Scouting a Mountain Trail

On Sunday the 19th I decided to scout out the trail to lake Elsay in Mt Seymour provincial park. I've started to plan a hiking trip out to the lake and I wanted to get an idea of what the trail looks like. I plan on bringing my 5 weight fly rod to see if I can't hook some trout, as well as camp out over night.

But the snow lingers for a long time in the mountains and the trails can be covered long after the we've forgotten all about winter down in the Fraser Valley. I also didn't know how well it was marked or how easy it is to follow, and I figured it would be a good idea to check it out before I hiked in with gear.

A quick apology is warranted here, as the pictures were taken before I got my new camera, and they are thus of very poor quality!

Here's a shot from google earth with plotted waypoints showing the way to the lake. Appologies again as I am only just learning how to input trails into kml and it's pretty rustic for the moment!


Everything was looking good as I started out in the late afternoon, though it was pretty hot!!! Before I knew it I was at the top of the main chair lift in the Mt Seymour ski area and approaching Brockton Point:


The trails weren't very well marked in this area, but the alpine views were pretty spectacular!




After a while I came to a trail sign that told me the Elsay lake trail split was 300 meters ahead. Not too long after that I came to this little pond, with all kinds of animal tracks in the mud surrounding it.


Are those cougar tracks?!



A little further along I came to the Elsay lake split. I took me about an hour to make it out that far. Overall the trail looked pretty clear once you got past the ski area, and I figured it would be a real breeze to get out to the lake. When I got home and plotted the trail into google earth I started to wonder however... What happens to the trail between points ET2 and the Mount Elsay Split? That's some pretty rugged terrain and I'd like to get a look at it first before I go hiking in with all my gear.

Overall it was a good, short, outing to scout out the trail, but I'll be going back later to scout a little further past ET2 and make sure I really understand and know the area.

New Camera!!!

I finally have a new camera! It's been nearly 2 years since I ruined my last one, and I've been anxiously awaiting the chance to buy another. I felt that I had to complete my master's and find a new job before I could pony up the cash though. Now that I've finally landed a proper position I figured it was high time to treat myself to a reward!

Thanks to my enjoyment of time spent in the outdoors I've ruined the last 3 digital cameras I've owned. The first got dropped on hard ground, the second got wet due to rain on a canoeing trip, and the third got wet from a leaky hydration pack on a skiing trip. Though I love taking great pictures, and I fully intend on purchasing an SLR type camera eventually, THIS time I wanted something that wouldn't let me down when I really needed it in the outdoors. I needed something waterproof, and shockproof, but of course still wouldn't break the bank. I also wanted to be able to take some nice quality pictures. So all in all a pretty tall order given the limitations that "lifeproof" designs generally place on image quality and manual controls. The answer for me was the Olympus Stylus Tough 6000!


WOW! All I can say is that it's damned hard to pick a camera these days! So many different features, manufacturers and reviews. I'm not going to bore anyone by getting into all of the details here, I'll just summarize what I determined were the most commonly noted pros and cons of the camera, as well as why i decided to go with it.

The Pros
1. Tough as old nails! By all accounts it is truly as waterproof, crush proof and freeze proof as the manufacturer claims.

2. Great wide angle lens. Genuine 28mm wide angle shooting capability on a 35 mm equivalent scale.

3. Fantastic Macro mode. You can really get in close and take clear, high detail shots of small objects.

4. Decent Zoom. Most cameras in this category, including non waterproof point and shooters only have a 3x optical zoom. The stylus tough has a 3.6x optical zoom.

The Cons
1. Compared to others, it's slow; it takes a long time to go from shot to shot. The autofocus also takes a long time before you get a focus lock. The Stylus Tough 8000 as well as others are much faster and better adapted to taking action shots in fast moving situations.

2. It doesn't focus well in dimly lit rooms. It takes a long time and ofter doesn't get a focus lock when taking shots indoors. The pictures you do manage to take are probably not going to be super clear. Look elsewhere if you want something for taking drinkin' party shots to post on Facebook.

3. The video function doesn't record in High Definition (HD). For a camera you're going to pay in the neighbourhood of $300, HD capability seems to be almost expected.

My Thoughts
All the pros I really like, (especially the wide angle lens and macro mode on top of the tough features) while the Cons aren't particularly a problem for me given the use I have in mind for this camera. As I mentioned, I'll be getting a better "Camera" type camera eventually, but first and foremost I wanted something that wouldn't let me down when I really needed it to document my outdoor trips. And while the video may not be HD, it looked looked pretty darn good to me!

Here's a few sample shots using the Macro and Super Macro modes:

MACRO


SUPER MACRO



I'm really looking forward to getting to know this camera over the next few years and reporting back on it's performance and durability for outdoors pursuits!

FINALLY!!!!

Finally I get to post to my blog again! It's been crazy around here for a few weeks. I had a big interview on the 14th so I spend several weeks and weekends craming in preparation. I did virtually nothing "outdoorsy" until last weekend, but then I was too tired to post here. Now I have 3 long overdue posts to come out within the next few days!

First, just a quick update on my knife progress. I get to work on the first one every once in a while before I go to bed. Here it is with only 2 wood and a birch bark section added:



And here's the stage it's at now. All the wood is on and I've started shaping the handle with a coping saw:


So far I'm very pleased with the way it is turning out. In fact I can't wait to finish it so I can take it out into the woods! It's been quite a fun little project up to this point, so I'm a little sad it's almost done. Still, next I have to make a sheath for it, and that's a whole new project!!