ben.parmeter

Continuing with the monthly video theme, I managed to spend some time this weekend working on the video for June.  In this video, you’ll see a family camping trip to Grover Hot Springs (mainly the nearby falls), painting a clay pot in the backyard, the zoo and one quick photo of Claire and Suzy at a friends wedding.  A fairly short one this time, but action packed.

Again, if you’re interested in the technical side of things, I decided to give Kdenlive a spin this time, creating the entire clip with that software.  It is yet another outstanding video editor that has come to Linux recently – and I am thoroughly impressed with its capabilities.  It’s definitely got more of a learning curve than OpenShot, but it’s still reasonably intuitive.  I found that it is better at handling Pan & Zoom type effects (Ken Burns style) than OpenShot, with a much smoother result.  However, tiling photos and video is still something that I’ve found difficult to do – and has resulted in several crashes.  I eventually gave up on that effort.  The title generator is not as snazzy as OpenShot either.  But it seems to be snappier, and renders on the fly better than OpenShot.  I’m really torn between the two and may ping pong between them until I can decide which I like best.

July is going to be a much bigger video.  Until next time…

Sorry for neglecting the blog lately.  It seems like things have been really busy recently. However we did find some time to get away from it all for four days last weekend.  It was nice to get out of the oppressive heat of the valley and head out to the cool weather of the coastline.  We toured the north coast of California and into the southern coast of Oregon.  It was a great trip, topped off with a visit to Ashland, OR, where I think I had the best breakfast of my lifetime (and that’s saying alot because I love a good breakfast), at a little eclectic breakfast place called Morning Glory.  Highly recommend.  The camping road-trip, it’s just what we needed to cleanse the soul.

Check out some of the pictures from our adventure here.

Welcome back from vacation, internet.  I hope you all had a great weekend.  Suzy and I just came back from a fun-packed, all-American weekend.  We stayed in a cabin out on the Owens River, near Bishop, CA.  Our friends family owns the cabin and the amazing ranch that it sits on.  And they were super-kind to invite us and quite a few other friends to crash their ranch over the fourth of July weekend, free of charge.  It truly was an uniquely American event with high desert fun including horse shoes, skeet shooting, barbecues, fireworks, beer, fly-fishing, etc…

Photo’s of the festivities can be found in the gallery as usual, or simply click this link.

Erik and Kristi, Howard and Linda – Thanks for giving us an unforgettable fourth of July!

Well, I didn’t get a chance to write from the campsite. There was far too much “relaxing” going on for me to whip out the phone and tap-out a full post. However, I didn’t want to leave you hanging with nothing after I teased you with the possibility of pictures in my Friday post.

Let me preface the link with just how cool this spot is. Somehow by magic, we were able to obtain a group spot in the campground which is nearly unparalleled for it’s sheer size. We literally had multiple acres to ourselves, completely separate from the other campgrounds. We had our own bathrooms, charcoal grills, potable water taps, garbage and recycling, several fire rings, and just all around amazing nature around us. It’s just a short hike down to the sea shore (less than a mile), where you can check out the tide pools or just fly a kite (like Suzy and I did). We’re definitely going to have to organize a repeat trip to this place.

Click this link to go to the Salt Point gallery.

Suzy and I eschewed work, responsibility, friends and family for a three-day weekend to ourselves. It was one of those times where you just didn’t want to come back. We stretched our time in the “wilderness” for as long as we could. It was fantastic – aside from the throngs of people that had the same idea that we did. Alas, we made the best of it by attempting some of the close-by hikes, cooking outstanding meals, enjoying wine by the fire, biking through the valley, playing card games and sleeping in the hammock. I captured a video of our biking excursion below which I’m really proud of. All stunt work was performed by Suzy herself.

And in other news, I have finally installed and am starting to use the integrated gallery software in WordPress called NexGEN Gallery. Note the link on the upper left of the page actually works! I actually like it much better than all the previous galleries that I tested. It’s really slick and integrates extremely well into my current format. Check out the latest pictures from Yosemite here. Note: All my previous galleries are gone, which is sad, but necessary as start over. So if you click any links from my previous posts, they’ll likely take you to a 404 page.

