Winter solstice occurs tomorrow at 4:02 a.m. PST, making today the last day of autumn. Tonight will be the longest night of the year, and tomorrow the shortest day. After that, days will get longer, the sun will be higher in the sky, and my favorite constellation Orion will disappear from the night sky.
It's always a bittersweet time for me. I love the cool, brisk days and nights of this time of year. And the crystal-clear skies. I recall the days of my youth when my neighborhood friends and I slept in sleeping bags in the backyard in winter. I used a borrowed camera to create time exposures of the stars for a junior high school science class. It was then that I learned to love the stars of the winter sky.
Earlier this week, my friend Jean Grant wrote in her blog, "Now that the rain is gone... Where do we go from here? The rain has tucked itself away in the clouds again and the skies gave way today to some gorgeous sunshine." For me it was easy to decide where to go today: outside! I climbed on my mountain bike and headed for Crafton Hills. (Visit my Picasa web album for a few photos.)
As soon as I hit the trail, a rider passed me and said, "Lots of snow up there!" Huh? It's only about 3,500' at the top. There can't be that much snow! To my surprise, as I ascended, I hit more frequent patches of ice and as I heard it crack beneath my tires, I thought of Jean's reflections on the intensity of the seasons she experienced as a child in Illinois: "...that exquisite pain of joy when in spring, the icy puddle begins to crack and the sweet smell of the earth comes back to you after months of deep and bitter rejection of your longing soul."
My soul's longing was fulfilled today. It was a spectacular end-of-fall day. The air was crisp, the sky was deep blue (aided by the sun's lowest angle of the year) and there was nary a cloud in the sky. As I rode along the trail heading east, I saw San Bernardino and San Gorgonio mountains in the distance and recalled the hikes I made to their peaks this summer. The cycle of the seasons -- and of life -- takes its winter turn now and makes those peaks off-limit for people like me. Only the year-round inhabitants dwell there now.
Our seasons may be subtle by Illinois standards, but if you know what to look for, you can appreciate them. True, there will not be much ice skating on the frozen lakes of Pomona, but winter will bring change. I think I'll go outside, say hello to Orion, and languish in it.
I met an extraordinary person recently who keeps a list of things she loves, which seems like really good exercise to do every now and then. Actually, it's a good exercise to do every moment of your life. If you're not doing what you love, what is the point of life?
Earlier, I posted Myths of Our Time, which was about what I consider to be the misguided values of our Western culture. But what do I know, really? Do I have a right to judge others, who arrive at this moment as the sum of their experiences? I haven't lived their lives.
So, this is entirely personal. Things I like to do. Things I like to experience. Things that make me want to jump out of bed feeling relaxed and peaceful and looking forward to the day, instead of saying, "Oh, crap!" It's in no particular order and subject to change and updating. If this list lies fallow, put a mirror to my nose to see if I'm breathing.
I love:
That time in the evening when the sky is aglow at the horizon and fades to deep blue above, especially when there is a crescent moon and Venus in the western sky
Sunlight reflecting on water
Music of all kinds: loud, soft, fast, slow, with or without lyrics, it doesn't matter, so long as it moves me
People who understand we are all part of something bigger, more resilient than ourselves
Being a father
Having two amazing sons and watching them grow up (still, as men)
Thunder and lightning, especially when it's very close
Big, fat snowflakes drifting slowly to the ground
A full moon rising over the mountains you didn't expect
A full moon rising over the mountains you did expect
A sky so dark and full of stars the Milky Way gets lost in it
Homemade soup by the fire on a cold, rainy day
Touching the earth by pausing barefoot on a patch of dirt in the front yard when I pick up the newspaper in the morning
A cold, fresh navel orange off my tree after a long bike ride
A long bike ride or hike in the mountains
A long bike ride or walk on the beach
A long bike ride or hike anywhere, so long as there is no industrial noise or evidence of the machines that created it
Clean air to breathe
Clean water to drink
The sound of the wind as it rustles the needles of a thick stand of pine trees
Days when I don't start my car
The view from atop a tall mountain peak
The act of getting to and from the top of a tall mountain peak
The sound of a mountain stream
Listening to that sound with your eyes closed
The sound and rhythm of the ocean, especially at night, when you can't anticipate the waves
Fresh-baked bread right out of the oven
The scent of the hops when home-brewed beer is cooking on the stove
Licking the malt extract off the spoon before it goes into the home brew pot
Dark chocolate (the darker the better)
Café mocha
Reading David Sedaris
Listening to Davis Sedaris read David Sedaris
Watching people laugh and smile
Making people laugh and smile
People who take seriously the work we need to do to make the world a better place
People who can do that without taking themselves seriously
Being able to get the printed version of The Onion from a newsstand in San Francisco
San Francisco
Spending a day doing nothing but walking around and photographing San Francisco
The guy who plays makeshift drums on the sidewalk near the Ferry Building at the Embarcadero
The Embarcadero
The Ferry Building
Taking the steps to Coit Tower
Golden Gate Park
Café Zoetrope
North Beach Pizza and an Anchor Steam
New York City
The New York City subway
Rockefeller Center at Christmas time
Central Park
The Met
Seeing Van gogh and the Impressionists at the Met
Times Square
Washington Square
Broadway, or not: Pick a theater, let's go!
