It seems that McConnells Mill and Settlers Cabin Parks brought to light “issues” with my gear. Some things are just “wonky” while other things just escaped attention. The wonky part was the GPS at McConnells Mill.

A tree canopy can greatly decrease the effectiveness of a GPS . That’s why a GPS has different modes to be able to compensate for a poor signal. But when it doesn’t matter what mode you switch to it doesn’t matter what mode you switch to. My GPS was all over the place and when I’m trying to record my hike and then run it through a topo program it shows me in places way off of where I was. If I’m going to show people where to go, or where I went the GPS has to be pretty accurate like within 20-30′ of accuracy. McConnells Mill was more like 45-55′ of accuracy, it had me in the middle of Slippery Rock Creek! Yah, I’m a little unhappy. Luckily Settlers was that far off, it averaged 20-25′ of accuracy.

Speaking of Settlers…my Olympus point and shoot threw me a hook. I’ve been using it to shoot video because it is a little tougher than the Handicam and I won’t cry as much if I drop it. It’s rated shockproof up to 5′. Well, after I shot footage at settlers and got everything back home and uploaded I decided to check the resolution in the movie mode on the Olympus. It was 320 x 240 (QVGA) when I wanted 640 x 480…Damn It! I started using the Olympus at McConnells Mills and now I need to figure out how I will be using it in my upcoming projects.

So the thing I learned: The GPS is still good and has the potential to be even better, but that’s up to the manufacturer. I’ve gotten information that the software for the modes is being worked on to make it better. This, for now, is out of my control. The Olympus should have been checked before I used it…I didn’t, that was within my sphere of control. I guess I need to double check the gear before I use it and then I would be sure. Yes, lesson learned, all the way around.

Since I’ve come home from my vacation in Missouri and Indiana there’s been something I’ve been feeling. There is no single word for it. I can describe it…in a round about way, maybe others may see where I’m coming from. I’ve always leaned towards the philosophical, the artistic and the ethereal. All of those related in one form or another.

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04/29 – 05/02/2010 Lake Wappapello State Park, Missouri. I left Pennsylvania early after work, about 8 pm, and it took me about 13 hours…not the 11 hours that both my “trip-tic” and my GPS had said it would take. But when you throw in rush hour traffic along with a couple of accidents 13 hours didn’t seem so bad. When I got to camp it was dark and windy which made setting up my tent a bit of a trial. Instead of rigging a central line for the tarp to hang on I draped it over the tent, “nailed it down”, set up my bedding and got my clothes in the tent. The winds were buffeting the tent to the point where the walls looked like they would break the support poles and the tent would collapse…they didn’t. So, with the violent flapping of the rain fly waking me from my slumber now and then, I got through Thursday night.

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Working shifts has it’s advantages as well as it’s disadvantages. The disadvantages came into play once more after coming off of the 11pm-7am shift Thursday morning. I don’t do a lot on those Thursdays because I know I’m going to crash…crash HARD. So I do what I need to early, get home and try to hold off sleeping as long as possible. Once again, it didn’t work. I fell asleep around 6pm, up by midnight and going back to sleep wasn’t working.

It’s Friday morning and things aren’t looking so hot. I have plans for this weekend and high on my list is hiking. I’ll probably get in the North Ridge video/hike but there are other things I would like to do and this makes it a little tougher.

With all that said I was checking my camera gear and noticed that my 11-17″ tripod’s camera mount was broken. I don’t know how it happened but it makes things a bit tougher. I guess I’m going to Wally World to see if I can pick up another short tripod.  Oh, and I forgot to mention the fact that I completely misjudged how many trails North park had…I had planned to “hike it out” in 3 days. It will take a few more than that.

Yes, this is going to be one very long day…maybe weekend.

I decided that in order to make sure my gear was ready for the upcoming hiking season I had to get out and try it out. This was one of the purposes, besides getting out, for this hike. Since I didn’t finish out the trail I decided not to post this on the main site. When I do finish out this trail it will be “main site worthy”.

I had just updated my GPS and needed check on it’s accuracy. When I first got it it was, well, a little “off”. I drew a great track with no “spidering” but the accuracy fluctuated. It’s gone through quite a few updates since last season so I wanted to see how it was working. I was a little disappointed on the outbound leg of the trail with an overall average of about 25′-35′ accuracy, but on the return leg it dropped to about 20′. The elevation looked pretty good as well.

North Ridge Trail - NatGeo Topo

I ran the .GPX file through NatGeo Topo States Edition for Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I got it on sale at Sportsman’s Warehouse when they had the going out of business sale. To get the disks for all of the places I hike would be a small fortune so I got it for the state I hiked the most.

A note: I took two sets of track logs, the outbound and the inbound. The outbound was the one I had accuracy concerns with, the inbound was better, I thought. I checked out both files with the topo program and found they were pretty close. The next thing was how it worked with Google Maps. I want to thank Dave Pidgeon from Compass Points Media for the idea. I’ve seen it in his posts and thought it would be a great idea. It took me about 2 hours to figure out how to work with it but I think I have it down.

