Time for a new thread. The old one is here:
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It's now closed..... Time to move on.

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A poll for those that have submitted in the past. What would your preferred image size be? What I use has been 650 pixels max dimension for quite a while. Is bigger better? If so, how big?

The pictures I started QJ with were 400 max dimension and a 200 pixel default maximum. That was when 33k dial-up was all the rage. ;)

How 'bout it Goldilocks? I'm good with whatever you folks decide. Just asking.

FWIW - I'd love to add a silhouette of myself in a canoe to today's POD ... and say wish you were here. ;)

Neat picture today Lynda; nice effect, looks like your on the top of a cliff.

starwatcher

db wrote on Jan 2^nd, 2013 at 8:32am:

A poll for those that have submitted in the past. What would your preferred image size be?

On the POD web page, I would like to see the photo as big as possible and the surrounding black matte as small as possible. Whatever photo pixel size works to fill up most of the page is fine with me.

These days, most web pages seem to be about a meg in size or slightly less, so that's probably a reasonable gauge of what loads "quickly enough" for the general population. Your server specs may have additional constraints.

Bigger POD file sizes will take up more archival disk space on your server too, no? Is this an issue? (IIRC, it was a couple of years ago). Maybe it would be nice for QJ to have a small permanent collection of "Best of the best" PODs, and a short expiry date for the daily updates?

Joe_Schmeaux wrote on Jan 3^rd, 2013 at 4:24am:

Bigger POD file sizes will take up more archival disk space on your server too, no? Is this an issue?

Nope. Well, naaah. Remember when a @GB HD was the cutting edge bee's knees?

Someone asked me and it made me wonder so I checked opinions and stats. The nearest screen resolution excluding mobile for QJ visitors is still 1024x768. Much of QJ tends to be a bit larger but....

I did a screen capture earlier tonight of the POD inside a PS window that was 1024x768. My desktop was blurred to protect the innocent. As I write this I have 9 windows viewable, some Safari windows have a few tabs. I often need to enlarge text to make it readable to my eyes. Pictures I get.

The other concern may be unauthorized use of other people's property. The biggest size wins.

I'm asking because someone made me wonder. I get to see them all the full resolution received so that's why I'm asking for input from visitors while asking providers what they think.

I'm fine if a consensus said bigger. Verticals are always a judgement call. Curious to see what the board will do with what's attached when new window right clicked.

---

db, If I have to re-size them to submit it doesn't matter much to me, in my opionion, as long as it's some standard size - say 640 by 480.

starwatcher

OK, I guess there are three independent issues here: size of the image on the user's screen, the image's pixel dimensions, and the image's file size.

I've already commented on the first of the three.

More pixels will show a bit more detail, but on the web, the difference isn't huge compared to what we have now. Comparing a recent POD with Photobucket's 1023x682 version,
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the difference is only noticeable if you zoom in a bunch. (200% zoom of the POD version will give you roughly the size I would like to see on my screen).

The third thing is file size. Once you choose your photo's pixel dimensions, JPEG software lets you choose from a wide range of qualities (high compression or low compression), depending on whether you want a big or small file. In some cases, this seems to make more of a difference to POD quality than pixel dimensions.

For example, in Lynda's morning fog shot, I thought there was a big difference between the POD version and your screenshot version: most of the subtle color graduations were lost in the POD version, and to me the picture had much less of an impact. You can get a reasonable quality photo from a 110k file (good enough for web display anyway), but if the original 1920x1080 got downsized to 640x480, then 110k also got downsized to (I'm guessing) 16k. That's definitely well into "utility grade".

So my preferred POD specs would be (a) twice as big on the screen (200% area, or 1.4 times as big in each dimension), 1024x768 photo dimensions, and 100k - 200k file size.

If that's not too much to ask ;D

This is a short set from a little over a year ago.

This map shows where Bowron is: (the teardrop with the "A" on it):
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It's not a big park, just one 116 km circuit on the edge of the Cariboo mountain ranges. The trip is done clockwise, (see below), starting in the northwest corner. It usually takes 5 or 6 days, and has no side trip potential.
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It's unusual to be able to put together any kind of loop in the mountains, so this trip is a bit of a "must do" in this part of the country.

