... nothing to do with us - here's two fantastic big wave surfing clips we thought need to be seen...
(YouTube clip)
... pro surfer 'Kai Lenny' mastering 'Peahi' on the North Shore' of 'Maui'... gotta' agree with one of the comments "... that guy's playin' with that monster like it was a "tiny" six foot wave"... check out the sequence beginning at 1:12...
(YouTube clip)
... some slightly older footage (around 2006) - great sound editing...
... we're no way surfers around here - not many point breaks to sharpen the skills here in land locked SWPA - but we're fascinated none-the-less... we do have the distinction of being the worst surfer in the entire Pacific Ocean for a single day a few years back...
... swiped these clips from 'YouTube' - so they're potential disappearance is out of our control... great work to all involved for creating these images...
... picked up a 'GoPro Karma Drone' w/ 'Hero 5' camera system back in April...
... didn't have much chance to check it out until recently...
... first time out - powered the system, checked ourself out on the included flight simulator and was in the air and flyin' in ten minutes - pretty simple...
... all systems go...
... had been tryin' to get it up into the hills for the past few weeks for some flight testing but was turned back each time for one reason or another... visited this first location four times before we got it right - first visit we had forgotten to recharge the camera battery - second visit was way too windy...
... third visit we were prepping the flight system and machine (specifically, attaching the propellers) all the while standing just a few feet away from this bush (above) when a large timber rattler went totally f*k'n nuts at out presence - buzzing like crazy - had no idea he was hidden there and scared the livin' sh*t out of us before he beat it to cover under that big rock... well, probably five minutes had rolled by and in all the excitement we had forgotten to go back to tightening the propellers - upon lift-off two propellers were immediately ejected with the machine subsequently flipping upside down and skipping out of control and around the cliff top before we could shut it down - destroyed both propellers but otherwise no other damage done...
... fourth visit (after purchasing a new propeller kit) conditions were perfect and all went well... did surprise another rattler on the hike in, so we remained wary this time around...
... another angle - didn't play with the color imbalance between those two images... that location is prime rattlesnake habitat...
... southwest facing with plenty of brush and rock crevices for cover - a bit nerve-wracking when stumbling about... saw five rattlers (and one garter snake) throughout the four visits...
... the 'Moon'...
... a shot from up at 'the Moon' last weekend - nature has really been good at reclaiming the area since being surface mined back in the late 70's - was completely barren up there for many years, hence the name...
... nearby 'Buzzard Rocks' (aka: 'Kraylick Rocks' as known to Pittsburgh rock climbers) - pictured is the "point" area of the cliff...
... there's a great moderate climbing route that goes straight up the nose of that thing that provides a bit of fun exposure that ya' normally don't find in SWPA - was never a big fan of bolting everything in sight but have to admit that that route and two or three on the adjacent walls would be lots of fun... don't matter anyway, though - the area has been restricted to climbing for the past several years...
... from the archives...
... doin' some "gardening" (around '83)...
... some rope fun (around '83) - note the coiled 'goldline' rope lying on the top of the wall - those twisted nylon ropes would stretch 10ft under body weight and close to double that under a fall - good luck getting it un-knotted after that as well if knotting anything other than a bowline.... after retiring it, used that same rope to pull over a large elm tree we were cutting down - was pulling with a 4WD truck and had it stretched almost to it's breaking point before the tree toppled - was a 150ft rope and I'll bet we had it stretched out another 50ft - had to eventually cut the (double figure-8) knotted section from the end of the rope length - still have it lying in the basement...
... didn't get too inventive with the 'Karma', but are pretty content with it - could use a narrower field of view and zoom options for the aerial work, but that's a camera function... a miniature aerial camera platform - does what we expected it to do...
... more wandering amid the 'Desert National Wildlife Refuge (DNWR) and the 'Sheep Range'...
... 'Joe May Canyon' - composite topo and satellite mapping ('Hillmap' image)...
... the canyon is accessed by vehicle via unimproved (dirt, sand and rocks) 'Joe May Road', traveling over the low desert flats and ascending bajada landform until reaching the mouth of 'Joe May Canyon' (around El 5000ft), at which point the road ends and further access is by foot...
... the 'Sheep Range' and 'Joe May Canyon' viewed from lower 'Joe May Road' to the west...
... viewing west across the desert flats and the distant 'Spring Mountains' skyline - the landmark 'Mummy Mountain' and 'Mt. Charleston' - both holding some winter snowpack... was around 98ºF this day at our position in the high desert as we recall...
... some low desert vegetation - cactus and wildflowers in bloom...
... viewing north across the low desert...
... higher ground and a relic livestock corral...
... pretty typical road conditions - easy travel, but definitely needed twin-axle traction in one short, steep spot with loose gravel and recommend something with a bit of ground clearance throughout - we had a rental 'Nissan Rogue' - AWD and was plenty adequate**...