Music that makes me feel something
Words that make me feel something
Movies that make me feel something
Creating something that makes other people feel something
Playing the guitar until my fingers are so sore I can't
A fresh, crisp, slightly tart apple in Autumn
Memories of good times with my late sister Cheryl and my dad (rest in peace)
Still having my mom, the last person who will ever call me "Donny"
Being so far ahead you can raise your hands in the air when you win a bike race
Not setting an alarm
A full day of not having to be anywhere or do anything at any particular time
The kittens Gracie and Suzy falling asleep together on my lap
Staying in a cabin in Red's Meadow
Rainbow Falls in Red's Meadow when the sun hits just right
Riding my bike to Forest Falls around the time of my birthday when the lady bugs hatch en masse
Checking my bike and clothing for tiny red hitch-hikers when I get home, then setting them free
I haven't had much time to get to all the photos I've shot lately, much less add to this blog, but I've been especially remiss in not posting something about the Beach-to-Baldy bike and hike I did Sunday, Oct. 5, with Joel and Darren. The three of us did the bike portion (they've done it a many times and invited me along for the first time this year). The motley crew in the photo below did the hike with us (or, in some cases, far ahead of us). From left to right, here are Darren, Steve, Jacob, Daniel, Austin, Brenda and Joel:
Everyone made it to the top -- and they were awesome! Joel and I figured out that the order of reaching to the top (and returning to the bottom) was pretty much according to age. Darren's son Austin was first and the two 50-somethings (Joel and me) took turns bringing up the rear.
Joel and Darren left on their bikes from Huntington Beach about 7 a.m., the same time I left from Claremont heading in their direction. Unfortunately, I missed a turn and kept heading south right before they made that turn heading north. They had to backtrack to pick me up in Brea Canyon, which cost us about 20 minutes. (Sorry again, guys!) As it turns out, the extra distance I rode (turning around at elevation 198' - not quite "Beach" to Baldy) meant we rode the same distance from our respective starts to the ski lifs at 6,350'.
Here is a good shot of Brenda and Joel. Brenda is training for the Pasadena Marathon in November and ran 15 miles the day before this hike. She kept coming back to Joel and me to see if we were OK, then taking off like a mountain goat to catch up with the others. She was amazing!
The view was spectacular, as you'll see when l have time to edit and post the photos to my SmugMug gallery. [Update Oct. 13: The photos have been posted to SmugMug, so check them out -- and download any of them you want.] Here's one of my faves: A panorama looking west over the top of East Baldy Peak (click on it to see a larger version). What a day!
I learned at dinner in Baldy Village afterward that this trip is Darren's brainchild. Well, it's one arduous brainchild! I was toast afterward -- and for a few days after that. Here is a link to the GPS data for the bike ride (click on the images to see the MotionBased Dashboard and Player versions of the trips):
Joel Cinnamon's invitation to me to join his annual Beach-to-Baldy ride-and-hike Oct. 5 prompted me to post something about the Ride Around the Bear, which we rode together June 7.
