Dates: Friday through Wednesday, April 17-22, 2009

Transportation: Comfortable passenger van (group size will be 5-10 people, including the trip leaders)

Accommodations: Comfortable rooms in various locations for each night, in Sacramento, the town of Chico, near Lassen Peak, the town of Burney, and the town of Mt. Shasta.

Trip difficulty: None - we'll enjoy easy-paced walking to view the sights, or photograph right from the van. Most walks will be less than 1/4 mile.

Weather: We should find ourselves in pleasant conditions, with mild to warm days and cool evenings. 

Cost: $950  Deposit: $200 will hold your spot. Full amount due by March 15. 

Co-Leader: Ken Rockwell (kenrockwell.com): Ken Rockwell is a well-known - some would say nortorius - web presence. He's known for his sometimes contrarian views. Love him or hate him, Ken's voluminous website offers a cornucopia of lens tests, camera reviews, articles about art and photography, etc. He has the training of an engineer and the soul of an artist. He has conducted numerous workshops, several with Dave, to Yosemite, New Mexico and along historic Route 66, as well as in Europe.  Camera Equipment: For those who have a keen interest in photography, this is the trip to bring it all along - wide angle lenses, telephotos, and filters. Digitial, 35mm and medium format cameras will all work well. If you have questions about which lenses to bring, feel free to contact Dave Wyman. The trip leader will bring along a laptop and participants with digital cameras may wish to bring along their own computers. If we're still awake at the end of the day, we'll try to look at photographs made during the trip on our computers. Backup media for digital photographs: Consider bringing along some CDs (Dave can transfer files and burn photos, time permitting), so that you have a backup of your digital photos. Feel free to bring a laptop (but you'll have to carry it), digital wallet, etc. CF and SD Cards: Have enough space to store at least a day's worth of photographs (which could run into the hundreds).

Old Building at the community of Pulga,  in the Feather River Canyon

Batteries: Participants need enough battery power to make it through a day. Consider bringing an extra battery; don't forget the charger. Plan to recharge batteries at night. While we'll have the ability to charge a few batteries at a time in our vehicles, this should not be the favored method. Additional: Two filters for aficionados: the polarizer and a graduated graduated neutral density filter (digital and film cameras); an 81A or 81B warming filter will allow you to keep a blue tone out of your photographs made in the shade or under cloudy skies (for film cameras). Tripod: for early morning and early evening photography, or for the sharpest possible photographs. Film Considerations: - Both Fuji and Kodak have excellent print films, such as Fujicolor and Kodacolor. A good, all-around choice of print film speed for this trip would be ISO 200-400. - Slide films: Currently, Fujichrome films offer excellent color saturation combined with very fine grain. Kodak also makes excellent amateur and pro films.

Basic Itinerary:

Arrival day on Friday anytime in Sacramento. Note: Particpants may stay wherever they wish, but the must be in town by Friday evening so we can have an early start when we officially begin our photography expedition the next morning. (We will make reservations for those particpants who wish to stay with Ken and Dave; we'll choose a comfortable motel. Participants and the instructors are invited to meet for dinner, too.)

On Saturday, we need to gather for an early morning drive to photograph the strange Sutter Buttes, reputedly the world's smallest mountain chain; we'll also photograph flooded rice fields and massive rice silos, and stop in at at 500-acre ranch. By early afternoon, we'll travel to the town of Chico, California, which sits at the base of the junction of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains. Photographic locations in and around Chico will include Bidwell Mansion, built in 1868, and the Romanesque architecture of Chico State. We may also meet with a member of the local tribe of Native Americans, whose ancestors had an interesting history of interaction in the latter years of the 19th century with John and Annie Bidwell. Dinner for the group at the Chico Brew Pub (and home to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale). 

On Sunday we'll photograph around Honey Run Covered Bridge, in Butte Creek Canyon, then travel to the town of Paradise, nestled in the pines atop layers of Cascade Range lava flows, before exploring Table Moutain, outside of the old town of Oroville, to look for scenic vistas, wildflowers, and the remains of a gold mining community above massive Oroville Dam. Then we'll continue into the Feather River Canyon, and visit the remains of a pioneer community tucked into a side canyon. We'll continue through forested territory before ending the day at our accommodations adjacent to Childs Meadow, with sweeping views of the mountains. 