Enjoy! Until the next adventure.

Yup. The rumors are true. We bagged the summit of Whitney. This last weekend marked my third successful summit of the tallest mountain in the contiguous 48 states. And I have to admit, it was a lot easier than I remembered the last two times I summited. I’m not saying it was a walk in the park by any means, but it just didn’t seem as difficult this time around. It’s understandably easier than the first time I summited in one day, but the last time I really remember it being worse. I think it was the fact that the altitude affected me more the second time. I dunno. Everyone made it and I’m proud of the entire crew. We had a great time despite the chilly nighttime temperatures. I’m particularly proud of the leaping photo that Erik took of me at the summit so I made that my thumb for this post. Note if you click on the photo it opens up a larger version over the top of the page (thanks to the newly installed wordpress plugin shutter reloaded).

I have a whole raft of pictures available on my gallery here. And I’m even planning on putting together a short video of the trip. Stay tuned for that.

I also did some more creative stuff with Google Earth this time. They have that feature where the mountains are extruded in 3-D for some landmarks. And it just so happens that Mt. Whitney is one of the areas that is 3-D. Awesome. You can check out some of the shots starting with this one here.

For those of you who are GPS folks, I’ve made my Mt. Whitney Trail GPX file available here. Perhaps someone can utilize this for a future trip. There are some data errors in there, but for the most part it’s reasonably accurate.

I got an e-mail from my brother last night asking if I had pictures from various rock climbing hot-spots in the U.S. including Mt. Whitney, Yosemite and Smith Rock. He’s working on the art for his article on a major travel website. I poured through my photo archive looking for pictures of the specific climbs and could only come up with a few. I had several of Monkey Face at Smith Rock so I picked a choice photo and provided that to him (which he said may have a good chance to actually make it on the site – woot!). I also skimmed through the Whitney trips looking for a good picture of the Keeler Needle. No such luck with that search. But looking at all those pictures of the previous 2004 Whitney trip got me really excited about the upcoming trip. The scenery is beautiful, and is like no other hike I’ve ever experienced.

I “re-posted” the pictures from our 2004 Mt. Whitney Expedition here. You may not get the same kind of rush from looking at these that I did, but if you’re one of seven folks in our crew that hasn’t been on the Whitney trail before, I hope this spurs some anticipation excitement.

In an effort to disguise my obsessive compulsive backpacking planning nature, I thought I’d put together a detailed list of items that I’m bringing with me to Mt. Whitney this September. And for those of you who haven’t hiked the mountain before, haven’t backpacked before, or are just plain wondering… here is what I’m packing:

Backpack – REI Valhalla – Weighing in at 5lbs, this brute is no lightweight. Despite the heavier weight, this pack holds a lot of gear. There’s 4950 cubic inches of space in this pack, enough to swallow all of my critical gear AND my non-critical gear (i.e. my awesome camp hammock). It sports a removable top which doubles as a day pack which is great for the day hike to the top of Whitney and back. And I’ve found it to be very comfortable on long hikes. It’s sturdy and has lots of little conveniences (like a side zipper which allows you access to all your gear, even all the way at the bottom of the back).

Sleeping Bag – North Face Cat’s Meow – At 3lbs 1oz. it’s a pretty darn light bag. It’s made out of synthetics, which helps it pack a lot of warmth into a lighter loft. At +20 degrees, it’s not going to keep me warm in Alaska in the winter, but it does just fine in Northern California. In fact, sometimes its downright hot inside that bag and often I find myself unzipping the full length of it to get some ventilation.

Sleeping Pad – REI Trekker 1.75 Self Inflating Sleeping Pad – Only 2lbs 8oz. and it’s one of the best pads I’ve ever used. It beats foam any day of the week. REI seems to have blatantly copied the ThermaRest design, because frankly it’s identical in almost every way to their offerings, but at a fraction of the price.

Pillow – ThermaRest Camp Pillow – Yup, I need a pillow when I camp. This one is pretty minimalist, with a drawstring at the top to compress it. It’s just enough pillow to keep my head warm and off the flat hard ground. How did I ever backpack without this thing before?

