After finishing teaching my morning classes I was in the doldrums. No, the classes were fine, it is early yet in the semester and the students are still responsive, not like they will become in about five weeks when things will go downhill, but I wanted to go out and do something. We have a partially cloudy sky and I thought, this would be perfect for vantage points of the San Gabriel mountains. I was thinking of staying in, but the sunlight tapped persistently on my window and forced me to go out. But first, a trip to drop off a letter at the mail collection box at the Post Office, then a trip to the car wash to vacuum the inside of my car, then a trip to Jiffy Lube to get an oil change. My next one is due at 108,800 miles, approximately, that is, 5,000 more than I have at this point. So, I was done, and the clouds in the sky looked beautiful, and I thought, damn the torpedos, I am doing to get photos of the San Gabriel mountains.
So, I went home and picked up my Travelwide 4x5 camera and my Fuji GW690ii and took off. I was headed to the Hidden Valley Nature reserve, my go-to spot, but as I was driving I looked at the hills of Norco and saw the orange speck that was the Pumpkin Rock, and I thought, what better day to go and get a good vantage point than to return and hike up that hill again. Last time my photos were not very good, at least my 4x5 photos which, I think, ran into problems because I didn't fix them well, or else, because they were underexposed. I had my Travelwide, so why not try again?
Driving through Trumpland and decided, Pumpkin Rock it is, so I went straight on the road and parked next to the Ingalls Equestrian Center (where they were conducting Covid tests) and parked, then began my climb up.
It was a harsher climb than I remember, and my hiking shoes are completely worn out. I bought them two years ago, and they need to be replaced. They hurt my feet, but I persisted, even though I had to struggle to climb up. I continued as well as I could, enjoying the view but not the steep climb. The landmark is not that high, maybe as high as Mt. Rubidoux but reached via a straighter path, not one that circles around gradually, and you have to navigate paths of slippery and loose dirt that threaten to make you lose your footing at any moment. The good thing was that there were very, very, very few people climbing today, which was surprising. It was a beautiful day, after all, about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, with a nice breeze, so, as Enrico Fermi said about the possibility of alien visits to planet Earth, "Where are they?". There were just a few people climbing up.
I made it, taking photos with my Fuji 6x9 camera, then once I was up there, I gave some other visitors their space (there was only a young couple there, and they were taking photos in front of the Pumpkin Rock, and as I approached I saw that the young woman was lifting her blouse, evidently trying to bare her breasts so her boyfriend could take a photo, but covered up as I approached). I walked to the other side, and enjoyed the view of the rocks and the neighborhoods below. It was a good time to start taking 4x5 photos, and I was using Foma 100 film, f16, 1/30th of a second, with a red 25A film. When I returned to the Pumpkin, the younger couple was gone, but there was an older couple, and I gave them their space, but I did make sure to take some color slide photos in 4x5.
I shot 8 frames of black and white in 4x5 using the Foma 100 film. Well, I just developed them about an hour and a half ago, and they were extraordinarily thin. There is hardly an image on them. I think I failed again at my attempt to take 4x5 black and white photos here, and this time, I can't blame the fix, because I have (reasonably) fresh solution, and I fixed for 6 minutes, and from what I found on the web, overfixing (if that is what I did) does not result in thin negatives. So, I will have to hold out hope for my roll of 120 film, my standby, JCH Streetpan 400 in infrared. I didn't finish my roll of 120, but maybe tomorrow, if I can head out to Seal Beach or Redondo Beach.
Circling around, I enjoyed the views. The clouds started to clear out, and they didn't really frame the San Gabriel Mountains very well anymore. It would have been better if I had done early, but of course, not on Tuesdays when I am "Zooming" from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. So, I will have to return.
My hip was hurting as I was climbing down. Also, it was a good thing that I had my walking stick with me, I was at the point of slipping several time on the loose gravel. I spent two hours there today, from about 2 - 4 p.m., and by then, I had no desire to make the trip to the Hidden Valley Reserve, around the corner, I just wanted to go home, and I did.
Here are a few cellphone photos.
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