Sunday, March 17, 2024

Flying Over Tioga Lake

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 During the summer of 2022 I flew an older drone at Tioga Lake. I liked it since no one was around, but it was early:

The downside was I did not have a enough light. I ended up doing a hike that morning after this, but when I got home I looked at the pictures and video. The pictures I knew could be worked on like the above, but I wanted to go back and get better pictures and video. So, I had already vowed to come back in 2023.

And, I did come back a year later. Also, closer to noon than just a few hours after sunrise. No hikes were planned. Just do this! 
This shot above is close to something I had uploaded on here before. 
This time I wanted to be sure I got picture from all different parts of the lake. 
This is close to the one I did the year before.
Another...
Finally, I had to get the top of Mt. Dana in on the upper left high point! 

Tioga Lake is probably my favorite lake in the whole Eastern Sierra. I have great memories of it when I was kid when my dad and I would fish there. Years back I did scramble up to the top of Mt. Dana. I have been working on some old video footage I took from the top with the current A.I. technology. Not sure I will upload it publicly, but you never know. 

The day was the best weather conditions I had last summer. It was perfect. I have another drone flight I will show sometime next month on the same day. It was my favorite flight. 

As an aside, when I was here people were going into Yosemite's Eastern Entrance like usual. Then while I was flying my drone you can see on the upper right side in the video that the line started to get longer. By the time I left it was near where my brother parked at the end of the lake. Just something I wanted to point out. You will see it in another future video I will show next month.

One last thing in the video is I went by twice the area where the stream comes into Tioga Lake. I wanted to get more video footage of that, but people ended up having a picnic there! Lol! So, no I wasn't trying to "spy" on them, but I just did enough and kept going. I was going to fly lower and stick around, but decided that would seem like I was spying on them. 

Flying Over Tioga Lake (Youtube Video)

Friday, March 01, 2024

Flying Over Silver Lake

 So after June Lake I drove over to Silver Lake. There was something special I wanted out of this one, but unfortunately I was a week or two late in getting it. Still went ahead anyways to fly around this lake.

I have shown Silver Lake in the past because it is a great spot for fall colors. I've never been quite satisfied with anything I have done here because of a sunlight. I show why in the next few pictures. 

So, I have had this type of picture before in the fall. The issue in the upper left hand corner is a lot of sunlight hits this area in a way that comes across as haze or smoke. I purposely flew the drone a lot more to the left to do the best I could to avoid the angle that gets that, but you can see it is still there. I meant to come back here in October to get a shot like this again, but that did not work out this time. 

Trying to get the right time of the day and best season for this shot is challenging for me in flights or just taking normal pictures on the ground. However, this shot was really secondary to what I was trying to achieve at this lake.


 The above is Horsetail Falls which I have hiked by to Gem Lake back in 2010. This was sort of the goal of my flying around here. The water had been gushing out from Agnew Lake during the month of July; I believe that was controlled by man made mechanisms and not something from nature. They were releasing water that had been snow/ice back there. I saw pictures of it and hoped to get this huge amount of water gushing over on video. I was too lake and this was what I got. Still it was fun doing this. Btw, in the video, this is the reason I hang out over here for a while. 

Finally, this is the other shot of June Lake I wanted from the other side:

Not bad. I took a few other pictures. Lots of water around, lots of boats fishing, etc. I was very relaxed doing this one.

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Flying Over June Lake

(For the Love of the Eastern Sierra) 

#FTLOTES

For the next two months or so I intend to put up a bunch of these drone flights I did every few weeks. They are simple flights I did last summer with my drone. This was the first one I did during the summer. 

I have shown June Lake before by my drone, but this is one where I covered the whole lake rather than trying to take pictures of the just the lake. This is what I saw when flying to the end of June Lake: Gull Lake! 

Then turning around I looked back on June Lake:

This is looking east to the 395. Whenever I fly my drone at June Lake I have encountered the remains of some nearby fire. There was some haze during this day in the distance in both directions. Had I been here about a week later I might have had clear conditions as you will see with some other drone flights.

Of course, I ended with this shot that I have taken a few times. 

Friday, February 16, 2024

Do Your Own Thing!

I have said something like this before and a version of this is in my FAQ. The point of this blog is not to copy me in areas you visit! That is not going to impress me. What is important is you go out and find your own areas.

Where do I figure out where I want to go or find some movie spot? I use books and watch movies. It is simple as that. I love reading history books and then trying to find out where some of the events took place. 

Getting ideas off of social media is NOT something I recommend for a bunch of reasons.

One thing that has happened over the years on social media is people copying each other over and over again. I get this every time I log in to one of the sites I am on. I start seeing areas, animals, or whatever I have uploaded at one time done by other people.

