Another Acros with red filter capture up near Spooner Summit. Captured with X100VI, 2025-09-10 10:57:02, 23mm, 1/28000sec, f/8, ISO-4000, in-camera Arcos Red Filter conversion.
We are clearly entering our Fall weather season. The mid-90F temperatures left a week ago (although they might return) and we are having a few more clouds. On our Spooner hike a couple of days ago, I looked over my left shoulder and noticed the Sun and clouds. On the way back from the turn-around, I paused because I liked the scene even more than I did on the way out. I made this capture, using the in-camera Acros/R film simulation.
I also will spend a little time today reflecting on that day in 2001 when we were attacked by enemies who despise our way of life. They want us to be afraid. I am not.
I am also reflecting on a heinous act perpetrated, most likely, by either an agent of the far left or by a maniac inspired by same. I am unconvinced that it does not matter if it is the latter because the horrendous tone taken by the far left is responsible for this evil.
I never saw Mr. Kirk be disrespectful or mean-spirited to anyone he engaged. It was part of his approach that I genuinely admired. What happened to him was evil and the perpetrator and his/her motivators are responsible for that evil.
It is a sad day for our nation, when we have come to the point that intelligent voices are silenced by violence.
This is not good; it is evil. Nonetheless, life is good.
The light was nice this Sunday morning and The Girl wanted out to do her morning thing. She then plopped down in a sunny patch. I ran back into the house, grabbed the Nikon D750, and made a few captures. I like this one the best. Captured with NIKON D750, 2025-09-07 08:24:51, 180mm, 1/2500sec, f/8, ISO-800, SOOC but for a slight crop.
This morning I slept in a bit (especially for me) and did not rise until about 0730h. Heh… As I made coffee, I let The Girl out. With my coffee ready, I sat at my desk and she ran back in and to her mat under my desk. As I finished my first mug and started preparing the second, she asked to go back out. So, I reopened the doors and finished putting me coffee on to steep. (I use an Aeropress.)
I stepped back outside to find her sunning. The light was lovely, so I ran back into the house, grabbed the Nikon D750 from the kitchen table, checked the battery, and ran back out. I squatted at about the right distance and made a few captures. I think I like this one the best.
We finished our morning routine and then loaded up to head out for a hike. The left front signal lamp burned out yesterday afternoon, so I stopped at AutoZone thinking I could buy a replacement, but with a LED lamp. There was no joy, so we crossed the street to O’Reilly and I picked up a two-pack of 1156A halogen bulbs and an air filter for the 4Runner. Then we headed up the hill.
We had a great hike, with me chatting with a ham buddy partway. The weather was spectacular and I am loving the fall feeling that we have at the moment. On the way back to the rig, I thought “I should see if I can make the change with the tools I have on hand.”
So I retrieved my tool roll from its crate, grabbed the knee pad, and turned the front wheels to the right, full stop. I then began the process of removing the inner fender liner and found I needed a pry bar to separate the line from the fender. So I returned to the back of the rig and fetched the large tool roll (mostly cheap Harbor Freight tools, yuck). There I extracted a flat-point stubby and used it to separate the liner from the fender. I then reached into the well and unfastened the lamp socket. It was easy to replace the bulb and only a little fiddly to replace the socket into the housing. Reinstalling the fender liner was a little fiddly, but eventually all the screws were back into place.
I did remember to function check before buttoning everything up. I’ve been there (before), done that, and did not collect a T-shirt.
I was hungry on the way back to the house and decided that a BLT would be good. (I need a grocery run.) I pulled in to the Red Hut, got Sera’s vest out (“In Training”), and prepped her to go in with me. Red Hut traffic was light and she needs the reps. We were seated quickly at my choice of booths and she went under the table with just a little encouragement. (She likes the back corner better than the front corner, it seems.)
The BLT was good (actually, it was a BLTC — with cheese) and I boxed up some of the bacon and the remaining fries for her treat, once she was out of vest. We returned to the rig and I gave her her treat.
As I was about to leave, a young man with cross-clipped red hair and a well-trimmed red beard approached.
“Would you be happening to be going by The Nugget?”
I shook my head “no” and shrugged. He trotted off.
I have a thing about unknown contacts. Any time a stranger approaches the element of risk increases. One can never know another’s intention and I am more distrustful of people now than I have ever been. It is not paranoia; it is a sign of our troubled times.
As I watched him hurry across Clearview Avenue, I heard that small voice in the back of my head say “You could give him a ride. It is not far out of your way.”
I have heard that voice before. I think it is the Holy Spirit telling me that there is something I should do to help another and that it is OK.
So I started the rig, crossed Clearview, and crossed the parking lot. I intercepted him and offered him a ride to The Nugget. Sera hopped into the back seat and he climbed in. I asked “Are you late for work?”
“No, I have an interview at 2:30 and I don’t think I can make it in time. I’d also be sweaty and that’s not how to show up for an interview.”
“Gotcha.”
“Thanks man, I really appreciate this.”
“No worries.”
Sera clambered up on the console between us. She gave no indication of anything awry and I had a peace about giving a man a ride. We chatted a little on the way, he asking about my equipment on the dash.
A few minutes later I pulled around on the north side of The Nugget (off Carson Street, the main drag) and stopped at the curb.
“Thanks man!” he said as he started out. I offered my hand and he took it. “Break a leg and good luck with the interview. Get the job!”
He grinned and took off. I hope he gets the job.
Sometimes I hear that voice that tells me I should do something. It always feels right.
While sheltering from the wind and rain of a pop-up thundershower, I noticed the rain on the front glass of the rig. So, I made the capture. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-23 14:41:13, 35mm, 1/170sec, f/2.8, ISO-125, post in PhotoLab with HP5+ conversion.