The Ride Around the Bear leaves from Sylvan Park in Redlands and heads to Big Bear Lake via Hwy. 330 through Running Springs, then on to Big Bear Lake's north shore (Fawnskin), returning via Hwy. 38 over Onyx Summit, Barton Flats, Angeles Oaks and Mentone. The route covers more than 100 miles and 10,000' of climbing. Yeow!
The weather on June 7 was perfect, as was the ride -- and the company. (Well, except for the thousand-or-so very-loud Harley Davidsons that passed us on their way to a rally in Fawnskin). Below is a map and link to the GPS data for the day. Click on the image to go my MotionBased digest. (Mac users should click on the Player tab in the upper right to view the cool animation.)
Here is a photo of Joel from Onyx Summit, which was at the end of most (repeat, most -- not all) of the climbing for the day. At 8,443', it's the highest paved road in Southern California. We did it, Joel! Next year, I predict new P.R.s.
Meet the soon-to-be-additions to the Davidson household:
When the stray orange tabby cat our next-door neighbor Susie named Lemonade (below) began alternating between her back yard and ours, we asked, "Whose is it?" No one in the neighborhood claimed her and she was clearly expecting a litter, so we began to wonder which of our houses would become the maternity ward. Three weeks ago, the planter outside Susie's back door became home to momma and her five kits.
We've claimed the two pictured below. We haven't named them and don't know their gender yet, but if they're both male, I think we should call them Chris and Dean.
The others are going to homes of friends of Susie's. Her boyfriend Albert might be taking Lemonade to his home in Orange County, but we're hoping she'll continue to share quarters with our house and Susie's and remain close to her kits.
Because I won't be able to compete in next week's Mount Everest Challenge State Climbing Championships bike race, I decided to create my own personal version this past weekend. The Everest Challenge, which I completed in 2004 and 2005, is a two-day, 206-mile sufferfest that sends you up and down six mountains in the Sierras for a total of 29,035' of elevation gain.
While the 201 miles I rode over the weekend came up short by Everest Challenge standards, I outdid the elevation gain substantially -- 32,525'. Yesterday's ride was epic: 122 miles and 18,268' of climbing. What else are you going to do on a glorious near-end-of-summer weekend? Get outdoors and savor it!
Below are the MotionBased Player views of the rides (click on images to view full size). I can't wait to get away from this desk and get up there again!
Check this out: Some of Dean's most recent work for Dri-Eaz is on the web. While his work is primarily for print, he works in the same office with Dri-Eaz web dude (er...administrator) Marcus Purnell, who converted a recent piece Dean designed into a web page (click on images to view full size):
Note the source code (highlighted in yellow), where Marcus gave him credit. Very cool:
Dri-Eaz recently purchased two companies and has been marketing them together as Legend Brands. That's keeping Dean plenty busy these days. You could say he's living the CMC100 slogan: "High Performance, Low Profile."
I described this technique to my friend Joel Cinnamon and he said I should post it on my blog. So here is my first Photoshop tutorial, such as it is:
Here's the "sitch": You have a digital image that you photographed on a very hazy day and it's so washed out, you can barely see what it was that made you point your camera in that direction. It's amazing what the camera can capture, and Photoshop can recover, using its Image-Adjustments-Levels menu.
The photo below is of the Seven Oaks Dam in East Highland, Calif., taken from several miles away on the San Bernardino Peak Trail. It was so hazy, my lens couldn't find an edge sharp enough to auto-focus on. A throw-away image, right? Not quite. (Click on these images to view full size.)
Opening the Levels dialog box displays the image's histogram (photo below), which is a graphic representation of its tonal range. In this case, both the highlight and shadow regions of the image are "blown out" -- there is no detail in those areas. Notice the big gaps between the highlight and shadow end points and where there is density in the image (represented by the graph in the center):
Grabbing the end points for the highlight and shadow values and dragging them to the area where the curve shows some density will eliminate much of the "noise" and reveal the detail you need:
Of course, the resulting color is not true, so you will need to do additional manipulation. Because I have trouble seeing accurate color, I opted for Photoshop's Auto Color adjustment, which did the trick. While it's still not a great shot, it allows me to demonstrate to my friend Phil Richards that there is no lake behind the dam, as he contends. It looks more like a puddle.
