Before you get completely cozy in the quilt of 2013, take a moment to watch lots of people jumping off of rocks back in that ancient year of 2012. Maybe you’ll even catch a glimpse of yourself. It’s that time again – annual GoPro compilation starts now!
I’ve been doing a fair amount of canyoneering this year. A few weeks ago I lost my GoPro HD Hero 2 in a canyon along with its footage. Earlier this year, I had taken that camera and my old HD Hero 1 through Little Santa Anita Canyon. Above is a short video I put together recently with that footage.
Because I’m such a great son, I’ve included the sorts of photos in this post that make my Mom nervous. (Don’t worry, I am attached to a rope in that top picture.)
Spring and Summer seem to appear from nowhere and fly past each year. This year seems to be no different. Although not as much as I’d like, I am getting myself outside a fair amount. The photo up top is from last week on Tahquitz on pitch two of “El Whampo.” I’m not leading trad yet, but I’m getting a decent bit of practice following. I’ve also been attending rolling sessions with a kayaking club and I am happy to say I can roll my kayak now. I haven’t tested it on a river yet, but maybe I’ll get a chance before the season is through. Since Hawaii, I ran in the 5K Foam Fest, canoed Black Canyon again, jumped off rocks in a few places, climbed rocks in others, ran a canyoneering route through Eaton Canyon (where I ended up helping out in a rescue), and returned to Yosemite. It’s good to see that typed out, it makes me feel like I haven’t been slacking as much as I have been.
I’ve included a few images from these various things in the gallery below. But, first, here are some links to a few projects I’ve been working on that have gone live recently:
The Many Maladies of Marty Mitchell – a kids’ show made in my apartment
Infex Animated EBook – I was responsible for some of the animation
Maple Rising Star – animation
Blabberbox 6 – visual effects and motion graphics
MapleStory-Renegades: Jett – animation and motion graphics
MapleStory-Renegades: Phantom – motion graphics
Spiders Vs Scorpions – motion graphics, vfx, and color (all 3 eps)
ConnecTV Top Tweets – ESPYS – motion graphics
There are also a few local commercials on TV Â I worked on that I haven’t seen online yet
It seems like I am always hearing people in California talk about how they are going to or returning from Hawaii. Even though the flight is only a little longer than a flight to the east coast Erika and I had never been. Finally, that has been rectified. We spent eight days there in the middle of May—specifically on the Big Island.
The Big Island (the one island actually named Hawai’i) is big, larger than all of the other Hawaiian islands combined. It is also less developed than Oahu and the landscapes are more varied—all but 2 climatic zones exist on this one island. We flew into Kona on the Western side (the dry side). I’m not one to fawn over airports (and I haven’t been to all that many), but the Kona Airport is pretty superb. The entire facility is outdoors and each gate is a thatched pavilion. We stayed at the Royal Kona Resort primarily because half of our nights were free thanks to a time-share presentation we had attended in January. There are many nicer upscale resorts on the island, but—as folks used to sleeping on the ground—it was more than sufficient for us. Besides, we didn’t intend to spend much time in the room. We didn’t.
We squeezed as much into those eight days as we could. We spent a day on the Eastern side of the island, but most of our time was on the Western side. I’d like to return and spend several days exploring the lush jungles and forests (full of waterfalls and enormous trees) on the Eastern side of the island. Much of our time was spent participating in water activities: scuba diving, snorkeling, kayaking, and beach bumming.
SCUBA: We went on four dives during the week. The reefs and life in the area are beautiful and the water is a bit warmer than California, but the big draw in Kona is manta rays. Our last dive was the famous Manta Night Dive. This is a surreal experience. For roughly 45 minutes, we sat at the bottom of the ocean while various lights attracted plankton, in turn attracting several mantas. These alien-looking creatures not only swim near you, but often brush across your head as they eat the plankton your dive light attracts.
Snorkeling: We tried various spots, but nothing beat Kealakekua Bay. The hike in and out can be rough, but it is absolutely worth it. If you can only go snorkeling once when in the area, go there. if you don’t want to hike an hour or so down and up the steep trail, you can launch a kayak from the end of NapoÊ»opoÊ»o Road across the bay or go with an outfitter.
Beaches: Big Island has an enormous variety of beaches of all types. The ones we especially liked were:
 Pololu Valley: We drove North until the 270 ended. There we found Pololu Valley. It is a spectacular green valley that opens to the ocean. We hiked down a winding trail at the end of the road leading down to the valley and beach. My words won’t do it justice so I won’t bother. If you are in Northern Hawaii, make the drive to Pololu.
