Shadow Of The Giants Trail Run 2016

50K and 20K Run

Dale Matson

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20K route

20K Course Profile 

Big Baz Hawley the race director claims this is his final race as RD. We will see. His friend Nate will be taking over next year as RD for Shadow. The race holds many fine memories for me but as a middle of the pack runner, my best finish was only about 6 hours the year I finished Western States in 2001. The elite runners usually finish in about 3:30 with the course record at about 3:25.

Shadow of the Giants has changed over the years. It initially began in 1990 as a 50K run that included a one mile loop in the Nelder Grove of Giant Sequoia Trees. I will never forget the 1993 run when Baz had to stop the race because of a blizzard! The first 20 or so runners were allowed to finish but the rest of us were diverted off the course.

For the last few years the event has also included a 20K fun run. The first five miles of this course is essentially uphill to about 6,250’. My Suunto Ambit indicated that available O2 is reduced to 80 percent at that altitude. Then, it’s down to the Big Sandy Creek crossing, uphill for a time after that and downhill the remainder of the way. This is a “negative split” course. The 50K folks started first. I started running and as I approached Sharon, she suggested I go back and start with the 20K folks. Oops I don’t do the 50K anymore.

I once did a jungle run in Australia called the 6 Foot Track Marathon and if you can imagine this, it was Baz who handed me my race number. To make things even stranger, we met up on an icy Highway 41 just below Fish Camp one week later as we waited for Cal Trans to sand the road. Magic!

Sarah Ferguson was the first woman in the 50K and is a local from the Coarsegold CA area. Elizabeth Ochoa was second and Katie Burns was third. Dean Dobberteen was the first male 50K finisher with Thomas Warner 2nd and Rick Herr 3rd. Sarah and I had a nice chat and she hopes to finish a 100K run and qualify for the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. I think she is a rising star in ultrarunning. Oswaldo Lopez who essentially owns the course was missing this year.

My wife and perpetual crew (acronym for Crabby Runner Endless Waiting) and I drove up with our friends Mike and Marie Gilbert who also finished the 20K. Our friend and multiple Hawaii Ironman finisher Faron Reed mountain biked the course backwards for the fun of it. Sharon took the photographs.

This “run” was even slower for me than 2014. Four of the 50K runners went past me on the way to the finish line. I feel blessed however at age 71 that I can still participate. As we used to say, “The beatings will continue until the morale improves” The conditions were perfect for the run with cool temperatures and overcast skies.

It’s a wonderful event with showers and food available at the finish. I saw other Fresno folks there but the large group of competitors came from all over to run the course. This is a great run as a tune up for those who will run Western States at the end of this month.

I will miss Baz. They broke the mold after he was created. Who knows Baz, maybe we’ll run into each other again. Thanks for putting on such a wonderful (and Magic) race for 26 years.    

 Registration

 Cookie And Coffee: Breakfast Of Champions

 Acquiring GPS

 Baz And New Race Director Nate Moore

 50K Start

 Dean In Red Hat Was Male 50K Winner 3:48

 20K Start

Baz has the results and a story here:

http://www.bigbaztrailraces.com/16/50K-ShadowG-Jun11.htm

The Sony A7R2 And Tamron 150-600mm F5-6.3

Dale Matson

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Sony A7R2 With Tamron 150-600 lens

I am primarily a mountain landscape photographer. This generally does not require a super telephoto lens but I also have been attempting to photograph the endangered Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep for a few years and have gone from the Sony G 70-200mm lens to the Canon 100-400mm lens and to the Sony G SAL 70-400mm lens. I have even carried the Canon lens over Baxter Pass (elevation 12,300’) on the chance that I might see the sheep.

This spring I had an opportunity to go on a field trip co-sponsored by the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Foundation and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The leaders were able to put us directly below the sheep but they were high above us and could only be seen with binoculars or spotting scopes. Needless to say, even a cropped photograph with my Sony lens was too small and unsatisfactory. After two more attempts it became obvious to me that I needed a lens with more reach.

I went with the Canon-Tamron lens adapted to my Sony A7R2 with the Viltrox EF-NEXII adapter. I have taken this lens on day hikes but weighing 5.5 lbs. inside a protective case this lens will never be a part of my backpacking experiences. It weighs more than my tent and sleeping bag combined!

