Last Couple Weeks

2025/09/062025/09/06 ruminator

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.

Coopers Hawk

2025/08/272025/08/27 ruminator

This Cooper Hawk few into the trees in front of us, scattering the other birds. It waited patiently for me to make an image. Shot with the Fuji X-T5 and Fujinon 70-300mm f/4-f/5.6 zoom.

The day before yesterday, The Girl chased a black bear that bolted across the trail not ten feet in front of us. It was blasting down the hill and she was off before I could even react. There was no calling her off.

Fortunately, the bear was faster. After what seemed like an eternity, I heard her heavy breathing before I caught sight of her. She was working her way back up the hill, totally gassed.

I gave her time to return to me, then checked her over carefully. I found no wounds, but for a couple of light scratches from bombing the brush.

It was too steep to put out water, so we humped back up the hill to more level terrain. Then, I doffed the pack, retrieved her bowl and water bottle, and gave her as much water as she wanted.

We then proceeded back to the trail and then back to the rig. I took the pace easy and she recovered on the way back.

It was a fright that I did not need. I spent much of the afternoon in a state of mild shock, after thinking it likely that I lost her. We stayed pretty close together the remainder of the day.

The following day, yesterday, I had a full schedule and it was relatively cool. So, we walked the linear parkway not far from my apartment. She was able to run about a bit and sniff plenty. We got in a couple of miles of hiking on the flat.

It was good enough.

Along the way, I saw a bunch of birds scatter from the trees in front of us. I figured a hawk had flow in, looking for lunch. Sure enough, the Coopers Hawk above was perched in the tree. It waited patiently for me to make the capture.

Life is good.

Fuji Acros Film Simulation

2025/08/032025/08/03 ruminator

I carried the Fuji X100vi up the hill at our Spooner Summit trail this morning. I paused to shoot this scene using the in-camera Acros-Red film simulation. Captured with X100VI, 2025-08-03 10:43:37, 23mm, 1/400sec, f/16, ISO-800, mild post in PhotoLab 7.

After a very slow start, The Girl and I got out to hike about 1000h. We stopped at the Subway store on the way for a breakfast sandwich, but they were out of eggs. So, a Spicy Italian had to do. (It did.)

I ate my sandwich while listening to a talk radio station in Reno, with The Girl looking on (at my sandwich, not talk radio).

When we arrived at the staging area, about 20 off-road motorcycles were gathered. Fortunately, they were about to head out and vacated the spot I intended to use for parking. It was in the shade.

I got The Girl out to start doggie stuff while I gather up my pack, hat, and sunglasses. I put the Fuji X100vi around my neck and called her to head out. I did pause for a moment to catch this view of the Carson Range using the in-camera Acros with a red filter film simulation.

I elected to go up the hill rather than the old fire road. This was a significant challenge for my legs, which is fine. I paused a couple of times up the hill and made a couple of captures.

Near the top of the first hill, I turned and side-hilled to where The Girl was hunting. There I found an interesting rock formation, so we paused to catch breath (at least for me) and I made a couple of captures. Then we headed on down to the first saddle on the old fire road.

I paused there for a minute, then decided to go up the adjacent hill to get in some more climb and maybe find a couple more captures. Near the top, The Girl gave me a couple of opportunities and I took them. Then we moved on.

we side-hilled some more and then dropped back down to the fire road. The walking was much easier and we paused after another couple hundred meters for some water and some shade. We then hiked on to the turn-around, where we paused for another water break.

I elected to take the fire road back to the rig and not explore more. I had a report to get out and need to write some July invoices to pad my receivables. I like having billing out because sometimes it takes months to be paid for my work.

When we arrived back at the rig, The Girl was spent. She is snoozing on the floor next to my chair as I write on Sunday afternoon. I am also thinking a nap might be in order for a Sunday afternoon.

I created a gallery of these images and posted them to my Photo Album here.