Trekking Poles – REI Shocklight Trekking Poles By Komperdell - An REI product again. However, these poles are made by Komperdell, who apparently have branded this line specifically for REI. I once scoffed at the idea of using trekking poles. I thought they were only for the old folks with bad knees and northern European tourists. I was convinced to buy these poles specifically for my first Whitney trip several years ago and now I’ll never go back. I use them on almost all my hikes. They’re great for both up and down hill, taking a percentage of load off your feet and joints. Translation, they enable you to endure those particularly long hikes just a bit better.

Tent – REI Half Dome II – What can I say about this tent except that it might be one of my best backpacking purchases ever. At 5lbs 8oz. it’s not the lightest tent that you can buy, but it’s durability and down-right dead simple design make this one of the best values out there. It’s one of the first tents to boast tent pole clips instead of the built-in nylon sleeves and I can set up the gorgeous thing in under 5 minutes. There’s 10 square feet of vestibule space to keep your gear dry. There’s a pockets for your gear, a gear hammock/mesh at the apex, and the list goes on. Best, tent, evar.

Stove – MSR Pocket Rocket (w/Isobutane Gas Tank) – This is the lightest stove you can buy. Really. It’s only 3.2oz. and it folds up to fit in your pocket, literally. This stove is sexy. And I don’t ever say that about stoves. I’m a little worried about this stove up at 12,000 feet on Mt. Whitney. It’s not just the altitude, but the wind that I’m worried about. We may have to improvise a wind block out of rocks, or I could break down and buy one of those light-weight aluminum wind-blocks. That just means more stuff to carry.

Kitchen Gear – MSR Anodized Pots, Orikaso Plates/Bowls/Cups, Sporks, Strainer / Spatula(if necessary), Nalgene Bottle, Platypus Bladder, Garbage Bags – Worth a mention is the Orikaso dinner set. Suzy discovered these things a couple of years ago and bought me some bowls for my birthday. They’re made out of a durable lightweight polypropylene plastic material which holds up to high temperatures and is flexible enough to be folded. It packs in flat, which makes them easy to slide in your pack alongside everything else. The whole two place set is only 10oz. and usually I only bring the bowls and cups for our backpacking needs, so it cuts down on weight. Cleaning up is a snap as well, as I simply unfold the dishes into flat sheets and rinse. I sound like a marketing guy for these things, but they really are a great concept.

I also like to bring with me an empty Nalgene bottle to use when cooking, gathering water, etc. It doesn’t add much weight and it’s a huge convenience when camping in the backcountry. What do I drink while on the hike? I bring water in a Platypus Bladder which I place at the top of my pack. It forms a sort of gravity feed where I can take sips of fresh clean water from a convenient tube clipped to my shoulder straps without even having to stop hiking.

Lastly, don’t forget the garbage bags! Bring along a couple extra to store those particularly nasty bits of food waste and garbage. Plastic bags are light and can be packed in easily. They’re always handy, but people tend to forget to bring them every time – so pack some extra for your friends. Leave no trace.

Headlamp – Petzl Tikka - LED’s are wonderful. They’re bright, powerful and much more energy efficient than the old school incandescent bulbs. This tiny might can blast out light for 150 hours before going dark on just three AAA batteries.

Multi-Tool - I haven’t purchased this yet. But I want to get something smaller and lighter than my current Leatherman tool. I want to get small (not too small) and light but I don’t want to compromise durability. I want to have the rugged strength of my current multi-tool, but in a small/light package. It also has to be capable of whittling an awesome flotilla of warships. I’m taking suggestions.

Whistle – To ward off any serial killers riding on the backs of bears. Or if I get lost, I can just whistle for help instead of destroying my vocal cords.

Carabiners – Well, not real Carabiners. We got some cheap “not for climbing” novelty mini-carabiners which are actually great for attaching all sorts of things to the outside of your pack.

Camera – Canon Powershot SD600 - My new camera is light and small, with a battery that should go the distance. And with a 2GB memory card, I should be able to snap all the vibrant digital pictures that I want during our three day trek.

