Balsam Forebay Shaver Lake CA

Dale Matson

A few years ago Sharon and I were skiing out of the Coyote Snow Park on the Eagle Trail to the Shaver Lake overlook. Much to our surprise, we not only arrived at a view of Shaver Lake, we saw a small lake above Shaver.

Shaver Lake

Shaver Forebay

It is not on my Garmin Topo map set. We determined later that it was the Shaver Lake Forebay and it is accessible off highway 168. Although it is mentioned on Wikipedia, there is little information about it there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsam_Forebay.

Art Sallee recalls the story of a couple of folks that were lost one night and headed down toward the light from a bathroom near the lake from the overlook. They were post holing through deep snow when the Fresno County Search and Rescue (SAR) team found them. Lights can be further away than you might think they are.

Trail To Forebay

Forebay

The trailhead begins at the Balsam Meadow Snow Park and it is roughly a mile to the forebay from there. Our loop hike was about 2.5 miles.

Partial route downloaded from Suunto Ambit

The purpose of the forebay is to store Shaver Lake water pumped into it during the night when there is a reduction in demand for electricity for release back into Shaver Lake via a tunnel during the day to make additional electricity. It is reported to be 95% efficient. Southern California Edison is responsible for a great deal of recreational opportunities because of the construction of several lakes for generating electricity and the access roads to them.

Osprey Nest

Osprey And Nest At Forebay From April 2008

Additionally, it is a nice, little known lake for picnicking, swimming, fishing or bird watching. I don't have a current photograph of an Osprey but one has nested there for years on various spar trees above the dam. We did see an Osprey take a fish out of the forebay and fly away with it.

We recently took a mother’s day hike with the kids and grandkids to, around and back from the forebay. The earlier in the day you go, the higher the water and the more difficult it will be to walk around the lake. The elevation is about 6,500’. It is also a good first ski of the winter season with a relatively flat trail.   

Forebay 12-06-16

Mother’s Day

Dale Matson

1-2-3 and lift. That is the story of our relationship. It is cooperation, negotiation and accomplishment. It is love in the morning with a kiss at the end our daily walk with the dogs. It is a prayer holding hands at a meal. Swimming in the Copper River pool together.

It is your laughter with the dogs at play in the snow. It is the dependable meet ups on the trail and the quiet back scratches at bedtime. You are crewing for everyone in the journey of life; helping them carry their load.

This day was made for you. You are receiving the dividends of a life invested in raising your sons. It is love extended and love returned. It is a family expanded because love has no bounds.

It is a day where grandmother is an honored title too. You have made the time and been intentional about participating in the lives of your grandchildren. You are surrounded in your house by photographs of them smiling at you like fragrant flowers from vases.

Everyone is included. No one can be left out. It would not be the family thing to do. It is who you are. Hospitality is holy to you.

So much of the growing pains of parenting are gone, replaced by the physical pains of aging. That does not stop you from filling those two green waste cans regularly.

With each grandchild comes a new and deeper patina on your personality. The time in the pool and the time in the stroller is good time. Coordinating schedules to get events on the Susie Zoo calendar. All of this is to provide a time with family at a meal.

And there are the tennis stories too, of matches won and lost, played on tired legs and sore knees that extended into a meal with the gals.

There are the birthday meals with friends of many years that bring you up to date with the lives of so many women you care about. Now there are the lunches with sons too, having them all to yourself, not having to share them with others.

You have daughters now. They are the wives of your sons and you help free up their time, give them a respite from the children and offer help in their yards.

As for me, we do spend lots of time together. Our Costco runs with a yogurt chaser are a weekly delight. The daily rituals are well worn and firmly entrenched.Sometimes we break the routine and stop for a yogurt at an actual yogurt shop. Where does the time go so fast? There are the overnights where we sleep on the ground and get chased into our tent by storms. Watch those aluminum trekking poles around me dear!

Yes Mother’s Day is a day made special order for you. God would not want it any other way.

