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On viewing the Northern Lights like I said the predictions are pretty inaccurate. The night I seen the best ones in my life in Canada week before last the Kp index was a 1 or 2. When they are predicted the time to see them is also hard to determine but you can't see them laying in the bed. Often fleeting they might be 1000, 0200 or 0500. And of course need clear skies no light pollution. And an unobstructed view of the sky. All of that is what makes seeing them special in CONUS.

I woke up Sunday Morning with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt. So I set out at dawn, searching for Aspen trees with colorful fall leaves. When I was growing up in Colorado, our house overlooked a valley filled with Quaking Aspen and every fall it would burst with color. Tourists would flock to the area from Denver, but our private little corner of the mountains was pristine and it was one of my favorite annual events. Last year, when visiting Bishop, I heard the familiar rustling of Aspen leaves and got hit with an unexpected wave nostalgia. I didn't realize how much I missed Aspens, and it dawned on me that I hadn't seen the leaves change in a couple of decades.

Bishop is a little too far for a day trip, even for me. So I headed up Sherman Pass from the East Sierras in a long shot attempt to see the Aspen leaves change. They aren't common anywhere in the state, and especially not this far south, but the Kern Plateau is accessible and always worth the trip, Aspens or not.

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I struck gold a couple miles below the summit of the pass. It's no Pando, but beggars can't be choosers and I'll just count my blessings instead of Aspen shoots. By this point I was doubting that I'd find any, so to see this small stand in peak color was a relief.

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It doesn't get any better than that. By next week these trees will likely be bald. With my mission accomplished, I proceeded to wonder around and get myself into trouble.

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I explored a trail that had piqued my curiosity but I'd never attempted. Looking at the map, it appears to Peter out about a half mile before a junction with a larger trail. I suspected there'd be a path through, and I was somewhat correct. After the trail's end, it got narrower but continued as expected. I was hopping out to tuck branches back, but didn't saw any limbs. Eventually, I ran out of luck.

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It's hard to tell by the pic, but this is where I turned around. The small tree on the right edge of frame was blocking about 80% of the trail. I scouted beyond that and it didn't look promising, so I did what must have been a 20 point turn until I'd swung the beast around. I was probably only a couple hundred yards from the expected junction, and I would've gone for it in a lot of my old cars, but I like this paint and my wife doesn't like pinstripes, so I called it off.

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I explored yet another fork and drove it to its end in a meadow just below the main ridge. The whole area had burned, very recently, and I could see evidence of fire crews working this meadow.

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As we were leaving, I spotted this wisp of smoke rising from the valley we just had lunch in. It turns out, this is the Trout Fire, and it's still very much in progress. I'm glad I didn't get cut off from my trail, as that has recently happened to folks with disastrous results. Gotta check those fire maps before heading out this time of year.

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Up and over the ridge, where I took that top shot facing Olancha Peak, and I was back on more familiar turf. We were just here last spring for our last sledding trip of the year, and I could tell when my daughter started recognizing more landmarks and getting her bearings. In the background of the shot above, you'll see the Sherman Pass 4x4 trail descending rapidly. That trail has been on my bucket list for years, and one of these days I'll get the armor, lockers, and 35s needed to tackle it.

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When I got down to the trailhead, I put all four tires on the trail and took a picture, before backing up and getting back on the pavement. This is the most poseur thing I've ever done in my life, and I deserve any and all scorn I receive.

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We continued across the Kern River valley, and up to the Great Western Divide, where the Windy fire devastated numerous old-growth Sequoia groves back in '21. I wanted to revisit Packsaddle grove, which I found just weeks before the fire and I've read it was wiped out completely. The trails up there are still closed, three years later, so I wasn't able to check. It doesn't look promising from where I was, or from viewpoints in the area, but these ancients are resilient.

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We went to Long Meadow Grove instead and hiked what's left of the Trail of 100 Giants. There was surface burns on every tree, and some of the old growth is clearly dead now, but it's better than I had feared. I think it's probably down to 60-70 Giants now, but many of the great trees were saved thanks to the hard work of our fire crews. I won't want to be there when some of that dead growth falls, but I was glad to visit these old friends of mine again.

By 7pm, we were sipping limeade at a Bakersfield Sonic, and home by bedtime (adjusted for adventure allowance). It was a great trip, but now I've got to wash all the ash and dust off this week at some point.

A man after my own heart I will be posting some pictures of aspen in the next couple of days\weeks. A few are coming up in a few minutes hopefully but I am leaving soon for an aspen ridge above the Gunflint Trail. Ruffed grouse nest and raise their young in 12-15 year old stands of aspen when possible. Woodcock are found in stands of younger aspen with moisture for worms and higher stem density. And moose eat the branches of the young aspen as well.

I used to purchase the aspen harvest maps for Mn. to find the grouse hotspots and run it on a tablet in my Taco

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First year in 15 or so that I didn't update the subscription. Broods are breaking up now and this years juveniles have dispersed anywhere from a mile to a mile and a half from the nesting areas. They are in the woods, somewhere LOL.
 