Today's POD is from the "north" leg. As you can see from the topo, the lakes are narrow with steep mountain slopes on both sides. So there's an echo, as this loon managed to figure out. He would call, wait for the echo, call again, wait, etc. Non stop for at least half an hour.

Let me know if you want me to continue with bla-bla to accompany (some of) the pix.

Joe:

Yes, please bla-bla away! Bowron lakes has always intrigued me as a place to canoe because, as you say, it is a loop in the mountains. I'd be interested in your impressions of things like campsite cleanliness - given that it is, as I understand, a very popular circuit.

Plus any descriptions you can provide with the photos helps to put things in context.

Thanks for posting this!

There's one coming up that, auch, I'd love to have been there. A few moments later I wondered what the portages are like. Nice wheels yesterday btw! Just out of curiosity, how do they fit in the canoe? (I try not to peek these days)

OK, here's some preamble for the trip - more long-winded than I had intended (for Phoenix and db's benefit) - plus some bla-bla to go with yesterday's pic.

My trip was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment thing: (a) the 7-day weather forecast was excellent, (b) I had the time available, and (c) I figured in late September, most of the crowds would be gone. I might never get (a), (b) and (c) together like this again, so I'd better pack some food, throw the canoe on the roof of the car and just go.

Sometimes things actually do work out the way you planned.

The weather turned out incredible - warm with blue skies every day. That is not normal for this part of B.C. : the Bowron area gets a lot of rain, and the weather aspect of this series of PODs is not at all representative of typical conditions.

Bowron is a *very* popular trip. There is a quota which gets filled up during the summer, something like 25 people per day going in. So 25 times 5 days divided by the number of red dots on the topo map and you can figure on having to share your campsite most nights. But even with the great weather, my entry day had only 10-15 people, and I had a campsite to myself for each of my five nights. If you go, especially in summer, don't expect this.

Like I said, Bowron gets a lot of traffic, and a lot of noob traffic. As wilderness, it definitely falls into the "heavily managed" category, so things are done a bit differently from what you might be used to in Quetico.

The park's management has been outsourced by the B.C. government to a private contractor, so if you go looking for a "BC Parks" website for Bowron, there is none. Here is the main site for Bowron:
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IMO, the private contractor does an excellent job: the staff are competent, and seem to really care about taking care of the wilderness.

You start off at the visitor centre with a mandatory orientation talk (8 am and 1 pm) and bear safety film. Bowron is grizzly country, so the stakes are higher than out east where you only have those wussy black bears. (Re bear safety, I can't believe some of the stuff I read on QJ: taking peanut butter into the backcountry? ghee? wtf?) Anyhow, the film includes some footage of a bear taking down a tent. Whether staged or not, it was exactly the way I had seen it done for real in Banff some years earlier (belly flop method).

Next you have a weigh-in (Bowron portages have a maximum GVW per axle just like roads). You then get your permit specifying which of your packs are allowed to be in the canoe on the cart on the portages, and more-or-less en masse you and the rest of the daily entry quota of canoeists are on your way.

OK, so about yesterday's POD. There are seven portages total on the circuit, five of which are in the one to three km range. The portages are all wide and not too steep, something you could probably drive a golf cart on in dry weather. So some 80% of visitors use "canoe carts". These are basically collapsible dollies made of two bicycle wheels, some steel tubing and a cradle, and cost $50 or so to rent for the trip. I figured why not. (Note: if renting, you need to get your cart from a local outfitter before you arrive at the park visitor centre. I used Becker's, and had no problems).

Continued tomorrow.

These PODS were selected from all the photos I took based on (ahem) artistic merit, and are mostly in chronological order. So taken by themselves, they're not very good from a photojournalistic standpoint: telling an accurate and complete story.

Today's POD is pretty typical of Bowron scenery. Here's an outtake from early in the trip, showing a marshy area near the inlet to Isaac Lake.
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Continuing from yesterday on "the Bowron experience". The campsites are generally small, up to three tent pads each. There are also a few larger "group" sites. Canoe landings are almost always gravel beaches. All sites have a privy and all have a bear locker for food. (If you haven't seen one, a bear locker looks like a standup wardrobe, but a bit shorter and deeper, and made of heavy gauge sheet metal.).

