

D'OH!! yes...luckily I can lay the few clothes I need to take on top. I was just so happy to find this suitable suitcase that allows me to take 2 cameras - I was afraid I was only going to be able to take one camera since I wanted them hidden and I can only take one other bag besides the tripod...

BTW the drug bag is for meds and toiletries...:D


Don't see a:


lens
light meter
empty film boxes
empty backpack


I would add a small space blanket to the kit. They are small, cheap, waterproof. Where you are going they make an excellent ground cloth on which you can place your gear when you stop to take picture. It helps keep sand, mud, salt, etc. off your gear. Cleaner gear = cleaner film.

A small lens case (2 or 3 lenses and meter) will squeeze into the suitcase as well as the full and empty film boxes. The small blanket is a great idea (thank you) and I will pack one in one of the exterior suitcase flaps along with my darkcloth. I am taking a back pack that will carry my lap-top, GPS, cell phone and a couple of books so there will be available room in that as well!

Thanks guys! I think I'm good to go now. First stop Chicago!!

[tgtaylor]

There was a 4.1 earthquake yesterday near Scotty's Castle in DV and a 4.5 near Salinas here in the bay area shortly after midnight last night.

The forecast for DV is for PC days and clouds :) make the images for me.

Have a great trip!

Thomas

[Sanjay Sen]

Good luck, and have a good time! Will look forward to the images...

[Nathan Potter]

Equipment insurance? Travel insurance? Life insurance?? :eek:

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Kerik Kouklis]

Bring your own Tim Horton's. We don't have them in Cali.

[SocalAstro]

Have a great trip Richard.



I was so happy to see that everything I need for my upcoming trip by train to Flagstaff and then by car to DV and JT fits into my siutcase (barely!!) with a small lens case and boxes of film to still fit on top, but I feel like I'm missing something...
So there it all is...but still...what have I forgotten...:confused: :)

[Richard K.]

Bring your own Tim Horton's. We don't have them in Cali.

W H A T ?!?!?!?!?!?!? :eek: :( :eek:

[Richard K.]

Equipment insurance? Travel insurance? Life insurance?? :eek:

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

Yes, yes, too old...

[Sirius Glass]

We are talkin' California here. Are you bringing a bong?

[Roger Thoms]

Well, I don't see very many film holders so hope you have a box or two off film hiding someplace there.

Have fun on your trip, I have a home near Flagstaff and some times go there via DV, definitely some great places to photograph. Very good time of year for DV unless you like the heat.

Roger

[Robert Skeoch]

Typical Canadian, takes drugs from Canada to sell in California to make extra cash. Richard I think you're supposed to buy the drugs down there and bring them back to Canada to sell.... that's were the money is. You're running your drug dealing business the same way I run my retail business... backwards.

Have a great trip... really I should be going with you.... but my wife wants to go to southern Manitoba next week. I think it should be warm there, no.

Have fun, and take it easy on the Whole Plate camera in case I get to buy it off you one day.

-Rob

[Sirius Glass]

But the good Cuban cigars must be purchased in Canada.

[Richard K.]

We are talkin' California here. Are you bringing a bong?

LOL I haven't done that since the 60s/70s! But no, I'd be afraid of breaking it. Also my younger son tells me that weed is at least 6 times stronger now than in our sissy days so I don't think so anyway, but I AM bringing a bottle of 25-year-old Glen Morangie...


Well, I don't see very many film holders so hope you have a box or two off film hiding someplace there. ...


Roger

I have 6 holders for each format and am bringing 3 boxes of film for each as well as 10 sheets of colour WP. Should be enough I hope.


Typical Canadian, takes drugs from Canada to sell in California to make extra cash. Richard I think you're supposed to buy the drugs down there and bring them back to Canada to sell.... that's were the money is. You're running your drug dealing business the same way I run my retail business... backwards.

Have a great trip... really I should be going with you.... but my wife wants to go to southern Manitoba next week. I think it should be warm there, no.

Have fun, and take it easy on the Whole Plate camera in case I get to buy it off you one day.

-Rob

Those are meds not drugs!! You SHOULD come with me...
You are right about Southern Manitoba - should be warm there NO!!
Yup my truly thing of beauty whole-plate and 7x11...


But the good Cuban cigars must be purchased in Canada.

Now those I could bring but after hearing about the mom who got detained at the border because she had a Kinder Surprise that she was bringing across, I dunno...(true!!)

