Storm in the Forecast

Kami, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

California is currently in a drought condition, with below-average precipitation this year. However, the weatherman didn't predict the big storm hitting Pleasanton...the PGSL Storm, that is. The Storm played a great game, with outstanding pitching, defense, and hitting.

We were the home team, occupying the third base dugout. This made it difficult to photograph the right handed batters, with their backs facing the camera. I decided to take a lot more portraits today. The game was held at Upper Bernal Fields, which is smaller than the fields at the Pleasanton Sports Park. The close proximity to the players made closely cropped portraits possible.

Here are a few photos from the game:

Yosemite National Park

Half Dome, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away”

- Anonymous


I took a day off from work yesterday to hike Yosemite National Park. Over the last 20 years, I've avoided Yosemite because of the large crowds, including tourists, hikers, climbers, photographers, and school kids. While Yosemite is full of breathtaking and iconic views, the outdoor experience is often tarnished by the mass of humanity. I generally prefer the less traveled areas of the Sierra Nevada. The Sierra is full of wonderful locations, relatively anonymous compared to Yosemite, but nearly as beautiful and much more serene. Yesterday, however, was incredible. The foot traffic was low and the spring temperatures were high. The off-season is a superb time to visit the National Park!

After four short hours of sleep, I wearily arose at three o'clock, showered, jump-started my brain with a cup of coffee, and hit the road to Gilroy to meet up with the rest of the hiking gang – Faye, Li, and Deac. Under Faye's watchful eye, the group (somewhat) quickly gathered the gear, packed the truck, and we proceeded down Highway 152, east toward Yosemite.

Upon our arrival in the valley, we started our hike near Mirror Lake, early enough to catch the mountains lit with the early morning light and reflecting in the appropriately named lake. The view was picture perfect, but unfortunately, I didn't have my tripod or graduated neutral density filter. The ND grad filter is a key landscape photography tool, enabling the photographer to balance the exposure between the brightly lit mountains in the background with the shaded lake/reflections in the foreground. Using Kodak BW400CN film, I decided to shoot the reflections tightly framed, excluding the brightly lit background from the frame. I then shot the entire scene with my iPhone5, using the HDR mode to deal with the exposure differences...not my ideal tool, but the best one I had available at the time.

We continued our hike along the Snow Creek Trail, climbing steadily for almost 3000 feet. The brisk pace slowed gradually as the miles and elevation increased. Our effort was rewarded when Faye guided us to the site of our lunch break – a large slab of granite overlooking Half Dome and Clouds Rest. Dropping our packs, we spent a moment absorbing the breathtaking views, before consuming our lunches and resting our bodies. An hour and a half passed in a moment, and it was time to descend the mountain and return to the valley. We spent some time taking photos before departing Yosemite and then proceeded home. After a quick stop for the traditional post-hike pizza and beer, and a long drive home, we concluded a wonderful day.

This afternoon at work, a colleague asked, “How did you manage to take a day off from work?” I searched for my soap box, hopped on top of it, and explained that life is short and we need to seek the opportunities that take our breath away. There aren't enough weekends in a year, so we need to augment them with vacation days to chase these moments. With the ever-present heavy workload, there's never a good time to take off from work...but there's always a good time to have your breath taken away.

Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Beautiful Yosemite landscape, lit by the morning light, and reflecting in Mirror Lake.




View of Clouds Rest, framed by an interesting foreground tree.




Mirror Lake




Half Dome, taken from the valley floor.




Misc Photos taken with my Nikon FM2, with Kodak BW400CN film.
















Here are a few photos taken with my iPhone5.

2014 PGSL Season Kicks Off

Kodama, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

The 2014 Pleasanton Girls Softball League (PGSL) season is here! Kami is playing in the Senior Division this year, open to high school aged players. She is one of only two freshmen on the team, but after a handful of practices and scrimmages, the coaches said she’s a “natural.” She’s the lead-off batter, a solid pitcher on the mound, a reliable second baseman, and she tracks down fly balls in the outfield like a field-seasoned Golden Retriever (unlike Paisley).

