Or, more precisely, where was Dan? I have been on a weeklong backpack trip through a favorite part of the Sierra Nevada, across Kearsarge and Forrester passes into the upper Kern River basin and then out over infamous Shepherd Pass. More about this soon…
Greg, thanks for your follow-up message – I think I missed it during the preparations for my New York trip.
I’m lucky in regards to time flexibility during the summer months. As a college faculty member I am “gainfully unemployed” during the summer months. No pay checks, but they pay me very well in free time! Because of this I have the luxury of being able to get to the Sierra (and other interesting places) quite a bit. It also helps to have a very understanding wife!
Dan
Dan, yes getting old stinks! Sorry to read that you aren’t as fit as before, and I know the feeling…well. That acclimatizing at altitude is a good idea, however many folks don’t have the luxury of extra days to spend. However that being said having four days “to kill” photographing in the high Sierra would not be wasted time at all in my opinion…plenty of time to think out compositions and chase the light.
I too have been made the subject of long-running running jokes (is 25 years considered “long-running”?) by one of my backpacking buddies that I carry too much photo gear into the backcountry. I would stick my camera attached with a 28-85mm zoom into a chest pouch, and in the top of my backpack, I’d stuff a fanny pack filled with film, filters, cable release, etc. etc. I weighed the fanny pack and the chest pouch and it came out to 10 lbs…then made the error of telling my buddy about it (bad move on my part).
I have not made the transition yet to “ultralight” backpacking (I haven’t backpacked for several years now so I haven’t adopted any new gear trends), but it would be worthwhile to try…just so I could bring the 10 lbs of photo gear again ;-) (Some guys never learn!)
Yes, I wouldn’t mind that deal of your friends…a few photos in trade for someone else schlepping your gear…sweet indeed!
I did go to your Flickr photostream and look at those backpacking images…it makes me wish I were there! Beautiful backcountry!
Ah, the sad truth is that I’m not in the shape I used to be in for this sort of stuff. I used to do a lot of bicycling – many thousands of miles per year – but that is no longer as possible as it once was. And age takes its toll as well! :-)
There is a standing joke among the group I often backpack with. (Though I also travel solo quite a bit as well.) They are “ultra-light” backpackers whose pack base weights (all gear minus water and food) are in the 10-12 pound range. The joke is that my photo gear alone typically weighs more than their base pack weights. When they are feeling particularly malicious, at the start of our trips they take turns lifting my pack and smirking… ;-)
Before this last trip into some pretty high and difficult terrain, I managed to spend four days in the Tuolumne Meadows area doing photography, taking day hikes, and generally adapting to altitude. This helped a lot. “Back in the day” I would show up at an east side Sierra trailhead and just schlep up and over a 12,000′ pass. Today I don’t think that would be so successful. So, at a minimum, I arrive a full day ahead of time and spend some time at altitude.
On the trail, I’ve learned that pacing is everything. Well, almost everything – keeping hydrated and fed also are very important. But I pace myself very carefully. I tend to start earlier than my ultra-light friends and move at a steady but slow pace. My goal is to keep my “engine” running at a speed that I can maintain rather than focusing on how fast I move along the trail. I may be slow, but I get there eventually.
Occasionally I’m jealous of a group of photographer friends who work the Yosemite back-country each fall. Because of the high quality of their work and their long relationship with the park, they have a “deal” which I understand to be that they get packed in and out of a suitably beautiful place at no charge in return for providing a few of their fine photographs in large sizes. They walk in carrying only their photo equipment and the rest of their gear comes in on the pack train. Jealous!
Dan
Dan, a question just popped into my mind as I was reading your post. You do many High Sierra backpacking trips, and you carry a heavy photo gear load as well; how do you keep in shape to carry all of this weight and at high altitude, no less?
Do you run, bicycle, or are you one of those lucky folks with great genetics?
I hope you post some images of this soon. I’d love to see not only the landscapes, but aspects of the backpacking trip as well. Haven’t been backpacking to the High Sierra in awhile so I’m enjoying it vicariously through your images!
Greg, the Upper Kern photos will start to show up here during the next week and beyond. I’ve been working my way through a lot of images from my previous trip first – a four-day photo trip to the Tuolumne area. If you get really impatient, some of the new stuff will appear on Flickr before it makes it here. ;-)
Dan