The sites I visited were all spotless. At times I wondered if I was in some kind of Japanese garden, where the staff comes in after the campers leave, cleans up any loose trash and rakes the gravel so it looks like a new site which no one had yet visited.

One of the issues you run into when an area gets as heavily used as Bowron is firewood. If things were left to themselves, it wouldn't take long for campers to collect and burn every scrap of deadfall and ground litter for tens of metres around every campsite. I'm sure we've all visited sites in Quetico where the ground has been stripped bare over a huge area - it's nice to have a big site, but not if it means damaging far more wilderness than necessary.

The way they do things in Bowron is to forbid all collection and use of deadfall. There are a half dozen or so "woodlot" sites provided, and if you want to build a campfire, you must go to one of these woodlots and collect your firewood there. The wood is precut and split, but it's a good idea to take along an axe to get it down to kindling size. The upside is that campsite sprawl is prevented, but the downside is that you occasionally might  have your "quiet journey" interrupted by the gentle purring of a chainsaw in the distance.

Here's another outtake, showing a typical campsite beach;
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This was taken from the east shore of Isaac Lake (looking west, away from the mountains.)

Today's POD is from Isaac Lake, looking east.

Bowron Lakes are mostly fed by glacial meltwater, and streams like this have mostly been reduced to a trickle by late September. The park's elevation isn't very high (lakes levels are at around 3000 ft, peaks at 6500 ft) so by September, the water was warm and wetfoot canoe entries in sandals were not a problem.

Isaac Lake is on a big geological fault. The mountains to the east are mostly early Cambrian limestone, with some (Ordovician?) phyllite higher up and quartzite near the mountain peaks.

Here is an anticline in the Cunningham limestone in this area:
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Judging by your photos so far, is it the case that this area has not been affected by the pine beetle infestation that has devastated forests in the B.C. interior?

Phoenix wrote on Jan 15^th, 2013 at 12:39pm:

... is it the case that this area has not been affected by the pine beetle infestation that has devastated forests in the B.C. interior?

Unfortunately not. The eastern part of the park was ok, but they did have some problems in the west, and some timber management was required. IMO, the most scenic areas were  left untouched, so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.

More aesthetically jarring was the (normal commercial) clearcutting taking place outside the park, but visible at two points on the route through gaps in the mountains. An unwelcome reminder of how small your protected bubble really is in Bowron.

... still on Isaac Lake heading south ...

Wow! Impressive scene...and shot!

Things are a bit out of chronological order here: there are still a couple more photos from Isaac Lake before you get to the point bar mud flats environment of today's POD. We'll come back to the last two Isaac Lake shots later.

At the south end of Isaac Lake is a short section of optional Class I whitewater called "The Chute". It is a chute and looked like this when I passed through:

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You enter from the right side of the pic.

I know it looks pretty tame, but remember this was very late in the season and there had been no rain for a while. I'm sure there's more to it when flow rates are higher in early summer or after a good dump of precipitation. Even still, I took a few litres of water over the bow when I went through.

After The Chute, there is supposed to be a standing wave train called "The Roller Coaster". You can either paddle through this or around it. I saw nothing but a few ripples (no photo). Since there was no excitement to be had at these river conditions, I took the easy route to minimize bottom-scraping potential.

You then follow the Isaac and Cariboo Rivers downstream for a few km's. The Bowron literature warns of sweepers on these two rivers, but there were none when I passed though. I think park staff comes through occasionally to remove any dangerous obstacles.

The Isaac River flows out of Isaac Lake, and the water is the same clear emerald:
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The Cariboo is more silt-laden, and watching for deadheads is more of a challenge.
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Today's POD is at the west end of Lanezi Lake, in the southwest corner of the park.

As you turn the corner and enter the fourth side of the parallelogram, you leave the interior rainforest and the mountains, and enter a much flatter, drier zone.

Beautiful series of photos!  I especially liked the sunset one on Sunday--gorgeous!  Thanks! :thumbup

Wow - beautiful shot!  I've enjoyed these a lot.

Hey, how was the fishing in Sept 2012 (& what part of Sept?).  I've always expected it to be great then, but fished another part of Ontario last Sept (~12th-16th) and got all but skunked.