It was a good hike. It was a good day. Life is good.

Do you see The Girl? She is there. Captured with X100VI, 2025-08-03 10:59:10, 23mm, 1/640sec, f/8, ISO-800.

The Spooner Trail

2025/07/272025/07/27 ruminator

This is a view of a segment of the old fire road that The Girl and I walk most summer mornings. Captured with TG-7, 2025-06-05 08:35:12, 4.5mm, 1/640sec, f/2.8, ISO-100, SOOC.

We are back from morning walkies. As usual, we walked the old fire rood up near Spooner Summit in the National Forest. I have yet to see a snake there in the summer. Last year and the year before, there w as a wily coyote that I saw some yards off a few times. But, that critter has not been seen in a long time. I think I can say there is sufficient traffic that they keep away from the area where there are people.

The Girl has lots of chipmunks to chase and has reduced the gene pool a few times. While I do not encourage her to kill things and would prefer she did not, she is a high drive dog who loves to hunt. There are a lot of chipmunks in the area. I even see a gray squirrel now and again, but only for a moment.

Today I chatted with Older Son while hiking with The Girl. After her vet visit Friday, I have decided that her leg is about as good as it is going to be. She has no apparent reluctance to use it. The muscle of her left hip is filling in. She favors the leg a little in the afternoon after our hike, but does not seem to be any worse for wear. She might as well enjoy life and the chase is a big part of her enjoyment.

Who am I to say “No!” to that?

So, I let her range out 30 yards this morning. If she got out farther than that, I recalled her and she was good to return, although sometimes some encouragement was required. I paused once about half-way to the turn-around to give her some water (and drink a little myself). Then we took five at the turn-around, again to water and take a short break (“Smoke ’em if ya got ’em!”)

I kept her closer on the return route to the rig. She was a little overheated and had expended a lot of energy. So, it was appropriate. She did not seem to mind much, and got a couple of little bursts in anyway.

She also was good to call off if I ordered “Leave it!”. We returned home, still chatting with Older Son and ready to settle in for the afternoon. I might go get some lunch today or I might go roast some more hot dogs.

Then I have to get some work done before my week starts for real tomorrow.

It is a good day. I love spending time with The Girl and talking to my son. Life is good.

Focus Stacking

2025/07/152025/07/15 ruminator

The little Olympus Tough TG-7 has an internal program to do a macro focus stack. It works. Captured with TG-7, 2025-07-07 10:03:52, 5.4mm, 1/250sec, f/3.2, ISO-100.

The little Olympus Tough TG-7 gave me another surprise a few days ago. I knew about its capability to stack focus frames in-camera for macro photography. What I did not know is that it does it fairly well and takes only a moment.

The Girl and I were on our normal summer trail and I had the TG-7 in my hip pocket. I noticed the sun on the nut of the gate lock that keeps four-wheel traffic from the fire road.

“That might make an interesting image…”

I paused a minute, while The Girl snuffled about, and set the camera to macro focus-stacking. When I pressed the shutter release, I heard the camera take several frames in quick succession. It then flashed an image for a few seconds and returned to ready mode.

The frame is pretty darned good. I am surprised.

I wonder what other things this little camera does this well.

Life is good.

Hobart Reservoir

2025/07/132025/07/13 ruminator

A couple of weeks ago The Girl and I drove up Ash Canyon Trail for our daily outing. We hiked down to Hobart Reservoir just because I have not done that before and I wondered how the fishing might be.

It is a bit of a hump to get back up to the staging area, but readily doable. I wonder if there is a better place to park and hike in. I would try my hand a fishing the lake.

MOLLE II Patrol Pack

2025/06/232025/07/13 ruminator

This is my current carry on our hikes. I have two 2-liter bottles full (on the start), a bit of emergency equipment (knife, saw, fire kit, snack, boo-boo kit, bug spray, head net, emergency blanket and tarp, and a compass), and my GPSr. Captured with TG-7, 6.37mm, 1/80sec, f/2.5, ISO-160, SOOC.