On Monday we'll make a leisurely semi-cirumnavigation of Lassen Peak along a series of old highways and backroads, climbing up and over its western flanks, dropping down to explore a variety of vistas and rural landscapes, as well as  a set of massive radio telescope dishes, and a 20,000 year-old lava tube. We'll end the day in the little town of Burney. 

On Tuesday the morning will take us to unusual McArthur-Burney Falls, where water pours over and oozes out of a porous lava cliff. After a visit to a fallen-down lumber town, we'll reach McCloud, where we will visit the McCloud Railway yards and explore some of the nearby waterfalls. We'll end the day photographing massive Mt. Shasta and scenes around it, and stay in the little town of the same name. Perhaps we'll hear the sound of the bells made by the Yaktavians, creatures who reputedly live within Mt. Shasta itself.

On Wednesday, our final day, we'll photograph areas around Mt. Shasta, and make the trip back to Sacramento by early afternoon, stopping in the town of Redding to photograph the spectacular "Sundial Bridge," which spans the Sacramento River. We'll be back in Sacramento early enough for a flight out of town, or participants may stay the night and begin the return trip to their hoes the following day. Those staying the night can photograph night scenes in Sacramento with Dave and Ken (Old Town, the capitol building, etc).

CF and SD Cards: Have enough space to store at least a day's worth of photographs (which could run into the hundreds). Batteries: Participants need enough battery power to make it through a day. Consider bringing an extra battery; don't forget the charger for digital cameras. Plan to recharge batteries at night. We'll have the ability to charge a few batteries at a time in our vehicles too. Two filters for aficionados: the polarizer and a graduated graduated neutral density filter (digital and film cameras); an 81A or 81B warming filter that will allow you to keep a blue tone out of your photographs made in the shade or under cloudy skies (for film cameras). Film Considerations: - Both Fuji and Kodak have excellent print films, such as Fujicolor and Kodacolor. A good, all-around choice of print film speed for this trip would be ISO 200-400. - Slide films: Currently, Fuji films offer excellent color saturation combined with very fine grain. Kodak also makes excellent amateur and pro films. Meals: We'll have at least a couple of group meals and always be near places to purchase food at meal times, restaurants at breakfast and dinner, and we may utilize picnic lunches and/or markets for lunches, depending on where we find ourselves each day.

Massive Mount Shasta

Basic Itinerary: Arrive on Friday anytime during the day in Sacramento. We'll meet at our motel, enjoy dinner, and brief after-dark session. On the following Saturday morning, we'll travel to the picturesque town of Chico, California, which sits at the base of the junction of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains. Dinner for the group at the Chico Brew Pub (and home to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale).  On Sunday wake early for a photography session at the Honey Run Road Covered Bridge. Travel up to breakfast in the town of Paradise, California, which sits in a pine forest atop layers of Cascade Range lava. Continue into the Feather River Canyon, and visit the remains of a pioneer community tucked into a side canyon. Lunch in the mountain town of Quincy, California. Continue through forested territory to Lake Almanor, before ending the day at our accommodations adjacent to Childs Meadow, with sweeping views of the mountains and a chance to photograph a few old barns. Time permitting, we'll photograph late light over Lassen Peak. On Monday we'll make a leisurely tour of the Lassen Peak are, climbing up and over it's flanks on Highway 89, dropping down the other side to explore a variety of vistas, a pair of massive radio telescope dishes, and a 20,000 year-old lava tube. We'll end the day in the little town of Burney. On Tuesday the day will commence with a visit to unusual McArthur-Burney Falls, where water oozes out of a porous lava cliff. In the afternoon, we'll reach the town of McCloud, where we will visit the McCloud Railway yards. On Wednesday we'll photograph areas around massive Mt. Shasta. As we return to Sacramento, we'll stop in the town of Redding to photograph the "Sundial Bridge," which spans the Sacramento River. After additional stops, including a monastery that sits on the grounds of the old Leland Stanford property north of Chico, we'll reach Sacramento for dinner together one last time, and end the trip.

When you send payment:  We'll send back a receipt and any additional information about the trip.

Cancellations: $200 cancellation penalty, unless another participant takes your place, in which case there will be a $25 processing fee. Cancellation on or after June 25 will incur a full penalty, unless another person takes your place, with a $25 processing fee


If you have more questions, call Dave at 323 377-7565, or send him e-mail at  davewyman@imountainman.com.