I’m not going to put it up as it was a test to see how to use it and what I needed. So, when the next hike comes up I know what to do with not only Google Maps but how to enhance my track on my topo program.

The other part of the hike…the still and video cameras went off pretty easy. First, I wanted to see what the camera and the bigger lens felt like on a little longer hike than the 3 miles at Duff Park, which is the first time I took it out on a trail. The added mile or so didn’t really make a lot of difference. The camera is definitely heavier than the Sony H7 that I’ve been using so the difference may only be felt in my longer hikes. The Sony Handicam was a “no brainer”, a super light little video camera that I barely knew was even there.

1rst Pic - "Normal" Shot

The Nikon, with the 18mm-270mm did a great job when I was shooting wide angle or close up. I was trying to replicate an effect I’ve seen on a lot of web sites as well as in some magazines where the waterfall looks sort of like silk threads loosely bundled together and flowing down to the ground. After reading my camera book and talking to a few friends I decided I wanted to try it on this outing.

I set the camera to shutter priority, set the shutter speed to the slowest available and the aperture followed automatically by adjusting to a very small opening. This would show the rocks and everything that didn’t move as clear but still show the water moving. Well, make it look “whispy”. As I’ve learned, when the aperture is small it’s used for landscape photography and add the slower shutter speed and it gives the illusion of

2nd Pic- Small Aperture, Slow Shutter Speed

the water moving. The First picture, to the left, was shot in the automatic mode and the second, to the right, was shot with “Shutter Priority”. So now I can’t wait to try this out on a few of my favorite waterfalls.

Lastly, I shot some footage with the Handicam and realized that creating a video of my hikes wasn’t going to be all that easy…at least the way I would like to do it. Just walking along the trail and shooting presents some problems…tripping over my own feet is one of them. So, I will be working on that, among other things, when I once again hit the trail.

As the days count down to the trip to Missouri, Trail Of Tears State Park, I have decided to look for gear that may help not only with taking pictures but to keep my camera gear all in one place. Well, I may have a new camera bag in the next few days, I will keep you posted.

As for “other stuff”, I picked up a new tripod and ordered a camera mount as well. The Tripod is a Sunray Flexpod Plus Tripod. The legs of the tripod bend so I can place it on tree limbs, fences, maybe even the car window. I’m not sure if it will work with the DSLR but I do know it will work with the Sony H7 and the Olympus Stylus 6000 (Tough), probably even the Sony Handicam SR68. So, I’ll have a multi-use tripod whenever I need it.

The camera mount that I ordered is called The Stick Pic. It fits on the end of your hiking pole, with a slight upward tilt, and you can mount your camera or camcorder on it and can take pictures pictures, or videos of you and your friends without having to find a place to sit the camera and then worry about the camera falling off of the place you put it.

The Stick pic site carries different models for different types of hiking poles and gives you the resources to figure it out. If you get a chance stop by and check it out. I will be testing both of the out during the season and will letting you know how they perform.

My Niece Sarah

It would seem that as the snow melts my heart lightens but the weight is still on my shoulders and there is only one thing thing that change this…hiking. I thought I would just stay in and read hiking articles and blogs as well as catch up on new gear developments…this was a bad idea. This is my second year of doing this and I can’t do it next year. After roaming free through the forests of Western Pennsylvania you cannot just stay inside throughout the winter. It gets worse with every year and I liken it to being a caged animal…it doesn’t feel good.

The one thing that improved my sanity, well, kept me from going over the edge besides reading about hiking and camping was my granddaughter (born Jan 2nd, 2010) and my younger nieces and nephews. I got to see my niece Sarah play indoor soccer for the first time and she was beyond amazing. She has game!! But then I am a little biased. Her coaches, and even the referees’ opinions are the same and they matter. She has a gifted mind and talent in whatever sport she chooses and it is always a pleasure to watch her. The other 4 nieces (Allie, Lizzie, Zoe, and Quin, same family) all display an athletic gift and mental prowess and I have enjoyed every possible minute that I have had the chance to watch them grow up.

My nephew Tyler is turning out to be a “rough and tough” little man. The boy is hardcore and he never fails to inform me of this every time I see him. I see him a little more than the girls and watching him grow up has been interesting to say the least. At 3 years old, almost 4, he is quite the physical young man. He likes boxing, fighting, racing and has an appreciation of anything that has a motor in it…a genetic transfer from his father.

My Grandaughter Payton

The other “distraction” came at the beginning of this year, my granddaughter Payton. She is one of many reasons that I bought a new camera and camcorder this year and even at 2 months old I can see her own distinct personality already. She has a tendency to be vocal as well as spirited. I don’t think I have ever seen a tear roll down her cheek and even though some, or many, would say she was crying, I honestly believe she is trying to voice her displeasure with whatever she is displeased about. I don’t know which way she will go as she grows up but I can guarantee I will be there, cameras in hand, to grab every moment of her growing up.

