Winter Is Coming! (The Silmaril Series)

 At least in the Northern Hemisphere! 

So, will be the last blog entry of the year. Please have a great Christmas and New Year! Note that many are coming down with illnesses of various types, including Covid still being around, so please protect yourselves and bulk up on your vitamins. 

So, one of the goals I had this year was to use my drone at Leavitt Lake. This is one of the shots I took:

The trick on this one is I took it during Memorial Day Weekend. I had just re-registered my drone, and the week before the weather forecasts were saying that there would be lots of wind in the Eastern Sierra that weekend. Exactly what I did not want to happen.

Sure enough when we got there it was all very windy. We decided to go up the HWY 108 anyways to see what it was like at Leavitt Lake. Turns out that morning was not too bad for wind, but as we kept going the cloud cover was lower as we kept going higher on the road. 

We parked off the road. Normally one takes a 4-wheel drive to Leavitt Lake, but the road was blocked due to winter conditions still existing, and we were just going to hike the road anyways. Off we went.

It took us about an hour to hike in. A few huge trees had fallen down over the winter so even if the road were open, no one was getting through with any vehicle. As we got closer to the lake the more snow we encountered. In fact, at a few points I was pretty much sunk in knee deep. 

At the lake I had already decided I was going to fly my drone quickly. Go up, get a few pictures, and get down. There was a slight drizzle of rain coming down, but not overwhelming. I took the drone up and flew over some of the lake. 

I flew it back and took the above picture. I was going to do a little more flying over the lake at a lower level, but then the rain started to kick in a little more. I would have liked to have taken a picture of the lake without all the cloud cover around and the sun out, but that was not in the cards on this day.

I ended up flying my drone a few more times that weekend with the wind really blowing. I was kind of fortunate I did not lose the drone, but I had waited many months to fly again. Looking back now I will probably never fly in any type of rainy conditions or that type of strong wind ever again. 

So that ends my flight with winter conditions at Leavitt Lake. There is more to this drone story at Leavitt Lake, but I am going to wait until the beginning of January to tell the rest of the story. 

The Silence of Gaylor Peak

 As I explained in the last blog entry, I did this part of the hike in the morning. I then visited the mining area after I came back down. While the hike might look intimidating from the pictures I showed last time it really is not. This is because you do not need to climb it from the east side. 

This looks a lot different than what you see from the other side. I would say this is probably one of the easier hikes in the Eastern Sierra. Do not get me wrong, one does need to be in shape and prepared, but it is a little milder than others.

As I said, there are some rough moments when you look straight up. I spent some time zig zagging my way up. Not too far from here I encountered a ranger coming back down. He basically told me I was done, and I kind of figured I was. There were a few false summits though.

At this I looked back. When I came back down, and I then descended to the right toward Gaylor Lake you can see a small part of. 

Now I am at the summit. You can see Gaylor Lake looking toward the west of Yosemite.

This is looking toward the north-west you can see the Granite Lakes in the distance. I did not go to those on this trip. 

This picture is looking north at Upper Gaylor Lake. This picture is interesting because I am now looking to where I was going to be in an hour or two. In the background is the Great Sierra Cabin of Tioga Hill and mining area I showed in the last blog. You will not be able to see it, but the trail is on the other side of the lake that goes by the cabin. 

Finally, looking more toward the east you can see Tioga Lake and beyond that Tioga Pass. I did not show Mt. Dana because the sun was glaring down in that direction. You can see it briefly in the video.

The Silence of Gaylor Peak and Mine (YouTube Video)

The music from Incomptech.com is called Ice Giants and Either Vox.

As an aside, this video marks the end of a certain way I do videos. I am going to make some changes in the way I do things going forward. This is why I wanted to get this video up. I will talk about this at the beginning of 2023. 

The Great Sierra Cabin of Tioga Hill and "Dana City"

 Happy Thanksgiving! 

The next two blog entries deal with a Yosemite hike I did a few years ago in October. Why have I waited on this one? Well, I meant to do another hike along with it, but due to fires and other issues over the past few years I never got around to it. So, I am tired of waiting so here we go.

For this hike I am shifting to the very end of it first. I will show the early morning part of the hike in the next blog. For now, I will just say that this hike is started on the eastern side of the entrance to Yosemite. You literally enter Yosemite and then just park beyond the entrance to Yosemite to reach the Gaylor Lakes trailhead.

