In August 2006 I did a 5-day backpack over the eastern Sierra's Taboose Pass, chronicling the trip through the lens of a Panasonic FZ30 ultrazoom digicam (gallery at http://trailhiker.smugmug.com/gallery/1797901_MkFTy ). 2 years later, I'm now in the "digital single-lens reflex" (DSLR) world and for this 3-day ramble up Pine Creek Canyon I take a Pentax K10D with 2 lenses --- a Pentax 16-45 wide-angle with circular polarizer for landscapes, and a Tamron 70-300 macro for closer shots. I'd done the hike up to my tent site, Honeymoon Lake, about 5 years ago but didn't have a good camera with me. Despite the weight, the Pentax DSLR and 2 lenses should be perfect for the lakes and mountains I'd see...
Looking back up-trail at the beginning of the John Muir Wilderness.
Two of the many twisted and gnarled Limber Pines that add to the texture and hues of the already ruggedly-colorful landscape...
I repeat a photographic visit to one of the photogenic streams cutting across the 4-wheel drive road, now trail...
Bridge Penstemon add their splash of brilliant color and take my mind off the dusty, knee-jarring trail down.
Just before the forest cover begins near the trailhead I see this beautiful blooming cactus. I'm beginning to think seeing all these flowering plants makes putting up with the mosquitos worthwile...
Here's another cactus bloom. It makes one realize that the eastern Sierra are at the western end of the Great Basin desert that stretches all the way to Utah's Wasatch Mountains.
And finally, Crimson Columbine. It blooms from April to August and is usually found in moist partially-shady areas. It's in the mixed forest cover near the beginning of the trail, and provides a colorful and delicate scene, a perfect ending to another memorable backpack to my favorite mountain range and a place I will never grow tired of, the eastern Sierra Nevada of California.
Along the 395 near the June Lake turnoff I saw this abandoned house which, while not photogenic in itself, does have a striking backdrop...
And the early-morning view of the Sierra Wall from Sierra Vista Viewpoint in the White Mountains on the eastern side of the Owens Valley, one of the deepest in North America.
The scene along Highway 395 south of Big Pine; this is the field in the Owens Valley where the elk come down to graze...
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