Humongous Megaload Turns 90 Degree Corner

Using a Nikon DSLR camera and shotgun mike I recorded the movements of the megaload as it turned the corner in Marsing Idaho on Saturday night December 28, 2013.

Megaload Parked in Idaho - 270 degree panoramas

For several days around Christmas the huge megaload shipment traveling secondary highways through Oregon, Idaho and Montana has been parked 2 miles west of Marsing Idaho.  The plan is to start moving the megaload again on Friday December 27, at 10 PM.  The megaload rig will have to turn a sharp corner in downtown Marsing as it moves toward the towns of Grand View and Bruneau, Idaho.

Visit this link to see the High Resolution panoramas on Picasa Web.

I also posted 8 still photos of the megaload area and people looking at the pull and push trucks and the haul rig.

Here is the link to that Picasa Web Album.

Citizen Exploration / far beyond Citizen Science.

Tim O'Reilly on Google+ "This piece is utterly brilliant, an important manifesto on how the DIY movement is enabling a new era of citizen exploration (far beyond the vision of "citizen science.") He is referring to this article titled: Makers: the New Explorers of the Universe by David Lang, 11/02/13 Tim provides One Sample: "People have been talking about the Internet of Things for years. But the aesthetic of the industrial internet always conjured up visions of connected devices that spoke quietly to each other: thermostats that never needed tending, plants that watered themselves and toasters that knew the day’s weather. It was always a promise of convenience (and automation and sleekness). What wasn’t obvious, to me anyway, was that an Internet of Things could usher in a golden age for curiosity. Where everyone, even a luddite like me, was constantly at the edge of what was possible. Where a new adventure — a new set of questions about our world and our place in it — was only a group friends and an internet connection away." Or as Stewart Brand said, in the memorable quote that opens the piece: “[In] the last century, discovery was basically finding things. And in this century, discovery is basically making things.”

Stellar Jays at Thanksgiving Tables

Using a GoPro camera, tripod and WiFi setup with iPhone I recorded these Stellar Jays coming to a bird feeder on Thanksgiving day, 2012.

Credits to David Dudley for building and placing the bird feeders.

I uploaded the same 1080p video to Vimeo and YouTube for comparison in various resolutions, including 1080p.

Video uploaded to Vimeo
Stellar Jays Thanksgiving Table from Gary O. Grimm on Vimeo.

Video uploaded to YouTube

 

Boise River Armchair Tour

Liz Paul, Idaho Rivers United, posted links to several Mountain Visions Google Earth Tours and Gigapans shown at the Boise River Armchair Tour last night, November 26, 2013.

These include the following:

Wild Upper Boise River (HD) YouTube Video using Google Earth to show photos and dams being considered on the wild and free North and Middle fork sections.

Grimes Creek/CuMo Mine A Google Earth 3D Tour of the Boise River headwaters where exploration for the potential CuMo Mine is ongoing.

4 Boise River Walks These include 4 different EveryTrail photo walks produced with the iPhone App.

High water google earth tour With Lighthawk we shot aerial photos of the Boise River at High Water on June 3, 2011 and produced a Google Earth tour showing photos juxtaposed on the 3D Map.

Barber Pool Conservation Area and Boise Foothills gigapan - Approximately 500 telephoto images create this interactive 3 Gigabyte photo.

Boise River Looking downstream at Barber Pool from Highway 21 Bridge Gigapan Approximately 250 telephoto images are used to create this 1.5 Gigabyte Interactive Image.

Guide to view Comet ISON in December

The Huffington Post has published the following graphic guide for seeing the Comet IOSN in North America starting December 1, 2013, assuming the comet is not destroyed by its close encounter with the sun.

Is "Glamour Camping" appropriate on the Middle Fork of the Salmon Wilderness?

Today, there was article in the Idaho Statesman titled "No roughing it: Go 'glamping' on the River of No Return" written by William Kronholm - The Associated Press.

Here are a few quotes to describe "glamour camping" or "Glamping" from the article.

"Stuffed morel mushrooms and braised free-range chicken with fennel puree and blackberry compote. Served on linen tablecloths with a carefully matched wine. Pineapple upside-down cake for dessert. This is wilderness camping? ...In other words: no roughing it."
"No wedging into a tiny backpacking tent for the night. Each couple has a stand-up six-person tent with cot, mattress and pillow, a lantern on the night table and a rug on the floor." "...Yoga sessions after breakfast...the masseuse awaits you at her streamside massage table...Want a hot shower? Just ask; it will be arranged." "And the food? Four-course gourmet dinners every night, with organic ingredients and a chef’s eye for presentation. Gourmet breakfasts as well. And a hot lunch on the river, unique among rafting companies that usually offer cold cuts."

I wonder how much of the gear necessary for this "Glamour Camping" is carried on the supply boats for each trip and how much of it is either cached at supply points along the river or flown in by aircraft to landing spots. It would also be interesting to know how much money a Middle Fork of the Salmon Wilderness "Glamping" trip costs each customer.

FYI, I am embedding a Gigapan image I produced at Boundary Creek, the put in point for all "private - commercial" river trips and most "public non-commercial" or common adventure river floating trips on the Middle Fork. ((For some reason the Federal agencies such as the Forest Service reverses these terms and designates non-commercial trips as private assuming that the expensive trips supplied by commercial outfitters are for the public.)

Daggar Falls is just upstream from this point and would require a portage for most float trips. Imagine portaging all of the gear necessary for the Glamping trip described in this article! I will add another Gigapan image of Daggar Falls too.