After going up some switchbacks for about five hundred feet, then descended about the same amount of feet, one encounters the first of the Gaylor lakes, and then one heads more in a north-eastern direction to get too Upper Gaylor Lake. Then one follows the trail up to encounter the remains of this:

This is known as the Great Sierra Cabin on Tioga Hill. 

Another look of the cabin. There were miners wandering around this area making claims as early as 1860. It was a shepherd, William Brusky, from Sonora that ran into a claim from 1860 during the year of 1874. He worked on the claim until he found a promising vein in 1875. A few years later the Tioga Mining District was formed, and people scrambled to the area.

Inside the cabin I looked at where the fireplace would have been. There were big plans to turn this whole area into a city: Dana City. At some point they planned to make a tunnel that would go from this side to the east to Bennettville. I showed some pictures way back of the mining tunnel they started over there in those 2006 blog entries.

Inside the cabin I framed Mt. Gaylor in the background. This is the view a miner would have had back when it was used. This is actually a common picture I have seen done by others that visit here. Most people that come here take this type of picture out the window. It is interesting to see what time of the year they show. I have seen some fun winter snow pictures here.

Stepping a few paces backwards I took another picture. See the snow/ice inside? I am going to recommend a book at the bottom that has some nice pictures of this cabin when it was still practically covered and complete.

Beyond the cabin heading more to the north-east I encountered a few mining holes. Please note that these holes are dangerous to get to close to. One can slip or the ground might cave in so that you would fall down into the holes. You can get trapped in them with no one around. Also, they did appear very cold. 

Looking in the mine.

 Not too far away I ran across some old mining equipment. Some of it is scattered around.

The community increased, a road was built to get from Sonora to here, and machinery was brought in to Bennettville from over the other side in the east. Yet, it was finally determined that while the mines were relatively good, the remote location, high freight rates, harsh weather, and other issues made it unprofitable. So, the tunnel remains in Bennettville were stopped. Both Bennettville and what was meant to be "Dana City" were abandoned. 

In the next blog I will show some of my hike up Gaylor Peak that can be seen out the "window" in the above pictures. It looks like a pretty mountain hike dramatic doesn't it? Stay tuned...

 While you can find some good information online doing some searches about the cabin, Tioga Hill, and "Dana City," I found that the book Yosemite's Tioga Country: A History and Appreciation by Gene Rose very good. It has a chapter that goes into much more detail that what I described here. Amazon has it much cheaper than I paid for it here.

The Silence of Gaylor Peak and Mine (Youtube Video)

The music from Incomptech.com is called Ice Giants and Either Vox.

Veterans Day 2022: My Day at the 2022 MCAS Miramar Air Show

Happy Veterans Day to all our Vets! Even though I am focusing on my day at Miramar I like to think that this is a tribute to all the services. 

So back in early 2020 I purchased a new camera with the intent to use it a bunch of air shows. When I got the camera I went to a local park every few days to learn how to use it with a bunch of ducks, birds, and some aircraft flying around. I was about a month away from two major air shows. Then Covid kicked in and everyone shut down. While I had been able to visit the Planes of Fame in Chino, CA a few times to focus on a one plane they would fly a month, this was the first time I was able to attend the big Miramar Air Show.

The day I went was very hot! The sun in front of me was bearing down on me in such a way that I was a little worried about myself at the end of the day when I was trying to get back to the car. This is one thing about air shows where I live: they always pick the days that seem to have really sunny conditions. Which is good for some reasons, but by the end of the day I am wiped out!

Anyways, I was able to get some good pictures that day back in September. I took a short video that I will link at the bottom that shows you the short landing ability of the F-35B, If you have not seen that before it is quite amazing.

One of my favorite parts of the day was the Marine Air Ground Task Force demo which shows how the Marines can occupy an area. Basically, the air forces are given the okay to start bombing and take out targets, More air forces come in to make sure the area is clear. Then the Helicopters come in to clear out the area. Then the marine troops show up. Obviously, a lot more complicated this this, but you get the idea as the fighters come in at fast speeds:

Later on the F-22 showcased some of its abilities. It was very fun to watch that! Eventually, they flew it a long with a P-51 from the Planes of Fame in Chino. It was their Heritage Flight at the show.

Finally, the Blue Angles took over at the end of the show. They were great:

So, I was very satisfied and exhausted at the end of the day. It was a great show.

Even though I was tired for a few days, I was already thinking of better ways to take pictures of these jets if I ever get to another show like this. We shall see!

The following is the link to a short unlisted Youtube video of the F-35B landing:

The F-35B STVOL Video

Cell Phones of Power

 So I am in the mood for a self-reflection type of blog entry...

