Posts Tagged → doing stuff

An Osprey Friday

I was promised rain for Thursday morning’s hike, and that morning, the weather app confirmed that it was indeed going to rain whilst I was lumbering. It did not. Well, at least not enough to get wet.

However, I wouldn’t know that the rain was a no-show until 2 miles into my 5-mile loop when I stripped off my old Trek cycling rain jacket that gets worn for everything but cycling, stuffed it in my pack, and continued on, sadly knowing that my camera was nowhere near me because it was supposed to fucking rain and it did not.

But hey, at least I got 5 miles in and took some absolutely horrible photos (see intro pic and GIF) with my phone—the top of the line iPhone SE (rolls eyes, accepts roll as an aging luddite who would like to chuck his phone in the river rather than use it).

Friday Mourning (dressed in black)

I was back in the crisp air of the woods early Friday morning and anxious to cover more miles before a weekend of sloth and footy whilst Wifey is out of town to haze the fetus at her cousin’s Baby Shower back in Pittsburgh. I was also hopeful for some photos, because the week had been pretty shit so far.

About 3 miles in, I was coming up to a trail intersection and noticed another lumberist coming down the trail about 100 yards from me. No big deal, but I was heading to an area of trail that looks out over a spot along the river with numerous dead trees that are often perched upon by birds of prey like bald eagles, Osprey, Red-Tailed Hawks, and Rabid Pigeons.

With that, I put a little spring in my step to get to the spot alone to search the trees for birds with my camera. And thank goodness I did!

I had just come to the opening, and I could see an Osprey perched high above the river looking for breakfast. I quietly got my camera and got a few shots off, just as my fellow lumberist passed behind me, saying hi, as I was nerding out taking pics. I don’t think she even saw what I was photographing, and I probably looked like some sort of loon, but I don’t care, I got my pics!

But as SpongeBob always says,  “All that glitters is not gold.”

I got some pics, but the fact that I was shooting from in the dark woods, across the river, with a slow kit zoom lens and a crop sensor camera, up into an early dawn sky, really made things difficult. While I tried a couple of different exposures, I knew that I would need to spend some time in Lightroom trying to get it close to where I wanted. But I don’t care, I got my pics! (Didn’t you just say that?)

I was pretty geeked with the shots, and was anxious to get the last two miles in, get home to see Wifey off on her trip, and get to work in Lightroom. Sure, I wish I would have had my Sigma 600mm lens with me, but there is really no part of me that wants to carry a 5-pound lens while lumbering.

I’m happy enough-ish with the shots and edits you see here, but they are not top quality; I know that. But since I’m in the business of making memories with the forest critter while enjoying the outdoors, not making money, it’s all good.

As I finished my lumber crossing the suspension bridge over the river, I got another pic of a Cedar Waxwing (my favorite non-bird of prey) in trees. That excitement was cut short when the morning coffee kicked in, and I had to do a Clench & Scurry across the bridge and to the parking lot porto. Coffee, man.

As I type this on Saturday morning, I have 27.53 miles of lumbering in, and should/could hit 30 if I get motivated to do anything that doesn’t require a remote control, footy, and a beer, but to be honest, I don’t know if I see that happening, for my slack is strong.

Later.

Fall-ish Mid-Week Lumbering

Four weeks ago, as I drove to the trails, I bemoaned the fact that it was 77˚ with 85% humidity at 6:30 AM. Well, this morning as I drove to the trails at the same time it was 45˚ and I debated whether to start the lumber with gloves1.

I guess that was my feeble-minded way of saying that fall is in the air. Also known as the “Sunday of Seasons.” Well, at least until mid-November when all the leaves are down and everything is dark and dank. Then it becomes the “Hospice of Seasons.”

Don’t get me wrong, my hulking, bloated body is not made for high heat and humidity, and I love that the cooler fall temps make for more miles and fewer bugs, it’s just that knowing there are 6 months of cold and darkness ahead makes me want to start gobbling antidepressants like they’re candy as I swig from a bottle of Jack with my trousers down and my aged, flaccid white ass pointed in the direction of Ma Nature as she flips the lever to Winter.