Here are a few photos from one of the scrimmages. I will be taking pictures throughout the season as one of the photographers covering the team. Just as the girls needed to “knock off some rust” due to the long off-season, I too needed to get back into sports photography mode. The players move a tad bit quicker than the landscapes I’ve been shooting lately…

Guam

Under the Table, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

It's four AM and I awakened with the urge to pee. With anticipation, I opened the door to the warm, damp bathroom, where earlier I saw two large, American cockroaches, sunning themselves quietly in the darkness. As the door slowly creaked open, a flick of the light switch sent a lone cockroach scampering for shade. I tried to crush him with a bottle of bathroom cleaner, but the roach deftly avoided it and scurried quickly for the door. I hurriedly slammed the door, playing a deadly chess game with my prey. I watched his long antennae sweeping from under the door, giving away his presence, and I took a moment to pee, carefully aiming with one eye on the bowl, with the other eye on the roach. I opened the door and ran to grab the nearest insect crushing device, but the roach scampered across the white tile floor to the safety and security under the dresser, saving itself from gut-crushing shoe. I lay in bed, reflecting on the time, decades ago, when a large cockroach crawled up the inside of my pants leg one night at a Boy Scout meeting. I shook my leg feverishly, desperately trying to get the roach out of my pants.

My attention switched back to the roach under the dresser, as it noisily walked across the tile floor, breaking the darken silence and my eerie reflection. I lay awake, hoping he crawls back into the bathroom instead of up the bed covers. Thus is my first night in the Barrigada house, where my brother in-law is housing me for my weekend in Guam.

Dawn patiently arrived and I exited the bedroom to find my host sleeping on the couch. He graciously gave up his room and turned on the room’s air conditioning before my arrival so I wouldn't have to experience the warm, humid nights in Guam. It was clear, however, that he typically slept in the bed without air conditioning, as the sheets and pillows reeked of many sweaty nights.

I traveled to Guam on business and spent the subsequent weekend visiting my brother in-law. Here are a few pictures.

Guam is infamous for its large number of dogs, unconstrained with fences or chains. The Spaniards brought Catholicism to Guam and apparently the canines aren't spayed or neutered either.






On my last trip to Guam, Chris prepared a wonderful dish using banana hearts from the banana trees on the property. The delicious dish of banana hearts and pork is a regional dish from Pampanga, PI (I believe). Knowing how much I enjoyed it, he prepared it again…and it was as good as I remembered it.




Here’s a rare sighting of the Maytag repair man. According to legend, it’s rarer than Sasquatch, Big Foot, or the Loch Ness Monster. One little secret, Maytag reliability is poor, but their marketing is incredible. My father in-law used to service Maytag commercial machines and he let me in on this little secret years ago.




Here are a few more misc photos.

Eastern Sierra "Snow" Trip

Manzanar War Relocation Center, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

Several months ago, we planned a snow backpacking trip for February, scheduled to coincide with Faye's break from school. It was going to be a long, arduous, cross-country (backcountry) ski trip in the Sierra, covering dozens of miles. Mother nature, however, had other plans. Unseasonably warm weather and a lack of precipitation didn't provide the requisite snow in and around Yosemite. We decided to do a snowshoe trip in the Eastern Sierra instead, planning to trek through the snow at higher elevations. Unfortunately, a storm system blew through north of us, bringing with it 60 MPH wind gusts at the higher elevations. Switching gears again, we decided to camp and do day hiking trips around the area.

We arrived at the Lone Pine Ranger Station and spoke with Tim, the ranger, who gave us a few ideas for day hikes in the area. We then drove up Highway 395 for a quick visit to the Manzanar internment camp.

"In 1942, the United States government ordered more than 110,000 men, women, and children to leave their homes and detained them in remote, military-style camps. Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps where Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens were interned during World War II."

Learn more about the Manzanar War Relocation Center at the National Park Service website.









We then camped in the Alabama Hills. Many films and television commercials were filmed in the Alabama Hills. I'm sure I will notice the distinctive landscape a lot more, now that I've been there.

"The rounded contours of the Alabamas form a sharp contrast between the glacially chiseled ridges of the Sierra Nevada. This leads the viewer to believe the Alabama's are almost antique in nature. Actually, both geologic features were the result of uplifting that occurred 100 million years ago. The hills have been subject to a type of erosion known as chemical weathering. When the hills were still covered with soil, percolating water rounded the granite blocks and sculpted the outstanding formations you see today."

Find more information about the Alabama Hills at the BLM website.







We also spent some time hiking. On one of the days, we did a quick hike to the Tuttle Creek Ashram.

