I have started doing recordings of nature soundscapes, or the natural sounds of the wilderness while out on my photography trips or while backpacking. I have created a BandCamp account where these recordings can be purchased and downloaded. wildernesswanderer.bandcamp.com/releases
This thunderstorm is just one storm that I photographed over a 2 day period of very active thunderstorms in my local Los Padres National Forest.
The first day of storms i found a fallen log and used that to hide and shelter my recorder under, I pushed record and walked away. 5 hours later I came back and during that time 2 thunderstorms rolled through. My first upload to bandcamp is those two storms. they are uploaded just as they were recorded, the only editing done was to separate them into two 45 minute tracks.
I will be uploading other soundscapes in the coming weeks and months and whenever I get any good recordings. I will always post a link on a new photograph when I do.

Tags:   Lightning night storm thunder thunderstorm rain pink purple electric clouds mountains wilderness electricity Light dark

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piedra blanca rocks, los padres national forest

Tags:   piedra blanca rocks los padres national forest rocks sunrise hiking morning mountains landscape black and white

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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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Day 36
Part 3
As I closed in on lake Merced and the High Sierra Camp along its shores, I passed by a small meadow on my left, just barely visible through thick trees. Two people emerged from the trees at the far end carrying a bundle of wild onions and a basket of mushrooms. I sped up my pace to catch up with them. Rain finally began to fall, leaving visible imprints of raindrops in the soft, dusty trail.
They must have heard me coming up from behind because they stopped, turned around and waved, "Greetings traveler, how art thou this fine day?" Said the guy as the girl rolled her eyes.
"Please excuse my friend, he loves to speak like Shakespeare." She explained, "It gets to be really annoying."
"No worries," I laughed.
"Betoken me traveler wilt thou beest staying at our quaint village by yonder lake?" He asked.
"Ah,... yea verily?" I tried.
"Wonderful!" He sounded pleased at my attempt.
"Please don't encourage him." she sighed.
Then thunder rumbled.
“Come let us escape this fury that is about to be unleashed upon us!” He exclaimed.
Then I asked her, “Does he always talk like this?”
“No.” she replied, “Only to backpackers that he meets.”
As we walk the short distance to the cabin the rain picked up and was now falling steadily.
I asked her about the hiker bins that I had come here for.
"It's a bit late in the season, but if there's anything left you can have it all." She answered.
The cabins came into view and they led me to the closest one. They retreated into the cabin as I waited out side in the rain. She returned shortly carrying a pile of food and a single Hersey's kiss. She set the food down on a chair next to the door. I ate the chocolate immediately and put the rest of the food in my pack without really looking to see what was there since I wanted to get to the campsite and get out of the rain. I thanked her and headed to where the backpackers camp was on the far side of the village.
There was already a tent set up in one of the spots. Because my tent is basically a mosquito net with a rain fly, if I set it up now the whole inside would get wet so I decided to hang out on the leeward side of a tall sugar pine until the rain let up. I hadn't heard any thunder since I meet the two people at the meadow so I figured it was safe enough under this tree. The leeward side was completely dry and so was a small patch of dirt beneath it.
I love rain; the smell, the energy, the sound, the feel of the raindrops on my skin, and how it renews and refreshes the air and earth.
While waiting for the storm to pass an older guy exited the tent to get something out of his pack.
“Hello, when did you get here?” he asked.
“Just after the rain started.” I answered.
“My wife forgot something in her pack and is afraid of getting wet, so she made me come out here and get it for her.” He explained as he dug around in the backpack.
When he found it he stuck his head back inside to give it to his wife, then he walked over and introduced himself as Dave. “Why don't you set your tent up and get out of the rain?”
I explained to him the way the tent was constructed, to which he replied, “That makes sense.”
As we talked another backpacker approached. We both waved at her and when she reached us she asked where would be a good spot to set up her tent. We told her anywhere would work. She also didn't want to set it up in the rain and asked to join us here where it was mostly dry. Her name was Hannah and she was from Austria.
Dave then called out to his wife, “ Mary, we got company, come out and visit.”
“I don't want to get wet.” She said from inside the tent.
“It's dry under this tree, you won't get wet.” He insisted.
Eventually she agreed and joined us under the tree.
Dave told us stories of long bike rides with his son through death valley; beneath scorching sun, upon searing asphalt and through swirling sand. Everyone they meet along their path offered them water except one person who gave them beer, that was, according to him the best part. He spoke of adventures in Patagonia and the Swiss Alps. He remembered the summer trips he did on the JMT and PCT in his youth and all the people he had meet along the way. They asked me why I was out here so I told them about my photography and showed them some of the memorable images on the tiny LCD screen of my camera and I told them I had diverted from my route to resupply at the hiker bin. We talked more about other trips we had done into the mountains and Hannah told us tales of traveling around Europe, finding odd jobs to pay for them and staying in hostels.
The rain had let up and was now just a light mist interrupted by large drops dripping from the canopy. It was at this point, according to Mary, that it was getting close to dinner time so the two of them went back to their tent to prepare dinner. The rain had now completely stopped so Hannah and I decided to set up our tents, I set mine up here and she set hers up a short distance away. After dinner we gathered together again as the clouds began to break and patches of late day light shown through the forest, and steam swirled like apparitions off the fallen logs and leaf litter. A few blue jays began to sing, their songs floating to our ears in the cool, humid air.
“So Derek,” said Dave, “Have you been given a trail name yet?”
It is a long held tradition for through hikers on both the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail to assign nicknames, or trail names, to each other. The names are meaningful and usually come about due to something the hiker does or says, or if something memorable happens that is the result of the hiker who is receiving the name. For example on my way to Lake Virginia on day 25 I met a hiker who introduced himself as Tripod. He had gotten his trail name for his heavy-duty, 12 pound professional tripod that he lugged around on trail that hung from his front in a specially made harness.
“No I haven't,” I told him, “I'm not doing the JMT or PCT.”
“That doesn't matter,” said Dave, “You've been on tail long enough and what you've done is harder and more impressive than either of those routes. I've been thinking and my wife agrees, I have the perfect trail name for you. Ansel.”
“Thank you.” I said, “I like it.”
(It's not the name I would have chosen for myself, but do we ever get to choose our nicknames?)
Hannah said she was exiting down in the Valley floor in two days and had a bunch of extra food that she didn't want to carry that she was going to leave in the hiker bin, but she gave it to me instead. The food included lots of homemade goodies like home made dehydrated mangoes, these tasty home made Christmas like dessert things full of the spices nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and allspice, as well as some German and Austrian jerky sausages.
By now the light had faded as the sun set behind the mountain peaks casting the camp and lake into shadow. Dave, Mary and Hannah all said good night and retired to their tents before it got too dark. I decided to head over to the lake shore to see what photography I could get. The lake could not be seen from the campground since the thick pine forest surrounded it. I made my way through the trees and into a marshy area full of tall sedge grass hugging the pines that were still wet from the afternoon's rain. As I trailblazed through to where the forest opened up and the lake came into view my pants legs got wet from the rain soaked grass. Along the shore I found a fallen log to sit on as I watched twilight descended. The sky went from blue to pink then orange to purple and finally it faded to black as Venus, the evening star, grew brighter. Then, once all the light faded I wandered back through the wet grass and dense forest to my tent. Before going to sleep I put all my food into a large metal bear box that was just a short walk from my tent, it's heavy metal door creaking loudly in the quiet night.
…
stonebreath.bandcamp.com/track/as-water-over-stone
i think the lyrics fit perfect, however they talk about the sunset coast, and since i'm in the mountains i changed them a bit to fit that, changes in [ ]