In another week, or a little longer I will be getting things ready as well as hopefully getting some day hikes in. I am itching for the spring and cannot wait to hit the trail.

I’ve spent the past few days “testing” out the Nikon D5000 and the Sony Handicam SR68 and I have finally decided on whether to keep or dump the gear…well, not so much the D5000, but the Handicam was in question.

Actually I have to “up my game” on the D5000 because it has more than enough features for my needs. I was a little disappointed with the 55-200 telephoto (VR), well, to be more accurate, I was expecting more from it than what I got. But this was because I’m not used to the lenses and how they function. So, to say the lens sucked would be wrong, it did what it was supposed to do. I may need to get another, more powerful, lens next year but I have this year to do more learning about it’s limitations. All in all the D5000 surpassed my expectations on ease of use, picture quality, and how fun it is to use.

The Handicam started out to be questionable, that is, until I read the manual and found out the features that it has. The night I picked it up I charged the battery for about an hour and a half to two hours and then started shooting my dimly lit bedroom. This was before I looked at the manual in more detail. I wasn’t happy with the way the video turned out. The more I shot with it, the deeper the disappointment. So, I started thinking about taking it back.

My niece’s indoor soccer game was coming up, and I hadn’t shot any daylight/bright light videos up to this point so I decided to hold off and wait to see how it would go. I had someone take the videos while I shot stills of my niece on the field. When I got home I hit the hay, I had to work that night, and when I got home the next day I shot more daylight footage with the handicam. Between the soccer video and the daylight shooting I truly have to say the videos were great!! The clarity was excellent, the motion in the video wasn’t sloppy and overall, I was excited about using the camera this season.

I sat down and thought about how the Handicam would be used…on the trail and 99% of the time in daylight conditions. I should’ve thought about this first before I went on my “downward spiral of negativity”. It truly wasn’t all that bad when it came to low light conditions with the features it has plus the scene selections. It has a still photo feature but I didn’t try that out. I bought the Nikon for the stills and the Handicam for the video, I don’t need my stills camera to do video and vice versa for the video camera.

I will have video on the main site, and maybe this one, in the future, but for now I gotta get the plans finished out and the reservations made and soon.

I wanted to “up the ante” this year with a new “media outfit”, which means new still digital camera and new digital video camera. I’ve been exploring Nikon D-SLR’s, after talking to a few friends about what to get. The consensus was the Nikon D60 and the D90 as the “next level” above point and shoot cameras. When I went into the Ritz Camera store the woman behind the counter said that the D3000 was replacing the D60 and the D5000 was replacing the D90. After doing some research I found that the D5000 has the same features, and a few more things, as the D90. Hmm, well I had originally decided on the D3000, mostly for price reasons, but as I thought about it I decided to spend a few more dollars for the D5000.

Another reason for a D-SLR was that I wanted to shoot in the RAW file format. It’s pricey when it comes to memory but the pictures are incredible. I also looked at the versatility of adding lenses, whether they’re for increased range or effects. My Sony H7, point and shoot, is about the closest thing I’ve used to a D-SLR but it only has a few lenses available and those don’t include increased range. My Olympus 6000 Stylus is a great “all weather” camera but it too has it’s limitations.

I’ve also been looking at a new digital video camera. This has proven to be a task and a half. There are so many types of these things that it’s been very hard to decide on which one I want. The Sony Handicam (DCR-SR68/L) has an 80Gig Hard Drive (HDD), a great zoom (60x optical/2000x digital), face recognition, image stabilization…you know…everything. It’s fairly new and I can’t find any reviews for it, even on the Sony site. Another thing that concerns me is that there is no High Def mode. I can probably do without it, but it would be nice to have. The Hard Drive is nice so I don’t have to carry memory cards around, which this Handicam has the ability to use, so…I’m just going to keep looking about until I can sort all of this out. Maybe I’ll go to Ritz again and talk to one of their people. It worked before.

This past weekend brought about two feet of snow, major amounts of shoveling, sore muscles and hazardous road conditions. I was decided to stay inside due to Pennsylvania declaring a state of emergency and people being asked to stay off of the roads. So, I worked on the site, as well as other projects, trying to work out the tabling/ordering of the recreation links…sounds like all boring stuff. It is, even if you do this for a living…I don’t. It can be part of the job I do every day but it’s a once in a while thing.

As well as the site work I’ve been checking out state park camping schedules. The campgrounds in PA. state parks open around the second half of May. So, that means I can do a lot of day hikes until then or grab a private campground site and go from there. It’s still up in the air.

I have my vacation set for the last week of April, early May. I’ll be going to Trail of Tears State Park in South Eastern Missouri. I checked it out last year with my friends from the area and I’m just waiting to book my camp site reservations. I can only book a maximum of two months in advance. I’m also looking at places in Virginia, Maryland, Michigan and West Virginia, but most of my trips will be in PA., hopefully I’ll get the chance to check out a few places in the northeastern corner of the state as well as the PA. Grand Canyon.

Well, I’ve done enough gabbing for now I had better get back to work…I hear there could be more snow coming.