It is like the algorithm thinks, "Well, if you uploaded that, then you like that and want more of it!" Which I have to laugh at because I can only handle so much of my own stuff at a time. I have to take time away from my own projects I do on here and do other things otherwise I seriously burn out.

Yet, the way the modern algorithm works seems to be programmed into overkill! I get pounded every time I log into one of those sites. They work on our worst temptations and bad habits to keep us on these sites. They want to keep us on their sites as long as possible. 

The big issue is it is not art to do exact copies of others work. This is the way I feel about Ansel Adams photography. I have shown a few locations where he took photos, but I do not think it is right to copy his photo locations to take the same type of picture and then claim it as your own. 

While I would not consider it social media, I get the AAA magazine as I am a member. They usually run contests for the best pictures each year. As is typical, most of the pictures are the same each year. Oh sure, there might be some photography technique used with great outdoor conditions used, but it is the same places year after. The current magazine cover is one of an area I have been to a few times on here and seen others take similar pictures. 

Then just recently I saw a comment made on Instagram that on someone's channel dedicated to California. The comment was like, "The state of California should hire you to for tourism!" I did not say anything since it was not my channel, but I wanted to tell the lady that she has not tried looking enough around the internet. What I saw of this person's pictures (could be an A.I. grabber too which is another story) was really obvious places. 

So people trying to stay relevant on the algorithms have to keep uploading things and that encourages the copying, but other issue is I see bad behaviors being encouraged. Like, most people are giving out directions for everything: "Here are the directions to five of my secret hikes I do." It is really bad to do this. Not everyone should be encouraged to drive to areas or do hikes so easily. How many times have we heard about "experienced hikers" getting lost somewhere out there? 

It has been a few years, but I saw something that was obviously influenced by something I had done on here. It was one of those that I warned that the average person should not take this place and hike lightly. What did the person do? "I highly recommend this hike to everyone!" When I heard about this I just wanted to slam my head into the ground. 

There are other issues with social media giving out information too easily, but my main points are:  (1) find something unique to visit and share. Also, (2) be responsible with the rules, both written and unwritten, and what your audience will understand. Remember, social media caters to the lowest of intelligence and wisdom of all ages.

With that said, I intend to start sharing more of my drone flights about every other week or so for the next two or three months. It is my "Flying Over..." series, but I like to think of them as "For the Love of the Eastern Sierra" (#FTLOTES).

Thursday, February 08, 2024

Adding Rumble Account

 So I am finally adding my Rumble account as an official part of this blog:

TheGreatSilence Rumble Channel

In the past I decided it is a good idea to branch out to a few other sites to give YouTube some competition and also make sure some of my older content is not deleted for whatever reason.

In this case, my Rumble channel has only my last 16+ videos that I have shot in GoPro. My other 1080p videos can be found on YouTube and Odysee. Those go back to 2009 or so. My Bitchute channel has just the past few years on it.

As I see it right now, Youtube is still clearly the best when it comes to videos. The closest competition is Rumble that allows 4K (2160p). Odysee and Bitchute are stuck in 720p and 1080p respectively. My GoPro cameras can go as high as 5k video, but no one is doing that right now. As it is with big tv's, 4K is pretty much the standard I see for now. 

Again, I think my old 1080p videos are okay to watch, but they are good at smaller screens or cell phones. When you watch on smaller screen or at smaller box on a web browser they work the best. However, my recent GoPro videos are designed for bigger screens. 

In any case, follow me on this blog, or one of the other channels. Whatever is easiest for you and fits how you like to view things. The one thing I always mention is this blog is basically my main area where I let people know what I am doing and shows links to everything else I do. It is true that I have some other sites I have done side experiments on or use to communicate with family, friends, or business partners in the real world. However, those are not part of what I do here on the blog. Please do not try to contact me on other sites not listed here if you see me on them. You would think this is common sense, but...I have had people try doing this before that could just as easily leave a comment below on my most recent blog, but for some reason want to communicate with me somewhere else. Of course, my e-mail connected to this blog is always listed.

As an aside, I purchased a 4K UHD blu-ray player for myself during Christmas. I ended up buying a bunch of 4k movies I mostly already had as dvd or blu ray. There is a whole other set of reasons I do this instead of watching streaming channels which I will not go into here, but I am at the stage in life where this will probably be the last time I purchase movies I have already purchased before. If in ten years we are at 8K or something higher we will see, but I think I am pretty much done repurchasing movies. I have hundreds of rare movies on dvd and blu-ray I have watched, but some I have watched maybe once in the last 15 years or so. That takes up space.

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Slowing Moving into 2024

I do not have very much that is "new" to say right now. I am starting to think of things I want to do this year. I do have a bunch of simple drone flights that I want to edit and upload.