"The Tuttle Creek Ashram is situated at an altitude of seventy-six hundred feet on a steep ridge between the North and South forks of Tuttle Creek, a stream that flows briskly through a glacially carved canyon in the granitic Sierra Nevada Mountains. Built in the shape of a balanced cross, the ashram is a two-thousand-square-foot structure of natural stone and concrete, with a cement floor, heavy-beam roof, and a large fireplace; the stonework of the ashram blends so well into the ridge that the building is hard to see even from a distance of one-half of a mile away. The history of this remarkable building can be traced back to 1928, when Franklin Merrell-Wolff and his wife Sherifa first visited the area west of Lone Pine, California."

Learn more about the Tuttle Creek Ashram at the Franklin Merrell-Wolff Fellowship website.







On the last day, we stopped by a natural hotsprings, near Bakersfield. This was clearly not the trip we originally envisioned, but I must say it was the best "snow" trip ever! When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. After all, a bad day in the Sierra is still a pretty darn good day.



Here are a few more photos from the trip.

Photo-run on the Pleasanton Ridge

Pleasanton Ridge, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

After an unseasonably warm Thanksgiving, a Canadian winter storm blew in this week, bringing frigid weather to the West. Temperatures dipped to 24 degrees Farenheit overnight, with daytime highs near 45 degrees. Claudia (from Canada) begged to differ with the "frigid" assessment, stating, "Seven degrees Celsius is tropical, eh. You hoser!" I suppose everything is relative, but all I can say is, "it must really suck living in Canada..."

I awoke early this morning, with some concern about the 16 mile run I had planned. It wasn't the cold I was concerned about, but rather my tight lower back. I washed down my usual pre-run breakfast, peanut butter on toast, with coffee, and proceeded back to bed. I gently stretched my back and after a few hours of procrastination, it was time to run. Today, I decided carry my camera. My trail portraits photography project stalled out after two portraits because I quit carrying my camera on my trail runs. I don't particularly enjoy wearing a fanny pack while running, but today I decided I would do a "photo run" and have a nice, relaxing run.

After arriving at the Foothill Staging Area, I exited the car and found the Pleasanton Ridge quite pleasant. That would soon change, however, as a steady, frigid wind blasted me as I ascended the ridge, forcing me to zip up a bit. I traversed the Ridgeline Trail and stopped at the bench near the Valley View Trail junction. A stone found its way into my running shoe and I sat on the bench, trying to get my frozen fingers to undo my shoe laces, so I could extract the irritant. I looked over my shoulder because I could hear Faye speaking to me, "wear your f'ing gaiters!" I explained the overnight rains packed down the dirt, so gaiters wouldn't be necessary, but she wasn't buying it. I managed to finally retie my shoes and proceeded across the ridge, and down the Bay Leaf Trail. Although I didn't carry my mobile phone, Mother Nature called, and I needed to make a pit stop. I veered off the trail and found some trees shielded from the wind. After searching in my running shorts for thirty minutes or so, I finally found what I was looking for. Did I mention it was cold!?

I didn't set any PR's today, but it was a very fun photo-run. My Panasonic LX5 camera fit nicely in my running fanny pack and I liked the easy access. Thanks Bryan for the tip! Here are a few photos from today's run.


After steadily climbing the ridge from the Foothill staging area, I look forward to this gate because it's the point where I descend into Augustine Bernal Park and onto more runnable trails.




The East Bay Regional Park District recently mended a number of barbed wire fences in the park. I've run past these old fence posts and barbed wire a number of times and looked forward to snapping a few photos of it today. I envisioned sepia toning, giving it an "Old West" feel.




I love this view because it means I only have two miles to go...and it's almost all downhill from here.

Autumn Arrives

Fleeing Bush Street, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas trees are sprouting up around town, deciduous trees are showing their fiery colors, and the temperatures are dropping quickly. Autumn is upon us.

Unexpected work activities delayed my trail run today and I didn't arrive at the Pleasanton Ridge until 3:45 PM. It was clear I would be completing my run in the dark tonight. I threw a long sleeve shirt into the car, planning on carrying it in case I needed it on my run. I exited my car at the start of the run and immediately felt like one of the Korean Airlines pilots who crashed their plane at SFO. Ho Lee Fuk…it was cold! It’s time to break out the gloves and running jacket.


