Our Airstream Safari descended 4,000 feet from our campsite in the Cuyamaca Mountains and enjoyed a restful interlude at home base in San Diego before going to the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  In the meantime, our Airstream friends, Bert and Janie, visited me at the Whaley House and Larry at home.  The following day we took them on a journey to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

“Safari is a Swahili word for ‘journey’,” said our Africa Tram driver and guide, and indeed, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park* is a journey through various habitats for a large array of wild and endangered animals, along with a wealth of plant life.  As soon as we entered the park, Bert spotted many photographic opportunities,

such as the Southern Bald Ibis, native to southern Africa.

We continued on our safari and came upon a romantic lion interlude.

A nearby lioness basked contentedly in the sun and seemed satiated (perhaps after dining on the 4×4 driver).

We took the Africa Tram for an overview of the largest exhibit, the open-range enclosure, covering 300 acres and presenting various plains habitats of Africa and Asia.

The tram makes periodic stops for photographic opportunities,

such as photographing the giraffe.

Janie and Larry rested after we got off the tram at Nairobi Station, while Bert and I hoofed it up to Condor Ridge.  Photographing the California Condor through a mesh enclosure is difficult, but Bert reveals how it’s done in his post, “California Condor Milestone“.

We are happy that the California Condor is escaping extinction due to breeding programs* at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and the Los Angeles Zoo.

*This is a link to a YouTube video.

While high winds roared through Southern California last Monday, causing power outages and damage in Borrego Springs and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and dust storms in Arizona,* we were hunkered down in our Airstream Safari 4,200 feet above sea level in a pine and oak forest along the northern extremity of the Cuyamaca Mountain Range on our first full day in William Heise County Park after a 3 year absence.  By the following day, the wind and rain had stopped and we set up camp and enjoyed beautiful sunny weather the rest of the week.

On Wednesday, our good friends Bert and Janie came up from Borrego Springs for a day of hiking, photography, feasting, conversing and having a good time.

Bert brought along his new Nikon D800E.*  Bert and I promptly took our Nikon cameras on a hike on the Cedar Creek Trail, while Janie and Larry enjoyed chatting at our campsite.  As soon as we got on the trail, we were happy to spot a couple of mule deer.

We enjoyed photographing the rich textures of this oak, pine and cedar forest and delighted in the play of light and shadows.

We returned to camp just in time for lunch that Larry was preparing:  Caldo de Mariscos (based on a recipe by Chef Rick Bayless*), a medley of squid, catfish, shrimp, and baby Bok choy (Chinese cabbage) simmered in a tomato-based soup, seasoned with guajillo chilies.

This savory dish brought smiles to all.

This is the second time this month that Bert has been observed slurping the last drops of soup out of his bowl (Japanese style).  The first time was recorded in Aluminarium’s blog post, “Bottoms Up!”

We sipped on wine and shared our thoughts during this mellow afternoon.  We celebrated our wonderful times together this camping season: at Agua Caliente County Park last October and then celebrating life with a lunch, hike and photo shoot in November.  This truly was a mountain high* and we look forward to many more in the future!

*This is a link to a YouTube video.

Clear starry skies were seen on Twelfth Night, an auspicious sign for our successful return to the Anza-Borrego Desert on Epiphany, also known as Día de los Reyes, The Day of the Kings.  A new study suggests that the Magi, following a star, journeyed from the Far East (China) on a spice trade route, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

(Photo credit: Nina Aldin Thune, Magi, Wikimedia Commons)

Away from most light pollution, we enjoyed the dark desert skies filled with stars.  (See previous article, [Earth] “Once dark, now too bright!“)

We did turn on Larry’s New Year’s display lights for yet another celebration of life, including Epiphany, also known as “The Day of the Lights”.

Epiphany also marks the beginning of the Carnival season, which continues through Shrove Tuesday.  Since this season is also known as “king cake season”, Larry adapted a Panettone recipe by Mario Batali and added candied fruit, rum, and brandy.

We shared this delicious cake with the campground rangers and hosts.

We also fed the hummingbirds, such as Anna’s Hummingbird seen below.

Seen below is a Costa’s Hummingbird, which is typically smaller and, according to Wikipedia, “The male Costa’s Hummingbird’s most distinguishing feature is its vibrant purple cap and throat with the throat feathers flaring out and back behind its head.”

