Bunch's Journal: Beaver Pond Journal 2011 #1

Journal entry for September 3, 2011 "Indian Lake Road........ were able to drive it as far as Brooktrout Lake trailhead where the road was still closed due to repair work. Mary and I arranged our packs and began the hike to the pond. The hike is 1 mile shorter this year because the road has been opened from Otter Brook bridge to Brooktrout Lake trailhead. The temperature was rapidly rising and the humidity drenched the air. Lots of uphill so the hike wasn't the most pleasant.
Arrived at the old beaver pond at 10:30 A.M. I had been using an old log that was wedged between four beaver cut stumps as my set up location for the panorama. Since the log was deteriorating it was time to make a more permanent marker. I brought along some rebar stakes, that I cut to length and ground points on one end, to serve as set up markers for the panorama and some other detail images I wanted to photograph around the perimeter of the pond.
I drove a set up stake through the set up log, right down to the top of the log. Using the top of the stake as my starting point, I went through the set up procedure to get my equipment positioned correctly, leveled and the camera adjusted to put the nodal point over the axis of rotation.
Finished shooting the panoramic series at 11:45 A.M. Retrieved my old Averatec laptop from my camera pack to download the images. I wanted to be sure the exposure was good and the files weren't corrupted. Meanwhile Mary dug out lunch and we retreated to a shady spot, the bright sun was making it too hot. I fired up the little laptop and began the download process. Mary and I ate our lunch while the computer worked away. When the download was complete I checked and found all images were fine.
Back in the hot summer sunshine, I disassembled my panoramic set up. Next I coupled the 24-70mm f2.8 lens to my camera for some detail shots.
Looking around I spotted an old stump, its roots were exposed and radiating spider-like into the water and nearby mud. No question, this would make a great yearly interval, time lapse detail image. Set up my tripod, mounted my camera and began checking for the best composition. Once I found it I drove a stake directly below the center of the ball head and measured from the top of the stake to the top of the center column, 27 1/2". Set the lens to24mm, angled it down somewhat, framed the image and shot it.
Repacked everything and prepared to hike back to the truck. It was getting extremely hot and humid and I didn't feel up to hiking up around the pond for more detail shots, although I wanted to..
Cached the remaining stakes behind a large dead tree near the panorama set up location. I'm planning on using them around the perimeter of the pond later this year or next."
(Note~Couldn't get to the pond until Sunday September 3rd because every Sunday in August was rainy.)