Companion forum thread to:

Mistaken for Strangers

Great story. Wonderfully written. Even better photographs. If you don't mind I would like to print one of them out to hang in Man Room!

Nice write up on a nice place, and sometimes there's snow into Memorial Day in the Pecos. Can't ask for a better refuel stop than Santa Fe.

Looks like the trip was just in time since like the Gila in the above article, the Pecos followed with Stage II fire restrictions, then total closure in June.

Edited by hknewman on 09/06/2011 18:57:20 MDT.

I thought it was very well done, impressive. Great title, nice video.

Cool stuff Eugene! I really liked the video & tunes.

Well done sir.

Awesome video Eugene

Been waiting for this longer report since seeing the initial video on your blog. I have ties to OKC so I'm always keenly interested in seeing what trips are put together from Texas and Oklahoma.

Great pictures, especially the 4 mugshots!

Now this is more like it BPL!

Eugene,
Awesome job as always. Your pictures each tell so much about the trip and your philosophies on life that it was hard to choose a favorite. I was jealous of the guys that got to experience this with you. If this is what the new BPL is like, I'm going to be really happy.
Ike

Really fantastic job! what a great trip. Nice writing style.

Eugene,

The report, pictures and video were all superb. You did a great job capturing the scenery as well as the mood or feeling of the trip. It made me wish I was there too. Thanks for taking the time to put it together and share.

I love the B&W photos - Superb - especially the Trailstar shots!!

Just brilliant, so well done. Would you mind sharing what video editing software you used?

I want to go to NM
thanks Eugene

Next summer's destination?

Eugene hits the big time, and does it in a grand manner! I wonder how I missed this trip? Surely I didn't have anything that important going on. Oh well, maybe next time.

And I love Tecolate. Actually, I just love eating in Santa Fe.

This is what BPL should be all about.

>>>This is what BPL should be all about.

Indeed. This was an inspiring trip report! Thanks Eugene!

I second Landon's comment!

Eugene, bravo! Beautiful photography. Great video. Thanks for sharing the experience.

By the way, I'm another Oklahoma hiker. I would love to hear about plans if you are interested in sharing a trip in the future.

Thanks,
Phil

Thanks Eugene! I got to see some of those places last July when the weather was considerably milder on Pecos Baldy. Sounds like you had great company for it! Would love to join you, someday. Cheering video also.

Looked like a great hike and what a great presentation. Excellent music choices. Thanks for sharing Eugene.

Wonderful report. Delightful pictures. Thanks much for sharing!

Possibly the best trip report I have read on BPL. Maybe it's because the Pecos is possibly my favorite place on Earth. Was interesting to pick out trails and peaks and passes from your video that brought flashbacks from trips of my own there in years past. Your photo composition is really awesome, it's inspiring me to do a better job documenting my own hikes and to use my camera's video feature a little more. Really liked the writeup too! Thanks for sharing Eugene!

That really, really makes me regret having to cancel my trip to Northern NM (Wheeler Peak Wilderness) in 2 weeks. But my hiking buddy seems to think that going blind in one eye is a valid excuse for cancelling the trip. What a baby. I'd almost pay Eugene to follow me and document a trip.

You just confirmed that you post the best trip reports ever. Incredible pictures, remarkable writing and always a good story with great protagonists. Thanks so much for the inspiration.

Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

Thanks for taking the time to put this together and share it.

What kind of camera are you shooting? I want to take photos like those.

I have to say I felt a little de ja vu when I started reading it, and kept looking at the date it was posted.... I thought I'd read about the trip before,but didn't remember some of the pics, then I just read Steven's post alluding to your blog and it all clicked, I wasn't losing my mind... I HAD read some of it before :)

Your writing style and photography skills are exemplary, they allow me to share in on the experience vicariously, but so much more.
Absolutely wonderful!
Thank you

Tecalote was one of the first restaurants I ate at over 20 yrs ago, and I still go there for breakfast when I'm in SF.

I've been wanting to read your trip report since you said you were just south of my buddy and I that same weekend. I remember the snow, the winds....and the enchantment of New Mexico Sangres....

Awesome stuff..

Really, this is one of the best I've experienced. Well written, übersuperb photographs and video. Thank you.

edit:
Plus a great heading as I'm currently listening to the National. (Intention or coincidence...)

Edited by sandstrom.dj on 09/08/2011 03:32:17 MDT.

He ain't a stranger, he's my ultra light brother that I just haven't met yet. ;-)

The video is very unsettling for me. Let me explain. As I watch the video I am at peace and aching to get out on the trail at the same time. Almost 11 minutes of video passes by and disappears like lightening. I want more!

Eugeneius, does video very well! A wonderful trip report!

Thank you Eugene for sharing.

Party On,

Newton

Wow, thanks everyone for the encouraging words! Putting this together was a labor of love, I'm pumped that many of you found it to be enjoyable and uplifting. BPL is such a killer community, there are really some gems here.

The more we can spur each other on and inspire one another to go outdoors and share it with our friends and family the better- no matter the capacity, however big or small the adventure, it doesn't matter, as long as we're outside.

New Mexico is a beautiful and enchanting place, hopefully more people will put it on their trip location radar in the future.


To answer a few questions:

What camera did I use? Nikon D7000, Nikon 35mm f/1.8, Nikon 10-24mm f/3.5

Video editing: iMac, iMovie

New Mexico is truly the land of enchantment.
Eugene, you have a wonderful way with words and an awesome gift with photos. Please keep up the great work and thank you for sharing.
Jeff

>>New Mexico is a beautiful and enchanting place, hopefully more people will put it on >>their trip location radar in the future.