Here are a few autumn photos.

Our twenty pound Thanksgiving turkey. We had the boys, Bryan and Grant, over for Thanksgiving, so we decided to go for a big bird. What’s better than leftover turkey and fixin’s?




We did something new this year and added a little diversity to the Thanksgiving table. These beautiful crab found their way onto the menu. Thank you for your sacrifice, you were yummy.




We spent a day in the city (San Francisco). This is at Boccalone in the Ferry Building. They are well known for their pig parts.




This guy really wanted Jesus to save the pagans of SF. As I stalked him for a photo, he realized I was photographing him and he stopped and posed for me. So, I snapped his portrait and gave him a thumbs up….and snapped a few more photos of him as he walked around.




Here are three generations of women in front of the Christmas tree at Union Square.




Mother and daughter in front of the tree




Grant and Kami inside the Ferry Building




Here's my run today, courtesy of Strava.

Solitude on the Rainy Ridge

Pleasanton Ridge, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

Finding time to run the trails during the work week has become a challenge since the daylight savings time change. If I’m to complete my runs before darkness, I need to hit the trails by 4 PM to complete seven miles or 3:30 PM to complete 10 miles. I considered running in the dark with a headlamp, but my 10 mile route takes me through a more remote section of the Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, where mountain lions like to hang out and pursue slow moving prey during the early evening hours. My solution was to change my work hours. I typically run the trails on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I informed my colleagues I would begin my Mondays/Wednesdays at 6 AM, work until 3 PM, and run after work. Alternatively, I could run for two hours during lunch and finish the work day at 5 PM. Lastly, if there were late afternoon meetings, I would run at 6 AM and work a standard 9-5 work day.

I started my new flex work schedule last week, managing to get a seven mile run in on Monday and a ten mile run in on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to continue the momentum into the weekend. I needed to help my brother lay wood flooring in his house during the weekend and I thought it would be best to skip my Saturday long run. In retrospect, that was a brilliant idea because after nine hours of laying floors on Saturday and seven hours on Sunday, my back, legs, arms, neck, and the rest of my body were sore.

I skipped my Monday trail run this week because my back and legs were sore. Although my hamstrings were still tight and sore today, I began the work day at 6 AM, with the intention of running at 3 PM. It rained all day and I considered running on the roads rather than on the trails. However, for me, running the trails is therapeutic; running the streets is just fitness. I run the trails because I “want” to; I run the streets because I “have” to. The trails clear my mind, erase my problems, and eliminate the stresses of work and life. I decided to lace up my trail shoes and take on the wet, muddy trails.

Running the trails on a gloomy, wet, rainy day was incredible. For the first time ever, I completed a run without seeing a single person. It was total peace and solitude, the silence broken only with my shoes hitting the dirt, the water sloshing in my water bottle, and my increased breathing as I ascended the ridge. I didn't have my camera, but photos wouldn't have captured the experience anyway. In the following paragraphs, I hope to guide you through today’s route and use alternate photographs to help illustrate the beautiful wildlife I viewed on my rainy run.

I started at the base of Longview Drive, walked up the steep street, and turned left through the easement to access the park. I continued walking the pavement until I reached the water tower, where the trail (non-paved) surface began. The trail meandered through oak tree shaded areas, reaching the top of the ridge in another two miles. The absence of humans enabled me to enjoy the abundance of wildlife. The wet weather brought out an army of newts. I navigated sections of trail peppered with over a dozen newts, carefully avoiding them with fancy (and not so fancy) footwork. The newts are interesting, little creatures, apparently loving the moisture from the autumn rains. The creature below resembles the many newts I came across today:




After completing the climb up the east side of the ridge, the landscaped opened up and I continued north along the Ridgeline Trail. I passed the pond on the left side of the trail, near the Sinbad Creek Trail junction. There I saw a family of ducks swimming in the pond. I've often heard bullfrogs croaking away in that pond, but rarely ducks. Here are a few similar, duck-like creatures:




I continued along the trail and climbed the little, grassy hill, reaching a bench overlooking the city of Pleasanton. Off to the right, I noticed a rafter of wild turkeys feeding in the grass. Wild turkeys look nothing like the growth hormone fed Butterball birds we’re accustomed to seeing during Thanksgiving. Here’s a cute pair of turkeys.




