Weblog Entry - 09/23/2003: "back to the mountains"

This weekend will be the first since early August that I haven't dragged myself into work. It's time once more for the annual IMSAR Seneca SeaFest. Time to pack up the camping toys and fill the cooler with beer and delicious seafood to share with old friends and new. It's been, hell, I don't know any more.. 16, maybe 17 years that my old rock climbing buddies have gathered at Seneca Rocks, WV for a weekend of telling tall tales, stuffing ourselves with fish, shrimp, crab, lobster, sushi... almost any kind of seafood you can imagine. Definitely not Mrs. Paul's Fish Sticks. That happened once and the poor fools are still catching hell about it.

I've long since hung up my rack, rope and shoes. I'm still enchanted by the rock but no longer feel the urge to pit my strength and agility against gravity. If I can restrain myself from carrying every camera I own, I may do some hiking in the woods and hills. A nice pinhole shot from inches above the Potomac, with the vertical cliff face rising in the background, might be a fun challenge. I may be a lazy slug and play in the valley with the view camera. There may even be some digital play, though I'll try to stay with film as much as I can.

Weather.com isn't holding out a lot of hope for perfect photo conditions just yet but a lot can and probably will change in the few days before I head out. Seneca's always had its own strange little weather pattern, so no matter what the forecast says, conditions are always an unknown until you get there and subject to change at short notice.

In the end, it doesn't matter what the weather is just so long as the food and beer hold out. I've been busting my ass for weeks now, and I think we're caught up enough that a weekend away won't leave me with a nightmare Monday when I return. I need a rest and if it means a four hour drive to get away, then so be it.