Graham Mackintosh back on the Sierra San Pedro Martir!
Hi gang,
With some surprise, I got a SPOT OK message two days ago from Graham... Since it was from the same area as last month's messages, I thought it some
email error. Well today, I got a second OK message... So I called Bonni, and she confirmed Graham went back down there, but will be returning home
Thursday.
Here is his location as of 3:30pm today... looking across the canyon to Diablo Mountain:
Once Jana and I move down there, I'll have time to work on my book.
I think it will take me about 6 to nine months to put together...heck...you and Gerige Bergin will get an entire separate chapter all to yourselves!
Originally posted by Bob H
How in the HECK can we know where this SPOT is?
Well, when Graham presses the button, the GPS location goes out to who he has set up to receive it.
About 3:30pm Tuesday, he did just that.
The email one gets has a link to the map or satellite image of the area he is at and you can zoom in and out from the image/map.
I click the Print Screen key, then on Paint I paste the image at the zoom level I chose, and save to My Pictures folder. There, I crop the screen
image to show the map I think best shows his location. I did so placing him midway between the observatory and Diablo mountain. I then uploaded that
file to my Photobucket album, resized to 800 pixels (to fit on the Nomad screen without stretching), and pasted the IMG link here.
That is how you know where Graham is when he sent the Spot signal out!
To me it looks like he is at, or close to, Botella Azul (Blue Bottle), looking across the abyss of Diablo Canyon to the actual Picacho del Diablo
peak.
Graham was on the observatory road this morning, between the park entrance and the turnoff to Baja Dark Skies Inn (Rancho La Concepcion)... heading
downhill...
I couldn't resist heading back to the park for another week of exploring... and photography with my $90 Canon SX150.
And great to know that you are getting those signals David... provides a real sense of security if anything bad happens. Thanks.
Most of the time I was hiking up to and along the edge of Canyon Diablo. And marvelling at how deceptively easy it looks to follow the ridge around
the canyon past Botella Azul peak and over to Picacho.
Of course when you hike closer or study it with your binocs you soon see how steep and difficult it is.
Even on the plateau/park side it's precipitous and dangerous.
But there's great views to the desert and northern Sea of Cortez.
And even though you think you're alone, you're never really alone in such a wonderful wilderness.
Even by my campfire there was so much going on - including June beetles getting in a bit of mating.
I was having so much fun trying out the features of my camera...
The night of June 16 my water bowl became covered in ice... tried to capture that with a little fisheye effect.
And stars and constellations are always worth a photo in the San Pedro Martir.
Even the clouds during the day seem inspired.
Macro works pretty good too - aphids on a columbine.
And coming down from the park I stopped a few times to scan the sky for condors. Eventually saw what I thought was a group hovering high above. Hard
to be sure looking into the sun.
And really tough to get a decent photo... best I could do...
Then they seemed to take an interest in me and circled to check me out.
Then to my surprise four of them landed thirty yards away.
And went about their condor business as if I didn't exist...
A little preening.
A little squabbling.
And sad to see, a little pecking at trash.
Forty minutes later, time to bid adios and head for home...
And time for me to plan my next trip to the Martir to enjoy the wild summer lightning storms.
Outstanding photo-journalism Graham, and your comments are great!!! Canyon Diablo from Botella Azul was always the deterrent to any attempt at the
peak by me from the west-----it is intimidating, to say the least, and you shots show that perfectly.
Dear Graham... what outstanding photos! Seriously great photo trip report!
I am happy to post your Spot locations, but when I got the first one, and not knowing you had returned to Baja, I blew it off as a technical error,
with the email... When I got a second one a couple days later, I confirmed with Boni you had indeed gone back to the same area. Sorry I ignored the
first one!
Thanks for sharing the photos... they are awesome.
I'm looking forward to getting down there again in the next couple of weeks... probably with my little corgi.
Hoping to enjoy a little quality time together dodging coyotes and trying not to get killed by the midday, midsummer lightning storms that shake the
mountains... and bring cooling rain and hail.
I posted a few short youtube movies to add to the photos above.
Glad to see you made it to the park and had a good time. The photos are great. Those two old "buzzards" (condors) have names---Ronnie and Roger.
Hope to see photos from your next trip to the Parque. I'm re-reading your book about SPM and just finished your tale about the terrific thunder storm
that you endured with Pedro. Be careful out there!
Desert Rat... hope you enjoyed the re-read of "Nearer My Dog to Thee."
Yes, that was quite a stormy summer, especially in July and August and being without a vehicle and only having a tent to retire to.
But street dogs Penny and Pedro were real troopers and great companions and took all the flashes and deafening bangs in their stride. And when the
storms moved on they were out to play in the hail and puddles... and generally celebrate the fact that we were all still alive.
Pedro cooling his paws in the hail
Penny and Pedro with a lightning shattered fir tree
Darkness at noon - illuminated by flashes of lightning.
Time to emerge and dry out
Lightning struck pine reduced to ashes
Lightning started fires happen frequently
And always fascinating to watch the storm clouds peel from the mountains and bring flash flooding to the parched summer desert.
Looking forward to getting back to the San Pedro Martir and reliving the whole thing with my mellow corgi... but I'll sure miss the old "buzzards"
Roger and Ronnie... and my old buddies Penny and Pedro.
While looking at your videos, Graham, I came across this one.
It reminded me of an experience my son had at San Lucas Cove many years ago. He was stung from the bite and then felt as though their were sharp
spines still stuck in his fingers. I examined them carefully but never could see the hairs. We suspected it to be a worm but were never sure. Alex
would stick his fingers into holes on that flat in front of the campground searching for anything.
"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen.
The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back
if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt
"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them or to them." - Malcolm Forbes
"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others
cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn
"The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." - Cunningham's Law
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