I want to discuss my experiences with the lens on the Sony Camera. The adapter does allow for autofocus and it can be crisp or it can be slow to focus. I set the focus menu to “Phase Detection”. Sometimes, for no reason it will not autofocus and the focus peaking will come on as if the lens was in manual focus mode. I have learned to shut the camera off and turn it on again and this will usually reacquire the autofocus.

I have used it hand held, on a monopod and on a tripod. If you plan on using a tripod, buy one that is sturdy because I found it difficult to lock the camera/lens on what I wanted to photograph. It wanted to drop down some after I had tightened it.

Most of my shots have been hand held or resting on something. The more a shot is magnified, the harder it is to get a sharp shot. For example most 150mm shots tend to be sharp when viewed “actual size”. Such is not the case at 600mm even with a tripod. The auto focus also works better at lower magnification. Some of the problems I blame on bad air. When I am photographing a mountain that is 20 miles away, I am shooting through lots of polluted air. This time of year, there are only occasional afternoon showers in the mountains.

Another quirk is when the lens is mounted on the camera; the camera recognizes it as a cropped lens and shoots photographs that are half the 42 MP file size. I had to turn off the auto crop feature in the menu. Of course if you want more reach than 600mm, you can always crop the photograph in Photoshop. I also set the camera to “auto” mode. Most of the shots are 1/500 second, which is a little slow for 600mm.

I like the lens because of the reach and occasionally get sharp photographs even at 600mm hand held. One individual on a photography blog said that the bokeh was terrible. I am hardly concerned about that when the photograph was perhaps the closest ever taken of a Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep in the wild.

For someone who is a Zeiss fan boy, I must say however that colors don’t exactly “pop” with the Tamron lens. The adapted Canon and Sony Sal lenses had as many problems and the Canon was even worse in terms of sharpness. I think the retail price of about $1,000.00 made this lens my best choice until a native e-mount long-range telephoto lens becomes available. I won’t hold my breath however.

If you are familiar with this lens/camera combination and have tips, I’d be glad to hear from you. If you are considering this combination, I hope this was useful.

 Osprey 500mm

 150mm

 150mm

 329mm

 600mm

 600mm

 600mm

 600mm Sierra Nevada Bighorn Ram

 300mm Banner Peak

 150mm Edison Lake 

 600mm Osprey With Stick For Nest Repair

 165mm

 600mm Sierra Nevada Bighorn Ewe

 483mm

 150mm Sierra Nevada From College Rock (Elevation 9,100')

 500mm

283mm

Balsam Forebay Ospreys

Dale Matson

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First Three Photographs Taken With Sony RX1R 35mm f2

Every spring, I make a point of heading to the Balsam Forebay along highway 168 above Shaver Lake (first “snow park” on left) because there is at least one pair of nesting Ospreys. These large beautiful birds are also referred to as Fish Hawks and use the Forebay as their primary fishing grounds because it can be shallow as the water is drawn down to Shaver Lake to make electricity. I’ve written two previous articles on the Forebay. Summer http://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2014/05/balsam-forebay-shaver-lake-ca.html

And this Winter http://midsierramusing.blogspot.com/2016/01/balsam-forebay-snow-park.html

            The above articles provide additional particulars on the Forebay, which is also used by picnickers and fishermen. It is an easy walk on a trail of less than a mile through the woods from the parking area near Highway 168. This time I used my Sony A7R2 with an adapted Tamron 150-600mm lens, my Sony RX1R 35mm f2 and my new Zeiss Batis 18mm 2.8 lens.

            It was a warm day but cool in the shade at over 6,000’. As I approached the Forebay I saw a shadow move past me. I was happy to see it was an Osprey on its way to the nest, which helped me confirm where the nest was located. I found a cool spot in the shade where I could observe the nest and patiently waited for the nest visitations. I am uncertain if there were any young in the nest. When the adult Ospreys landed inside the large nest, they were no longer visible. It is only when they were on the edge of the nest that I could see and photograph them.   

            Overhead, the Ospreys are a beautiful bird to see. I also got a photograph of a Turkey Vulture. For most of the two hours I spent there, I only saw one Osprey but near the end, there were two pair (4) flying together. That is the most I have ever seen there.

            The shots were not easy and handheld. All Bird Photographs were with Tamron Lens.

 Zeiss Batis 18mm 

 Osprey Nest

 Osprey Has Stick For Nest Repair

 Zeiss Batis 18mm

 Forebay Dam Zeiss Batis 18m

 Telephoto Of Area Below Dam

 Nearby Mountains

  

Buzzard