The Clouds of Catherine Creek 04-Mar-2013

[BrianEdwards]

Those photos are top tier. Great report. The B&W ones very much resemble true B&W, not just grayscale conversions. Superior work, and a nice hike

[VanMarmot]

...by stepping in them - a nest of voracious ticks in the brush at the creek crossing.

Shudddderrr.....

So, Van... what exactly is a "nest" of ticks that you can "step in"... sounds like my worst nightmare..!!

I.... hate... ticks....

Tom

I hadn't noticed any until I started up Tracy Hill out of the Catherine Ck drainage. My guess (judging from the animal trails converging at this point) is that the deer (I saw 2 of those) come here to drink. If I were a tick (don't go there!) I'd want to hang out (literally) where the deer are sure to be. I suppose more than 1 tick had this idea (hence a "nest") and that they had a favorite branch near the creek that I brushed against (the "step in"). No bites - but the crawling sensation lasted for days...

[VanMarmot]

Those photos are top tier. Great report. The B&W ones very much resemble true B&W, not just grayscale conversions. Superior work, and a nice hike

Thanks! My new camera still has more controls for me to figure out...

[kepPNW]

Those photos are top tier. Great report. The B&W ones very much resemble true B&W, not just grayscale conversions. Superior work, and a nice hike

Thanks! My new camera still has more controls for me to figure out...

So are you shooting in color, then tweaking to monochrome, or is that a special B&W mode on the camera? I thought they were very well done, contrasty in all the right ways, as well.

[bobcat]

Very nice photos. I have encountered large "clusters" of ticks in February/March in this area and places like Swale Canyon/Dalles Mountain. By mid-April, I think they are fairly well dispersed, but this is hatching time. They hang out on twigs, Lomatium fronds, blades of grass, etc. just waiting for something to brush by . . .

Part of Tracy Hill belongs to the Yakama Nation. I don't know how that factors in to the new trail plans.

Green Trails has new maps for the Columbia Gorge West and Columbia Gorge East. The latter shows trails that haven't been shown on any trail map before (that I know of): Catherine Creek/Coyote Wall area, Klickitat Trail/Swale Canyon, Chenoweth Tableland, etc.

[VanMarmot]

Those photos are top tier. Great report. The B&W ones very much resemble true B&W, not just grayscale conversions. Superior work, and a nice hike

Thanks! My new camera still has more controls for me to figure out...

So are you shooting in color, then tweaking to monochrome, or is that a special B&W mode on the camera? I thought they were very well done, contrasty in all the right ways, as well.

Thanks. The K-30 has a monocrome mode, with its own settings and digital B&W filters. I suppose it's all digital in the end but shooting in monocrome produces different results than converting color to B&W later.