Using Auto Color won't work in all cases, nor will the use of Levels in the manner described above. Moving the slider for the mid-tone value can help, too. If you want to explore more options, venture into manipulating Curves. The possibilities are nearly endless. There are a lot of in-depth tutorials on how to manage histograms, but this is a quick way to make a really bad shot look better.
Labor Day, Sept. 1, 2008: I rode my bike to Angeles Oaks and hiked to San Bernardino Peak. I really recommend this hike for anyone who wants to experience the San Bernardino mountains. The view is spectacular!
The valley was pretty hazy yesterday, so the photos are going to need some serious Photoshop work and will be posted later, along with video and the usual blah-blah-blah-me-me-me. Good news: My new Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS battery held out for the entire 12.5-hour trip. (Unlike my 301, which let me down on San G.) My MotionBased digest has all the data for the day, which amounted to almost 15,000' of elevation gain.
Below is a panorama I stitched together with Photoshop that merges five separate exposures. It was taken from mid-way up the mountain and includes Mount San Antonio (Old Baldy) in the distance and Big Bear (far right). Click on the image to view full size:
Update Sept. 3: Here are a few more photos from the hike. It's amazing what you can do by manipulating levels in Photoshop. Click on these images to see larger versions (which have been downsized for the web. I'll post the full-size originals in my SmugMug gallery later).
Looking west across San Bernardino valley toward Mount San Antonio (Old Baldy):
Well, I did it. I finally made it to the summit of San Gorgonio Mountain yesterday. I left Redlands at 5:11 a.m., rode my bike to South Fork, hiked to the summit and back, then rode home, arriving at 8:46 p.m. Total time for the 52 miles of cycling and 23.2 miles of hiking was 15 hours and 35 minutes.
This was probably the most physically demanding thing I have ever attempted, with the added challenge of a thunderstorm that drenched me most of the way down the mountain and made the bike ride home pretty treacherous (the last part of it in the dark). Several times on the way up the mountain, as the muscles in my legs and back cried out in pain, I kept thinking, "I'm going to turn around and head back," but I persisted. On the way down from the summit, I kept thinking, "I'm going to turn around and head back," and then I realized, I was heading back! There was no shortcut home. Today, I'm taking it easy and hanging out with my good friend, Mr. Motrin.
On the way down the mountain, after 10+ hours of hauling a 20-pound backpack more than 40 miles horizontally and 10,000 feet vertically from Redlands, I was very tired and sore. I tried not to focus on the pain I was suffering, but instead on the beautiful scene that surrounded me: The clouds ebbing and flowing through the trees; the different sounds of the raindrops on the leaves, tree stumps and puddles of water; the thunder clapping all around me (at least 100 times); and the intense saturation of the colors of the plants and flowers around me as they shimmered in the rain. Pain and beauty; yin and yang.
I was pretty disappointed this morning to find my Garmin GPS data from the hike was corrupt and MotionBased could not process it. I don't know if is because there were too many data points, or if it was because the battery died about a mile from the end of the hike, which also meant I couldn't record the ride home. I've asked MotionBased to see if the hike data is salvageable. It looks to me to be showing four data points: The start at South Fork, a point near Dollar Lake saddle where the route turns from south to south-east, the summit and the point where the battery died. Here is a screenshot of what MotionBased returned when I tried to upload the hike data (click on the image to see it full size):
I uploaded the hike data into Garmin's Training Center (GTC) software (screen shot below -- click on the image to see it full size) and got mostly the same result, which appears to be the data points of the three "laps" I recorded (South Fork to summit=lap 1; respite at the summit=lap 2; return to South Fork=lap 3). I don't understand why the start times vary from 9:13 a.m. in GTC (which I recall as more accurate) and 9:29 a.m. in MotionBased. At least GTC recorded the times of day, along with elevation (I guess the 11,500 feet I saw didn't get recorded). The mileage -- and the speed, as a result -- are inaccurate because the software drew a straight line between the data points. If I coulda flown like a crow, I woulda!