It never ceases to amaze me as I get older how much people try to control others. Lessons I learned as a child through such things like the Bible, fantasy stories like The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, etc. always emphasized that power can be a really bad thing. It has its limits and trying to control others through power is not what we should be doing. The ability to control what others do is not really up to me.

Years ago, I was shopping for some food at a chain grocery store. I got to the register to check out and the woman asked me if I had the "members card" for the store and asked if wanted to sign up for free. I said, "Oh no, that is okay." The deal was I would save a dollar or two by having the card for the store. She looked at me kind of strange and took some other person's card to give me the discount. 

While I appreciate discounts, my concern then was why do you want my personal information for some card? Are you keeping records of what I buy each week or month? That was then, this is now.

I am not a big fan of cell phones. I really do not like talking on the phone very much. I was forced to get one as a way of instant communication with my family when I was dealing with my mother's health issues.  

Now when I go to stores, my membership cards that I do have, are not as important as having some app on my cell phone. All you need to do is install an app I am told. The best discounts are now on apps. The last thing I want is my cell phone filled with these stupid apps for each store I visit.

Of course, as I have said in the past, social media apps are a big problem in this area too. All these programs are designed to keep you using your cell phone. It is all "FREE" we are told, but...they can get your personal information, keep you online for more ads, try to "influence" your thoughts and beliefs, etc. As an aside, if a new "can we be friends" person communicates with me wants my personal info or cell phone number, I consider that a bad sign, and typically a scammer. 

It feels like the whole point of "someone" out there is to create addictions in us, so we are controlled by our cell phones.

What is my solution to this? Turn it off. That is easier said than done when instant communication is needed between family and friends for many of life's events. That is the paranoia that I have when I turn everything off. What if something happens when I have it turned off and people are trying to get a hold of me. 

In The Lord of the Rings story there is the character of Gollum who we find out was once a hobbit who was corrupted by the power of the one ring. He has a love/hate relationship with it calling it his "precious".  While there are many characters we can relate to in those books, I think the character of Gollum is a lot closer to the way we humans are then we would like to admit. 

As I have always tried to emphasize on this blog. It is important to turn off the computers, cell phones, etc. and get out there in the real world. You may not have easy access to nature where you live, but at least getting out of the house is a good thing. Explore the real world even if it is the streets of the big city. Do not get sucked into thinking that what is online is the real world. It is not. 

Also, do not neglect paper books or other reading non-electric materials. I will say that reading a book or classic on an electronic tablet I own can be considered in this, but I do risk interference and distractions from the internet.  

Some level of discipline must be kept in our lives regarding this. This is why turning things off and getting out there exploring nature has been so important to me. Believe me, my feelings would not be hurt if you decided to stop reading my blog or watching my videos in order that you could get out into the real world. 

Catalina Glass Bottom Boat and the Buffalo

 To wrap this one up I wanted to go over the last two touristy things I did back on the July 4th weekend. I had never been on a glass bottom boat before. My dad always talked about it. So, I was able to do that this time around. A picture does not really cover the experience so I will link a short video at the bottom of this blog entry that is a few minutes long.

The last thing I did during the afternoon was go on one of the eco-tours they have. I had been on one before, took a lot of video and pictures, but never got around to uploading anything about it. On this tour we were taken to the Catalina Airport which I always find interesting since the runway is very small. We did see some buffalo on the way, but the best pictures I got were on the way back not too far away from the airport.

It is kind of odd seeing bison on Catalina Island. The story is pretty well known though. During the filming of a silent movie in the 1920's about twenty bison were sent to the island as part of the movie. They were kept there and reproduced to as many as five hundred over the years. These days the population is much lower. We were told on the tour they had not reproduced, partly due to birth control, for over a decade. They try to keep the population in check, and in the past have sent extra bison to the Great Plains. However, they were forced to bringing in two new females to keep the genetics and population going. 

This is the same bison from the other picture as we drove by. I was given permission to open up the side part of the eco-tour van to get this picture. One of the young ladies kind of freaked out as I did that. This was during the period that a few attacks had happened in Yellowstone. I am used to dealing with wild animals so I kind of know the distances I need to stay safe, and how quick I would need to close the door. We were completely safe, but from her perspective she probably thought we almost died, and I was reckless. Lol! This bison just moved to the right side of this picture and took off after this picture. 