Love,

Dale

My Backpacking Cameras

Dale Matson

Click On Photographs To Enlarge

The Sphinx Kings Canyon National Park

Taken with Sony DSC- HXV50

If only there was a perfect camera and lens for backpacking. If only we had a mule to carry our gear. Because I carry my own gear and travel alone, I have carried various cameras over the years. Early, I favored an Olympus water and shock resistant camera. I learned this after dropping a camera in the water. Unfortunately the water and shock resistant cameras do no take the quality photographs I need. 

As years passed, I realized that photographs with even “good” point and shoot cameras diminished the beauty of an area considerably.My most important criteria are that the camera be compact, portable, light, have a good sensor and a good lens for the tasks at hand. Weight and portability are huge considerations. There is no “One” camera that satisfies all of my needs. Backup is essential and I always carry two cameras. That being said, I still want minimal weight and access.

Both of my cameras are carried on my utility belt for quick access. There is a tendency to leave a camera carried in your backpack IN your backpack rather than taking the pack off every time you want to take a photograph. Additionally some shots, especially wildlife doesn’t wait for very long. Neither of my cameras is waterproof, so I keep a zip lock freezer bag in the camera pouch in case of rain.

Generally, there are two kinds of photographs one will encounter backpacking in the mountains. Mountain landscapes require a wide-angle lens that will work in low light. Wildlife requires a steady shot zoom lens and the longer the zoom, the better. I do not carry a tripod because of the additional weight.

Sony DSC-HX50V

So what kind of cameras do I use to fit these needs. My zoom lens camera is a Sony HX50V. The 30X magnification is better than having to carry around a 600mm lens.  The sensor is adequate. It can take shots of animals that I cannot see without aided vision. The screen is not good in bright light but for distance and ease of use, it is great. The camera, battery and soft carry case weigh in at 11 ounces. Additionally this camera offers gps readings and location tags on the photographs.

Sony A7

Pinnacles National Park

(photograph taken with Sony A7)

My landscape camera is a Sony A7 with a 35mm f2.8 lens. This small Zeiss lens allows me to keep the camera on my belt with a total weight of 1 pound 10 ounces for camera, battery and case. (I do carry spare batteries for both cameras) In my experience, this is one of the finest full frame cameras this small available now. So often in the past, there has simply been too big a view in the mountains. This is especially true from the mountain passes.

I’m sure there are others who are less concerned about photographs and simply take their cell phones for photographs. In groups of backpackers one could make arrangements for some to carry one kind of camera and others to carry a different camera. As someone who is generally alone, this is my compromise for weight and quality. the combined weight of both cameras is less weight than the average 400mm lens. Both cameras take nice quality movies and panorama shots too. I suppose if I had the eye of a genuine photographer, the pictures would even be better! 

Taken 01-28-15 With A7R

Men: The Most Endangered Species In America

 

Dale Matson

It is quite customary for university professors to have their credentials on their office walls. This may include degrees conferred, awards and honors, photographs with dignitaries and plaques indicating membership in professional organizations. The walls and office “library” are a kind of physical resume’ that serves to inform and impress students and other office visitors.

I had my framed Bachelor; Master and Doctorate degrees at home in a box in the attack. I also had my psychologists’ license and other assorted ego dressing in that same box. As the director of the School Psychology and School Counseling programs, I had three items on my office walls.

I had a poster from the “American Odyssey” my first marathon completed in 1991 at age 48. The main icon on the poster was a milk can, which symbolized the central Wisconsin farm country through which the 26.2-mile course ran. For me the poster symbolized a personal victory over obesity, smoking and alcohol. It symbolized goal setting, self-transcendence and closure. For student prospects, most who were at a crossroads in their career and personal life, it was a reminder that they too could, as Nike would say, “Just Do It!”

