Scoping Out "Going to the Sun" road

Slept in as much as I could this morning.  still, I was on the road by 8am.  The motel "breakfast" did not have any hot food.  So had coffee and a packaged cinnamon roll.

With the start I had, I decided to head up to St, Mary to scope out the "Going to the Sun" road rather than drive US 2 to Kalispell.  On the way to St. Mary I kept an eye out for a place to eat breakfast.  There were non along the road until I arrived in St. Marys.

Got to St, Mary's at 9.  One place did not open until 10.  Other places had waiting lines.  So, I entered the park and started drive toward Logan Pass.  Stopped to take some photos on the drive.  The photo here is a tunnel on the "Going to the Sun" road up toward Logan Pass.

Traffic was bad at the pass Visitor Center, so just kept driving down toward Lake McDonald.  Missed the turn to the Apgar Visitors Center and before i realized it, I was exiting the park.  By now (11:30) I was getting hungry.  Gobbled up a patty melt and fries at the West Glacier Restaurant.

Back into the park to the Visitor Center to get books, post cards, and check on places to hike.  The ranger suggested getting up early and driving up to Logan Pass.  Nice, easy hike and there are still wild flowers at the pass.  Back in West Glacier Village, picked up walking stick (with bear bell), a cap, t-shirts, and a couple more post cards.

Still lots of time to do things in Kalispell.  Picked up a hydration bladder for my camera backpack.  Checked into the motel.  Moved bikes and other stuff into the room.  Then, got directions to Wheaton's Cycle (local Trek Dealer) from the motel.  Picked up an area trail map.

Talking with the desk clerk at the Motel.  Sky was a bit hazy, though the temperature was pleasant.  He said the haze is smoke from a forest fire about 2 hours to the South.  No wonder I smelled something - wondering if the car, brakes, or such were overheating  Hope we get clearer skies tomorrow.. 

Across Montana

OK, I only wend 435 miles across Montana today.  Believe me, it was enough.  I was not tired (until I was getting 100 miles from my destination).  Except for 4 miles in Glendive, all was on 2-lane highways.  My route took me on 200S from Glendive to Circle, 13 to Wolf Point, and finally US 2 to Cut Bank.

Let be back up to this morning. I woke up early, so processed many of the photos from Theodore Roosevelt NP.  Where I did not have bracketed exposures, I was able to tone map the photos to bring out the details and colors better. Some of these photos were posted on my personal facebook page.

Montana 13 is also tagged as a scenic Big Sky Back County Byway.  The only "scenery" was wheat fields and grass.

I saw a lot of wheat fields and range land.  I noticed that there were about equal area of wheat and year-old wheat stubble (see upper photo).  Peaked my curiosity - why half planted in wheat?

It was a long drive on US 2.  At least it was broken up by little towns every 10 or so miles.  There are rest areas once in a while along the highway.  I stopped at one after about 2 1/2 hours on the road.  Needed to get out to use the facilities and stretch my legs.  At the rest area was a marker about the value of water on the Plains.  Similar or "Historic Places" scatted along US 2.

Lunch stop was at the Hitching Post cafe in Malta.  Another stop in Havre to gas the car and pick up some soda (afternoon caffeine).   Stopped a couple times on the road to take photos.

The lower photo is an abandoned grain elevator only US 2.  Numerous abandoned houses, schools, farms, and other building dot the landscape.

US 2 parallels the BNSF railroad.  Its a main line (and the Amtrak route) so the railroad was very busy.

Weather was nice for the drive.  Temperature low of upper 60s to high of mid 80s.  About bed time.  Tomorrow I get my first  view of Glacier Country and Glacier National Park.

A Bike Ride and a National Park

It was a beautiful morning in Bismarck, ND.  After a cup of coffee, I headed to Pioneer Park for a bicycle ride before I leave town.  Rode the Pioneer Park Trail along the Missouri River.

Rode about 2 miles when the trail ended at Liberty Bridge (I-94B) over the Missouri.  The upper photo is my hybrid bike at the Liberty Bridge.  While the ride was only just over 4 miles, it felt great to exploring trails by bicycle.  Bismarck is rather proud of the 40+ miles of bicycle trails.

Stopped to chat with a local trail walker (with a Green Bay Packers cap!)  He expressed concerns regarding road construction and heavy truck traffic on the US 88 - the road up to Theodore Roosevelt NP, North unit.  He suggested passing on the drive up there.

When I got back to the room, it was time for breakfast and a shower.   Headed West on I-94 to Medora and the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Drove the scenic loop in the park, taking photos,  Thought I was shooting 3 bracketed exposures for HDR processing.  More about this later.

Stopped in at the visitor's Center and purchased some books and a cap.  Talked with the rangers about conditions along the road to the North unit.  They told me it was not that bad and that I had time to get up there and tour yet this afternoon.  So, I headed back East on I-94 to US85 and drove the 52 miles to the North unit.

There was just some spots of construction and no truck traffic to speek of that would slow me down.

Stopped and took photos most pull-outs on the North Unit Scenic Byway.  When I got the the far end, I was taking photos.  I noticed that the bracketing function was not functioning right.  I had been selecting the menu, and setting the EV window.  Then I would return to return to snapping frames.  WRONG!  I forget the step of pushing "set" after setting the exposure window.  Once I did that, I started getting true bracketed exposures.  The lower photo today was taking along the scenic byway on the North Unit.