About a year ago, I found and bought a milsurp MOLLE II Patrol Pack. I have a number of backpacks in my inventory (too many) and have been through a few more. I keep coming back to milsurp because of the MOLLE system, which allows me to hang pouches and equipment from the pack readily. I like having pockets/pouches to stow gear and the PALS webbing makes it easy to hang gear on the outside of the pack.

The pack came without a stiffener/pad combination (a sort of frame), but the seller was kind enough to send along a set he thought would fit. I struggled to get the frame into its pocket, but made it happen. (This was expected.) But, I thought the frame was a little too long for the pocket. Nonetheless, I used it for a year (at least) before deciding to cut a little from the bottom.

A couple of weekends ago, I set up a folding table in my side yard and pulled out the frame. I carefully measured the pocket dimensions (three times), then decided to remove a half-inch from the bottom of the frame. I drew a line with a Sharpie at the cut and used a pair of electrician’s shears to make the cut. I then rounded the bottom corners to reduce the likelihood of abrading the inside of the pocket.

It was fairly easy (now that I know the process) to reinsert the frame and try on the pack. The curve that had formed at the middle of the rucksack/frame was much reduced. I decided to wear it for a while before removing any more material.

The last few outings with the pack were much improved. The bottom edge of rucksack no longer digs into my lower back a little. I think it is where I want it to be, but will continue monitoring to determine whether another adjustment is needed.

These packs are relatively rare. I had to hunt for mine. I think they were issued in the 1980s as part of the infantry pack system (see here). Because it is long discontinued and there is quite a bit of demand for milsurp packs, they are not cheap (I paid about $100US for mine) and are not common. However, I think they are worth the search.

I tried a MOLLE II Assault Pack, but found the extra size and the thinly padded straps to be not what I needed or wanted. With a reasonable loadout, the straps dug into my shoulders too much and so the pack was abandoned. Fortunately they are not expensive (or were not at the time). I also had the large ruck for a time, but it was not carryable for me.

I have also been through a number of civilian packs over the last few years. My favorite is an Osprey Stratus in the 20-liter size. It is very comfortable, if a bit small (the 36-liter is much larger). It will work well as a day pack or for an ultralight enthusiast.

As much as I love the suspension and comfort of the Stratus, the hip belt interferes with the EDC on my belt and the bottle pouches on the sides are a little small for my stainless Nalgene bottles. Therefore, I gave up on the Stratus (still have it though) and continued the search.

The milsurp canteen pouches (although not matching in ACU) readily carry a 1-liter stainless Nalgene bottle and I have one affixed to each side of my pack. The front pouch, intended to carry a standard protective mask, holds an assortment of small gear. I keep a small boo-boo kit, headnet, fire kit, mylar emergency blanket, snack, tea kit, bug juice, and a number of other small items in this pouch. The main pouch has room for overnight gear if that is needed. I generally have an emergency tarp/blanket in the main compartment and not much else. I do sometimes store a cover if the weather is cool or inclement. I removed the parachute webbing from my sample.

The shoulder straps are comfortable enough for light to moderate loads. I currently carry about 20-pounds of water and gear. I think they straps would be less comfortable once I passed about 30 pounds.

In all, I think this pack fits my use case. It is a keeper.

Life is good. I am grateful.

Connor Fire Friday Afternoon 1400PDT

2025/06/202025/06/22 ruminator

We stopped on the way back down the hill so I could make this capture. Captured with TG-7, 2025-06-20@12:29PST, 18mm, 1/400sec, f/6.3, ISO-100, SOOC.

On the way up the hill to our hiking spot near Spooner Summit, I noticed a plume of smoke rising from the Pine Nut Mountains. I made a mental note to stop on the way home to make an image or two. Then, on arrival home (or at a convenient parking spot), I would load up my fire watch app and find out more about the fire.

