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Field trips 2.0


BC witness

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On 3/11/2022 at 10:16 PM, BC witness said:

Found it in my camera settings on the phone. HEIC is a "high efficiency" setting, apparently needed for 4K formats. I've turned it off, and set it to "most compatible", which will use jpeg files........

 

I just got an iPhone 13 and caught this discussion. Thanks for the tip. I set mine to "most compatible", too.

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@PNWexplorer Yes, I saw your wheels a while ago, and liked the look. Mine were getting faded and pitted, so a bit of sanding and a few cans of Tremco wheel paint smartened them up. I've had several positive comments on them.

 

@Huntster I'm glad my comment was helpful. Let's see some pics from the new phone ;-)

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Looks like a great hike. I'm jealous, as at my age (77) I'm now only capable of short day hikes. Most of my explorations are now in my 4x4.

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My son Rick and I got out for a full day yesterday. We spent the day exploring some of the old deactivated logging roads in the Chehalis Lake/River valley. The H3 got very muddy, and lots of pinstripes from the overgrown brushy trails. Once we left the main FSR, we had most of the trails to ourselves, only meeting 2 other vehicles in a 6 hour period. It looks like the bears are not out yet, as we found no tracks or scat, but there were lots of deer tracks. The weather was good all day, till about 5 PM, when some heavy black clouds rolled in, bring some rain, and a few snow flakes. It was great to share a day in the mountains with my son, and we both came away happy to have had the time out there.

 

 

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After a lunch time meeting in Chilliwack today, I got out for a few hours on a logging road that goes out to the headwaters of a Chilliwack River tributary. Experienced everything from bright blue sky to cold wind and snow in a matter of 3 hours. The only wildlife encounter was a large owl that I spooked up on the roadside. He took off right beside my truck, and flew alongside at window height for about 20 m (22 yards), giving me a great look at him. The wingspan looked to be about 4'. I didn't get a pic, as I was concentrating on staying on the narrow road. I did find a pretty waterfall and got a shot of it, though.

 

 

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On 4/14/2022 at 5:32 PM, norseman said:

Maiden voyage! (Just on property in Newport) It rides nicer than the K5…

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That is one of the coolest and most capable overlanding rigs I have seen!  Great job!  Are those 37"  Pro Comp MTs?

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3 minutes ago, PNWexplorer said:

That is one of the coolest and most capable overlanding rigs I have seen!  Great job!  Are those 37"  Pro Comp MTs?


40’s but yes!

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On 4/11/2022 at 12:00 PM, Explorer said:

I decided to explore La Ventana Wilderness in Monterey County California in early April.  There are only 4 BRFO reports (in the SSR database) for Monterey County in California but I have heard of other non-public reports.

I have never visited this wilderness area before. Attached below is a Google Earth image snip with the 4 BFRO Reports plotted (3 orange dots and 1 yellow dot) to put in the context the route I took.

 

I went backpacking into the Ventana Wilderness via the route shown in the attached map. It was a 3 nights and 4 days backpack.

 

The first night was spent at Vicente Flat campground which was next to a creek.  The campground had lots of people ~15. The second night was spent at Goat Camp (a beautiful location with creeks north and south and view of the ocean).  Only saw 3 other people there. On the 3rd day, we took a long day hike to Cone Peak and back, and spent the last night at Limekiln creek.

This is not a campground, but we crashed on a wash on the creek (see photo).

 

We saw no large wildlife (deer, coyote, etc.). Did not even see squirrels!

Saw snakes, bluebirds, and numerous other birds.

I used my audio recorder the first 2 nights, and there were plenty of barred owls and other type of owls.

No unusual sounds were detected.

On the 3rd night by the creek, the creek sound was too loud to record anything so I did not record.

 

I took my big thermal imager and tripod all the way up to Goat Camp and back and did not use it.  I did not use it because my strategy was to keep it in my tent off until I heard some anomalous sound.  Then I will turn it on, scan the area and mount it on tripod.  Neither I nor my buddy (who does not believe in BF nor cares about looking for it) heard any weird sounds during all 3 nights.

 

I did this trip because I wanted to explore deep into the Ventana wilderness and see the different ecosystems. We saw diverse types of vegetation (chaparral, cypress, live oaks, redwoods, sugar pines) and also grass and lupine meadows.

 

There was plenty of water in those creeks up there.

 

I saw no sign of BF in all in the areas we visited.  I don't know if BF is still present in the coastal areas south of Monterey. This wilderness area gets lots of visitors in the spring (after rainy season and before the hot summer).

 

The whole trail had poison oak all along the way.  We took Tecnu and washed every time we thought we touched the plants.

While I did not get any rash while I was there, I did get hit with a poison oak rash on my left arm after I got home. Whole left arm is full of blisters and swollen.  Probably won't hike again in coastal areas with poison oak anymore since I am extremely allergic.

 

 

4 BFRO Class A Reports around Ventana Wilderness.jpg

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Looks like a beautiful place to explore. Kudos.

 

Your tents and their locations underscore for me why a fully-freestanding tent is worth the marginal weight increase. Set it up in a flash and plunk it down. Pick it up and move it if it strikes your fancy. The days of using hiking poles for a tent (Zpack and TarpTent) are gladly in my rearview mirror.

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On 4/14/2022 at 8:32 PM, norseman said:

Maiden voyage! (Just on property in Newport) It rides nicer than the K5…

7A361C01-6DB8-4B3A-B210-A05B0E8E926F.jpeg

7767B1C7-56C9-4DCB-B084-1B69C22CBBB0.jpeg

B0ADDA38-13FE-441A-AF65-C44DCD30305F.jpeg

EAF035CD-AB53-45B0-A67A-4E23B9F12677.jpeg

0958D523-3DF4-4A78-84F6-C714FA3B600C.jpeg

B02729EB-35C7-490F-8C4A-4C21BCDF4177.jpeg

 

That is a serious rig perfectly designed for outdoor adventures. The wait for its custom build was worth it. I hope you find a lot of joy from its use.

 

Congrats, brother!

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On 4/16/2022 at 1:17 AM, BC witness said:

After a lunch time meeting in Chilliwack today, I got out for a few hours on a logging road that goes out to the headwaters of a Chilliwack River tributary. Experienced everything from bright blue sky to cold wind and snow in a matter of 3 hours. The only wildlife encounter was a large owl that I spooked up on the roadside. He took off right beside my truck, and flew alongside at window height for about 20 m (22 yards), giving me a great look at him. The wingspan looked to be about 4'. I didn't get a pic, as I was concentrating on staying on the narrow road. I did find a pretty waterfall and got a shot of it, though.

 

 

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Beautiful area. Looks like some rough going if you wanted to go to the falls and beyond.

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