One note is that I have added my video channel on Rumble.com to my link section. I will explain more on that on some other blog post in a week or two.

What I said a year ago in my "Housekeeping 2023" blog pretty much covers the same ground as I feel right now. Refer to that, but I just want to emphasize again the following because I have had people still asking me something I do not do anymore.

That is, I do not give out GPS coordinates or specific directions to locations anymore.  

I'm sorry, but it is not 2006 anymore. For many years I felt okay in doing this, but I do not like what I am seeing. Vandalism, taking things from the land, leaving trash, and just too many people going to what are meant to be isolated areas with limited traffic.

What I have seen this last year, and for about ten years before, is that I will probably be on the losing side on this issue. I have seen official social media accounts encouraging certain behaviors that in the long run I fear are going to cause more harm than good. 

One thing hundreds of people have told me over the years and I have seen comments for social media sites is something like, "My family and I have been going to 'X' since 'P'. 

X = some location (for example, Yosemite)

P= some date or era (for example, the 1960's)

This is a way people try to establish common ground (no pun intend) with each other. I have done it on this blog several times as a way of letting the reader know that I have the knowledge and experience of the area over the years. A good percentage of what I have talked about on this blog goes back many decades. However, if you were to meet me out in the wild I probably would not mention this unless someone asked.

When people tell me they have been going to a certain area since some date in time I am usually not very impressed, nor I am really snotty about it either. However, if they have some good insights about the area, or explain things that they do to benefit the area then that will impress me a little more.

That is kind of the goal that I have set for this year. I've done this in the past, but I want to make it known publicly as well. Let me state it this way:

What can I do to make the area I spend my time at better than when I got there?

Taking bags with you to pick up trash is a good start. I have done this several times over the years. Lots of things can be said, but many people take what may seem "free" for granted. I am not going to get into property taxes, insurance, and other fees that many of us locals deal with, but maybe donating money to the places you visit helps. 

Just some ideas. I am going to come back and again talk about the problems I see with social media in my next blog post.

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Thanks and Looking Back at 2023!

I just want to give a "Thank You!" for those who have followed this blog or my work on Youtube (or other video sites). It is not important to me to have thousands of people following what I do. If I only get a handful of people that enjoy what I do that is fine. With that said, I do appreciate those that share what I do with others. My motivations for doing this are a lot different than many other content creators. I do it for the love of it, not for money or as an instrument for something else.

I have learned a lot in the past six months or so. I kind of know the direction I would like to take this blog going further. Yet, at the same time, to do this takes a lot of my own time. It feels like since August I have been working on videos every few days, correcting mistakes in them, and then I wonder where the time has gone. 

So, I intend to take a few weeks off from this. I still have a bunch of drone footage I want to show and some other things in the next couple of months. 

In the meantime, please check out my last video of the year (and any others I did this year if you have not seen them):

Flying Over Aurora (Youtube video)

Have a Happy 2024!

Friday, December 29, 2023

Ghosts of the Past: Flying Over Aurora (Part 2)

Again, the Wild West Mine would have been here. I have never walked up here. This is the nice advantage of drones. You can see what remains here:

Now turning around where my drone was hovering over the Wild West Mine site:
It is nice to see some of the other roads. The following is looking toward the north:
Somewhat northeast here:
This one is a little out of place since it should have been in Part 1. This is hovering near Lover's Leap. Looking west and those roads are supposed to go Bodie.
So, this ends my "Ghosts of the Past" series where I have returned to a bunch of places I have talked about on this blog before. I felt the need for an update in video and pictures. Will I come back in ten years for 8K footage? Lol! I love these areas so I probably will return, but not for quite some time. There are other areas I need to get to.

Thursday, December 28, 2023

Ghosts of the Past: Flying Over Aurora (Part 1)

 Hey everyone! I hope you are having a great holiday season!

Long story short, I was supposed to have these next flew blogs up by Christmas for the ending of the "Ghosts of the Past" series, but I got sick and then my internet provider went out on me for over a week. With that said, let's get to it:

After I did the GoPro footage and did two drone flights over the area. The first flight started at the where the Daly Gang house would have been. I flew over to the other side near the peak of Lover's Leap. I knew that is where the most popular picture from 1890 was taken looking down on the town. I tried to emulate it, but was much higher up. If I had come down a little lower and moved the drone to my left I might have been a little closer:

A slightly different picture. You can see how the water really "carved" into the where the town would have been. It turns out the town was prepared for this, and I have seen how water would have come down almost like in some of the maps. 
This is trying is looking out where Pine St. would have gone east to west (or vice versa).
For comparison this is from my previous drone during 2020. This lacks the water "carving" drainage of 2023. 
Finally, this is crossing over to the eastern side. Where the Wild West Mine would have been:
I will continue with this one in Part 2.

