The Traveling Widower

Tag: national-parks

A Walk in the Woods (with really big trees)

This post is really different – I’m plagiarizing from one of my favorite humor authors (Bill Bryson) instead of from some rock song. If I think about it, I might find some lyrics which fit, but the book was a perfect match. Bryson’s book (A Walk in the Woods) was about his multi-year attempt to hike the entire Appalachian Trail, partnered with a very peculiar, clueless friend. I recall when I first read the book, I was flying somewhere, and laughing like a madman. Jan was quietly telling people seated around us that she did not know me. Robert Redford made a movie out of the book, which was probably his worst directing and acting effort. I was a big fan of most everything he did, but this one was awful. But that’s not what this post is about.

Now that I’m finally free from that miserable virus (woo hoo), I needed to get out of the house for a hike. I’m leaving for Colorado in a week, and I needed to get back in shape for the couple of outdoor activities I have planned. During my ‘Cave-A-Week’ mission this past summer, I had heard about a little known state park, Calaveras Big Trees, which has two groves of giant Sequoia trees, and had planned to visit when I traveled to Murphy’s for Mercer Caverns. That would have necessitated an overnight stay, which would have been fun (wineries, nice restaurants, great ice cream) but I did not feel like doing that for some reason, so I passed on the opportunity. But, the weather is still warm, the skies clear, and I’ve got nothing exciting planned this week. Today was the day.

I’ve now done this 2+ hour drive quite a few times, but have never gone past Murphy’s. The highway (Route 4) turns into a winding mountain road – fun to drive, and you go through Arnold, another cute (and small) town. Some nice looking restaurants and bars. Some other time. I love this area.

I had read (and heard) a lot of good things about the park – nice visitor center, really great docents and rangers and easy trails. They were all correct. The visitor center has a nice shop and a small museum, with a lot of interesting information on the history of the big trees and the wildlife – river otters, bears, occasional mountain lions, and lots of birds. Oh my. There are two main groves of the Sequoia trees – the Northern Grove starts at the visitor center so there was no sense in driving any further. I strapped on my Forest Gump anti-foot-flopping brace, and headed off on the trail. I brought the Sony A7 along, but only to play around with – this seemed like the pefect hike to try out my new Pixel phone.

This trail is well suited for just about anybody – even wheel chairs. And for that reason (maybe some others), the hikers were mostly old. My age. Maybe it was senior discount day or something like that. (I should have asked). No bicycles or dogs allowed. Nice. Just a lot of happy, friendly people.

So what do you see on a trail in the Big Trees State Park? I’ll give you a second. Give up? Big trees of course. Really BIG trees. The Sequoias are scattered throughout the primarily Redwood forest, and they really stand out. The trail meanders through the groves, with markers (27 of them) at each point of interest (you get a very detailed map of the trail, with descriptions for each of the markers). But most everything is pretty obvious – huge upright trees, huge fallen trees, some burned stumps. Right from the start, there is this enormous stump – shaved down like a dance floor. Part of the tree that stood there is next to it.

There are quite a few other downed giants – very strange looking. And one giant has a hollow center which you can walk (more like a crab walk) through it. No, it does not count as another cave.

But mostly what you see are the majestic giants.

All told, I probably walked about 2 miles or so. It was just a perfect day – not too warm, lots of shade. Does not get too much better than that except for some biting bugs. There is lots more to see in the park – there was a nice overlook trail which I hiked for a bit, but there were no old folks on it (dirt trail), and I’m sticking with the rule – NO SOLO HIKING. There is another grove of Sequoias (Southern Grove…clever) and more trails to the Stanislaus river, but I had enough. Besides, I had ice cream on my mind. Jo Ma’s, on Main Street in Murphy’s. A perfect end to a great day.

I really like that place. Yum.

This park is a good alternative to Sequoia National Park, if all you want to see are the big trees. Not as far from civilization (easy to get to) and you can see the trees without driving around.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calaveras_Big_Trees_State_Park

And then you are a short drive from Murphy’s, with lots of wineries and my favorite ice cream shop

September 23, 2025
Gearing Up for Trips to Alaska and Antarctica

Retiree’s, especially those who have been retired for a long time like myself (9 years) have a problem remembering the current date and sometimes the current day of the week. Once you are out of work, every day seems like Friday. Or Saturday. Or whatever day you like the best. I use to rely on my wife to keep track of important dates – she kept a completely detailed calendar for important social, financial, anniversary dates, birth dates – pretty much everything scheduled for up to a year ahead. Now that she’s gone, I rely on my Pixel watch – the face clearly has the day and date, so all I have to do is check my wrist. Seriously, I do maintain a schedule, and check it every day, which is why I realized the other day that I’m just 39 days from departing for Alaska, and maybe I should start getting serious about making sure I have everything I need for the trip. The Alaska trip is only 10 days, but it’s chock full of different activities (kayaking, hiking, cruising for wildlife), in a wet and cool location. Kind of different from the trips I’ve been on this past year. So I’ve dedicated the past few days to preparing for the next trip, the Inner Passages of Alaska, and starting to think about Antarctica in November.

