I spent 2 1/2 days on this excursion with Jim Garrett, a friend and co-editor of DEP. We began preproduction on a documentary about the current California drought crisis while on this trip, and enjoyed great views from trails and at the beach. We visited Potato Harbor Overlook and Cavern Point trails in particular, on the northwest side of the island.
The camping was done using tarps at the lower camp , and alcohol stoves are allowed there but we used canister stoves. The upper camps are mostly for larger groups.
A note of caution to those who might use tarp camping methods there: take precautions to avoid hantavirus disease! Take a good ground sheet and avoid contact with soil. Official dogma is to use standard tents with floors.
The abundant animals such as island foxes were all over camp but we had no evening encounters- most likely because of fastidious food and trash storage. The park provides excellent, standard bear lockers.
His Windrider 3400 and my Windrider 2400 pack were great for this kind of trip- we hardly felt them on the hikes, as well as the Sony NEX-6 and my Panasonic GH4 with 15mm f/1.7 lens which were much lighter than DSLR’s. I put mine in ‘point and shoot’ mode much of the time and shot some 4K video during the visit. We plan to submit some shots with our packs to Hyperlite Mountain Gear, the manufacturer in Maine.
We had the opportunity to get to know one of the seasonal rangers, Maya Morales, who is also a Humboldt State student, and plan to do some interviews for the upcoming film from the perspective of someone who is very involved with resource management and conservation.
William Hooks
maximpactphotography 