Arrived at the cabin on the Gunflint Trail Sunday for 2.5 weeks. Yesterday first day out 15 minutes down the trail had a large bull moose come out and cross in front of us.

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Thin for this time of year you can see his ribs hope he doesn't have brain worm.

Good day chasing birds with the dog first 2024 Mn. ruffed grouse with my trusty FAIR Iside 16 ga. Side by Side.

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Been dry and water is low, this Spring had heavy rains that blew out a lot of the beaver dams and opened up roads that had been flooded in previous years. If the dog starts to swim may think twice before crossing.

Water depth check on aisle 1 please

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He almost broke bottom came close but made it across easily enough without letting go of the bottom so hard bottom. You can see how much vegetation has grown up on the trail on the other side. Mother Natures pinstriping at its finest.

Water depth check on aisle 2 please

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Water is really deep on the other side of the rocks he made it through without swimming staying on the trail under the water. And so did I.

Getting colder and this morning wasn't so great but still a great time. Have to see what this evening brings. And the next couple of weeks.
 
Yeah, you really can't photograph these things accurately. This is from the same location, with a wide lense instead of zoomed. You want the wide angle to get the whole tree in frame, but to do that makes it appear smaller, so there's no good solutions.

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You just have to go see them for yourself to really "get it." That's why I take my daughter to visit these places as often as we can, so she'll appreciate them and connect with them personally. From a more pessimistic perspective, it's so she'll remember them when they're gone.
I did a bit more research on these severely burnt groves in the southern Sierras. I found a blog from a non-profit doing restoration work that shows Packsaddle as it currently stands. It's not as bad there as I feared, but losing the Packsaddle Giant is a real shame.

So long, Long Meadow, we're packed for Packsaddle! | Save the Redwoods League - https://www.savetheredwoods.org/blog/crews-wrap-fire-resilience-work-in-giant-sequoia-grove/

I also read about the nearby Starvation Creek Grove, and the news there is real bad. Out of 122 old growth trees, only 4 remain. I was able to see this grove on my approach to Packsaddle in '21, but it's very steep terrain so I didn't stop to visit up close. It turns out, one of my last pics from Sunday shows those last four trees pretty clearly.

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There is a dark spot across the valley on the right above the two taller silhouettes in the foreground. If you zoom in all the way, you can see the crowns of the four survivors sticking out in the crowd. Just tragic that their neighbors survived 3000 years, only to die just weeks after my first visit. I'm really shook up over this.

Here's a link to the list of all of the extant old growth groves if you want to check them out for yourself. It was here that I found these more obscure and inaccessible groves back in 2020.
List of giant sequoia groves - Wikipedia - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_giant_sequoia_groves

Here is a pic of Packsaddle Giant from 2021.
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And a pic of my campsite from the night before that shows the beetle killed lodgepoles that provided the fuel for this devastating fire. Packsaddle is just over the ridge in the background, while Powderhorn Grove was directly behind me.

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It's a damn shame. That's all.
 
A random beaver pond over the last week

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Rest are from yesterday. Started off with a sunrise over Lake Superior going up 61 from the Gunflint Trail to the Arrowhead Trail. Lake Superior holds 10% of the world's fresh surface water. Which is enough water is enough to cover North and South America in a foot of water.

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Dented the GX in the woods then went to the Pigeon River Helipad which is a clearing on a ridge

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To the right of the Pigeon River is Canada it is the dividing line between Canada and the US in the tip of the Mn. Arrowhead

Looking the other way

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Zoom in on the valley below

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Came back to the cabin for a bit and this guy was hanging around

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Man law says you can't shoot camp grouse but the dog didn't get the memo and sent him on his way

Spectacular sunset but was headed to the end of the Gunflint Trail with no place to take a picture. Got to the end of the Trail and did get some pictures of the Northern Lights over the Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness instead however

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It was a great day even if I did ding the GX up a bit and only shot one bird, shot 3 today. But it isn't about a full game bag to me it is about the experience and journey. The dog at my feet is telling me it is about him also.
 
Today, ~1730 hrs, San Onofre State Beach, about 4 miles south of home. 68° F. Wife had to get a little surf session in.
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I stalked your prior posts to see what your lift and tire combo are, and I figured out you have 285s... but what height is your Dobinsons lift, please?
I ordered a 2.5" lift but with medium springs so I think it is more like 3". If I did it again I'd go 2" with the same springs. That said, I still love the combo of tires, wheels and suspensions and have no plans to change it any time soon.
 
Beautiful sunrise

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Last week I did 1700 miles from Ohio to / through western Kentucky, Missouri, and extreme northern Arkansas and camped out of the back. Good times!

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Good on ya! 👍 That's what it's ALL about!
 
Nguyen works bumper installed! Highly recommend @knotical_ventures for install if you're in so cal. I'll post more pics soon!

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Love how low profile it is. I'm sure you got a few more degrees of departure angle with that!
 

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