We were also nourished by food for thought in the form of books and magazines, and by listening to KPBS via 97.7 FM Calexico, which brought us the sad news of the death of Public TV travel star and host, Huell Howser.  We have followed Huell Howser’s California’s Gold series for years and have delighted in his enthusiastic visits of people and places up and down California.  View KVIE Public Television’s video, “Huell Howser – California’s Dreamer” and YouTube’s “A Farewell to Huell Howser“.  Huell donated his entire California’s Gold series to Chapman University, which may be viewed on their Huell Howser Archive website, including Episode 148, “Road Trip to Anza-Borrego“.

And so the adventure continues into 2013, and as Huell would say, “California, Here I Come“!

It is written, in the beginning… the earth was with darkness, but by the 20th century, urbanization and electrification of the world brought the dawn of light pollution that now threatens our night skies, ecosystems, health, astronomy, and our enjoyment of the stars. (Read about environmental consequences of night lighting in Daniel J. Rozell’s article, “Night Lights – Too Much of a Good Thing?“)

(Photo credit: NASA, NOAA, Earthlights, Wikimedia Commons)

We arrived in the Anza-Borrego Desert to celebrate the winter holidays and had just an hour to set up before we were enveloped by darkness and beautiful stars twinkling in the desert night sky. (Click on the image below)

Many winter festivals and holidays incorporate elements of light as part of the observances and celebrations.  During the early evenings, we lit our outdoor Christmas tree that Larry made from homegrown bamboo.

It lit up the trailer as well, but not enough to obscure the stars.

While writing this post, I became aware of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), a non-profit organization with the stated mission of “fighting to preserve the night”.  The IDA is based in Tucson, a city famous for having a strong lighting ordinance to ensure that people use night sky friendly lights.  Their website provides guidelines for outdoor lighting to preserve the night sky and has designated Borrego Springs, California, as one of four International Dark Sky Communities that have met and exceeded their requirements.

The extent of the worldwide expanding communities that emit light at night is revealed in this NASA-NOAA Satellite View of Earth at Night and this Time Lapse View From Space.  According to the IDA, NASA’s new ‘Black Marble’ images of nighttime Earth “reveal that our globe is heavily littered with excessive and wasteful lighting that produces light pollution”.

Earlier this year, writer/photographer Bert Gildart wrote in his article, “The Challenge of Dark Skies“, “Because light pollution is so pervasive, areas of the country endowed with a Dark Sky Status should be celebrated.”  Bert concludes by saying, “Help reduce light pollution and preserve areas blessed with a Dark Sky Status by using your night images to celebrate and call attention to these ‘vanishing’ islands.”

So I join in the celebration of the night sky by presenting the images above, but I must point out that the stars on the horizon are obscured, not by the sunset, but by the sky glow produced by the city of El Centro, 60 miles away!

See and listen to the YouTube video, “Arthur C. Clarke on Light Pollution“.

And, until your next opportunity to see a clear night sky full of twinkling stars, enjoy the breathtaking wonder of the night skies as seen in the YouTube videos, “Plains Milky Way” and “Yosemite Nature Notes – 19- Night Skies 1080p“.

I was back on the saddle again and turned to look back down the trail that curved around and down into the Moonlight Canyon in the Anza-Borrego Desert where I had my first wonderful encounter with Peninsular bighorn sheep in January, 2011. My second encounter occurred when Bert and I hiked this trail last December.  After Bert and Janie’s visit two weeks ago, I was fired up and ready to go again on the Moonlight Canyon Trail.

I got on the trail at it’s eastern side, which allows for a gradual increase in elevation to get to the Moonlight Canyon, and hiked through the canyon without spotting any sheep.  On its western side, the trail meanders sharply up and over the saddle where I spotted a hopeful sign, bighorn sheep scat!

I few more paces onward and I abruptly stopped in my tracks.  Straight ahead of me was a large ewe acting as lookout on a ledge as younger ewes were eating.