For the love of Pete, please digress!!

OK, OK… To the lumbering!

The week’s mornings have been cold and dark, with full sunshine not arriving until I’m at least 2 miles into my lumber. However, as always, it’s awesome to be in the woods as the sun creeps up over the horizon and shoots beams of orange light through the trees.

I bounced back from the weekend on Monday with a hike just over 5 miles, but then on Tuesday and today I was back to my 6+ mile loop, and after 3 days of lumbering have 17.37 miles in my feetz.

Over the past two days, the only photos of any worth were of a deer that I saw as I came around the corner on a section of trail. It stood looking at me about 70 feet away, and then eventually took off into the woods, where it poorly hid from me with some friends as I lumbered by. I had to bust out some manual focus skills to get the shot of it in the brush.

I also took a few shots of another Great Blue Heron, but it was right as I crossed the bridge near the end, and the sun was so bright that it blew out the highlights, and I couldn’t recover them in Lightroom. Oh well, I waited all summer to get some shots of a GBH, and then once I did, I was less than impressed with the large birds. They’re not that attractive, they don’t do much except stand around, and if you move an inch, they awkwardly fly away. They’re not exactly bald eagles, but I admit I do like seeing them around.

Thursday’s lumber looks to be a rainy one, and I’m looking forward to it. Also hoping for some better luck with the critters.

Later.

Catching Up With Nothing Again

It seems that I have a whole lot of catching up to do about nothing. So, here it goes.

After 26+ miles in my feetz, I really didn’t feel like lumbering on Saturday morning. So, I gathered my macro gear and headed to Sylvan for another photo creep amongst the bugs and the bees.

As you can see from the gallery, I got some photos that I really dig. Sure, I wish I could have got more of the spider in focus, and a flash could have really helped bring out the amazing face of the cicada, but for handheld macro with no flash, I’ll take what I can get. Note: Don’t forget to click on the gallery image to enlarge and navigate.

Sunday

Knowing that I was less than four miles away from another 30-mile week had me up at 5:25 AM on Saturday and on the trails at 6:35 to beat the weekenders and bust out a 4.46-mile loop and finish the week with 30.63 miles of lumbering. I’m still old, fat, ugly, and a confirmed slacker, but I like getting 30 miles in; it makes me feel good about myself for roughly the 10 minutes it takes to drive home.

Due to the early morning start in the dark, dawn woods, there were no photos to be had.

Monday

Monday, I was back on the trails at 6:40 AM to start another week of lumbering and hopefully more luck photographing woodsy critters.

I was briefly stoked when I ran into a couple of nice-sized deer about a mile into the hike, but as with the previous morning, the sunrise continues to lag behind me, and the noise from shooting at 5000 ISO was way too heavy to be saved. All I ended up with on the day was a trail shot of the sun breaking through the woods.

Despite the lack of photos, it was nice to start the week with 5+ miles in my legs, and I’m looking forward to more time outside in the coming days.

Later.

I Remember How To Bonk

I mentioned a few things here recently about the need to shake things up and push myself a little harder, so as not to burn out on any one outdoor physical activity, similar to what I did with dabbling in trail running last summer to get over some injuries and summertime ennui.

I love my lumbers, and I love lumbering with my camera, but the past couple of weeks of relentless bugs, lack of quality photos, and humidity have had me a bit miserable and looking for easy options.

Since I had a come to Jeebus moment in the spring of 2024 in regards to my love/lost/sort of re-found love of cycling, I figured, fuck it, let’s interject some riding into the lumbering mix again.

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Two Days & Some Pics

The week thus far has been hot, sticky, and pretty darn not bad in the lumbering department.

Since no one, not even me, wants to hear me wax poetic about stumbling around the woods sweating all over myself whilst covered in multiple layers of bug spray, I will just post the pics and get back to my daily duties.

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