The location is some miles from home, so I am not concerned for my place and my things. A lot of south Carson City would burn before the fire got to my location and that would be very unusual. The risk is pretty low.

On the way home, just an hour or two later, I was shocked at the increase in the size of the fire. The plume had grown tremendously and it was clear that the fire was raging. The dry winds that blew in early Friday morning were not helping.

I paused at a turn-out on eastbound US50 and stepped out of the rig to make a couple of photographs. A few other motorists were also pulling out to gawk and take snapshots.

When we got home, I got The Girl settled in (she is always ready to nap) and checked on the fire. It is called the Connor Fire and began as a structure fire that spread from the house to the wildlands and got away from fire fighters sent to work on the blaze. It had abruptly spread to about 2,000 acres (~3 mi²) and the winds were rapidly spreading it. Assets were on station and being called in.

I noticed that the trend was not northerly, but to the northeast farther into the Pine Nuts. The good thing is that there are few domiciles in that area. The bad thing is that the terrain becomes rougher.

I hope folks are alright.

Edit Sunday Morning: At this time the fire had an area of about 20,000 acres (~31 mi²). I learned later that the Connor Fire is burning a burn scar from a previous blaze. That means there is reduced ground level fuel. I hope this means that it is more easily extinguished.

Daily Doggo

2025/06/062025/06/06 ruminator

A serendipitous capture of The Girl apparently sticking her tongue out at me. Shot with Olympus TG-7 and SOOC.

We are hiking up near Spooner Summit on USFS lands these days. The heat, ticks, and other hikers drove us from our routine at Silver Saddle Ranch to elevation. Well, mostly it was the ticks that made me move higher.

Ticks are exceptionally bad this year. In fact, it is the worst that I recall. I am not sure exactly why this is the case nor do I know if this is an anomaly, a periodic occurrence, or a trend. I just know that I removed more ticks from her (and me) this year than any other I recall.

The hikes up near Spooner are better for me anyway. I thought that she needed to walk on the flat as she still favors the injured leg. But, her vet assures me that her surgery is healed. So, her favoring of that leg must be residual soreness or psychosomatic. She hurt for so long that it might have become habit.

She loves the Spooner hike. There are abundant chipmunks to entertain her. I am still reluctant to let her chase hard and I am also reluctant to let her get more than about 30 meters from me. The last year and change of rattlesnake and coyote encounters has me gun shy.

I am carrying my milsurp Patrol Pack II. I have two canteen pouches affixed to the sides. Each of these will hold a 1 liter Nalgene bottle nicely. I keep a few emergency items in the pack as well, just because.

I am carrying the little Olympus TG-7 on these walks now. I want to familiarize myself with the camera (learn to use its features). That means practice. I have field work coming up and that will mean putting this equipment to work. That is the reason I bought it.

On this particular outing she asked for water at our turn-around. I always pause at this location for a water break anyway. She loves to roll around in the DG and gave me the look in the header image. I was ready and made the capture.

The little Olympus makes better images than I expected. They are far superior to the Panasonic ZS-40 that I used to use. That camera, while handy, is not well-suited to field work and does not make very good images.

I love the look The Girl gave me. Well, I love The Girl.

I am grateful. Life is good.

Tri-X Film Simulation

2025/05/172025/05/17 ruminator

Granite found along the trail, Toiyabe National Forest. Shot with Fuji X-T5 and Fujinon 35mm f/1.4 at f/4. In camera conversion to Tri-X 400 film simulation.

I made this capture a year and change ago. We were hiking, probably up near Spooner summit. I came across this bit of granite and decided that the play of light and shadow was interesting. So, I made the capture.

I know that I was playing with some of the film simulations one can readily program into Fuji cameras. I think that the color capture was not what I was looking for.

So, a black and white film simulation it is.

It was a good day. Today is a good day. Life is good.

Random Ruminations

Category: outdoors