.jpg)
View at 7000 ft elevation. -2.jpg)
There is nothing like having lunch looking at the polluted L.A. County side of the Mountains.-3.jpg)
Looks good to eat...but I left that for the birds.-4.jpg)
Ms. Peggy thinks the mountains belong to her!-6.jpg)
North side of the Mountains looking down at Silverwood Lake.-8.jpg)
It's time to head back home.-7.jpg)
Ms. Peggy is having indigestion!
Now, the photo arrangements herein were done in-camera, with the K-7.
Click on the images for larges size.
The function is called "Index" and it lets you make JPEG photo montages right in-camera.
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Hi Pentaxian friends.
It was over 100 degrees F today where I live (at the foot of the Mojave Desert). Since the air is cooler at high altitude, I got in my Jeep “Ms. Peggy" and headed toward the San Bernardino Mountains. This is one of my favorite getaway places. I brought the Pentax K-7, some water, food, tools and my camera bag with lenses. We stopped at the gas station and filled-up just in case we would lose track of time and drive more than anticipated.
Once at an elevation of around 7,000 feet, I stopped to take some pictures. The first problem…I left my camera bag at home. I guess I was more concerned about food and water. All I had was the 18-55mm lens kit. I also forgot my tripod. Oh well, I took some pictures anyway, I still had a range of 18 to 55mm. I kept on going higher and the temperature dropped to around 80 degrees F. Quite comfortable compared to home. I walked around and took some more pictures. I had lunch on a big boulder looking over the polluted Los Angeles side of the Mountains.
After climbing even higher for a while, I decided it was time to go down using a dirt road I had never been on before. It turned out to be narrower and narrower as I was driving down, then the dirt changed to rocks and holes. There was no turning back. Oh well, that is why I have a Jeep. After a while, the rocks were again replaced by a fairly nice dirt road but then…Ms. Peggy stopped running. There I was in the middle of nowhere with a stalled engine. I have a GPS, actually, I have two, so I knew where I was but walking to the nearest town was going to be a five mile walk at the very least.
I tried to restart the jeep for one half hour to no avail. I was beginning to worry that I would eventually drain the battery. I was sure it was a fuel supply problem, but after checking every part under the hood, I found my problem. This Jeep runs on a carburetor and has an old school distributor, rotor, and all the works. From all the vibrations caused by the rocky road, the bolts holding the distributor in place got loose and the timing got way out of position. I turned it by hand until the jeep started again, tightened the holding bolts and drove back home. I guess I will have Miss. Peggy go to the doctor this week for an overall tune-up.
I got a little worry, but she brought me home. When you get stuck up there, there are no towing services. You need to rig something yourself or call a friend if your cell phone has any reception at all. You can’t leave your vehicle in the wilderness as when you come back to get it, it might be gone or it might just be the frame of a Jeep sitting there.
Oh well, no reason to worry about it anymore, I’m home. One thing is sure when you venture in the backwoods with a 4 x 4, eventually you will get stuck or break down. I got lucky this time around…
Thank you for reading,
Yvon Bourque
It was over 100 degrees F today where I live (at the foot of the Mojave Desert). Since the air is cooler at high altitude, I got in my Jeep “Ms. Peggy" and headed toward the San Bernardino Mountains. This is one of my favorite getaway places. I brought the Pentax K-7, some water, food, tools and my camera bag with lenses. We stopped at the gas station and filled-up just in case we would lose track of time and drive more than anticipated.
Once at an elevation of around 7,000 feet, I stopped to take some pictures. The first problem…I left my camera bag at home. I guess I was more concerned about food and water. All I had was the 18-55mm lens kit. I also forgot my tripod. Oh well, I took some pictures anyway, I still had a range of 18 to 55mm. I kept on going higher and the temperature dropped to around 80 degrees F. Quite comfortable compared to home. I walked around and took some more pictures. I had lunch on a big boulder looking over the polluted Los Angeles side of the Mountains.
After climbing even higher for a while, I decided it was time to go down using a dirt road I had never been on before. It turned out to be narrower and narrower as I was driving down, then the dirt changed to rocks and holes. There was no turning back. Oh well, that is why I have a Jeep. After a while, the rocks were again replaced by a fairly nice dirt road but then…Ms. Peggy stopped running. There I was in the middle of nowhere with a stalled engine. I have a GPS, actually, I have two, so I knew where I was but walking to the nearest town was going to be a five mile walk at the very least.
I tried to restart the jeep for one half hour to no avail. I was beginning to worry that I would eventually drain the battery. I was sure it was a fuel supply problem, but after checking every part under the hood, I found my problem. This Jeep runs on a carburetor and has an old school distributor, rotor, and all the works. From all the vibrations caused by the rocky road, the bolts holding the distributor in place got loose and the timing got way out of position. I turned it by hand until the jeep started again, tightened the holding bolts and drove back home. I guess I will have Miss. Peggy go to the doctor this week for an overall tune-up.
I got a little worry, but she brought me home. When you get stuck up there, there are no towing services. You need to rig something yourself or call a friend if your cell phone has any reception at all. You can’t leave your vehicle in the wilderness as when you come back to get it, it might be gone or it might just be the frame of a Jeep sitting there.
Oh well, no reason to worry about it anymore, I’m home. One thing is sure when you venture in the backwoods with a 4 x 4, eventually you will get stuck or break down. I got lucky this time around…
Thank you for reading,
Yvon Bourque
6 comments:
I'm glad you made it home safe and sound, Yvon :-)
You sure did better than I did this weekend. Drove to Liège, Belgium on Sunday and the K-7 wouldn't switch on. A quick investigation soon revealed the problem: I had left my only battery in the charger back in Cologne, Germany.
At least I had the DS with me so I was able to do some infrared shotting which is always fun.
I do hope the K-7 clone batteries I ordered via ebay from a place in Hongkong will arrive soon.
Ralf
fotoralf,
That would be frustrating. Don't feel bad because I've done it too. With the K-7, if you get the grip, you can use another LI-190 or AA batteries. I have the grip and use AA batteries in it. It can be handy even if your LI-190 battery gets discharged, you can always get AA batteries.
Hey Yvon,
Glad you were able to get it running, guess that is the advantage of older vehicles. You must have the classic Straight 6. Wish I had one of those. I can understand the not wanting to hike out. Last time my truck died (petcock valve in the radiator blew out) I had to hike 3 miles and 2000ft up to the camp.... at 12:30 am.... with no moon and just a dinky AA Maglight at least I had my GPS and waypoints for the camp.
Glad the K-7 worked for you!
Lloys,
Yes, it's a 4.2 liter in-line six. It was rebuilt with oversize pistons, etc. The problem is that it runs with the old BBD carburetor and they are troublesome, especially at high altitude. However, they were built tougher in 1988 than they are today. With the 6" coil springs lift, it brings me to just about to anywhere I want to go. Pet cock could have been fixed on site with JB Weld. I always carry gallons of water with me,u-joints, distributor caps and tools. The one thing that is shure when you use a jeep the way it was intended to be used, you will break or get stuck eventually.
Also: Always carry a multitool like L**th****n !
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