Ken (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} shadowplay2) wrote,@ 2006-01-15 21:52:00 |
|
san francisco
Weekend update:
Saturday: It was raining as I drove north to Arcata, but by 8:30 am when the field trip group headed up Hwy 299 toward Willow Creek it had almost stopped. We squeezed the cars into a tiny National Forest campground and headed up the trail.
After a few minutes I realized that with two local experts present who were already very familiar with the location, and a small army of grad students who learned quickly and had strong, flexible muscles to turn rocks and logs, finding amphibians wasn't going to be a problem. The two local guys were however not able to answer anywhere near all of the constant questions, there were just too many people who wanted to know too many things. So I ended up staying mostly on the trail and handling the overflow questions... fortunately I've had a fair amount of experience with all of the critters we were finding.
Although the rain held off until after we were done, it was only about 47 degrees, cloudy, and damp at this site 30-some miles in from the coast. As long as we kept moving everyone was fine, but some folks were looking a little chilled when we got back to the cars around 1:00 pm.
After saying goodbye to everyone I headed into Willow Creek to get some lunch. Hot soup and coffee somehow tastes better after one has been out in the weather for four hours.
Then I headed east again on 299... normally the long way to where I was going, but given the uncertain condition on Rt. 101 this was safer, and not really any slower than doubling back. There was one stretch of controlled traffic where rocks were literally falling sporadically onto the road, but this caused only a minor delay. The only fresh snow was above 4,000 feet, none anywhere near the road. I made Redding a little before 3:00 and turned south on 5, flat and fast. Since the weather was now clearing, I decided to stop at the hot springs for the night, so turned back up into the inner coast range near Clear Lake. It was around 5:30 and just dark as I pulled in. The warm water felt great, as did seven hours of sleep.
Sunday: Another hour in the water, and by 10:00 am I was headed south toward the Bay Area. Normally I have a few errands accumulated by the time I make it here, and when there's time I try to get one of my backlog of photo shoots in. This time I was able to set up a shoot withpyrokitten_mew who had contacted me a few weeks earlier, and she happened to be available on relatively short notice. So we shot late afternoon across the street from, and then in, the Cracktory. Some tricky light both outside and inside, but there should be some good stuff... backlight glinting off broken glass, window light, a metal-tentacled piece of art seen from several rungs up a ladder.
Time soon to get a little rest before my much too early flight.
Weekend update:
Saturday: It was raining as I drove north to Arcata, but by 8:30 am when the field trip group headed up Hwy 299 toward Willow Creek it had almost stopped. We squeezed the cars into a tiny National Forest campground and headed up the trail.
After a few minutes I realized that with two local experts present who were already very familiar with the location, and a small army of grad students who learned quickly and had strong, flexible muscles to turn rocks and logs, finding amphibians wasn't going to be a problem. The two local guys were however not able to answer anywhere near all of the constant questions, there were just too many people who wanted to know too many things. So I ended up staying mostly on the trail and handling the overflow questions... fortunately I've had a fair amount of experience with all of the critters we were finding.
Although the rain held off until after we were done, it was only about 47 degrees, cloudy, and damp at this site 30-some miles in from the coast. As long as we kept moving everyone was fine, but some folks were looking a little chilled when we got back to the cars around 1:00 pm.
After saying goodbye to everyone I headed into Willow Creek to get some lunch. Hot soup and coffee somehow tastes better after one has been out in the weather for four hours.
Then I headed east again on 299... normally the long way to where I was going, but given the uncertain condition on Rt. 101 this was safer, and not really any slower than doubling back. There was one stretch of controlled traffic where rocks were literally falling sporadically onto the road, but this caused only a minor delay. The only fresh snow was above 4,000 feet, none anywhere near the road. I made Redding a little before 3:00 and turned south on 5, flat and fast. Since the weather was now clearing, I decided to stop at the hot springs for the night, so turned back up into the inner coast range near Clear Lake. It was around 5:30 and just dark as I pulled in. The warm water felt great, as did seven hours of sleep.
Sunday: Another hour in the water, and by 10:00 am I was headed south toward the Bay Area. Normally I have a few errands accumulated by the time I make it here, and when there's time I try to get one of my backlog of photo shoots in. This time I was able to set up a shoot with
pyrokitten_mew who had contacted me a few weeks earlier, and she happened to be available on relatively short notice. So we shot late afternoon across the street from, and then in, the Cracktory. Some tricky light both outside and inside, but there should be some good stuff... backlight glinting off broken glass, window light, a metal-tentacled piece of art seen from several rungs up a ladder. Time soon to get a little rest before my much too early flight.