... 'Joe May Canyon' and a vast 'Mojave Desert Scrub' landscape...
... lots of 'Joshua Tree', 'Mojave Yucca' and assorted cacti vegetation...
... 'Barrel Cactus'...
... hiked a distance up into adjacent 'Black Gate Canyon'...
... the trailhead of which begins at the end of the road and forks with 'Joe May Canyon' (see topo map)...
... lots of wildflowers...
... not sure what this shrub is...
... a bit closer up...
... was full of honeybees...
... some type of small beetle we guess...
... more wildflowers and honeybees...
... and shrubs...
... didn't follow 'Black Gate Canyon' out (and back) it's length, though - the trail ascends a good distance and maybe another rugged 2,000ft into the high country - the objective today was to view and photograph a few 'Desert Bighorn Sheep'*... stumbled across many tracks and trails (above)...
... hiked back down into 'Joe May Canyon'... think that they refer to that distant long black limestone rock band as the "black gate", with the gate being a gap in the rock band providing access (3rd class scrambling) up into the high peaks... may be wrong...
... finally viewed a few 'Desert Bighorns' way off in the distance and along this ridge line viewing through 10x binoculars - too far off for any good photos... note the large, ancient agave roasting pit photo center...
... hiked over to check it out - passed this small cave...
... and small arched limestone rock formation along the way...
... the roasting pit close up - Native Americans constructed and used these things for cooking agave plants they'd harvest and gather...
... it was a pretty windy day - before heading out we spent some time viewing a continual series of large 'Dust Devils' swirling for miles across the low desert flats (photo center)... they were best viewed through binoculars... the Native American 'Navajo's' refer to them as 'Chindi' and believe they are ghosts left behind after a person dies, and is everything that was bad about the person - "theresidue that man has been unable to bring into universal harmony"... not surprised that we saw so many of 'em with "sin city" being directly upwind...
* ... or desert 'Raptors' - didn't expect to have much luck in the afternoon time period for encountering either, but on the way in, mid-morning and in the low desert, we did spot a very huge 'Golden Eagle' which was very near and flying close to ground level - apparently on the hunt - failed on the few photo attempts, however...
**... definitely need 'Sirius XM Radio' amongst the survival gear - never book a rental car without it... the brilliant 'Greg Allman' of the 'Allman Brothers Band' had (unfortunately) passed away that weekend and 'Deep Tracks' was playin' a lot of all their stuff - southwest desert cruisin' tunes don't get any better than that...
... put in a bit of river time the past few weeks...
... our pal 'Jason' - up from Texas for a few weeks - out on the 'SUP' - river staging a bit high from recent rains...
... we by chance spooked a large 'Beaver' from cover along the river bank - spent about twenty minutes trailing him here, there and about - running us in circles - he under the surface, we on top... no photos unfortunately...
... the following day was out with 'Muscle Girl Sarah' and 'Z-Man'...
... river level really came up overnight - pretty swift and solid murk - unexpected and we didn't tote along any life jackets - zero water visibility - don't want to set bad examples so we recommend 'em as anything disappearing below the surface in these conditions is immediately sacrificed to the river spirits...
... sighted a group of three large 'Bald Eagles' late in the trip nearing 'South Connellsville' - they were pretty animated with a lot of calling - flying low too - near treetop level - was a bit too slow fetching the camera gear before they were gone...
===============
... been a small 'Striped Skunk' hanging around the homestead since late April - been noticing him on and off in the early morning... not bothering us so we're not bothering him... was somewhat docile and actually came up and sniffed around the shoes one morning - looked me up and down and continued on his way... a little over a week ago spotted him in the early morning - this time he's staggering up the sidewalk and appears a bit unkempt - lookin' like he had a rough night and even stumbled off the curb and into the street - gave him plenty of room to pass this time...
... last Saturday found him late morning in bad shape - struggling in the hot sun (!) to drag himself to his nearby den - was shakin' like a leaf and appeared to have very slight mobility in his rear legs... this ain't good... this guys in the late stages of either rabies or distemper in our opinion...
... decided to put the poor guy quickly out of his misery with a .410 round... contacted the 'PA Game Commission' figuring that they may want to test him for rabies - acted as if they couldn't be bothered and stated that they only test animals after someone's been bitten (?)... OK - sorry to disturb ya' on a Saturday I figured (more to this story but we'll leave it at that)... deposited the critter in the nearby woods... that's him above - skunks usually keep themselves pretty neatly groomed (like a cat) and are always nocturnal (dusk to dawn) - so be wary when ya' see one acting a bit out of character...
... updated 'Ig the Cat's' vaccines the other day just to be safe...