Sunday, December 10, 2023

R.I.P. Gunfighter William E. Carder

So one-hundred and fifty-nine years ago, either a justifiable homicide or a murder took place. This is one of the big reasons I (and others) enjoy reading about the Wild West (aka Western Americana): we get to see what happens in areas where there is little law enforcement or rule of law, and how the areas evolve as time goes on until they get proper law enforcement and rule of law.

I have talked about William E. Carder before. More than likely, he would have been commonly known as Billy. In the video I give a short biography; this is mostly a transcript of what I said. This is a bit different, but consistent with my old blog about him that I will link below.

Interesting enough a bunch more about Carder has come out in the past ten years or so. I was reading an old book on the Western Sierra and Carder's name came up several times. That is something fun when you can start tracing names over various places and see how they all connect to each other. I mention one of these odd coindences in the video.

Carder was born in Tennessee In 1832, and by the age of 18 he was motivated by the gold rush to travel on his own to Placerville, CA. By 1855, he was the town marshal of Columbia, CA for 2 years. Right away he ended up killing a vagrant by the name of Martin Hennessy who had an outstanding warrant on him. On July 4th, 1857 he was part of a posse to capture a murderer of a man called John Leary. Carder ended up being the one who captured the guy. By September 1858 he started working for a local newspaper. He ended up getting in a shootout with a John Carinelli. No one was seriously injured. In 1861, Carder was down in Sorona, CA working for a local newspaper. He got into a feud with a rival newspaper editor H.C. Bennett. Bennett would constantly insult Carder in Bennett's newspaper. Carder challenged him to a duel. No duel ever happened but Carder eventually confronted Bennett in a gunfight where they both shot each other in the shoulder. Judge Wheaton examined Carder and dismissed him. 

Sometime after this Carder came to Aurora, NV. He got into a shooting scrap with Thomas Greely. An innocent bystander E.J. Warren was killed during this fight. He married Ann Davis in 1863. He tried to run for city marshal that year, but was defeated. He was not part of the Daly Gang. He did have some interaction with them drinking and gambling, but he was clearly opposed to them by the time the town formed a vigilante group against them. Finally, he was out of town on business with a man named Moses Brockman in the fall of 1864. Carder came back to Aurora and was expecting Brockman to bring a specific horse with him for Carder. Brockman came back to Aurora without the horse. Carder was angry and eventually let it be known that he intended to kill Brockman. More than likely this was idle words of a drunken man, but Brockman believed him. 

This is where the following takes place so on the night of December 10th, 1864. Brockman was right around here hidden in an unused doorway on the outside of the Exchange Saloon. Carder walked out at 11:30 that night and Brockman shot Carder point blank range. Carder never knew what hit him. The buck shot tore through his neck and his right shoulder instantly killing him. Due to Carder's reputation and Brockman being known as a peaceful miner, he was let go with a justifiable homicide. The thinking was while it was a surprise attack, was Brockman just supposed to sit around and wait until an expert gunfighter was ready to fight? One person disagreed with this assessment.

So out here in the middle of nowhere at the Aurora Cemetery we find his grave:

Then...it takes a little work to find it because it is what you might call the "Boot Hill" section of Aurora. It is a little off and away from the other obvious graves. 

It is interesting to note that there are some other graves nearby without names, headstones, or markers, but surrounded by rocks. I have seen an old picture in one of my books that says that one right next to Carder's grave would be a member of the Daly Gang. It had a wooden marker that would obviously not be there anymore.  

That person that disagreed with the justifiable homicide verdict was his wife Ann.

William E. Carder

Native of Tennessee

Aged 33 Years

was assassinated

in Aurora on

the night of

Dec. 10, 1864

I will avenge saith

The Lord

Erected by his wife Annie E.

The video:

R.I.P. Gunfighter William E. Carder (Youtube)

My old blogs:

The old Auora Ghost Town (William E. Carder) blog

All my Aurora Cemetery blogs

The following books contain most of the information about Carder: 1)McGrath, Roger D. Gunfighters Highwaymen & Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier. University of California Press, 1984. Amazon link: https://tinyurl.com/3ejduebr McGrath's book is the classic for all the "wild west" information regarding Aurora and Bodie ghost towns. There is a page or two about Carder. 2)Silver Sue. Mineral County Nevada. Museum Ass. of Mineral County, 2011. Amazon link: https://tinyurl.com/wzjknjwa In the chapter about Aurora there is a short biography about Carder. It mentions his days in Western and Eastern Sierra. 3)Silver Sue. Aurora Nevada's Silent City on the Hill: An Historical Perspective. S. Silver 2011. Amazon link: https://tinyurl.com/bdhdwmew This is the book you want for learning about the graves at the cemetery. There is an entry and short biography for Carder.