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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Last year we activated a number of parks while staying with my Springfield, MO, contingent of kids. The Girl and I drove out to activate the Blue Slip Tower Site, US-11225, during our stay. This is one of the newly added state conservation areas. These are small plots acquired by the state and used by citizens for a variety of outdoor activities.
They are always fun to activate. There is usually an opportunity to get in at least a short hike as well.
I made this capture of Sera hunting last summer. There was something moving about in the weeds/irrigation ditch that caught her attention. I do not recall what it was, but it was probably some California Quail, which frequent the area.
I am going through my image archive (my weblog image library) and am posting some images made, uploaded, but never posted.
This capture is of the memorial to Squirrel, a little dog lost in an attack by two larger dogs at the Station 51 Park where I used to take Ki, a lot. It was first constructed years ago, long before Sera came to live with me. It is still there, although I do not know who maintains it. But it does get some love now and again as others, sensitive to the loss, contribute a bit of something or pull weeds.
I did not record what camera I used to make the image.
After a full day of work, yesterday, The Girl and I finally headed out for a hike at Silver Saddle Ranch about 1715h. This is late for us, but the Sun was really warm yesterday and I did not want The Girl to overheat. I noticed some heavy clouds to the south and paused at the rig to check the weather before we left. Light rain was forecast for the next hour.
“I guess we’ll get wet,” I said to The Girl.
Sure enough, as we drove to the upper staging area, the sprinkles started. I made her contain her excitement while I retrieved a packable puffy I keep in the back of the rig. It was not particularly cold, but I knew the light jacket would shed most of the rain.
Prepared, I got her out, grabbed my camera, and we headed out. We had the place to ourselves. No one else wanted to hike in the rain.
The Girl chuffed and sniffed (on lead, of course) as we walked south. I did not really expect any critters, but I simply do not trust her to stay out of trouble.
The rain came a little harder for a bit. She paused to shake now and again, but did not ask to return to the rig. Neither of us minded a little rain to close out the week. The jacket kept me mostly dry.
The Fuji X100vi is waterproof with a filter affixed to the lens. I have had a filter affixed to the lens since I got the camera. I often use a light diffusion filter at night or indoors, but use a UV filter during daylight hours. A diffusion filter can really drop contrast if the sun shines on the glass.
As we neared the end of the hike, the shower passed off to the north and a bit of Sun peeked through the clouds. That lit up the vegetation wonderfully. So, I took advantage of the serendipity (the moment, not The Girl) and paused for a few images. I think some of them are decent.
We then hiked the couple-hundred feet back to the rig and mounted up. I decided to go by DQ for a bite of supper (cheeseburger, fries, and small Blizzard), all of which were shared with The Girl. She was a little grabby with the fries, so I had to correct her.
We then headed back toward the house, with a stop at Costco to refuel the rig. It was a good day. I am grateful.
Life is good.
It was a very cloudy morning here in Carson City, Nevada. But, The Girl and I had to get out for morning walkies and I had a short break between morning meetings. So, we walked one of our local circuits so she (and me) could get a little exercise.
Along the path I came across this flowering tree. With the overcast, the colors really pop. The Velvia film simulation just increases the pop.
So, I paused and made the capture.
We then finished our walk and I made my next meeting. There is another new project for me to work on this year.
I am grateful. Life is so very good.