Navigation – Garmin ForeTrex 201 - Who needs a compass when you’ve got a kick-ass GPS on your wrist. This little guy will be tracking our progress during the hike and providing me with useful data about distance, speed, altitude, and time. Afterwards, I can plot our course on Google maps, and put together nifty charts of our altitude over time/distance.

First Aid Kit – Don’t hike without one. You never know when something bad will happen requiring some application of field first aid. On this trip in particular, where mountain sickness is prevelant, I’m going to add aspirin and BC powder to my list of medical supplies. BC powder is actually a brand named product that consists of Aspirin, Caffeine, and Salicylamide. In it’s powder form it’s absorbed quickly and tends to be pretty effective at treating altitude sickness related headaches.

Lighter/Matches – Don’t forget to bring a good lighter and some analog matches are a good idea too, if something goes wrong with the lighter. That stove doesn’t do you much good without fire. Dehydrated veggies just don’t taste that good without water and heat.

Sunglasses – At high altitude, the sun doesn’t have to pierce as much of the atmosphere to get to you. Hence the harmful light is more intense at base camp and at the summit. Not to mention, when you’re nursing your mountain sickness related headache, you’ll want to have some eye protection.

Sunscreen / Bug Repellent - As with above, the radiation from the sun is intense at 10,000 feet and above. Make sure to bring lots of sunscreen and apply it frequently. Nobody wants a full body severe sunburn. From my memory, I don’t believe we had much of a problem with mosquitoes at Mt. Whitney base camp but it’s not a bad idea to pack in a small amount of bug repellent.

Trowel / TP – We may not need the trowel this time, since we’re supposed to pack out all of our waste. Meh. But definitely bring some toilet paper.

Water Filter – Katadyn Hiker Filter - It’s 11oz. total and a small price to pay for protecting against those water borne bacteria. The last thing I want to do is to hike out 6+ miles with severe diarrhea and an upset stomach. This thing is great because it’s light, small and can pump approximately 1 liter a minute. I know, there are some really good new technologies out there, but nothing beats the filter in my opinion.

Wilderness Permit – Duh. Everyone gets a permit to affix to their pack. Melissa is in charge of this and I’ve got my fingers crossed that it all works out.

Bear Canister - I’ve talked about this in previous posts, but this is one of those dreaded but necessary items. I’ll be renting this at the Inyo National Forest ranger station before we head into the portal. I have special straps that I purchased for my pack that will hold it in place, but it’s still a bulky heavy nuisance.

Clothes/Shoes – Polypro, polypro, polypro. Have you heard? Cotton kills. Head to toe, I’m going to be sporting REI branded clothing. Lightweight convertible pants for those cold nights and hot days. Polypro t-shirt for hiking during the day (I picked up some cheap-o “sport” shirts at Wal-Mart for $7). I’m going to be wearing a nylon blend long sleeve button-up shirt for hiking up the trail. I like to wear a baseball cap to protect my head from the sun during the day and at night I switch to a fleece beany to keep me warm. Storms and inclement can pop up at any time, so I usually bring a plastic poncho which is perfect for draping over myself and my pack while hiking. A staple of my camping gear is my REI lightweight fleece jacket. It’s great for warmth and it also blocks a good portion of the wind. I may switch up to my REI ONE jacket for this trip,

I have some lightweight hiking boots, made with Gore-Tex so they’re also water resistant and breathable. For socks, I like to wear wool or a wool-hybrid hiking sock. I’m a parmeter, so sweat is a big factor – having dry feet is really important. The best material I’ve found is wool. Smart-Wool makes a great pair of hiking socks if you’re ready to drop a lot of cash on socks.

Food – My menu has not even been contemplated yet. That’s something I’ll get to later. Stay tuned.

So there you have it, my packing plans fully disclosed (almost). My information, totally transparent for the greater good. Now you know what I’m packing.

