Author Archives: powdork

squalpenwolf – born to be wild

originally posted on 6/1/2011
turns out there is a letter of intent out there describing how ksl (squaw valley) plans to buy alpine meadows from jma. the new fraternity will evidently be called kslamajama. since none of this is finalized, and the purchase of the missing piece (whitewolf) is still only a rumor, we are still just hoping for (or hoping to avoid) the squalppinwolf transformation. depending upon your view point, this is either the second coming of skiing to tahoe, or the ruination of your secret powder stash. i saw steppenwolf back in florida. the crowd was chanting for ‘born to be wild’ when john kay stepped up to the mike and said, “this ain’t fuckin’ burger king, you can’t have it your way.”

in other words, change she is a coming. a rough estimate of the pieces of the puzzle. squaw=blue, whitewolf=purple, alpine=red

if connected via white wolf, this would be the second largest resort in north america, and only slightly smaller than whistler-blackcomb. Continue reading

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buttseks on round top

butterfly sex that is

yup, they’re doin’ it

we hiked up from woods lake, got off the main trail and had one the easier and more pleasant bushwhacks out there

then we found the trail
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skifishbumming at highland lakes

with the school year coming up rapidly, the kids sitting around inside, and me desperately needing to get off the grid we hatched a last minute plan to get the hell out of dodge. highland lakes was our destination, though we had never been to the campground there. i had seen the area from folgers peak a few years back, and was confident it would hold what we needed. snow, flowers, and fish. fortunately, we brought steaks in case the latter didn’t work out.
we arrived in the late afternoon and immediately knew that the snow was not going to be an issue. in fact, since the snow started just off the trailhead, i was bummed that i had only brought skis for myself. i figured i could set up my tent and head up, leaving the tripod behind for jasmyn to get pictures of the descent. here is my view from the top. you can see my blue tent at the far side of the lake in the triangle formed by three roads.

a close up of the moon from the camp site. the snow was fairly smooth, despite the look. it wasn’t a particularly warm day and it was still a tad firm.

got back to camp in time to start the fire and catch some sunset pics. somehow on the way up and didn’t notice that the last bit connected to the lake, and bailed early. that would give me something to do on tuesday anyway.

looking the other way at highland peak
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round top skiing and flower fields – 8/19/11

after making late july turns on round top it was apparent the flower show was going to be around a month late this year. wasn’t a problem, just another reason to come back. last friday, we did. the flowers did not disappoint

nor did the views

nor did the snow. thats round top lake, caples lake, and tahoe in the background

the snow was about as good as it gets in august
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fun around caples lake

the end of summer is typically when i find time to go camping with the girls. this year it is the same. the last two weeks we have spent roaming around caples lake and emigrant lake. actually, we camped at caples lake during the first week and made an unsuccessful attempt at hiking to emigrant lake. i didn’t give us enough time and as a result tried to push the girls too hard. the next week i made sure we had eall day to do it, and i made sure not to forget the bug spray. the trip did present me with a plethora of photo opportunities and some excellent learning opportunities as well. hover over the images for exif data

for instance, after finishing the day off fishing at caples, the moon and the sun were setting simultaneously
f/5, 1/10 sec, 50mm, iso200

with the moon already set and very little in the way of light pollution, it was a good night for practicing some astrophotography. this is where we camped
f/3.5, 20 sec, 18mm, iso1600

more fishing the next evening. we were one fish away from being skunked for the trip
f/5, 1/10 sec, 50mm, iso200

campfires are fun, skylyn enjoys her perfect marshmallow
f/5, 1/10 sec, 50mm, iso200 Continue reading

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the winter that keeps on giving

it’s obvious we had a great winter last year. the rivers are still high, the lake is approaching it’s natural rim. the wildflowers are weeks or months behind schedule. some are going to have to skip this year altogether.
oh, and there is an abundance of snow. lots of snow. tons of snow.
so, lets go ride.
thursday, july 22nd at round top (carson pass)

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2011 american century classic from hole 17

this was my fourth year taking pictures from the side of the 17th green at edgewood. as always, i’ll put up a large gallery over on aboutlaketahoe.com/events/celebrity-golf.htm. but there are some that i like more from a photography standpoint than just to provide content about the tournament. i’ll put those up here. most of this stuff is nowhere near the level of the pros with thousands of dollars in glass and all access, but that’s why this is photography for (and from) dummies. all the shots here were taken with the canon t2i. the vast majority were with the sigma 50-200 f/4-5.6 dc os.

from wednesday
i mean seriously, what’s better? three beautiful women, or michael smoking another cigar?
celebrity golf

shooting can be tough in the middle of the day, but it allows for fast enough shutter speeds to stop just about everything

thursday
this navy seaplane was chasing boats around all day

prolly should have gotten some sort of artificial lighting on this one.
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lights on the lake

there were no shortage of fireworks displays this year on or near lake tahoe. both sunday (july 3) and monday the fourth gave us three options. on sunday i watched the squaw valley show after the free big head todd & the monsters concert. monday i set up shop at edgewood, and got some great pics of the big show, with the jameson beach displays (and the moon) showing up in the background. hover over the pictures for the exif data if you are interested.

we’ll start by saying happy b-day to the red, white, and blue.
lake tahoe fireworks at 6 seconds, f/10, 18mm, ISO 100

lake tahoe fireworks at 6 seconds, f/10, 18mm, ISO 200

and happy b-day to jamaica too. 😉
lake tahoe fireworks at 8 seconds, f/14, 18mm, ISO400
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backcountry.com drops all california affiliates with no warning!

the email came like a two ton heavy thing to the head. there was no warning. there was no prior call to action. just a simple impersonal email about how we’re screwed. thousands of california affiliates were fired this morning in the same manner. maybe i’m biased (cuz i just got fired), but the letter seems to sound like the new tax law is my fault. trust me, i didn’t actually vote for it.

Hello,
As a result of the affiliate tax nexus law signed yesterday in the State of California, Backcountry.com is terminating its relationships with all California based publishers……

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skiing tahoe on the fourth of july

well here it is the fourth of july and many of our normal summer fun time activities just aren’t happening yet due to the still giant snowpack in them thar hills. fortunately, many area resorts have taken a “if you can’t beat ’em you might as well join ’em” attitude, which we applaud. squaw valley, kirkwood, alpine meadows, and sugar bowl are all spinning lifts in some fashion over the holiday weekend.
here’s what’s on the table
squaw valley – open saturday, sunday and monday, july 4. the plan is to run the funitel, gold coast, shirley lake, links, cable car, and siberia. this is a way better offering than squaw had last year. squaw will have a free concert (big head todd & the monsters) along with a fireworks show on sunday, july 3. tickets are $49. next years passes are good. last years are not. squaw’s take

kirkwood – open only saturday and sunday from 7:30-2pm (chair 6 only). saturday is the volunteer fire dept bbq from 3-6pm. sunday is live music with the kingtones leading up to the sunday night fireworks show. tickets are $35. next years passes are good. last years are not. (last independence day at the wood)
dave lays down some tracks on 6/29/11 at kirkwood
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