Back to POD's, the Bowron set was cool too -- I'm not used to seeing mountains in canoe areas!
Thanks.
-Tom

I agree - nice pics!


Mk631 wrote on Jan 29^th, 2013 at 2:34pm:

the Bowron set was cool too

There are still nine Bowron shots in the POD input hopper somewhere. I think db wanted to give you all a break from my cyberyapping (didn't work), or maybe I just exceeded my POD quota ;D

Thanks for the comment about the PODs. We were in the park in mid-September (8-15). But we didn't fish so I can't give you any info there. There were very few people in that part of the park; our last night was the only night we didn't get the campsite we wanted.

Thanks.
When were the snowy yurt pics?  Did you stay &/or canoe at that time of year?!?

The yurt photos were from 3 winters ago - middle of February. The overnight temperatures were -25C but the yurts (there are two of them at French Lake) have space heaters and lighting so we could see what we were eating at breakfast and supper and sleeping was nice and toasty in the sleeping bags.

The plan is to be back there in early March this year.

I should have waited for today's pic to see this was a "no canoeing" trip!  Beautiful pic today.

Phoenix, I see the snowshoes today. Did you ski any of the trails?

No, we didn't have skis with us. If we had been skiing, we might have tried the winter trail to The Pines on Pickerel Lake (a bit too far going and coming for a 1-day outing on snowshoes).

On our way back on the Baptism Creek trail, we met Robin O'Reilly (superintendent of the park at that time) on skis going the other way. Other than that, we saw no one at all for the 3 days we were in the park. (Trails are not groomed).

Phoenix wrote on Feb 4^th, 2013 at 9:30pm:

... 3 winters ago - middle of February. The overnight temperatures were -25C but the yurts (there are two of them at French Lake) have space heaters ...

Looks like you had great weather! What were the daytime temperatures like?

And how warm did the space heaters manage to get the yurts at night?

Yes, we had three days of really great winter weather - perfectly clear skies, very little wind and daytime temperatures about -10C.  The snow was powdery and easy to snowshoe through.

The space heaters were noisy but kept the inside temperature reasonable (I don't know what the overnight temperature inside was but we did use our 3-season sleeping bags and they were very comfortable.)

I'd be curious if anyone can identify the tracks made by an animal as seen in the centre of today's POD. This set of tacks led from the east side of French Lake all the way to the western shore.

"I'd be curious if anyone can identify the tracks made by an animal as seen in the centre of today's POD. This set of tacks led from the east side of French Lake all the way to the western shore"

looks to be Otter  - hop, hop and slide a ways

Really nice loon photo today, Karl!   :dankk2

Thanks Spartan2,

They are late fall phase, loosing their color and getting ready to head south.

starwatcher

Nice shots -- is today's tiny island in very northern Sturgeon? (a long shot, just curious)

Thanks Mk; It was our last day paddling out on Moose.

Cool photo today.

Thanks Jimmer!  And he gets to enjoy and watch the scenery up there all day long.

Today's shot brings back memories & reminds me of things I forget. 
Is this the bottom falls area? - I think the first one is a good 10' drop. 
I just don't remember this 2nd one at all! Since I've always planned to go back thru there again, I don't want to put-in below the first & then have to run that one!
Is the end of the portage just out-of-picture to the right?
Thanks -Tom
& PS: nice shot, thanks for sharing!

PPS: Upon further looking at the PCD portage, I'm sure we didn't go that way!  We walked along the water, on shield rocks, not thru the woods at all -- I think we may have run that 2nd section.  (Did you?)

Tom:
I can understand your confusion. The picture is actually mislabeled. This is where Beg empties into Bud. Sorry for the confusion. Bisk into Beg is a pretty decent drop. The first time we went through there, from Bisk to Beg, we put in at the bottom of the falls, not a good idea. The trail through the woods adds a bit more to the portage but is an easy put in out of the current.

Jay

I thought it looked more like Beg to Bud but I don't ever remember seeing that much white. I've lined it up and down and we ran it for kicks one day but these days I always take the little portage.

The description has been corrected.

My fault on the title db.

No way i would line or attempt to run that with the water flowing like it was. That was September 2011. I had been through there once before and there wan't nearly as much of a flow.

Ouch!! Which way did you say to go?? :o

Ouch is right!  Was it yours or already there?

