Visit to Pumpkin Rock in the spring of 2021

 I am not sure when I went to Pumpkin Rock, but it might have been in either April or May. I call that spring. As I recall, it was an arduous hike up there, and I took the long route, mainly because I saw a few people taking the more direct route and I wanted to avoid them. I know, I know, maybe it wasn't called for, I was already vaccinated (back in February) and the CDC has already put out the guideline that we are fine to go without a mask and interact with people even in a closed setting, as long as they have been vaccinated, and if we are out in the open, it should be safe. I think in my case it is a personal psychological preference that dated to pre-pandemic times, and I am now happy to use the pretext of social distancing as a health guideline to justify my desire to stay away from others. :) 

Well, here are a few black and white photos. I took them with the Minolta Autocord, and if I nail exposure, I am always amazed by the sharpness of the images. Very, very sharp. I used Foma 200 black and white film. I bought about 30 rolls of this film earlier this year, when they were holding a discount sale to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the company, and I whipped through the film in no time. Now, I have opted to buy HP5+, though, although I was satisfied with the Foma. 

Here are a few images, developed and scanned today, Sunday, Memorial Day, May 31st, but taken weeks ago. No, no visits today, just the back neighbors karaokeying awake off-key and annoying the hell out of us. 

Above, the George Ingalls Equestrian facility in Norco. I massively overexposed this negative by accident, the negative is completely dark to my eyes, but the scanner was able to salvage an image. I know, it was inattention. My Minolta Autocord has an aperture lever that moves much too freely, so instead of staying at f16, it must have moved all the way to f3.5. I remember noticing it on the spot and getting very irritated. 

Climbing up the hill. 

These are almost certainly Ricardo Braceda statues. They remind me of the others by this artist that I have seen at the Alta Vista gardens, as well as pictured at Galleta Meadows. 

Beautiful views. I guess I managed to get something out of my difficult scramble up the hills.

Pumpkin Rock itself, but backlit. I would have to hike and photograph it in the evening to get the setting sun in the west to light it up frontally.

There is graphitti galore next to the Pumpkin Rock.