Something New From Price Canyon in the Chiricahua Mountains

The GoPro Hero is a small light weight sports camera that records in HD and is ideal for aerial videography, but also works well for ground based photography.  The wide angle lens allows the capture of "the big picture" and was used to record the hike up Price Canyon.  Instead of video, the camera was set to time lapse, taking wide angle photographs every 2 seconds along the route, collecting about 1400 images along the trail.  The camera sat at chest level and was held in place with an elastic harness which allowed free movement and did not interfere with hiking.   There is no view finder so it is easier to operate than an Instamatic camera and the settings chosen before starting so it simply a matter of turning it on and letting it run.  The 1400 images translated into about 4.5 minutes of video.  Traditional Irish music was chosen to accompany the time lapse video for 2 reasons.  One, in honor of the upcoming Irish music camp in Portal, it seemed appropriate to use Irish music and secondly the music fits quite well with the time lapse photography.

The results are presented below and contrary to popular opinion it does not make people or body parts look big.  In fact, a wide angle lens tends to push subjects away from viewer making things look smaller.

Hummingbird Spring in the Chiricahua Mountains with the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club

The hike this week with the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club to Hummingbird Spring on the east face of the Chiricahua Mountains just outside Portal, Arizona was spectacular. It was lead by Peg Abbot owner and lead guide of Naturalist Journeys who was kind enough to start the trip with coffee cake and lots of hot coffee for everyone.  Access to the trail leading to Hummingbird Spring is across a small section of private land along a public access route (close the gate) on Starview Place just south of Portal Road.  The trail then wraps around the low rhyolite and limestone foothills, slowly climbing the face of the Chiricahua's until reaching Humminbird Spring.  The spring is located further uphill but a pipe delivers the dripping water to a cement trough which the dogs were happy to play in.  The loop shown on the Hummingbird Spring map (or in the sidebar) covered about 6 miles and included a maximum elevation change of 1000'.  Shorter or longer hikes are easily created from the numerous trails in the area.  In fact the group broke up along the hike with some returning after reaching Hummingbird Spring and then later the group again split with several hikers continuing south climbing another ridge to view the San Simon valley before looping back and hiking out.  The geology at the contact between the limestone and rhyolite is quite interesting.  Faulting is evident in many places (see this photograph) and the zone of mineralization is evidenced by several test pits and at least one abandoned mine shaft.

Trail to Hummingbird Spring

I want some too.

Not a Hummingbird in Hummingbird Spring