High Sierra Topix

maverick wrote: Sounds like my wife Andy.

Your wife is also Andy? Sorry, couldn't resist.

Andy, fantastic trip and photos as usual.

Your wife is also Andy?

Could have been short for Andylisa.

Bluewater wrote:According to the FKT site the current fastest known time for the "Evolution Loop" is 10 hours and 31 minutes.

I talked briefly to someone running that loop. He was headed up the Piute Pass trail, still a ways to go, but it was only mid-afternoon. He looked pretty good. Given that the route includes Bishop, Muir, and Piute Passes I figured it's about 10K feet of gain. But looking at this guy I thought the distance was probably only around 40 miles or so. I was wrong -- the FKT site says it's more like 55 miles.

So whoever that guy was (and he wasn't all that young) he was mighty fit. Or he was pulling my leg.

Speaking of FKT, apparently somebody set a new JMT (supported) speed record. It's now something less than 3 days.


By the way, Bluewater, I think your otherwise beautiful photos would be nicer if they were less saturated.

@Cameron, I was surprised by the mild temps. I've been caught too cold on a 'shoulder season' trip in the past so I brought most of my early spring 10 degree setup and was able to vent and stay comfortable the first night when it got down to 28, but after that it was in the mid 30's and I was completely overheating. Better safe than sorry.

@Rockyroad, thanks brother! I hope you were able to get out comfortably this season.

@longri, those ultra-runners are in incredible shape and although I joked sometimes I have a ton of respect for them. I can jog downhill on some of those declines (it's sometimes easier at certain angles) but I can't imagine running that whole route. I read about the French runner who just set the new supported JMT record. 2 days, 19 hours and some minutes. If I'm doing the math right that's over 70 miles per day with 7,000' incline and another 7,000' of decline each day. All the while averaging just under 3 mph 24 hours a day. Insane!

I've become less and less happy with my pictures lately. It's been time (for a while now) to upgrade to a real DSLR but I have been resisting the weight penalty. I use an old 6.7 oz Canon S95 with triple exposure bracketing, then just uploading the photos to Google Photos (via the old Picasa 3 app). Google automatically recognizes most of the triple exposure brackets and creates the final HD photos, but it also cranks up the saturation along the way. It's so easy this way that I just use their version(s) instead of actually manually combining and editing with the HD software programs I have used in the past.

If you, or anyone else reading this, has a suggestion for the lightest possible option for a camera with a full size sensor I would be very grateful!

You may only need to use a different photo editor, which allows you to be in control of the processing, any time you allow the camera or editor to do it for you, you loose all your individual, creative input. "You need to be in charge, your camera is only a tool, like a brush in painters hand" is what I always tell the students in our photography classes. My personal camera is always in manual mode, and only rarely do I even use autofocus.

Bluewater wrote:If I'm doing the math right that's over 70 miles per day with 7,000' incline and another 7,000' of decline each day.

You didn't show your work but I believe the total gain/loss on the JMT is something around 45-50K. That's uphill and downhill each, not combined. So that means he averaged 15K+ gain each day (and 15K+ loss).

Bluewater wrote:I've become less and less happy with my pictures lately. It's been time (for a while now) to upgrade to a real DSLR but I have been resisting the weight penalty. I use an old 6.7 oz Canon S95 with triple exposure bracketing, then just uploading the photos to Google Photos (via the old Picasa 3 app). Google automatically recognizes most of the triple exposure brackets and creates the final HD photos, but it also cranks up the saturation along the way. It's so easy this way that I just use their version(s) instead of actually manually combining and editing with the HD software programs I have used in the past.

I use a 6-year old camera I bought off of ebay for $100. It's a Canon ELPH and most of the time I leave it in auto mode. The only manual override I do frequently is exposure compensation. While the picture quality is of course limited by the lens and the small sensor I never get that artificial oversaturated look. Heck, an iPhone with an even crappier lens and smaller sensor will take great pictures, just not good enough to blow up really big.

I think your problem is likely with Google.

Are you sure there are no option settings for how Google does its default processing?


A few snapshots from this past year:

Another great trip report with fantastic photos. Thanks for posting.
Loved the bear can story.
Wow, you really covered the miles.

I also use the Canon S95. The automatic setting it pretty good and does not seem to ramp up saturation too much. I agree, it is your post-processing that you use.

Since the latest Windows upgrade wiped out my old Photoshop Elements, I am dabbling around with an equally old program (Canon Zoombrowser) that I believe came with an old Canon camera when I bought it. I prefer the "levels" histogram to tweak the photos, rather than the three option light,saturation, and contrast. Overall the program does a good job on the cheap.

Andy the Sony Alpha Series really is incredible. I would get the A6300. It's not full frame but for your purposes I'm sure it's plenty good!

alpinemike wrote:I would get the A6300. It's not full frame but for your purposes I'm sure it's plenty good!

What does "not full frame" mean? I know what it means for film cameras but not for digital cameras.
Thanks -
Bill