I am quite busy right now with work and taking care of The Girl and myself. I did manage to get out for a couple of weekends, first to Weber Reservoir with friends. There was no radio play, but lots of conversation, a shared meal, and a pop-up thunderstorm that provided plenty of excitement. Hence, I offer the abstract above.
For the Labor Day weekend, I was invited with friends to active Bald Mountain, just north from Topaz Lake. We decided to make a part of it and took the vehicles up to the summit. There we grilled burgers, had a great time of fellowship, and I played some radio.
I did violate the First Rule, thinking I had brought the Yaesu FT-897D and instead finding the Elecraft KX3 in the black Apache case I picked up. That meant I was limited to 15w of output power, which is stingy for phone operations.
It turned out OK because I was the only operator who activated. The 15w output is plenty for code operations, especially at altitude.
Although the vista is wonderful, the air quality is not. Shot from Bald Mountain during my SOTA activation. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-31 13:19:02, 35mm, 1/400sec, f/8, ISO-125, SOOC.
I did manage to get out Labor Day Monday for a POTA activation, that is already documented previous. That provided some needed recreation, some additional Morse Code practice, and a enjoyable Eastern Sierra outing with The Girl.
I like the combination of bright cloud and dark sky, shot on walkies up near Spooner Summit. Captured with X100VI, 2025-09-04 11:18:32, 23mm, 1/7500sec, f/8, ISO-4000, in-camera Acros-Red film simulation.The Girl and I are hiking the Eastern Sierra again, after the bear-scare kept me in-town for a few days. I really thought I lost her when I saw her broad ass disappear over the rise downhill from me.
Fortunately, she responded to my calls after she ran out of gas on the chase. She returned completely gassed, but unharmed. I, however, was worthless for the remainder of the day.
On our way up the trail from the staging area, I noticed this cloud peeking through the pines. I thought it might make a nice image in black and white with a red filter. So, I set the camera to simulate Fujifilm Acros with a red filter and made the capture. I rather like the output.
We finished our hike without incident, although I maintain a watchful attitude and work at staying present while hiking that trail now. The first bear I saw on the hike was last year, but at quite a distance. This time, the bear bombed the hill not ten feet in front of me. I was unable to react before The Girl clicked on and bolted in hot pursuit.
I have also seen a coyote a number of times (although not the last couple of summers), but always in the distance. She had a coyote encounter that left her with lacerations (she has earned the “F*()%#ed-up Face” appellation as a result) and the final rupture of the port-aft CCL. The latter required surgery for repair.
The Girl is a beacon for trouble, it seems.
Work kept me busy the remainder of the week. What this weekend will be is yet to be determined.
Life is busy at the moment. I am grateful for God’s gifts in general, and for the work in particular. Life is good.
The Comstock Casino has earned a few visits because of Juan’s Mexican Restaurant housed therein. The tacos and salsa are top-shelf. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-28 17:44:53, 35mm, 1/480sec, f/8, ISO-125, Fujifilm Classic Chrome in-camera film simulation, SOOC.
The old Yaesu FT-897D provided radio service for my activation of Spooner Backcountry Park. Captured with Pixel 9a, 2025-09-03 01:22:23, light editing with Snapseed.
After violating the First Rule on Sunday’s Summits on the Air expedition, I replaced the black Apache case that housed the Yaesu FT-897D with a bright yellow Apache case Monday morning (Labor Day). After hiking The Girl in the morning and then working around the house for a bit, I decided I had enough and wanted out of the house.
We left at 1500h and headed back toward Spooner Summit and King’s Canyon Trail. I drove us down the trail from US50 and found a shady spot at the staging area. I got The Girl out to burn off some energy and then assembled my station, anchored by the Yaesu FT-897D radio.
This old radio is solid, that is, built like a tank. It does everything I want from a radio and will do more than that as well. I have filters for CW and Phone modes, which improve the signal-to-noise ratio on receive. I have the LDG antenna matching unit that is integrated well with the radio and has a better range of matching than does the factory unit.
I can have a working radio station setup and on-the-air in about ten minutes if I try. Recovery of the station takes about the same amount of time and can be shortened if I just toss everything into the back of the 4Runner.
While The Girl sniffed about for chippies (chipmunks), I deployed the Chameleon MPAS antenna in the vertical configuration and laid out my three-wire counterpoise. (I built this to improve antenna performance.)
I recently decided to move away from Big Tech to improve (slightly) my privacy and security. Part of that was purchase of a new phone, a Pixel 9a. I immediately flashed GrapheneOS to the phone (to reduce/eliminate Google tracking). I installed an amateur radio logging app, PoLo, on my phone for this outing.
So, while activating the park (Parks on the Air), I was also learning a new software. It is relatively easy to use. They keyboard will take some repetitions to master, but it is doable. I have yet to check the output ADIF, but I am confident it will be readily uploadable to the POTA logging portal.
I played radio for the next couple-three hours, keeping one eye on The Girl. I made enough contacts to get my quota on Monday and then we crossed the 0000Z date change and I also made my quota for Tuesday.
I chased a bunch of other POTA activators so I have many park-to-park contacts in my log. I mostly operated CW mode, but made and took a few phone calls.
Satisfied with the activation, I recovered the station and put things away. The Girl watched me expectantly.
After stowing my equipment, The Girl and I made a circuit around the big staging area, but most of the chippies had retired for the day. The Sun was falling behind the Sierra Crest as we humped it back to the rig. She settled into shotgun as we headed back down the hill. We had a lovely, cool afternoon/early evening outdoors with the wind shushing in the pine trees and the crackle and snap of HF radio.