Ditto. I've been rediscovering the beauty of NM. My fiance' and I went to the Latir Peak Wilderness this past weekend and loved it. One of the ranked summits had a register from 1967!

No too far of a drive for many of us in CO, yet many people seem to bypass NM in favor of other places.

Their loss. :)

Count me in for next time Eugene! I'm from Taos so its only a short drive away.

Awesome! I was up at Pecos Baldy Lake about ten days after you all - my 55th birthday. Truly a beautiful spot. The video gets it right, although I prefer a Lotaburger after the Pecos. Steve

I don't know what's in store for next year, maybe a round 2? I get out as life affords, but I do know that I want to connect with more BPL members in a fashion similar to this, people getting together to hike, sweat, eat, bag peaks, laugh, etc. For this trip I posted a few months out in the Hiking Partners/Group Trip Announcement forum, hopefully others will do the same if they're heading out so they can share wilderness with someone else, teach someone, learn from someone, and be stoked on the same things.

wow! well done - great writing, pics and video

Your stuff just keeps getting better! Thanks for sharing.
Tom

Best piece I've read on this site in a while! Thank you Eugene.

This is just the sort of inspiration I need right now to kickstart my soon-to-be fall/winter local hiking season.

Awesome.

Wow, Eugene. This is the trip report I've been waiting for since I saw the preview on your blog, and it exceeded my expectations. You really are developing an inspired photographic style all your own. Nicely done!

Beautiful work, Eugene. Great storytelling through multiple mediums.

Simply OUTSTANDING Eugene! Many thanks for sharing.

Many already have expressed. I was on the site last Tuesday and quickly found out it'd take a while to read this. Well, I gotta say how much I enjoyed this masterpiece of narrative, visual media, and don't forget the aural awesomeness as well. Makes me wanna get there some day. And with others. That's what I enjoy about the wilderness most, the company of others. It is just too good to experience alone. Eugene, absolutely brilliant. Well done my good and faithful hiker!

This is surely the BPL that we all want and dream of.

My dad and I went backpacking in the Pecos for several summers when I was growing up. Thanks for the chance to revisit.

I recently scanned some photos from our 1975 trip. We weighed and counted everything, but the packs were still pretty heavy. At least one person was light and fast -- I remember a solo hiker blowing past us wearing Converse hi-tops. Trailrider's Wall was windy then, too.

Photos on flickr: Pecos Wilderness 1975

Edited by wunder on 09/21/2011 23:54:41 MDT.

Walter,

Thanks for sharing that excellent photograph, I love the nostalgia of it, it's a classic image, coffee can and flanel to boot.

Awesome photos. That Gerry tent looks like a tarptent!

@Walter: Great pics from 75. I was only a kid spending a summer in nearby Santa Fe in 75 or 76.

One note on your Flikr is that the Rio Valdez does go down to Mora Flats.

Finally got to read your account of the Pecos. I'm dying to get out there.

Ryan,

Yes sir, we need to put something together this summer for sure, perhaps the Skyline Trail?

Eugene,
I somehow missed this on the first go-around. Simply a fantastic report and stunning photos. I'm putting together a trip report myself right now, and I must say that your photographic capabilities have taught me that I am not nearly as good of a photographer as you, and that a better camera is in store for me.

Wonderful job!

Edited by T.L. on 01/20/2012 23:55:19 MST.

Thank you very much for the kind words Travis. I'm looking forward to what you put together.

I missed this article when it was first posted too. This is by far the best trip report I've ever seen, and you did a fantastic job with the video and the D7000; DSLRs are not the easiest tool to get smooth, properly focused video out of. I'm eager to see the next generation of these videos with something like the Sony NEX-7 or the Canon G 1X where this incredible level of quality can fit into an ultralight baseweight.

Great job.

All: if anyone wants to hit the skyline trail over Memorial Day, I have a good buffer of days off on either side of the holiday.

Not sure how I missed this trip report until just now. Great work, and even better photography.

A couple questions, if you don't mind: what lens did you use for your photos? As far as I can tell it's an ultrawide zoom of some sort (maybe a 16-35mm f/2.8?). Regarding the dynamic range pop of the landscapes - is that the result of a polarizer/graduated ND filter or maybe a color filter done in post (perhaps a combination of all 3)?

Also, did you bring a tripod for the long exposures? I ask because I opt to use natural features on the trail as support in place of a tripod. It's hardly ideal, but better than lugging my tripod around in the backcountry (despite my current tripod being of carbon fiber and magnesium construction, it still weighs 4lbs w/ head and never seems to make it past the trailhead). Living as both a photographer and an ultralight backpacker, I've gotten used to the two identities being constantly at odds, but I love hearing about how others manage to make it work for them.

Thanks Joseph.

Yes, the landscapes were shot with a Nikon 10-24mm 3.5-4.5, and the rest of the photographs were shot with a 35 f1.8. I had a UV filter mounted on both lenses.

Most of the photographs were shot hand held, a few, particularly the photo of Pecos Falls was taken while mounted on a Gorilla pod SLR tripod balanced on a rock in the river.

This combination of lenses covered the really wide end well and low light situations and portraits with the 35.

I'm feeling a slight bit of the "winter" blues this evening, and badly desire to get out for a few days of backpacking in the mountains. Don't see that happening soon. Nothing like nostalgia and revisiting some old memories of a past trip to lift the spirit.

How lame is it to reread your own buried article and bump it? LAAAAAAME.

I can't wait to get out and hike with these guys again in 2013.

Round 3 fellas?