So, it was a fun trip to Catalina Island. Usually after I go I kind of feel like I do not have to go back, but over time I remember certain things and enjoy one day stops on the island. One thing I should mention is due the drought they were hurting for water. At the restaurant I ate at I asked for water rather than something else, and they asked if I was okay with bottled water. I totally forgot about the situation. Normally, when I ask for water at a restaurant, I do not think much of it, but for people on the island they were suffering due to the drought.

The Glass Bottom Boat Tour (Short Youtube Video)

Inside The Casino at Catalina Island

 So in the last blog entry I showed my drone shots I took last July of The Casino at Catalina. I noted that it is primarily used as a movie theater and has a ballroom upstairs for special events. I am going to travel back ten years in time to show pictures I took inside of The Casino when I took a tour of it. At the time I had all these ideas of showing what I did on the island that day when I went, but I never did show anything on here. That is kind of the way I have been over the past ten years or so. I have taken lots of pictures and videos of things, but unless I am motivated with something I think is worth mentioning I tend to just leave it on an external hard drive, DVD, etc. Something touristy like this is rather well known too, but I am in the mood so let's go back ten years...

Here is what the inside of the theater looks like:

One of the first theaters created when silent movies became "talkies" in the late 1920's and early 1930's. I would not mind seeing a movie here, but typically my trips to Catalina last a day. I leave before the night movie is shown.

Going upstairs to the ballroom:

One thing I knew going into the tour was that an old movie, Murder on a Honeymoon (1935), had been filmed in here. A murder takes place near the end of the movie:

I was listening to what our young lady tour guide was telling us, but meanwhile I was trying to hunt down where they filmed this. 

It has been ten years, but if I remember correctly, I concluded that the murder took place in the background here. You can look at the windows and artistic signs above the windows and doorways. Some of the artistic signs might have been changed around because the area has changed a lot over the years. In the Airwolf tv series episode, Sins of the Past, from 1984 they show the ballroom as well and it looks different too. In any case, even if I am little off here you get the idea of how the ballroom would have been used for the murder in that movie.

Finally, looking up I saw this. 

In the next blog I will show the next thing I did that day at Catalina.

The Casino at Catalina (Drone Shots)

Over the July 4th weekend I was able to revisit Catalina. Over the next few blogs I will describe my adventure there. I have been to Catalina a few times over the decades of my life. Let me start this blog with my latest adventure, and then I will talk some about my past experiences.

So the first thing I did was get off the boat and head to the other side to where The Casino is at Avalon, Catalina. I got my small drone out and took off to get some pictures.

This is a rather common shot I have seen in the past while watching the weather report in Southern California over the years. I assume it was a helicopter flying by, but now people are able to this by just using a drone. 

Maybe a more unique shot of The Casino as I was just flying above it with the drone.

Then I flew it in a more northerly direction and took a picture looking more to the south at Avalon. I just spent enough time getting it up, flying it around for a few pictures, and then got back down. There were other things scheduled for the day, so this was just something meant to be done rather quickly in the morning right as I got on shore. 

The Casino is primarily used as a movie theater and for special events like weddings on the upper floor. On the day I was here they were showing The Batman movie there. In the next blog I will time travel back about ten years as I show some of what was (and I hope still is) inside of the Casino.

My brother mentioned to me that in the Airwolf tv series in the 1980's there was an episode where they blow up The Casino. The episode was called, "Sins of the Past".

Maverick's Mustang (Aka So the Summer Ends)

 So a few weeks ago I visited Planes of Fame in Chino, CA to see this plane:

This was the plane that was used in the recent Top Gun: Maverick movie in the scenes at Ridgecrest, CA that are shown at the beginning and ending of the movie. It is a P-51 variant known as the F-6K, and built near the end of WW2 for photo reconnaissance. Tom Cruise purchased it 1994, is the owner, and loaned it out temporarily for viewing at the museum.  

Another angle.

And another.

I took a few videos of it, but not sure I will upload them since I am sure there is a bunch of stuff already out there about this plane. If I do it will be at a much later time, and I will link it in this specific blog. I will link a few videos I saw of it on a simple Google search below at the end of this blog.

So, this summer was interesting and did some self-reflection on how I want to continue this blog. As I get older, I do not have the same motivations as I did fifteen to twenty years ago. I still enjoy uploading and typing about things I do, but there is a work involved. That is what wears me down in trying to get everything right and to perfection (which I never really achieve). 

The good news is I am starting to think of putting videos together again. I have a few that are close to being done that I should have up in another month or two. The videos that I am little more excited about will probably be done and shown during 2023. I am not saying I will have videos up every week, but there are a few things I was able to get done this summer that I think most people that enjoy what I have done will like.