The bench is the turnaround point for my seven mile route and descending the ridge is typically quicker and easier than the ascent. I usually shorten my stride and increase the cadence, but today I maintained an easy pace, being extra careful in the low light and doing my best to avoid the minefield of newts. In addition to the newts, ducks, and turkeys, the Pleasanton Ridge also supports an abundance of deer. As I descended the ridge, I came across a large number of deer, often surprising them when I rounded bends in the trail. Here’s a photo of me and my favorite deer (dear):




It was a wonderful run on the Pleasanton Ridge today. The weather wasn't beautiful, but it made for a beautiful experience.

Ia 'Oe E Ka La Hula Festival

Ia 'Oe E Ka La Hula Festival, a photo by Wayne-K on Flickr.

I'm not a big hula aficionado, but I do enjoy watching Kami perform at the annual Ia 'Oe E Ka La hula festival in Pleasanton at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. This year's festival was held 1-3 November 2013. Her halau, Moku'aina, performed their auana (contemporary) hula on Saturday and their kahiko (traditional) hula on Sunday.


Here are a few photos from the 2013 Ia 'Oe E Ka La festival.

New Balance 1010v2

Since I first started running in high school, my training has been predominantly on the roads.  The high school cross-country races were on trails, but all of my training (and marathons) occurred on asphalt/concrete.  When I started training in April to pace a runner in the Leadville 100, I transitioned my training to the trails.  Training on the trails was primarily driven by the need for “specificity” – or training on the type of terrain one would be racing (pacing) on.  Leadville has come and gone, but my plans are to continue running on trails, as it’s a hundred times more enjoyable than running on the road.

With the focus on trail running, I decided it was time to get proper trail shoes.  My current running shoe is the New Balance 860v2 (9.5 EE).  I don’t remember exactly, but I believe it’s a cushioned, motion control, road shoe.  I absolutely hated it on the roads because it was too stiff and clunky, but loved the stability on the uneven, rocky trail terrain.  The cushioning also helped on the long runs, especially as I tired (and my form went to hell).  One drawback of running on the trails with a road shoe is the open mesh.  While this provided excellent ventilation on hot days, it also allowed a lot of dirt to permeate the fabric, creating a nice muddy mess (and increased friction).  The 860v2 also has a 12mm heel to toe drop, making it impossible to run with a biometrically efficient forefoot/midfoot strike.  The latest trend is toward “minimalist” running shoes.  Minimalist shoes (or barefoot running) encourage a more efficient running form.  I won’t go into it here, but read “Born to Run” for more information.  My initial venture into minimalist shoes was the Merrell Barefoot shoe.  In short, the zero heel drop and minimal padding were a bit too extreme for me.  The zero heel drop puts a lot of strain on the Achilles tendon and requires a lot of time for the body to adapt to it.  I also desired more forefoot padding/protection.  I decided to try the New Balance 1010v2 shoe instead.  The 1010v2 is a minimalist trail shoe, with a 4mm heel drop, a bit more forefoot padding, and a rock plate for protection from…well, rocks.  This shoe filled the happy middle-ground between the armor-plated protection of the 860v2 and the minimal protection of the Merrell.

I ran a couple of flat, two mile test runs in the New Balance 1010v2 shoe to ensure I wouldn’t have Achilles/lower calf problems with the 4mm heel drop.  The short test runs felt fine, so I tested it on my regular seven mile trail route on Monday to see how they felt going uphill/downhill and on rocky terrain.  I increased the distance today, running my ten mile trail route.  My initial assessment is positive.  The shoes are light and agile, and fit like a glove (not clunky and stiff like the 860v2).  I’m also able to maintain a faster turnover on downhill sections.  The huge heel and 12mm heel drop on the 860v2 caused the heel to strike first, especially on downhills.  The 4mm heel drop on the 1010v2 allows for a forefoot strike and a much faster turnover.  Additionally, the tighter weave in the fabric keeps most of the dirt out of the shoe.  My only concerns right now are:  1) how well they will ventilate on hot days; and 2) how they will feel on long runs.  The weather forecast calls for 100 degree weather on Saturday, so I may test them out on a 20 miler.  This would test both concerns.  We’ll see…I may play it safe and opt for the 860v2.

Here’s a summary of my run today.  The faster turnover is evident in the faster times on the downhill sections.