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Lower Manzana, Los Padres NF

One fine weekend in November after a few weekends of rain, I decided to go on out for a short backpacking trip in the Los Padres. I drove in to Nira and started hiking the Manzana trail towards the schoolhouse and the Sisquoc River area. Unfortunately, I got a very late start to the day and the weather did not agree with me and I wound up setting camp at Coldwater where it rained through the night. While lying in my cozy sleeping bag in the tent, having mastered all of the games on my cell phone, I took out my pen and decided to write poetry and came up with this rain sonnet:

The rain falls down without respite tonight
Determined, unrelenting autumn squall,
The moon surrenders yielding up its light
To misty fog and clouds that swallow all.
The playful creek now heightens up its voice
Complaining while digesting this new meal;
This rapid feeding was not by its choice,
This rain decree the storm will not repeal.
But yet the ground grows softer as it wets
Rejoicing, thankful for this blessed gift
For months oppressed by fire's might and threats
But now, with rain, the forest's spirits uplift.
Although we feel clear skies may be deserved
Take heart! This land needs rain to be preserved.

The poetry gods must have been smiling on me for the next morning was a gorgeous sunny day with clear blue skies and some nice leisurely hiking around the trail. I didn't make it to the farms of the Sisquoc River, but the autumn colors were gorgeous nontheless.

The Photographs

This was one of my first trips with my Minolta system after acquiring a number of new lenses. I had a great time taking pictures here and am looking forward to some of the other shots I can make with these lenses. The lenses that accompanied me were: 21/2.8, 24/2.8, 28/3.5, 35/1.8, 35 Shift CA, 45/2, 58/1.2, 85 Varisoft, 135/2.8. This time I also took notes as to which lens I used for which picture. It's interesting as it allows me to compare which lenses I like better and examine sharpness on my full scans. Now I need to remember to write down f-stops and the like, too! For film I used Velvia and Scala.

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