I take it that the pic is shot from the Fern-Olifaunt portage.  I did that one in 2001 & someone asked if I saw "the canoe wedged under the rock", but that was an aluminum one if I recall correctly & fully submerged.  I didn't see it myself & didn't trudge back to look after that "ever so pleasant" portage experience, but it just can't be that same canoe.  Did you see any others lost there?

Again, OUCH!  I'd like to hear how those guys got out.  :(
I bet it's worse than my lost canoe story!

-Tom

Back in the late 80's there was a red canoe 50' up the hill at the Olifaunt put-in. Both haves were laying side by side. I have a picture somewhere.

Coming from Fern there's a spot probably about half way that looks like a decent put-in where the portage takes a sharp right turn and goes uphill.

I've always wanted to fish that little area but then I remember that red canoe.

Not mine! I thought it might be yours, Tom. ;D

Old Salt wrote on Apr 1^st, 2013 at 7:32pm:

Not mine! I thought it might be yours, Tom. ;D

Hey, I resemble that comment!


Quote:

I've always wanted to fish that little area but then I remember that red canoe.

db, Fishing that little pool you're talking about has been on my list too... One of needs to check if it's good fishing or not, and then survive to tell the tale!

Old Salt wrote on Apr 1^st, 2013 at 7:32pm:

Not mine! I thought it might be yours, Tom. ;D

Not mine or ours either. It was closer to the Fern side of the portage. Didn't see it until I was heading back to pick up the canoe I had unloaded about half way or so into the portage. This was Fall of 2011. My guess is that it got away from someone camping on Fern but have no idea. I would expect that a canoe in that circumstance wouldn't last a winter freeze and spring run off but have no idea how long it was there. My caption in my photos is "I hope they made it".

Tom, didn't see any other carcuses (or is it carci) in that stretch. We did not take the time to fish the pool as we were passing through to our next campsite on Bud.

Jay

The POD's are always good, but I especially enjoy the sunset shots.  :thumbup

Pat

Thanks Pat, from one Dylan fan to another. Anytime in canoe country is majical but sunrise/sunset is just a little more special.

J

Great set of pictures --

I just can't help but thinking about today's:
"Which way do we go?"  ;)

Looks like Deaux River....BUT there's water in it!!  ;D

JChief:

I assume when you refer to the Deaux River, you're referring to Deux Rivières between Dore and Sturgeon - I mean it sure looks like it from the photo. It's just that I have never seen it spelled that way before.

The guy in front is busy fumbling with his GPS right? ;)

What's the 2x6 for?

Mk631 wrote on Apr 8^th, 2013 at 2:48pm:

Great set of pictures -- I just can't help but thinking about today's: "Which way do we go?"  ;)

Thanks Mk, that was part of the reason to choose that route into Sturgeon and it didn't disappoint...


intrepid_camper wrote on Apr 8^th, 2013 at 4:52pm:

Looks like Deaux River....BUT there's water in it!!  ;D

IC, there was enough water to float but that was about it. Spent most of the time push poling from the stern and pulling from the bow or out of the canoe mucking our way through. This picture was just after the second beaver dam


Phoenix wrote on Apr 8^th, 2013 at 5:57pm:

JChief: I assume when you refer to the Deaux River, you're referring to Deux Rivières between Dore and Sturgeon

Phoenix, saw that spelling on a map (can't remember which one) and it looked more interesting than Deux, Americanized the river part...


db wrote on Apr 8^th, 2013 at 7:47pm:

The guy in front is busy fumbling with his GPS right? ;) What's the 2x6 for?

db, no GPS on our trips, I think he was putting his camera away. As for the 2X6, my bowman used it as a back brace to add support while paddling, but I brought it along to use as a fish cleaning "table", nice flat surface...

Blueberries in northern BC in late September - who knew?

This is a continuation of the Bowron POD-series-plus-sort-of-a-trip-report started a couple of months ago. The maps and preamble are on page 1 of this thread.

This pic was taken in the southwest corner of the park, on a short side hike to Cariboo Falls.

This morning's photo of the mountain with the lighting is fantastic.

Is that a stand of dead trees in the middle right of the photo? Pine beetles or fire?