I also had my framed journeyman plumbers’ license on the wall. I had spent seventeen years in construction as a heavy equipment operator, plumber and certified soil tester. In academe, there is a tendency for professors to be condescending when talking about people in the trades who are mostly men, who may be blue collared but are seen more as red necked and ignorant by the university intelligentsia. I was proud of my training, work history and the people I spent so many years of my life with. When they were in a trench their very lives depended on my skills as a backhoe operator. There was a sense of mutual trust and teamwork. The work was difficult, often cold and sometimes downright dangerous. I knew what it was like to work by the sweat of my brow. University business was nothing like the construction business. Hitting a four-inch high-pressure gas main was a big deal in construction. Leaving someone’s name off a memo was the university equivalent.

John Wayne

My final item was a framed photograph of Marion Morrison (AKA John Wayne 1907-1979). He is sometimes referred to as, “The mans’ man”. The Duke is not the favorite of modern feminists but if one looks at some of his leading ladies, the feminists can't complain. His women were intelligent, strong willed and courageous including Maureen O'Hara, Lauren Bacall and Katherine Hepburn. Even the much younger Kim Darby was a tower of strength in “True Grit”.

The characters he played were principled, tough, courageous, and led other men to do the right thing. There was an independence about him. “Make sure you are right and then go ahead.” Another of his sayings was, “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” He fought for justice and was a patriot in real life. He treated women with respect and not as objects. The man who most closely carries on this tradition is Robert Duvall. Duvall was terrific in “Lonesome Dove”, “Broken Trail" and "Open Range”.

John Wayne's portrait was on my office wall because, in the University Environment, he was an affront to all that was politically correct. He was not acceptable to many of the feminists both male and female. They are the ones who insist on calling it Orange County Airport. The proper name is John Wayne Airport.           

Glaucoma: Watch Out For A False Negative Diagnosis

Dale Matson

About a year and a half ago I began to notice vision problems in my right eye. It was as if I was looking through a dirty screen door at the world outside. There were also very subtle minor periodic changes in my balance. I later learned this was due to the loss of peripheral vision in my right eye.

I went to my Optometrist who conducted the usual tests for visiual field, acuity and took pictures of my optic nerve. His conclusion was that I was suffering from “dry eyes”. He asked me if I was taking an antihistamine and I said, “Yes”. “This will dry out your eyes”, he said. I took eye drops for a few months and the symptoms did not improve. I went back and after reexamination, he told me I had a torn vitreous but I would get used to it. A torn vitreous is common for older people. After a few more months my vision seemed to be getting worse so I thought it was time for a second opinion. My grandfather had also suffered from glaucoma.

 I was given a name of an ophthalmologist from a friend. It turned out that this person specialized in macular degeneration. She referred me to a glaucoma specialist after our appointment. After examining my eyes, he told me my right eye had a pressure of 30, double the 15 in my left eye. He recommended Laser Trabeculoplasty to allow the fluid to drain better out of the front of the eyes. I had the procedure done two days later and have been using eye drops once a day in each eye at night.

The higher pressure resulted in damage to the optic nerve that cannot be reversed. It has been difficult to accept this vision loss and I believe I am still grieving from it. Driving would not be possible if I only had the sight of my right eye. I have some suggestions for those of you who are reading this.

1.     If you have a family history of glaucoma, be aware that you are more at risk than those with no family history of glaucoma.

2.     If you begin experiencing vision problems in one eye, find an ophthalmologist as soon as possible. Get a second opinion if you are currently seeing an eye doctor who attributes your vision problems to dryness or aging.

3.     Reading glasses still help ‘near vision’ acuity even with glaucoma.

4.     Colored lenses can help with contrast for glaucoma and reduce the increased sunlight glare because of glaucoma.

5.     Even distance vision can be helped somewhat with corrected lenses. I had perfect vision for distance previously.

6.     If you are a swimmer, do not use individual eye goggles, which increase eye pressure. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1772427/.

7.     Wear eye protection when working to avoid further damage to either eye.

8.     Weight lifting increases intraocular pressure. http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/news/20060911/weightlifting-may-boost-glaucoma-risk.

You know your own body and you are responsible for it. If there is a problem don’t stop until you get an answer.