As Water Over Stone

Along the path, we parted ways.
I walk the night, you tread the day,
[beneath pine bough and rain]
[up high along the mountain way]

We shared our meals; we shared our songs
By candlelight or by the sun.
I know you've sung 1000 more
All since the time you've gone.
As every bird has taken wing;
From branch to branch; from tree to tree
Without a thought of cloud of thorn.
As water over stone.

And so it is you've flown away.
My friend, I think on you today.
I hope some times you sing my songs
[up high along the mountain way]
--Stone Breath
…

Tags:   lake sunset yosemite yosemite national park merced wilderness forest night landscape reflection twilight backpacking camping hiking high sierra mountains ly

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Back at my campsite I went over my options for the day while eating breakfast. No matter what I decided to do, eventually I would end up going into Yosemite National Park via Donahue Pass and my eventual goal was a very narrow lake that lay in the footprint of the Lyell Glacier. I decided on a cross country route from here to there between a hill and a peak. I also decide to make it a day hike since I would be coming back tomorrow anyways and taking my pack was just extra work.
Soon I was on my way. After crossing Rush creek I slowly navigated up steep slopes and slabs, doing my own switchbacks to make the ascent less steep. Once I reached the saddle between the hill and the peak the route became easier. Here atop the saddle were two small, unnamed tarns, reflecting the deep blue sky. I decided to unofficially name them myself, Sky Mirror Ponds, if anything it would just be for easy reference.
Moving on the landscape became more flat as I contoured the mountainside. There was another unnamed lake that I wanted to reach on my way to the pass. To find this like I followed the sound of water flowing under rocks. Soon the much larger lake appeared resting beneath a split peak. I refilled my water here and continued. I wasn't more than 30 steps way from this other lake when in my mind a voice said, “Hey, look down, you might miss something.” I stopped and looked down. Right at my feet was a big beautiful arrowhead. Excited and in awe of the discovery, I picked it up, thanked whom ever helped me find it and thanked the person and peoples who made it, I also took time to thank the mountains and the lake I had just fill up my water at. I took a little more time to admire the craftsmanship of the arrowhead and I put it back on the earth, near where I had been told to look, though more hidden than when we found it. I decided to also unofficially name this lake too, Arrowhead Lake.
From here I finished climbing Donahue Pass and took a long rest. (11085 ft) When I was ready I went down the other side into Yosemite. I came to a beautiful tarn and creek. From here I left the trail again to follow the creek up to my destination. The valley floor was paved in glacier polished granite with large boulders strewn haphazardly about. To my left (South) rose a towering ridge of stone, that was an offshoot of the Cathedral Range. From here I could see the tallest peak in Yosemite, Mt. Lyell at 13,114 ft or 3,997m and Mt. Maclure, the fifth-highest mountain of Yosemite at 12,886ft or 3,928 m. This was also the headwaters of the Tuolumne River.
I explored a bit of this valley and also just sat and absorbed the scenery and energy of the place. Unfortunately I couldn't fully enjoy it due to the commercial airplanes flying over at regular intervals. Places like this, National Parks, Designated Wilderness Areas, National Forests, all paces set aside by the Wilderness Act to preserve the natural beauty of the landscape for future generations should really be no fly zones. To only preserve what the eye can see isn't enough, we need to preserve the quite places and natural soundscapes as well otherwise we have only gone halfway.
As the sun sank lower and the shadows stretched I headed over to the spot I had picked out for sunset photos. As the light grew pink on the peaks I took the photo that I had come here for.

Tags:   mountains wilderness wandering hiking backpacking camping yosemite landscape sunset mt lyell reflection lake water rock alpine glow high sierra california

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