Ewes (female sheep) have shorter horns with less curvature than rams (male sheep).  While stopped in my tracks, I quietly set down my walking stick and made adjustments on my Nikon D40 camera with 18-200mm lens.  I then started taking photos and walked slowly towards them.  They disappeared around a bend in the trail and, when I got to where they were first spotted, they were nowhere is sight as I looked down the sloping trail.  But as I looked up the steep slope to my right, I was happy to see that a total of 4 ewes had just gone a bit higher for safety and continued eating.

According to the San Diego Zoo’s “Desert Bighorn Sheep Fact Sheet“, Ovis canadensis are opportunistic herbivores and ruminants, and one of their favorite foods is the Encelia (Brittlebush) seen on this slope.

According to the Bighorn Institute, most ewes have a 6 month gestation period and give birth to one lamb per year, usually between February and April.  The young ewe seen below appeared to be about 8 months old.

According to Wikipedia, Desert bighorn sheep have keen eyesight and “are able to climb the steep, rocky terrain of the desert mountains with speed and agility.”

I spent about twenty minutes with these ewes and I sensed that all, except for the youngest one, recognized me from previous visits, and seemed to accept me, smile, and move about comfortably as they focused on eating.  The youngest one, however, fixed her gaze on me and seemed curious and fascinated by my presence, and I was pleased to meet and photograph her.

I was thrilled to be back on the saddle again of the Moonlight Canyon Trail and see such beautiful and precious creatures…

May we be good shepherds to all wildlife and all of nature.*

*See Author’s note in Comments section below.

With a backdrop of fall foliage, our F-250 and Safari were fired up, and ready to go to the Anza-Borrego Desert for another adventure, meeting with good friends, hiking, reading and relaxing, especially needed after this tumultuous election year.

We love the beauty of the desert with its many colors and textures.

Bert and Janie came down from their resort camping location at The Springs at Borrego and joined us for lunch and a day of celebrating Thanksgiving, life, tarantulas, Montana Icons (Bert’s latest book), the 2012 presidential election, and our friendship.

I got another chance to see Bert’s new, lightweight Gitzo carbon fiber tripod (described in “Bert Gildart’s art“) and we took off on a short side trip for another opportunity to photograph the compassionate water tanks that Bert saw and photographed just last month, but they had mysteriously disappeared.

For this trip, I brought along a good book to read, The Presidents Club — Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity, and Larry brought along kokopelli noren curtains that he had just made.  We enjoy these curtains because they provide privacy when the door is open, act as a sun screen, and are short enough for the dogs to look outside while the dog gate is up.

Just outside our door, Gambel’s Quail feasted on breadcrumbs in the morning.  At sunset, we fired up our Volcano grill and feasted on shrimp.

I got especially fired up while hiking on the Moonlight Canyon Trail and had a third encounter with desert bighorn sheep, which will be described in my next posting.

In the meantime, we’ll fire up our oven and enjoy roasting turkey as the herbal aroma of Bell’s Seasoning (that I first smelled as a child) wafts through our home, and cherish these precious days!

Happy Thanksgiving!

He’s got it down to a science, and it comes out as iconic art.  Former back-country ranger in Glacier National Park, writer/outdoor photographer/Airstreamer Bert Gildart has been providing spectacular photos and enriching stories for Airstream Life ever since it’s first issue in 2004, right up to his current article in the Fall 2012 issue, “Dark Skies – Deep in the Heart of America with Your Airstream”.

Last December I got a chance to observe Bert’s science and artistry up close as we hiked Moonlight Canyon Trail at Agua Caliente County Park in Southern California and came upon Bighorn Sheep and glorious California Fuchsia.  I got another chance last month when Bert and Janie joined us for 5 days of camping here.  Bert and I decided to go on a slow, early morning hike to avoid the midday heat while looking for interesting subjects.  Janie had already found one on the other side of the road across from their trailer, a Desert Shaggy Mane Mushroom, Podaxis pistillaris, pushing its fruiting body up after the previous week’s rain.  When it dries out, it will release its spores.

On the Moonlight Canyon Trail Bert and I came across clusters of Monarch butterflies feasting on the nectar of the yellow flowers of the Honey Mesquite shrub.

According to Wikipedia, “The monarch is the only butterfly that migrates both north and south as the birds do on a regular basis.”  (Note: the Monarch can be distinguished from the co-mimic Viceroy butterfly by the lack of a black line running across the veins of the hind wing.)