We also had a short visit to Volcanoes National Park where we saw an active caldera and hiked through a lava tube—a cave created from hardened lava. There is clearly lots more to see and do there than we could manage in a few hours. We had a short visit to Hilo, saw Rainbow Falls, visited a macadamia nut farm, and climbed a huge banyan tree. We even attended a luau. It is hard to do everything in eight days on Hawaii (we’d probably need eight years). Now that I’ve been, my list of places to see has only gotten larger.
As we drove to the airport to fly home, we pulled to the side of the highway and explored one last lava tube as the Sun set. We checked our baggage, then sat under the moon as a cool breeze wafted past and planes rolled down the tarmac. I doubt I’ll ever again be so content while waiting for a plane to arrive.
Gallery is below, but there are even more photos on Facebook.
Yesterday I headed out to Tahquitz again and climbed six pitches. It looks like I’m moving steadily into trad climbing. That makes me stoked.
I still have a special place in my heart for canyoneering—it combines two of my passions after all: rocks and water. Sunday, Karl and I ventured into Little Santa Anita Canyon. It is filled with several short falls and a few slides. Apparently, it can be a very wet canyon when conditions are right. Unfortunately, rainfall has been lackluster this year. Thankfully, it had rained a few days before and water levels were adequate.
I received a new GoPro HD Hero 2 a couple of days before. I tested it out in the canyon. So far, reports that it is optically superior to the first generation camera seem to be true. We shot a fair amount of video and I’m sure some of it will end up in an edit some day. Below are a few select screengrabs.
The beginning of a new year always means an inundation of “best of” lists and montages reflecting on the year before. Shortly we’ll all be so sick of both we’ll be vomiting iridescent rainbows of turkey and electromagnetic radiation. Never one to miss an opportunity to contribute to mass public puking, I too have put together a GoPro retrospective of last year. Watch it above.
Above is a short video encompassing some of the experience of hiking through Subway in Zion National Park in early September. It’s a damn good time if you have the knowledge and will to do it.
I recently got back from Zion yet again—this time—backpacking the Narrows route for my third time. It is always rewarding, although, I felt the pain afterward in a way I hadn’t before. Too much time at a computer being sedentary is wreaking havoc on my body. Thankfully, I was able to renew my gym membership last week so I can get into proper shape again.
I finally decided to give sleeping outdoors tentless a try while on the Narrows trip. Thankfully, it didn’t rain and it was an enjoyable experience. I’ll have to do it more often. I also led my first multi-pitch sport climbs in September (two pitches each). Hopefully, I can start devoting some more time to climbing and advancing my skills.
Work has been pouring in, which is great, but I’ve had little time for much else. Balancing life and self-employment is a challenge I certainly haven’t mastered yet. I’ve completed several projects recently. Some of them will be live soon and posted here for the world to deride.
My preferred outdoor activities tend to involve rocks or water—something to climb over or pass through. My favorite outdoor activities involve both. And that is why I enjoy canyoneering so much, especially technical canyoneering. For those unfamiliar with the term, canyoneering (canyoning outside the U.S.) is essentially hiking through a canyon. Frequently, these canyons are the homes of rivers and waterfalls. This may call for wading, swimming, scrambling, climbing, and/or rappelling. Technical canyoneering tends to require specialty equipment for rappelling and climbing. Canyoneering is what Aaron Ralston was doing in 127 Hours before his mishap.
Although I have hiked several non-technical canyons (such as the Zion Narrows and Surprise Canyon) without a guide, I had not descended any technical canyons without trained leadership (such as my first time in 2008). I spent a lot of time last year acquiring proper rock climbing training and honing climbing skills. There is a lot of overlap between climbing and canyoneering skill sets. Thus, I decided this year would be a good time to attempt technical canyoneering without guidance.
My friend Karl (of Extreme Things) and I decided Rubio Canyon in the San Gabriel Mountains would be a good test run. We ran the canyon twice: once in late February when water flows were big and cold, and again in late May when flows were more moderate. Above is a video compilation of those two trips.
Next up is Subway in Zion National Park in a few weeks.
Here is a compilation of some of the stuff I managed to capture during my first year as a GoPro owner. It’s too bad I didn’t take it more places. There were so many times I forgot it and wished I’d had it with me.
Black Canyon — August 2010 from Fourchinnigan on Vimeo.
Narrows Days — July 2010 from Fourchinnigan on Vimeo.
More GoPro videos from this summer. The Narrows video is a bit too long, but maybe you’ll enjoy it anyway. These were both Extreme Things Adventure Club events.