[tgtaylor]

If you're partial to the grand scenic landscape like I am, then I recommend you visit Dante's View:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5004/5347612119_fc51a9448d_z.jpg

Shot in the late afternoon on Fuju Provia 100F on a cold winters day. It's about a half-mile hike from the car to this view looking north.

Have fun,

Thomas

[David Carson]

Water.

[Richard K.]

If you're partial to the grand scenic landscape like I am, then I recommend you visit Dante's View:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5004/5347612119_fc51a9448d_z.jpg

Shot in the late afternoon on Fuju Provia 100F on a cold winters day. It's about a half-mile hike from the car to this view looking north.

Have fun,

Thomas

Beautiful shot, Thomas. THAT is why I am bringing some colour film!! BUT, currently anyway, the road to Dante's View is closed due to ice and snoo...

[Richard K.]

Water.

I'm going to buy a case of Pelegrino and keep in in the car/jeep...:D

[Caivman]

Film? I see Holders... I see France... I don't see no room for your Underpants.

[Richard K.]

Film? I see Holders... I see France... I don't see no room for your Underpants.

The film boxes are under the black case...:D
Underpants? D'OH!!

[Robert Skeoch]

When do you head out?
-rob

[David Carson]

I'm going to buy a case of Pelegrino and keep in in the car/jeep...:D

Hahaha! But don't keep it in the car, have your porters hoof it for you. And make sure this time they hold it for you when you drink from a straw.

[Roger Thoms]

Hope you have some warm clothes, it can be quite brisk at night and in the early morning in DV. The sand dunes are nice in the early morning right after sunrise, before all the tourists have trampled all over them.

Roger

[Richard K.]

When do you head out?
-rob

Feb. 1 but stopping in Chicago, Flagstaff, Vegas. Will be in DV Feb. 7 - 11.
Come on down!!

[Richard K.]

Hope you have some warm clothes, it can be quite brisk at night and in the early morning in DV. The sand dunes are nice in the early morning right after sunrise, before all the tourists have trampled all over them.

Roger

I'll have the warm winter clothes that I'm starting out from Toronto and visiting Chicago in! :)

[Jan Pietrzak]

Richard K

To bad that the train stop in Lamy/Santa Fe is so short not even time to a beer. Going south 2:00p to as late as 2:45p if the train is on time it is 2:24p. Let me know

Jan Pietrzak

What day do you leave Chicago

[dsphotog]

I'd avoid the "sparkling" water, in glass bottles.
We had some explode from the altitude/vibration when we arrived at Mahogany Flat.

[Richard K.]

Richard K

To bad that the train stop in Lamy/Santa Fe is so short not even time to a beer. Going south 2:00p to as late as 2:45p if the train is on time it is 2:24p. Let me know

Jan Pietrzak

What day do you leave Chicago

I leave Chicago Feb. 3...doesn't seem like there's much time for even a coffee! :(

[Vaughn]

No snake bite kit needed, just snake bite medicine. As an ex-wilderness ranger in rattler country, a small bottle of JD did the job. Never got bit once! The dosage varied, but the results were the same, snake-bite wise.

[Richard K.]

..... a small bottle of JD did the job....

Will Glen Morangie work as well? :D

[Vaughn]

Will Glen Morangie work as well? :D

Only if you are Scottish, have some Scottish background or other connection somewhere, or you can be stirred by the sound of bagpipes. Otherwise stick to one's native snake medicine.

The only exception is with Irish whiskey -- over-doses tend to bring the Irish snakes out.

[Sirius Glass]

Snake bite kit.

Just don't bite the snakes! :eek:

[Vaughn]

Looks like I will be in Death Valley at the same time, though I might arrive a little earlier and have to head towards home on the afternoon of the 9th. Give a holler if you see a tall hairy gent with an 8x10 or in a silver VW EuroVan camper.

I have no plans to be anywhere in particular -- I tend to leave such things until I get there. I do not plan any excursions to the Race Track or other 4WD sort of places. I like to explore small side canyons and that sort of things. Might head up to Eureka Valley...especially if I can exit the park from up there and get over to Hwy 395 at that time. It is a nice way to go.

Vaughn

[goamules]

I just went camping last weekend here in Arizona, about the same latitude, but not the same depth / de-elevation. As I know, but sometimes forget, the temperature in the desert in the winter can change 40 degrees (F) from day to night. We walked in wearing T-shirts and 72 degrees, but by morning it was quite chilly building a fire in 33 degrees! Don't worry about snakes in this kind of weather, they stay in or close to their holes. Important Safety Tip: don't stick your hands in holes or climb rock piles.

