1 January, 2010 by Gurmeet Singh Manku
In Dec 2009, I hiked in Death Valley National Park with three friends. We stayed at Stovepipe Wells. There was no cell phone coverage but pay phones were available. An excellent book that I highly recommend is Hiking Death Valley — A Guide to Its Natural Wonders and Mining Past by Michel Digonnet (2004, 542 pages). Most hikes in Death Valley are along natural pathways like canyon floors. At many places, there are side routes or bypasses marked by cairns (piles of stones). All of these are amply described in the book.
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Badwater Basin (Photo Album)
At 282 ft below sea level, Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America. One can walk for several miles away from the parking lot, on flat ground.
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Golden Canyon (Photo Album)
A short gorge carved through sandstone, very bright in the sun. About 1.25 miles into the gorge lie red hued sandstone cliffs called “Red Cathedral”. Along the main route, there are several side canyons that you may explore.
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Sand Dunes (Photo Album)
We walked about 2 miles on sand dunes, barefoot. Sliding down the steep dunes is a lot of fun. Plenty of kids around the dunes.
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Corkscrew Peak (Photo Album)
A sign on Daylight Pass Road, just past Hell’s Gate, points to Corkscrew Peak, which lies 4.5 miles away. A park ranger told us that there are no marked trails to the peak. So we just marched straight on!
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| Progress became increasingly difficult, especially during the last one mile in a canyon. We started scrambling, holding on to rocks and crags with our hands. There was plenty of loose gravel, especially on higher elevation, slowing us down. Cairns guided us intermittently. We turned back at 3pm, around 30 minutes away from the top. We hiked the last half hour using flashlights. During this hike, I slipped and fell two times. Luckily, on both occasions, I was not hurt seriously. Overall, I had a fair number of bruises and cuts on both arms and legs. Gloves and flashlight with spare batteries recommended.
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Posted in Hiking | Tagged badwater, corkscrew peak, death valley, death valley national park, golden canyon, Hiking, hiking in death valley, mosaic canyon, sand dunes | 2 Comments »
4 December, 2009 by Gurmeet Singh Manku
Two views of the same model:


Number of Units: Four prisms of different colors. Each prism is made of three 2×1 pieces and six 1×1 pieces.
Instructions: Part I — Part II — Part III — Part IV.
Notes: The model is very sturdy. Assembling the last the units of every prism was a little challenging. I modified the folds slightly for easier fitting. Daniel Kwan has published Diagrams and Notes for other models designed by him. You may visit his Flickr collections of Tessellations and Modular Origami models for some excellent pictures! You may also want to check out the article How To Make Intersecting Wireframe Models.
All models: here.
Posted in Origami | Tagged daniel kwan, four triangular prisms, modular origami, Origami | Leave a Comment »
3 December, 2009 by Gurmeet Singh Manku


Number of Units: 60 — each flower has 5 units.
Instructions: In Kusudama: Ball Origami (amazon) (76 pages, 1990) by Makoto Yamaguchi. Paper that is colored on both sides is recommended for this model. Otherwise, individual flowers look very pretty but the whiteness that shows in the kusudama is jarring (as in the picture above).
All models: here.
Posted in Origami | Tagged ball origami, kusudama, kusudamam of flowers, makoto, modular origami, Origami | Leave a Comment »
1 December, 2009 by Gurmeet Singh Manku
On 27 November 2009, I hiked 13+ miles with Anurup and Prasad in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. The park is about nine miles east of Crescent City, CA. It has quite a few hiking trails next to creeks and amid tall redwoods.
Information: Park Website — Trail Map — Google Map
Weather: 10-day forecast for Crescent City, CA.
Nearby Parks: Dave Baselt maintains an excellent website RedwoodHikes.com for hiking in various Redwood parks in California. Check out a map of Redwood Forest Locations for other Redwood parks nearby. During Thanksgiving weekend in 2009, we visited Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (trip report) and Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park (trip report), both of which are excellent Redwood parks close to Jedediah Smith.
Pictures: The entire album for our hikes in Jedediah Smith is here.
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Stout Grove (Details — Trail Map)
A short 0.6 mile hike on level ground — trailhead on Howland Hill Rd — river access — has some large redwood trees — connects to River Trail.
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List of Trails: See Dave Baselt’s web page for Jedediah Smith. We did the first three hikes listed below:
Posted in Hiking | Tagged boy scout trail, boy scout tree, Hiking, hiking in redwoods, jedediah smith redwoods state park, jedediah smith state park, mill creek trail, stout grove | 1 Comment »
30 November, 2009 by Gurmeet Singh Manku
On 28 November 2009, I hiked with Anurup and Prasad in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in Humboldt County. Prairie Creek has an extensive network of hiking trails.
Park Information: Website — Google Map — List of Hikes
Trail Information: Details and Trail Map. Length: 11.6 miles. Elevation gain: 1350 ft. Route: James Irvine Trail (0.6 miles) / Miners Ridge Trail (1.6 + 2.0 miles) / Coastal Trail (Gold Bluffs Beach Section) (1.2 + 0.2 miles) / Fern Canyon Loop Trail (0.6 miles) / James Irvine Trail (1.4 + 2.5 + 0.6 miles).
Weather: 10-day forecast for Orick, CA.
Dining: We discovered two good restaurants in and around Eureka, which is about 30 miles south of Prairie Creek.
Nearby Parks: Dave Baselt maintains an excellent website RedwoodHikes.com for hiking in various Redwood parks in California. Check out a map of Redwood Forest Locations for other Redwood parks nearby. During Thanksgiving weekend in 2009, we visited Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (trip report) and Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park (trip report), both of which are excellent Redwood parks close to Jedediah Smith.
Pictures: The entire album is here.
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From Beach to Fern Trail
To get back to Fern Trail, we had to do some bush-whacking and cross a bluff without getting our shoes wet. Finally, there was a steep muddy trail that led us into a canyon — we negotiated this section by holding on to branches available to us.
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Inside the Canyon — Fern Trail
We walked about a quarter of a mile inside a canyon. Fern grew all over its steep walls. We ambled over fallen trees and over branches that had been laid out for crossing.
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Posted in Hiking | Tagged fern trail, Hiking, hiking in redwoods, james irvine trail, miners ridge trail, prairie creek redwoods, prairie creek redwoods state park | Leave a Comment »
30 November, 2009 by Gurmeet Singh Manku
On 29 November 2009, I hiked with two friends (Anurup and Prasad) along the Damnation Creek Trail in Del Norte Redwoods State Park. This is a strenuous 4-mile hike that descends 1100 ft through old-growth redwoods into a small rocky beach. This hike is said to be the most scenic in Del Norte. Winters are excellent for hiking in Redwoods because the forest is lush green after rains and you are likely to find very few people on trails.
Park Information: Website — Google Map — List of Hikes
Trail Information: Details and Trail Map. Length: 4.0 miles. Elevation drop: 1170 ft.
Weather: 10-day forecast for Crescent City, CA.
Nearby Parks: Dave Baselt maintains an excellent website RedwoodHikes.com for hiking in various Redwood parks in California. Check out a map of Redwood Forest Locations for other Redwood parks nearby. During Thanksgiving weekend in 2009, we visited Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (trip report) and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (trip report), both of which are excellent Redwood parks close to Jedediah Smith.
Pictures: The entire album is here.
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We lose 1170 ft amid tall redwoods and green ferns everywhere.
The hike culminates in a small beach that offers excellent views:
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Posted in Hiking | Tagged damnation creek, damnation creek trail, del norte coast redwoods state park, del norte redwoods, Hiking, hiking in redwoods | Leave a Comment »