“Suddenly, we saw butterflies and then, a few steps further, we found the most lavish growth of California Fuchsia I have ever seen…”, writes Bert in his weblog article, “Limiting Factors Check A Population’s Expansion…“, which includes his beautiful and colorful close-up images.

Bert’s artistry and “science”, such as his camera, settings, and use of strobes, are detailed in my article, “Photographic artistry of Bert Gildart“.  Bert now has a new and lighter tripod, a Gitzo Series 2 Carbon Fiber 6X Explorer with 3-section legs, and he says he carries it everywhere.  Bert selected a BH-30 LR Ballhead with lever-release clamp for his tripod.  He says, “… it’s expensive, but I use it all the time for fine adjustments, and at this stage of my life I said what the heck.”  (A similar set up is demonstrated here.)

Bert tells me that he will be presenting a two-part seminar on photography at Alumafiesta in Tucson, Arizona, in February.  The first part will be an hour long slide presentation on where photography has taken him around the world (such as Egypt) and will cover lighting, composition, and modern techniques that are available to people using Photoshop and Lightroom.  The presentation will conclude with how Bert assembles an article for Native Peoples Magazine.  The next day, Bert plans to lead a photographic field trip, utilizing the techniques that were discussed the day before.

Through his photos and stories, Bert has captured the beauty of nature and native peoples, even as they are being threatened on many fronts.  Bert Gildart’s art underscores the importance of recommitting to the preservation of our national parks and icons, such as the spectacular Glacier National Park!

A rub rail covers the bottom edge of the exterior aluminum panels, along with the bottom line of rivets that attach the panels to our 2007 Safari trailer.  This rub rail area is susceptible to water in at least two places, especially in the rear of the trailer where much rain water and dew run down.  The trailer was only two years old when we found part of the chrome/vinyl rub rail insert hanging down during a trip.  Moisture can loosen the self-sticking adhesive backing of this vinyl insert.  We reattached this vinyl strip using 3M Plastic and Emblem Adhesive #08061 and details are posted here.

Click on the image above to enlarge it and you will see that the factory applied sealant along the top edge of the rub rail bracket.  The integrity of this seal is important, because if enough water gets behind the rub rail it could lead to floor rot.

Last summer, I found areas of cracked sealant along the top edge of our rub rail.  In one respect, we are fortunate to have a relatively dry climate in San Diego, but we do get plenty of dew.  So after I replaced our Marathon tires in September, I sealed the rub rail cracks with Acryl-R and applicator from the Airstream Store.

Actually, I put a bead of Acryl-R along the top edge of the rub rail around the trailer, and then the trailer got its annual big washing and waxing.  For the occasion, I got a new, sturdier stepladder and more of my favorite wax, Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze Professional Sealant #20.  This sealant, along with the nail polish that I applied last year, has prevented any further growth of filiform corrosion.

So now that the trailer is washed and waxed, and presented with new tires (and new AGM batteries last May) it seems happier and ready for our fall camping season. We celebrated by observing the Chinese Moon Festival, also called Mid-Autumn Festival.

Larry set up a display featuring the many symbols of this festival, including mooncakes with an egg yolk in the middle.

We gazed at the full moon as our Chinese paper lanterns seemed to dance, and the Tillandsia secunda (in the foreground) seemed to wave in the breeze, and we remembered the legend of Chang’e, the Chinese goddess who lives on the moon, a love story.

Summer began by my thoroughly rinsing off all of the salt deposits that accumulated on the trailer during our beachside outing last May.  An important part of this annual process is to fully extended our three awnings and wash off the accumulation of salt and dirt.  The details of our trailer awning care are seen in my post, “Trailer Awnings“.  I am always amazed at the amount of dirt that accumulates along the very top edge of canvas where it attaches to the trailer (and can’t be seen or washed away until the awning is fully extended).

Diesel prices rose to $4.599/gallon this summer and the cost to fill up the F-250 tank was an even $100 here in San Diego, but the upside of living here is that we don’t have to go far to enjoy the great outdoors, even our backyard is a tropical oasis.