I kind of left the last blog in a cliffhanger in what I was most concerned about: the weather conditions. Btw, I edited a short section about Mark Twain visiting Virginia Lakes in the last blog if you have an interest in that. Basically, on my main trip to the Eastern Sierra this summer a fire had already been going, but the day I drove past Bishop a new fire had started and smoke was everywhere. I was really discouraged. 

I had already started to modify my thinking on what I wanted to accomplish this summer. Fortunately, within a few days the smoke was not as bad, and it started to have dark cloud conditions every day. Eventually, it started to drizzle and rain most days. The funny thing is when I left to come home at around 2am in the morning, it rained all the way on the HWY 395 all the way home. I have never had that happen before. This was the day that I read Death Valley had a flash floods.

So, I was able to capture some footage and do somethings I wanted to do. I did visit two movie locations. One you would know very well that I revisited, and one that is completely new that I figured out. Some hiking, but not what I had hoped to do. Again, I did some self-reflection on this that I will talk more about as the months go by. As I get older I want to modify how I do things so I keep myself motivated and happy doing these things. 

Thats all for now. Check back soon.

Tom Cruise Terrifies James in 'Top Gun' Fighter Jet!

"Tom's P51 Mustang" Featurette

Virginia Lakes (The Silmaril Series)

Happy 4th of July! It has been a while so I thought I would upload some drone pictures I took last year and a one from a few years ago.

This picture was taken a few years ago in August at Virginia Lakes. It is the biggest lake: Big Virginia. I felt kind of bad that day because I suggested to my friend we come here so he could fish, and I would use my drone. He ended up not getting any fish. He was fishing on the other side of this picture at the lake in this picture. I remember we both took off for home after that, and I have not seen him since. Lol!

I came back last October to take a few more pictures of the area. So the following is Big Virginia with some fall colors:

Basically, I rotated the drone to get the following pictures:

This is Little Virginia. You have to look closely or blow up the picture, but there are a bunch of people either in small boats or "rubber tubes" (?) fishing that smaller lake.

Looking toward the east is Trumbull Lake. I believe that Trumbull Lake Campground was closed so no one was fishing there. Btw, this is the lake many think Samuel Clemens fished and camped at according to Roughing It. He says they camped and fished under Castle Peak which is now called Dunderberg Peak. I am going to go out on a limb and say he was probably familiar with all of the lakes around that I am showing. They are so close to each other I would think there is a good chance his company could have fished all of them. They are all a short walking distance from each other.

Finally, to the west is Blue Lake. Some people hike to that lake to fish it, but I usually pass it heading along the hiking trail. I showed it back in November 2009 while hiking to Mt. Excelsior.

That covers the "new" content I wanted to share. I think I would be massively repeating myself and stating the obvious that we are living in a strange time. While I have some things I have done over the past few months I will share at some point I am not as motivated to do so right now. I had to force myself to make the time to do this blog entry. 

With inflation and gas prices right now I am not as excited to take off to do things. Everything feels like a lot more work to do at this point. There are a lot of goals I had for myself to get done this year, but I am not sure that is going to happen. If the typical fires start this summer, then that will probably cancel what I have in mind. 

In any case, I cannot predict the future, and will only find out what happens when it happens. Until that point I wish my readers well.

R.I.P. Elzy Lay (AKA William E. Lay)

I hope you are having a Good Friday!  

While Covid was going on these past two years I started to spend more time going back over Old West history books I had purchased and read over ten years ago. It was around ten years ago that I "burned" out of reading those types of books. Maybe I will explain that some other time, but it basically came down to the things that I had an interest in I had already read everything there was about it.

There was one other thing I did during the last two years that influenced me too. I was playing the video game Red Dead Redemption 2 (aka RDR2). I tend not to play many video games these days other than flight simulators, but I enjoyed the first game years back and wanted to play this new one. RDR2 deals with being in a gang that does a lot of train and bank robberies. It turns out that the game was slightly influenced by Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch. I was never really into that part of the Old West history, but decided to purchase a book or two about the Wild Bunch.

I was curious to read about one of the persons connected to this was William "Elzy" Lay. This blog entry is just a very brief bio entry on this person: 

It turns out that Butch Cassidy's best friend was Elzy Lay. The more well known Sundance Kid partnership was much later. In 1889, Cassidy and Lay met up. When they were not working on cattle ranches they were robbing banks and other stickups. They ended up at the Robber's Roost in Utah, and the Hole-in-the-Wall in Wyoming which were two of the hangouts for the Wild Bunch gang. 