[ghostcount]

Feb. 1 but stopping in Chicago, Flagstaff, Vegas. Will be in DV Feb. 7 - 11.
Come on down!!

Bummer, wish we could chat - I'm gonna' be there in DV this weekend.

[Vaughn]

PS -- do not cut and suck a rattlesnake bite. That method is so last Century...worthless.

[Preston]

PS -- do not cut and suck a rattlesnake bite. That method is so last Century...worthless.

And dangerous. Cutting the area of a bite simply opens more vasculature in which the venom can enter the circulatory system. Cutting and suction should be done only on order from a doctor.

Emergency Care:

*Report the emergency
*Treat for shock
*Immobilize the extremity
*Clean and dress the wound with a dry dressing
*If possible, elevate the limb above heart level
*If there will be an extended evacuation time (5+ hours), apply soft and wide constricting bands above and below the site of the bite. (The band is too tight if a finger cannot be inserted between the band and the skin)
**Do Not apply ice packs unless instructed to do so.

Put the number for Poison Control in your cell phone!

--P

[tgtaylor]

Here's an idea:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5384901895_cda5989cfe.jpg

SNAKE GAITERS!

I never knew such an animal existed until I met John Wimberley pictured above wearing a pair in his recent book Evidence of Magic.

[Vaughn]

Everything I have read says to keep the bit limb below the heart.

Also about 25% of rattlesnake bits are only warnings -- no venom injected.

[Preston]

Vaughn,

I stand corrected--level with, or below the heart, according to the EMT textbook.

--P

[Drew Wiley]

The best thing is to stay calm and walk slow to a cool stream and immerse the bitten
limb in the cold water to slow the circulation of the poison. That's real easy to do in
Death Valley ... heh,heh! Since snake boots are so cumbersome to hike in, a trick I
used to use was to wear bell-bottom Levis. The rattler senses heat coming off the
pants and aims for the surface, rather than your actual leg. It saved me from an actual bite once.

[tgtaylor]

An uncharted, maybe even unknown petroglyph that I ran across while looking for Sky Rock.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/5385367373_b58034eff0.jpg

This was shot on Ilford SFX using a polarizer and developed in plain ole D-76 After meeting John I switched to his WD2D+.

[goamules]

Gaiters...the snake will be laughing so hard he won't strike. Having hiked for 20 years in the southwest the best advise I can give, since we are transforming this thread:

1. Don't stick hands in holes or climb skree or rocks with a lot of cracks. (That's where they hide, already mentioned above).
2. Don't walk fast during periods snakes come out (sunset to night). You will surprise one and it won't have time to give a warning rattle. If you are hustling around looking for firewood right before dark, you could get more than you were looking for.
3. Be very cautious at night (that's when they are out). If you vaguely discern a long, dark shape in front of you in the moonlight, it's probably not a root or discarded belt.

Things of questionable usefulness:

1. Putting out snake deterrent.
2. Laying a rope around your sleeping bag.
3. Worrying about snakes in the dead of winter when it drops below freezing every night.
4. Wearing gaiters.

[tgtaylor]

Well one thing for sure you don't want to do is to stick your hand around the backside of that petroglyph to see if there is something stashed back there.

[Drew Wiley]

An item in my collection is a carved soapstone rattlesnake rattle, probably Yokuts
four or five hundred years old, and apparently some shaman's cure for snakebite.
Probably worked about as well for a field cure as any of the ideas we have. Rattler
bites are rarely fatal, though miserable enough. The deaths I personally knew of were from people who panicked and tried running for help, making the blood circulate fast. I picked up a baby rattler by the tail when I was three years old and
scared the heck out of my parents. For some reason it didn't bite. The little ones are
the most dangerous of all because they don't know how to meter their venom. Also
somewhere in my collections I have a preserved rattleless adult diamondback. A
handful of these turned up in the Sierras, apparently an adaptation to decades of
being eradicated by ranchers.

[Drew Wiley]

Another pleasant thought - down on the floor of Death Valley I'd be more concerned
about scorpions than snakes. It's one of the few places on earth where there are
potentially fatal scorpions. They're straw colored and more slender than ordinary
scorpions, with bigger poison sacks. I've seen them in the Furnace Creek area.
I hear they like to hide inside camera bellows, but that's just a rumor.

[dsphotog]

Don't go barefoot, I saw a couple tiny scorpions (about 1- 1 1/2 inch) at night, across the road from Stovepipe Wells.