Phoenix wrote on Apr 13^th, 2013 at 10:43am:

This morning's photo of the mountain with the lighting is fantastic. Is that a stand of dead trees in the middle right of the photo? Pine beetles or fire?

Thanks - it really was that weird rose colour.

I think the dead trees are beetle kill. This is (?) Mt. Hughes, in the SW corner of the park, so it is in one of the few areas that did have significant pine beetle problems.

Of don't often comment on photos, but I love the picture of the little guy sitting on a log, writing his journal?  The photo says so much...

Makes me anxious for my little granddaughter to get a bit older (she's 15 months) so I can take her up to god's country. 

prouboy

Beautiful picture today Tim; Makes me want to be there to get over this cabin fever.

starwatcher

Again, that is absolutely a beautiful photo;  I love the reflections in the water.


starwatcher

Nice set of shots - looks like the kids had a great time.
How old was your youngest, and was he sitting on a pack or seat in yesterday's POD? 
-Tom

Nice set, Tim, thanks.

Kids looked like they were having too much fun though ... :)

Neat photo today Lynda,

I love those foggy, misty mornings.

starwatcher

This past group of photos are NOT mine!  They are Neil's.  Spartan1, not Spartan2.   :)

Spartan2 wrote on May 17^th, 2013 at 4:01pm:

This past group of photos are NOT mine!  They are Neil's.  Spartan1, not Spartan2.   :)

Oh! my mistake; that explains why you are featured in the photos.  Tell Neil they are still nice photos.  ;)

starwatcher

You just told him yourself.  I think he reads QJ as much, or more, than I do.   ;)

Incidentally, in today's photo, that is Ho Ho standing in the light of the morning sunrise.  Our canoe trip last year was with Ho Ho and David and their wonderful puppy, Kahshahpiwi (Piwi for short.)

what kind of dog is that pup, looks a bit like my walker coonhound

Well, she isn't our dog, but they say she is a "mixed breed", and they seem to think she has a lot of pointer.  She's a fairly big dog, and a very nice one.

I like today's photo of the rocky cliff and canoe Spartan2; I wish I was there this weekend. Maybe I'll head up to Ely today.

starwatcher

I am packing now for our trip up there next week.  We have a base-camping trip planned on Brule.  I hope weather cooperates so that we can take some day trips.

I certainly can relate to todays photo.  Looks like our normal trip and can use a coffee warm-up
!

I certainly can relate to todays photo.  Looks like our normal trip and can use a coffee warm-up!

That must be a difficult beaver dam; It's taken three days to portage it!  ;)

starwatcher

S1 & S2,
Thanks for the beautiful set of pictures!  You folks keep taking trips, please!!!
-Tom

Mk631 wrote on Jun 18^th, 2013 at 1:24pm:

S1 & S2, Thanks for the beautiful set of pictures!  You folks keep taking trips, please!!! -Tom

I agree; thanks for posting the photos Lynda!

starwatcher

Thank you for the compliments.  I am bleary-eyed tonight from looking at (and tweaking) the photos from this year's abortive, short trip.   Not too many, but some are pretty nice.  Actually the best ones we have are of a storm that came in over Lake Superior the night before our trip when we were staying at the Cliff Dweller.  Spectacular cloud shots!

gorgeous photo today!  Location?

Sunday's beauty was Pickerel Lake in Quetico. The shot the day before nails the campsite as Mosquito Point so I know we're looking north and there's a rare little (and I assume historic) raspberry patch between the two.

Mosquito Point it is!

Does anyone know the history of this area?

We found lots of old debris, bottle/can dumps and excavated spots seemed like  small cabins may have been constructed at one time. The POD from a few days ago, was of a small shack in the woods near the campsite. We were thinking fishing, hunting or logging camp.

The POD of the morels was near that campsite also.

My apologies…

No new QJ PODs for a bit. Sorry it can't be helped. I hope to get a new box (doorstop) up and running in a week or three.

Meanwhile, might I suggest anyone who may be disappointed to try starting here:
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Caption: "One size fits most."

Click on the random image you'll see on the right a few times and who knows...
If you see something fitting that YOU like, hey, pick a day and share the link with the rest of us and we'll call it a POD.

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And for yesterday... here's another from Mosquito point a few years back:
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It's still there as far as I know.