I shot a few still photos during the hike that are posted on my Picasa web album, but the weather didn't allow me to shoot the panoramas I was hoping to capture from the summit. I also shot some video, but my MacBook's disk drive is full and I can't edit it today (video files eat up the gigs like Pac-Man). I'll post it on YouTube later. Like the photo of me above, below is a frame grab from the video. There is rock to the right of the guy in the middle of the shot where I climbed and held my GPS above my head and recorded 11,500 feet.
I spoke with my good friend and cycling teammate Phil Richards today and he told me his wife Annette asked him, "Why would he do that?" As I told the Forest Service crew I chatted with on the way up, "It seems like a good way to take advantage of all this summer daylight." Annette's question reminds of British mountaineer George Leigh Mallory's famous quote in the New York Times in 1923, the year before he was lost while attempting to climb Mount Everest. When asked why he wanted to climb the world's tallest peak, he said, "Because it's there." It inspired this poem by Robert William Service:
Dauntless Quest
Why seek to scale Mount Everest, Queen of the air, Why strive to crown that cruel crest And deathward dare? Said Mallory of dauntless quest, "Because it's there."
Update July 14 (Bastille Day):
As promised, here is the video. The quality is terrible (I can't get Final Cut Express HD to render it in a better-quality version), but here is a record of the trip, such as it is. The last few frames are of a stream that runs near the trail that I captured on the trip down the mountain. It reminds me of a song I wrote many years ago.
Notes for next time:
Total miles: 75.2 Elevation gain: 10,000 feet Total time: 15:35 Departed 5:11 a.m.; returned 8:46 p.m. Ride time to South Fork: 3:14 (Water stops at Mill Creek and Angeles Oaks) Ride time home: Slow (roads were wet, I was top-heavy with the backpack and it was getting dark) Hike time: Departed 9:13 a.m.; returned 6:50 p.m. Total time 9:37 (2.41 m.p.h., including idle time at summit) Time to summit: 4:48 (2.42 m.p.h.) Time to return (less 26 min. at summit): 4:22 (2.66 m.p.h.) Water: 130 ounces on the hike; 60 ounces on the ride Full Camelback bladder plus one-liter bottle on hike (8.8 lbs.) Nutrition: 5-1/2 Cliff bars, two Odwalla bars (1760 calories total)
Dos and don'ts:
- No Odwalla bars: Almost cracked a tooth on nut shells in both of them - On the ride, haul the backpack in the Burley cargo trailer to take the weight off the back - Do not pack a tripod; it's too heavy and cumbersome - Take the Nikon for better still photos (need to get those panoramas next time) - Try the shorter (but steeper) Vivian Creek Trail route to shorten the time - Get some really good hiking boots ("Avoid Merrell brand," said the blister on his heel) - Do a lot more hiking and high-altitude preparation beforehand!
I used to think that after I died, I wanted my sons to scatter my cremated ashes on the peak of San Gorgonio Mountain (a.k.a. "Old Greyback") and have those little "bits of me" spend future eons being washed and blown into the San Bernardino valley below, where my ancestors were among the original settlers. Climbing to the peak of San G. (elevation 11,499') has been a goal of mine for many years, but I've never achieved it. After this weekend, I'll never ask my sons to make that trip. It is really hard! (Note to Chris and Dean: Take some of the life insurance proceeds and rent a helicopter.)
On Saturday, July 5, 2008, I left home in Redlands (elevation 1,500') and rode my road bike 26 miles east on Hwy. 38 to South Fork (elevation 6,800'), locked my bike to a sign post and hiked 5.2 miles into the wilderness (one way) toward the peak, stopping just short of Dollar Lake. The video I compiled and posted on YouTube (below) doesn't include a lot of the footage I shot, notably at the turnaround, where I described the shortness of breath I experienced at 9,250 feet. The remaining 6.4 miles and 2,250 feet to the peak will be a challenge, to be sure, but I have my wilderness permit for next Saturday, July 12, and plan to give it a go. Stay tuned.
Below are screen shots from MotionBased.com of the satellite views of the terrain, overlaid with my routes, from yesterday's ride to South Fork, hike to 9,250 feet and ride home. A YouTube video of the day is also included below. It was shot in HD video, so if you have the time and bandwidth, go to the YouTube web page and select "watch in high quality."
Next stop: San Gorgonio peak!
Here's a 10-minute video of some highlights of the day:
