As the title suggests this trip involved a good slogging through the same windy, open savannah the PBX crew went through in April of '08. More for the sake of weather-sealing myself from parasites than staying dry I had on chest waders, gloves and a hooded rain jacket. I looked like I had just came back from burying a dead body or something. You should have seen the look on the guy's face who thought he was driving his truck down to some humanless nowhere. I took it on through the opposite end of where Guy's crew entered--at the Header dot on his map I believe--on a beautiful, slightly windy Friday.
Gobble gobble... (original)
Chanterelle fungus found on the way in. Neato. (original)
Before I found an easier northern entrance I tried cutting a straight line from a bend in the power line to the savannah. Bad idea without some sort of machete. Just before I turned around I found this old junk, right in the middle of the brush without any paths leading to or from. Seems like it was about as old as plastic itself. You couldn't touch the things without shattering them. Old Jobstown bogs material, I guess?(original)
My point of entry (original)
Looking south. (What a breeze!) (original)
Looking southeast. (original)
Looking east. (original)
East again. (original)
Looking west. Sundews galore! (original)
Just when you thought you had enough pictures of sundews... (original; full-size comes highly recommended)
I come bringing you more. (original)
Common Pipewort. (original)
West. (original)
Handsome stand of AWCs....
(original)
..through which I decided to make my exit. (original)
Up. (original)
The way out. A GPS can be of assistance on this trip if you want to avoid private property. Signs claiming the premises are under 'video surveillance' are everywhere. I call BS on that one, but frankly I don't blame the owners for trying to scare folks off, given the giant fleet of landscapers, contractors, and other assorted %$#@heads who like to dump their crap back here on the road. A machete is also good for taking dumpers' heads off come to think of it... (original)
Me playing with some features on my phone. They just don't make 'em like they used to. (original)
(original)
That was one hell of a day! The cool breeze was perfect for blowing the bugs away. Unfortunately I still got chewed to hell by them when I finally removed my gear for the bike ride home. Nevertheless, I'll be back.
NOTE: The quality of most of these shots (sans the panos) stays decent at up to about 2000 pixels wide, if any of you want to use crops of these as desktops or whatnot.
Here's to the barrens.
Gobble gobble... (original)
Chanterelle fungus found on the way in. Neato. (original)
Before I found an easier northern entrance I tried cutting a straight line from a bend in the power line to the savannah. Bad idea without some sort of machete. Just before I turned around I found this old junk, right in the middle of the brush without any paths leading to or from. Seems like it was about as old as plastic itself. You couldn't touch the things without shattering them. Old Jobstown bogs material, I guess?(original)
My point of entry (original)
Looking south. (What a breeze!) (original)
Looking southeast. (original)
Looking east. (original)
East again. (original)
Looking west. Sundews galore! (original)
Just when you thought you had enough pictures of sundews... (original; full-size comes highly recommended)
I come bringing you more. (original)
Common Pipewort. (original)
West. (original)
Handsome stand of AWCs....
(original)
..through which I decided to make my exit. (original)
Up. (original)
The way out. A GPS can be of assistance on this trip if you want to avoid private property. Signs claiming the premises are under 'video surveillance' are everywhere. I call BS on that one, but frankly I don't blame the owners for trying to scare folks off, given the giant fleet of landscapers, contractors, and other assorted %$#@heads who like to dump their crap back here on the road. A machete is also good for taking dumpers' heads off come to think of it... (original)
Me playing with some features on my phone. They just don't make 'em like they used to. (original)
(original)
That was one hell of a day! The cool breeze was perfect for blowing the bugs away. Unfortunately I still got chewed to hell by them when I finally removed my gear for the bike ride home. Nevertheless, I'll be back.
NOTE: The quality of most of these shots (sans the panos) stays decent at up to about 2000 pixels wide, if any of you want to use crops of these as desktops or whatnot.
Here's to the barrens.