Now that the Whitney trip is “on”, I’ve been obsessing about the details. I’ve also started what I call mini daily-doubles. This is probably a story for another time, but we used to have one to two weeks of daily-doubles to get conditioned for the up-coming soccer season in high school. It was brutal, with two hours of practice in the mornings and two hours in the afternoons. It was pretty much just running, sprints, running, other painful fitness activities and more running. Anyway, I’m now going to try to maintain a regimen of training twice a day. In the mornings before work, I’ve been going to the gym and working out on the elliptical machine (which I believe will help build up those quads for the 6000ft. plus climb). In the evenings, when it’s cool outside, I run through the neighborhood. The first couple of nights were torture on my body. I could barely squeak out 2 miles in 20 minutes and I felt as if my lungs, calves, and quads were on fire. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve trained. But something magic happened on the third night and I felt great. I managed to bang out 2 miles in 14 minutes. The diet is also going pretty well too. I’m managing to watch my calories pretty well. I’m keeping my intake around 2000 calories a day which is pretty darn low for a big guy like me. Too low maybe?

Enough about that junk. I’ve also been obsessing about what kind of food to eat on the mountain over the three day trek. We had some advice from Paul Richins at the seminar a couple weeks back, but it was pretty much the standard menu. I’m also intimidated by Cynthia, who apparently puts together a pretty amazing culinary package on her trips. At least that’s what Pat tells me. It’s killing me to know what’s up her sleeves for this one. It’s immature, but in my head I fancy a competition to see who can hike in the best meal. I think she’s the top contender. Maybe with a little research I can put something together that is lightweight (yet filling), nutritious, and tasty. Usually you have to compromise in one of those areas – that’s the challenge.

It’s Iron Chef, backpacker style. Game on.

It’s official – I’m going to be climbing Mt. Whitney again. And to make things even more awesome, my brother Dave is flying out from Brooklyn, New York to conquer the summit with me. It’s over a month away, but I’m still getting really excited about it. Last night we went to a seminar hosted at our local REI, given by Paul Richins Jr. He’s they guy who wrote arguably the most complete hiker/climber guide to climbing Mt. Whitney. (Mount Whitney: The Complete Trailhead-to-Summit Hiking Guide, 2001, by Paul Richins, Jr., Mountaineers Books, April 2001) I calculated that he’s probably late 50′s or early 60′s but he appears to be very fit and is still very active (he climbed Mount Whitney less than a month ago). During the seminar he answered alot of questions from people about permits, packing for overnight trips, bears, etc. At the end of it all he went through a slide show of the different hikes in the area. Just looking at the pictures made me nostalgic for the previous two times I’d climbed the mountain. I remembered having almost identical snapshots from my little digital camera. I’ve been inspired and I think I’m going to pack in my mini-tripod for this next trip. I’d like to get more of the sunrise shots that aren’t blurry (my current shots are all very blurry, except for a couple lucky shots).

And I couldn’t remember, if on the last overnight hike we had any bear canisters. So I specifically asked Paul if we had to bring bear canisters in. And he confirmed my fear. We do. I’m not sure why I blocked this particular thing out of my memory, but after reviewing my photos we absolutely did have bear canisters. How could I forget hauling those unwieldy, heavy hunks of plastic and metal up the mountain. Who invented these things? They are most certainly not designed for backpacking. Pat and Cynthia piped up at this point and told everyone about the UrSack (you know Ursa = Bear) which is a lightweight bear proof container. I’m not so sure I’m ready to crank out fifty bills for a bear proof container. I guess I’ll be lugging that dumb plastic/metal torture device up and down the mountain.

Also a bit disappointing is the fact that this year, Inyo National Forest Service(hehe… Inyo), has removed the solar toilets from both camps on the way to the summit. Which means we’re going to have to poop in a bag, and pack our waste out. Gross. Last time we attempted this hike, I convinced the fellas to take some Kaopectate (ismuth subsalicylate) normally used to treat diarrhea. My brilliant idea was that it was going to effectively slow my digestion process and perhaps I wouldn’t have to make any twosies on the mountain. Well, for Anthony and Dave, it just didn’t work. For me, however, I have an innate ability to hold off the urges and for approximately three days, I stayed strong. There’s probably more to that story, but who really wants to hear about that?