In 1899, Lay along with Kid Curry, Sam Ketchum and Bill Carver robbed a train near Folsom, New Mexico. While it was a success, a posse was sent that caught up to them at an area known as Turkey Creek. The posse ambushed them, and Lay was shot while filling his canteen at the creek. However, it is disputed, but in the book citied below, Jeff Burton writes that during the gun battle that followed Lay regained consciousness. He then shot Sheriff Farr with his rifle which kills Farr. Lay, Curry, and Carver got away, but Sam Ketchum was injured. While in captivity Ketchum dies of his wounds.

Lay escaped to Eddy (aka Carlsbad), New Mexico, but was eventually captured. Sentenced to life in prison he ended up serving seven years due to his helping the warden and his good behavior at the prison. 

 I found it interesting that after he got out of prison he headed toward the border of Mexico to a spot where a cache of money he knew about was hidden. He then headed to the Wyoming/Colorado border. After a time, he went with his new wife Mary Calvert to Southern California where he supervised and worked on the All American Canal system in Riverside and Imperial Valley. He died in Los Angeles.

In one of my old books that lists gravesites I found out Elzy Lay's gravesite was at Forest Lawn in Glendale. After serving a weird week of Jury Duty a few months ago, I was headed to Los Angeles, and decided to see if my grave hunting skills still were working. I got to the cemetery a little before they opened and kind of laughed to myself. "What kind of person is early to a cemetery?" That week was just weird, and I was in that kind of mood. Also, it was a foggy morning which I don't mind if I visit a cemetery; it adds to the mood. 

Anyways, the grave is on a slope, and it just a basic marker with the name on it: 

This is looking down the hill from it:

For basic info check the Wikipedia entry on Elzy Lay HERE:

For a lot more scholarly detail on the Wild Bunch Gang you need to hunt this book down:

Burton, Jeff. The Deadliest Outlaws: The Ketchum Gang and the Wild Bunch. Denton, Tex.: University of North Texas Press, 2012

Housekeeping 2022

First post of the 2022. Like I usually do I wanted to make a few housekeeping announcements for the blog as we move forward. A lot has happened since I started this blog. It does not feel like it was that long ago, but it has been about fifteen years. Back then blogs were really interesting and cutting edge, but as social media has become more prominent online blogs have take a backseat to sites like Facebook and Twitter. I do not think that is a good thing, but it is what it is. I kind of saw the direction we were heading in about ten years ago so that is one of the reasons I have cut back on how much content I have put online. Still, I do want to put content up once in a while so that is why I keep this blog up. 

Two decisions I have made:

1)No more GPS Coordinates.

Honestly, I do not take a GPS with me when I am out hiking or hunting anymore. Why will I not be posting GPS coordinates anymore? Geotagging is becoming a big issue where isolated areas you could go to ten years ago without seeing a person are now being trampled on by more and more people. I am not sure these people have the same appreciation of these areas that I thought most people had. We need to ask ourselves why are we visiting a place? Is it to enjoy nature, or to leave our trash and take mindless selfies to stay relevant on an algorithm? 

I am keeping old coordinates up, but do not ask me for coordinates in the future. If it is not on the blog, do not ask me. If I am in a good mood, I might give some general directions. Remember the point of this blog is for you to go out explore no matter where you live. Not for me to give you location instructions on a silver platter.

2)Taking a Hiatus From Videos

Okay, this might be a little disappointing. I am taking some time off from making videos. It has been quite some time since I have released a public video on my main channel. While I did take some videos this last summer and fall, I have decided to wait before I upload anything new. Some of this is me trying to use new technology, some a little bored with what I have doing, some Youtube is not as fun as it used to be, Youtube becoming an advertisement spam site on everything, Youtube trying to control what everyone says,  etc.

I will probably show some unlisted short content on here from time to time, but nothing major for the time being. This is a good thing for my sanity in the long run.

Anything Else New?

I have found two new really cool movie locations. I know exactly where they are at it is just a matter of getting to them. I am also revisiting some old spots with new technology. There are some areas I do want to "reboot".  

I said almost six months ago that it looks like issues with COVID might be coming to an end. That was me being cautiously optimistic about what people were saying. As I have said from the beginning, I am massively skeptical of everything we were and are being told about COVID. I think it will take some years looking back to figure out all the details. With that said, some areas I like to visit have been affected by all of this and continue to be. 

Finally, I am trying to get myself back into good shape right now. While I am not as motivated to do all day hiking as I used to, there are some areas I want to visit and revisit again.