In Search of the Perfect Camera Backpack

I posted a while back about my never ending struggle with lugging camera gear on my adventures. Every one of the trips I’ve been taking (or planning to take) that requires air travel seem to have somewhat different photography needs, and different airline requirements for carry-on luggage. For example, the Galapagos Island trip had land based wildlife photography plus snorkeling with sea lions and penguins. That’s a lot of gear. My upcoming trip to Alaska is primarily wildlife, but also kayaking and possible close encounters with whales. Long lens, wide angle lens and the GoPro. The next Baja trip will have opportunities for wildlife, and both surface and underwater whale photography – I probably will not need the 500mm lens on that trip, but probably take it anyway. This large amount of camera gear would not be an issue if I were always flying first class on large planes. But most of these trips have a second flight on smaller, commuter jets, which have limitations on weight and size of carry-on. I’ve also got two trips so far, which have the final leg on single engine prop planes. Very small, with limitations on size and weight of luggage. I’ll be closing my eyes on take-off and landing, especially the sea plane.

Now that I have a very large and heavy telephoto lens (150-500), my former go-to camera bag no longer goes. That’s what happens when you try to cut costs. My wife would have said..”just buy the damn bag you need”. But I didn’t. And then a miracle occurred while I was stressing out about what to do for my upcoming Alaska trip, I received two sale advertisements via e-mail, one from Mike’s Camera, and the other from Think Tank, both for the same camera bag – the Airport Commuter backpack. The overall size of this pack is between my giant LowePro backpack, and the smaller Think Tank backpack that I used on my last two trips. It’s also a bit smaller than the roller camera bag I have. It looked absolutely perfect for pretty much anywhere I travel to. So, off to Mike’s Camera, which had one in stock. For once in my life, I did not stand there trying to justify the purchase. I had already done the research on it, so as my wife had recommended at times like these, I just bought the damned thing.

The Think Tank backpack is pretty much the last photography related item I’ll be buying for a while, other than a raincoat for the camera. Seriously, they make specialized rain covers for cameras, large enough to cover huge lenses mounted on a tripod/monopod. You can get inexpensive ones which are basically large plastic bags, or spend a lot on waterproof material, sized to fit specific lens types. I opted for the latter – after spending that much on the camera and lens, I’m not going to scrimp on the rain gear. And I even found one made in the USA, from a company (Lenscoat) that specializes in various protective covers for cameras and lenses. It is rare to find any camera gear made in the US – almost all camera and lens makers are foreign, and even tripods/monopods are all made elsewhere.

When I got home, I packed all of the gear I could possibly use on a trip into the new pack – there was still plenty of room for other carry-ons like an iPad, books, glasses, etc. And the size really was perfect – it will fit in the overhead of pretty much any plane, and should not be an issue with the small planes either. I won’t be packing much in the way of clothing for those trips. On one trip we live on the beach, the other in a shipping container on a fishing boat. Who cares what I look (or smell) like. I’ll be staying at hotels after each trip, with real showers, and my own bathroom. I am treating both of these like a backpacking trip. I will be looking forward to a long, hot shower when I get to the hotels.

The Grizzly Bear boat – no frills.

Expedition Clothing – REI loves me

And speaking of gear, I’m almost done buying out REI (and other places) for the Alaska trip. I now own waterproof outerwear for kayaking (which I’ll also need in Alaska, Antarctica and Patagonia), kayak gloves, photographers gloves for cold weather, boot socks for the rented waterproof boots, and some new lightweight insulated clothing. My annual REI rewards check should be impressive this year. Fortunately, you can rent a lot of the bulky stuff you need on some of the trips, like knee high waterproof boots for Alaska and Patagonia, and winter boots for Antarctica – those would be impossible to pack, and really uncomfortable to wear on the plane. National Geographic gives passengers big parkas for the Antarctica trip. I’m not quite sure how I’ll get that home.

Monopod vs. Tripod

I mentioned in a previous post that I had purchased a new monopod, which will come in handy for photographing from the National Geographic ships, and the Kodiak converted fishing boat. I have two tripods, which are a must for shooting with heavy cameras and lenses, but both are heavy, and are not allowed onboard smaller ships – these take up too much deck space on smaller ships. Monopods provide some stability, relieving much of the stress and pain of hand-holding heavy gear, and work well when jockeying for space with the other photographers. The Siriu monopod I purchased is made from carbon-fiber, extends to 6’, and has a small set of fold-up feet for added stability. I also bought a ball-joint mount, and a specialized quick release mount for it as well. The mount and feet sections are removable, so it will be easy to pack the thing in my luggage, and it is super light.

Big camera on monopod with feet

Collapsed monopod

Disassembled

I’ll leave the feet at home for both trips to cut down on weight – I’m not planning on using it like a tripod for the heavy lens and camera. A very nice toy.

So I think I’m ready for Alaska. I’ll worry about Antarctica in October.

FYI – you may notice some formatting changes in this post, which I will be applying to my older posts as well. I’m learning more about blogging, and ways to maximize new visitors through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I’m not considering advertising/monetization at all, which seems to be what most blogs use. But I will have an occassional link to the locations I visit, or for some of the companies I buy gear from – more of a convenience for readers interested in the stuff, and one of the SEO recommendations I’ve read about.

July 22, 2025