The app cuts of the last 20 seconds of video, sorry about that.

So those of you who have been following me since 2016 know that I did 40 days in the wilderness of the High Sierra of California hiking cross country along the Sierra High Route. I shared the photos and a few short videos along with long descriptive stories of my wanderings up there.
www.flickr.com/photos/photographybyderekg/albums/72157673...
I took a whole lot more video than what I originally shared and I just recently got around to editing it down into watchable clips of 10 minutes each. (it also helps that Flickr increased the length for videos) this is the second one in the set and I will be uploading more in the coming days or weeks. these were filmed with my canon rebel camera, hand held.

The next day: flic.kr/p/2iQSp3g

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just to give you all a feel for what I had to endure for most of the night. I’m not sure if the sound of things hitting the outside of the tent is rain drops or sand and debris. If only the video could capture the cold too.

Part 2
Here at Vogelsang, a cold, ferocious wind blew non-stop for the duration of my short stay. The cabins where vacant and the temporary structures had been taken down for the winter. I took pictures of what there was for Mark. Then I headed over to the backpacker camp for lunch. It was difficult to get my stove lit in the howling wind, so I had to shelter it with my pack on one side and my body on the other. Once the water boiled I poured it into the meal pouch to rehydrate it. While I waited I had one of the homemade desserts Hannah had given me.
After lunch I decided to abandon Vogelsang for the lake of the same name that was not to far away (10324), in the hope of escaping the raging wind. I crossed over a creek littered with horseshoe prints along it's muddy banks and began the short climb up to reach the lake. I do not know what compels me to do this every once in a while, but just before reaching the lake, at the highest point on the trail where I could see Half Dome, I pulled out my cell phone, turned it on and checked to see if I had signal. The screen showed three bars so I tried to send a text to my mom to let her know where I was and that all was well. About a minute later I received an answer. We conversed through text message a few time then I decided to try a call and to my amazement the call went through. Except for the wind blowing into the speaker the signal was perfect. I talked to both my parents and got a weather report from my dad who told me to expect rain and snow tonight and tomorrow. Then I called mark and told him about Vogelsang, and I also called both my grandparents. After all the phone calls were made I walked the last little bit to the lake.
Here the wind had let up a bit. Since rain and snow was expected I decided to set up my tent. I found a good spot by a large rock outcropping with trees on the other side in case the wind picked back up, at least here I would have a little bit of protection from it. I also weighed my tent stakes down with large rocks that I piled on them. Then I searched the lake shore for any good compositions but nothing I saw I liked.
As the sun sank lower and the light grew warmer the wind picked up again. Any reflections in the lake vanished and sunset came and went without any photos being taken. The wind grew colder in the fading light causing me to seek shelter from it's icy breath in my tent.
For most of the night my tent shook violently in the gusting wind and a few times I feared that it was going to be blown over and a few times I felt I lift up underneath me.

Day 38
Part 1
Some time around what I guessed was midnight the furious wind subsided, and the cold intensified. My sleeping bag is rated for zero, but it is also about ten years old and has lost some warmth due to it's age and frequent use. Before getting into my sleeping bag I usually remove the days clothing so I don't bring dust, dirt, bugs and other things like poison oak oils (though out here that's not an issue) into it, and I change into thermals. Thermals are usually enough to keep me warm and comfortable while inside, but once the wind died and the temperature dropped and I began to shiver. The rampaging wind prevented me from sleeping, and once it stopped I was able to sleep a little bit before the cold woke me up again. I reluctantly put the rest of my clothes back on, but since I was not expecting temperatures to drop this much I didn't bring any cold weather gear, except gloves and a hoodie. Even with this extra layer on I shivered until sunrise.

Tags:   night wind cold dark raging windy gusty nature wilderness yosemite high sierra tent camping stormy storm backpacking mountains

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sunday night my home town had a rare night full of thunderstorms. after sunset i could see the flashes over the ocean from my house, so i headed down to the beach to photograph. i got there at 815 pm and I got home at 5am. during that time the lightning was nonstop. there were multiple cells blowing through. i could see them from a distance and i would watch them move closer until they were just off shore, then watch them as they moved on up north, while another storm was coming up from the south. when i got home at 5 am the lightning was still going strong.

this particular bolt's point of origin was a mile or so off the coast and it's tendrils stretched all the way over my head and continued on behind me.

Tags:   thunder storm thunderstorm lightning ocean night ventura cthulhu intense cloud clouds

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Part 7
The rest of the day was just a hang out and relax day. We each explored the area around Lake # 4. Hester went down towards lake # 3 and I explored the forest to the east. As I said before, the trees here are spectacular, all the different pasterns and textures and colors of their barkless sun weathered wood. So for most of the day they were the focus of my photography. There was one particular three that had long since fallen, and its exposed, twisted roots looked like an Eagle with outstretched wings.
(Back in 2017 I met a man from the local Piute Tribe in Bishop, his name was Qwina, once this trip was over I learned that Qwina means Eagle.)
I had been so focused on the beautiful trees and trying to photograph them from every possible angle that I hadn't realized how dark the clouds had gotten until the silence was broken by thunder rumbling over the Sierra Crest. Looking up I now realized that the whole sky had grown dark and a wall of rain enveloped the top of the pass where we would have been had we stuck to the plan. I began to make my way back to camp to get my jacket and prepare for wet weather, lunch also sounded like a good idea.

Tags:   wood tree eagle abstract roots textures colors white yellow red orange pine fallen tree hiking backpacking camping wilderness high sierra cottonwood lakes california

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With no clear idea of where I was going, I grabbed my gear and left. There was a thunderstorm that I wanted to catch but other than that I had no plan.
Over several ridges of mountains and down into the plains beyond I drove towards the storm. Then I turned onto a new road that led into rolling hills where meadow larks where singing and the grass was swaying with the storm-wind.
Finally after 95 miles I had reached the storm's edge. I got out of my car and climbed to the top of the closest hill as thunder echoed through the folds of the earth. Soon after the storm subsided, while rain now blessed the valley far below as the dappled sun played upon the ground through the shape-shifting clouds.

I continued down the road and found a small turnout with a beautiful view of the rolling hills receding and falling away into the Great Central Valley. A patchwork of vineyards, orchards and fields stretched as far as I could see until the scene faded into the hazy distance. It was here that I watched and waited, enduring multiple passing bursts of rain, rolling clinging clouds, thick drab fog and ceaseless wind. In all I spent two days and two nights here.

As the sun set and twilight gathered, the valley below began to shimmer and sparkle as the lights of human civilization fought in vain to fend off the coming night. Along the horizon the last glowing embers of the dying day outlined the purple towers of the few lingering thunderstorms far off beyond the lights. As Below, So Above, the stars in their magnificence mirrored the landscape that spread out before me, while somewhere in the darkness an owl screeched.
I sat outside admiring the view for as long as I could bear the cold, unceasing wind. When I had had enough I climbed into my Jeep, crawled into my sleeping bag and went to sleep. Every so often a large gust would rock my car and briefly wake me.

Tags:   landscape valley hills clouds storm rain light shadow california storm chasing wilderness hiking bakersfield farm fields

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