Glad I discovered the problem before I got to Glacier NP.  Would hate to lose HDR exposures when I get there!

Gassed up at Exit 42 on I-94, treated myself to a Heath Blizzard, and headed to Glendive, MT.  Checked into the Days Inn.  Not happy that I was put up in a second floor rooom at the far end of the lobby, ice machine, and breakfast room.  Told the desk clerk, the should (like other places have) automatic put seniors close to everything.

Dinner at CC's Family Restaurant in Glendive (good burger, so-so service).  Back at the room, bike ride photos were processed as were the HDR exposures in the North Unit. 

Bed time -- was a busy day with a bicycle ride, touring both units of the TRNP, and about 450 miles driving.

On the Road Again

On the way heading to Glacier National Park.  As usual, I could not sleep last night.  Finally got up a little after 3 am and finished my packing.  Was on the road about 4:30.

Once I got past Sioux City, things get pretty sparse on I-29.   Found a place for breakfast south of Sioux Falls. Past Sioux Falls, it was even more desolate.

On top of that, around Sioux Falls I encountered FOG!  At one rest area, I asked a maintenance person there - any idea how far the fod goes.  She said, "while T did not know about today's fog, if if develops, its usually from Sioux Falls to Watertown".  Sure as hell, as I passed Watertown, the fog was lifting.

While it was foggy, the temperature was in the upper 60s.  As the sky cleared, the temperature raised.  Once I was past Fargo and heading West on I-94, the thermometer on the car headed to the upper 90s!  Eventually it hit the 101 mark (see photo).  Thankfully, there was a good breeze and it was dry (not the humidity back home).

All the way from Sioux City, Iowa to Fargo, ND and to Bismarck, ND - I was surprised of the few services along the interstate.  Most interchanges were "no services".  Twice, I crossed the "Continental Divide" (at that's what signs said).  The second time I caught the altitude - 1490 feet!  Had no idea the divide was in the area.

Did a little shopping in Bismarck.  Had 2 pints of Fat Tire and a pizza in the lounge at the hotel. 

Calvin Crest Crankfest

Calvin Crest Crankfest was held yesterday near Fremont, NE.  Over the last couple years, THOR (Trails Have Our Respect) worked with Camp Calvin Crest, designing and constructing their singletrack trail.  Most of the time, the trail was available for riding by the general public 9closed when other functions at the camp).

Saturday was the inaugural race held at the trail.  It was a busy race weekend with two road races and the mountain bike race.  Race promoters reported about 100 racers at the event.

The photo here is of the "grillmasters" serving food for the racers and spectators.  Proceeds from the food went to the Camp Calvin Crest Scholarship Fund which helps those that do not have the money to attend camp.

Was a beautiful day for racing.  Temperatures were in the 70s at race time.  Skies were clear and with a light breeze.

My photos taken at the race are posted on my event and race web site:  http://win-photo.photoreflect.com

Moorehead Mayhem

About 110 mountain bike racers traveled to Ida Grove, Iowa for Moorehead Mayhem cross country mountain bike race.  Was a cool, partly cloudy day, near perfect race weather.

Racers give it all they have for the during of the race - here's a photo of one exhauseted racer after the Category 3 race.

The photos I took during the event can me found on my event and race web site:   http://win-photo.photoreflect.com. 

Thanks to race promoter Jesse Bergman and his crew for great course preparation and race.  Also thanks to race host Lakeshore Cyclery and the other sponsors. 

First Race Shoot with the Canon 60D

Today I took the new Canon 60D with Tamron 18-200mm lens to Moorehead Mayhem mountain bike race in Ida Grove, Iowa.  Was the first time shooting a race with the new camera.

I knew I would have to crank up the ISO as I was in deep tree cover.  But, the location gave me a good view of the trail - and could catch riders 2 different directions at one place.  To have any chance of freezing rider movement, I shot in Tv mode and at 1/60 to 1/125 sec.  As such, had to use ISO 800 to ISO 1600.

During the first race, I took time to review some of the jpg images I have captured.  Finding dark images, I was going to add some exposure compensation and found that for some reason, it was almost 2EV dark!  Changed the compensation to 0, and that made a big different.

The upper photo is the jpg images as captured and saved by the camera.

Fortunately, I was also saving the files as camera RAW.  This means that I will be able to correct the exposure in Photoshop Elements.  The lower version of the photo is after converted in Adobe Camera Raw and touched up in Photoshop Elements 11.

The reason I purchased the lens was so that I could use one lens, rather than swapping from the 18-55mm zoom and the telephoto zoom while shooting.  The lens performed perfect for that.  Just what I need for shooting races on the trail.

And, the reason for the new camera body - the number of shots I could capture before the camera had to stop to write the files to the SD card.  With my Rebel T1i and srandard class 4 cards, I would only get 4-5 shots when the camera paused to write files,  I did not experience and problems today - the camera and and Promaster Performance SD kept up.

I have sorted the jpg "proof" copies and have then ready for posting to my race and events web site:  http://win-photo.photoreflect.com.  They should be posted tomorrow (Sunday) morning when I go to Panera Bread.