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ziphius Posts: 911
12/15/2014
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After a couple of years of forum membership, I finally managed to meet up with Daren and his friend Craig for a short trip. Daren's enthusiasm for the desert is unparalleled, except when he sleeps through the Geminid meteor shower. At least 2-3 meteors per minute on Saturday night around 2 am, but I failed to do any night photography. It was kinda cold out there. I did shoot a quick 10-second time-lapse over 40 minutes from camp in the morning. At about the 6-second mark, it's apparent that I caught one of the boys during their morning walk.
Sunrise from camp
Seriously though, Daren's enthusiasm for and knowledge of the region are impressive. It was an honor and a pleasure to camp with him and Craig.
Daren and Craig cruising the terrain:
We had stopped to check out some scat when I noticed a tiny burrow with a low rim of sand held together by silk:
I dropped a tiny stick down the tube and a minute later, the stick began rising back up out of the hole, pushed by a black spider. We figured we could catch the event on camera again, so I dropped the stick down there again and Daren waited:
and waited...
Every time Daren backed off.... the spider would continue to push the stick back up out of the hole. Hope you got something out of the ordeal Daren!
One of several watering troughs in the valley:
A deer antler and jaw jumbled together:
Daren photographing some yonis in the distance, next to about 5 liters of perfectly good, fresh drinking water:
Remnants of a windmill in the valley:
One of several water troughs in the region:
More pump equipment:
Daren was kind enough to show Craig and I a few pictographs. I thought this one looked like a terrier.
After running it through D-Stretch, it occurred to me that this one was the 'fish skeleton' I'd heard them talking about:
Another amazing set of pictos:
Nice views both days:
Thanks again to Daren and Craig for letting me tag along. Look forward to more adventures. 
edited by ziphius on 12/16/2014
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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hikerdmb Posts: 423
12/15/2014
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Every time I am on top of Whale Peak I look down in that valley, see how interesting it looks, and say I need to get out there. Thanks for the great pics. And I still need to get out into that area.
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
12/15/2014
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I'll throw in some photos...
Watch out when driving thru Ocotillo, you may get knocked over by a turbine, reminds me of miniature golf and the windmill
5+ mylars for the trip
And the video of the spider pushing the stick back out
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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ziphius Posts: 911
12/16/2014
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Daren, that's great, you completely nailed the spider and stick video! Didn't realize that the narrator would get picked up so well on audio. It sounds almost as if he is afraid of spiders. The ants came out great too. Your picto shots make me realize how much I *need* a fisheye lens in my arsenal.
edited by ziphius on 12/16/2014
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http://www.coyotelearning.org
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
12/16/2014
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Jim (ziphius) wrote:
Your picto shots make me realize how much I *need* a fisheye lens in my arsenal. Those were with a 12mm f/2.0 Rokinon lens. Anything around 10-14mm would be good, a fisheye may be more distorted than you would like for these kinds of shots.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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AdventureGraham Posts: 170
12/16/2014
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Looks like a fun trip. From where abouts did you guys access that valley? From Blair?
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tommy750 Posts: 1040
12/16/2014
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Have to admit, the spider video was worth the 78 seconds! Were the skid marks from a coyote or hawk or ? Great trip. Need to head back out there.
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ziphius Posts: 911
12/16/2014
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tommy750 wrote:
Have to admit, the spider video was worth the 78 seconds! Were the skid marks from a coyote or hawk or ? Great trip. Need to head back out there.
We saw several 'cat litterboxes' during the trip, which might be the skid marks. Daren had to wait a lot longer than 78 seconds for that spider, he showed a lot of patience. FYI, I attended Mark Jorgensen's bighorn talk and book signing this evening at the Natural History Museum. Great talk, incredibly knowledgeable about bighorn biology (and the politics of conservation). During the talk, Mark showed one of Daren's photos, a dead ram, apparently killed by a mountain lion.
edited by ziphius on 12/16/2014
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
12/16/2014
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Mark is awesome and extremely knowledgeable about bighorn and ABDSP. Sign up for the bighorn count and you can get his talk every year for free..!!
Do you remember which photo he used? I have sent him several, I would be interested in knowing.
Jim (ziphius) wrote:
FYI, I attended Mark Jorgensen's bighorn talk and book signing this evening at the Natural History Museum. Great talk, incredibly knowledgeable about bighorn biology (and the politics of conservation). During the talk, Mark showed one of Daren's photos, a dead ram, apparently killed by a mountain lion.
edited by ziphius on 12/16/2014
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
12/16/2014
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tommy750 wrote:
Have to admit, the spider video was worth the 78 seconds! Were the skid marks from a coyote or hawk or ? Great trip. Need to head back out there. That was the short one..!! That spider shoved the stick out a few different times until Jim put 2 sticks in.... We saw a ton of cat scratches out there, more than I can remember before in one trip.
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
12/16/2014
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BorregoWrangler wrote:
Looks like a fun trip. From where abouts did you guys access that valley? From Blair? BW, you can park off the S2 anywhere there is a shoulder and just start exploring...!!
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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ziphius Posts: 911
12/17/2014
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dsefcik wrote:
Do you remember which photo he used? I have sent him several, I would be interested in knowing.
It was this one:
http://www.darensefcik.com/Photography/Anza-Borrego-Desert-State-Park/Blair-Valley-Alma-Wash/i-Kdh2vzC/0/M/img_1330_2013-11-03-M.jpg
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dsefcik Administrator Posts: 2609
12/17/2014
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Ahh..yes, that was also a trip with Craig, best trip ever, Craig put together a great route for that trip for sure and I would do it again anytime..thanks Jim..!
Jim (ziphius) wrote:
dsefcik wrote:
Do you remember which photo he used? I have sent him several, I would be interested in knowing.
It was this one:
http://www.darensefcik.com/Photography/Anza-Borrego-Desert-State-Park/Blair-Valley-Alma-Wash/i-Kdh2vzC/0/M/img_1330_2013-11-03-M.jpg
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http://www.sefcik.com
http://www.darensefcik.com
http://www.carrizogorge.com
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