Summer projects included Larry’s application of finishing touches to our trailer sun shade screen seen in my last post, “Drift and the land yacht“, and in my research into replacing our six-year-old trailer tires.

San Diego’s Old Town is a great place to work and play.  Larry and I put on our Victorian era attire and went to Old Town State Historic Park where Nick & Dave were photographing anybody for free as long as they were wearing vintage clothing.  Nick & Dave do tintype photography using the wet plate collodion process.

(Photo credit: Joe O’Dell)

They took our photos, showed them to us and, after they applied the finishing application of clear lacquer, we returned in two weeks to pick them up.

Nick & Dave’s assistant photographer Joe O’Dell took pictures of us with his Nikon camera and used Photoshop to make the image below showing us with the backdrop of Bodie, a ghost town in California.

Our Renaissance faire friend, Jim M., died in late summer, reminding us that life is fragile and brief and of the importance of cherishing and sharing each day with our loved ones, from season to season.  Summer is now over, the leaves are beginning to fall, the air is cooler… but love endures, along with our memories of the summer of ’12.

Just in time for spring reading, our Safari Airstream’s magazine rack now holds two new publications, Glacier Icons: 50 Classic Views of the Crown of the Continent, by Bert Gildart, and the “new and improved” Spring 2012 issue of Airstream Life magazine.

This first edition of Glacier Icons, published February 21, 2012, by Globe Pequot Press, features 50 large, stunning photographs of Glacier National Park‘s iconic places, animals, plants, and people, along with short and succinct essays packed with information.  In the “Introduction” to his book, Bert writes, “this northwestern Montana park offers a multitude of diverse flora, fauna, and scenic geography, thanks to its dramatic geologic history… born of volcanic fire… and gouged by great continental ice sheets.”

Unfortunately, one of the most photographed glaciers in the park, Grinnell Glacier (named for George Bird Grinnell, influential in establishing Glacier National Park in 1910), is a disappearing icon.  “According to Dr. Dan Fagre, Glacier’s climatologist, Grinnell Glacier could be the poster child for global warming… conditions are changing and that can best be appreciated by hiking to the Grinnell Overlook… from there, the panorama dramatizes the now-accelerated rate of global warming,” writes Bert on page 20.  Listen to Dan Fagre as he talks about his mountain ecosystems research in Glacier National Park.

Glacier National Park, with its thrilling Going-to-the-Sun Road, is included in Bert’s “Our Favorite National Parks” Airstream Life article, Spring 2011 issue.  “I worked here in the late ’60s and ’70s as a seasonal ranger – and have returned almost every summer since then to hike,” wrote Bert in his article, “Glacier National Park – An Exploration of Glaciers, Bears, Sheep, and Tiny Pikas,” in the Spring 2006 issue of Airstream Life.  The article covers Bert and Janie’s visit to Glacier National Park with their 28-foot Safari in the summer of 2005, where they joined a group hike on Grinnell Glacier Trail led by Dr. Dan Fagre, who pointed out the recession of Grinnell Glacier.

Bert’s stories and articles have appeared in most Airstream Life issues since the first one in 2004, including the current Spring 2012 issue that features his article, “Chaco Culture National Historical Park in Winter – Explored by Airstream.”  This article covers Bert and Janie’s adventure into Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico in a brutally cold November, 2009, where they completely ran out of trailer power and generator gas as outside temperatures dipped to -11° F after midnight.

According to Editor and Publisher Rich Luhr, starting with the Winter 2011 issue, Airstream Life has improved its readability by its choice of fonts, a “cleaner” article template, and more dramatic layouts with larger pictures.  Airstream Life has a new feature, the “Buyer’s Guide”, which reviews specific Airstream models, and continues to feature quality articles such as those by Bert Gildart, with rich, poetic and majestic images.

As mentioned in Glacier Icons‘ “About The Author” section, “Bert Gildart is the author of more than four hundred magazine and newspaper feature stories.”

“He is the author of fifteen books, seven of which he coauthored with his wife, Janie.”  (He is also a daring and creative photographer.)

When Bert and Janie are not busy hiking and photographing, or writing, you might find them around a crackling campfire, chatting with friends, or listening to performers, such as their friend Tony Feathers, who has a knack of mesmerizing kangaroo rats with his music such as “Old Black Crow.”