Sky Meadows Hike is more of a stroll than an actual hike. Hiking Upward has this rated difficulty at 2 out of 5 and 5 out 5 for views. Normally I would disagree with with the difficulty level set by Hiking Upwards, but this time I would have to disagree with the 5 out 5 views rating. I would give this hike perhaps a 2 out 5, considering the views I’ve seen thus far this summer, this does not rate very high for me.

So now that I got out of the way, Sky Meadows Hike is a very nice family hike and pet friendly. I carried the usual gear 3L CamelBak Ambush and Canon DSLR, all in all probably weighs in 15lbs, which is a very light pack. The weather was getting toasty, not as hot as it could be, but enough to get a good sweat going from the heat. Sky Meadows Hike itself was very easy, numerous people were on this hike, so in terms of solitude this gets 1 out 5 for sure (good call HikingUpward.com)

The largest stream on the hike, also the nicest. There was few other smaller streams, such as the photo below and the water was cool and fresh. Tito ended up stomping the living daylights out of one stream, he was behaving badly during this hike. He must have woken up on the wrong side of his crate because he was not happy for some reason, probably the heat.

I just caught a snap shot of this lovely little mushroom before Tito decide to stomp on that as well.

This is probably the last hike with my dog this summer. The temperature is hovering around 85F (30C) and he doesn’t do very well in the heat. He struggled quite a bit during the hike and he didn’t like the heat one bit. The trail wasn’t very difficult and he normally gets pissed when I lag behind, this time he was very slow. The summer is only going to get hotter (95F / 35 C ) and he’ll have to stay home until Fall when the weather is nice again.

Total Distance: 13.51 km (8.4 mi)
Total Time: 3:54:14
Moving Time: 3:30:12
Average Speed: 3.49 km/h (2.2 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 5.70 km/h (3.5 mi/h)
Max Speed: 14.51 km/h (9.0 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 210 m (690 ft)
Max Elevation: 276 m (906 ft)
Elevation Gain: 278 m (912 ft)
Max Grade: 0 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Sat May 21 15:01:40 EDT 2011
Activity type: – Trail Hiking

COX FARMS

After the hike, Tito and I stopped by a local farm to pick up some fresh fruits and vegetables. I was hoping he would behave around the farm animals and for the most part he did. Except when the baby goats (kids) came near him, he basically started barking from excitement, scaring them away. I had to put him back in the car while I took photos of the animals because he couldn’t behave himself and acted like a complete barbarian.

Note: All the photos on this post were taken with a Sigma 30mm f1.4 EX DC HSM lens, that I recently acquired. I was actually quite pleased with the performance for the most part. I think I got lucky and picked up a sharp copy of this lens, although I was debating whether to get this or a Canon 35mm f1.4 L. After much research, I settled for the Sigma and honestly I couldn’t be happier with my choice. I rented the EF 35L a couple of weekends instead of dropping $1,500 USD on it and like most Canon lenses it didn’t really blow me away. In terms of image quality, the Canon was better, but not $1,000 better to me. Let me know your thoughts or experience.

http://yzblog.hu Yz

love that triptych on the top, great idea
Doug Hickok

Wonderful series. I love this area. The tryptic is beautiful.
http://despitestraightlines.com/ DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES

I’m pleased that you are happy with the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, and there’s a wonderful depth of focus and detail in so many of these frames. My experience with third party lenses from Sigma and Tamron sadly, has lead me to shy away from third party these days. I began forty years ago in the film days with Nikkor primes, fast pro glass of f/2.8 or less, and used those up to the dawn of the digital age when I swapped over. I tried third party lenses on my DX Nikon bodies but always had very mixed success. Too soft, and optically poor with cheaper mechanisms and build quality, and something of a compromise compared to he more expensive Nikons.
I tried third party on my D300 and D90 and sold them due to their flaws and weaknesses, and now with the full frame D700 I have gone back to my roots and scrimped and saved every penny to equip myself with fast f/2.8 pro Nikkors and wonderfully sharp primes, along with an old 1988 film lens that I love. The lure of the price on third party lenses always tempts me, but ultimately I now save those extra months, do the overtime and wait until I can get the Nikkors I am after.
These frames from the Sigma are terrific, and the depth of focus and quality look awesome, so I’d say you got a bargain and struck lucky quality control wise with a really swet lens that will serve you well. Poor Tito, suffering in the heat, seems sad that he won’t be able to accompany you on subsequent hikes, but at least the mushrooms will be saved from his tantrums ha ha. A terrifc and very interesting post. You must be incredibly fit with these hikes.

http://www.exposedpla.net NR | ExPla.net

You’re right, Sadly Sigma is not know for their quality control. I was very much hesitant to pull the trigger on this lens. I bought it locally so that if I had any focusing issues, I could just take the lens back for an immediate replacement instead of having to ship it off to some far away land and waiting 3 weeks for a damn lens. But the day I got the lens, I put it through a battery of focus testing to make sure I had a good copy and to my relief, I picked up a good one.

The only thing I can really tell a big difference between this and the Canon 35mm L is that this lens shows more color fringing in similar situations where the Canon would outperform it. But in terms of focus speed, DoF (bokeh) and contrast, the Sigma is about 90% of what the 35L is, at 1/3 of the price. I suppose if that extra 10% performance is worth the 66% premium, well that’s up to the individual.

I think Nikkor lenses in general are more expensive than most of the Canon counterparts or third part equivalent. I use a Nikon D3 here at work and I can honestly say, it’s probably the best camera I’ve ever used. We use it for evidence tracking and the clarity and performance of the D3 paired with Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 or my favorite lens from Nikon the 24-70mm f2.8 is just simply awesome. Almost makes me want to shoot a Nikon…almost..

http://www.ottokphotography.com/ Otto K.

nice shots in the meadows. the triptych is well done.
http://amatterofhowyouseeit.com/ Kala

It looks to be a lovely place for a hike, albeit crowded (I don’t like trails with lots of people myself.) The little mushroom is adorable – too bad it got stepped on!

http://www.exposedpla.net NR | ExPla.net

The trail was extremely easy and the easy ones are always busy . The mushroom’s time started ticking when Tito stepped in the park

Earl

It appears to be a very relaxing walk, perhaps not an especially exciting or challenging hike but with it’s own beauty. Who could blame Tito…those pesky little goats probably started it.

http://www.exposedpla.net NR | ExPla.net

The goats were awesome! But you’re right though they were very needy lol!

http://despitestraightlines.com/ DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES

I try never to inflame the Canon Vs Nikon debates, but being a Nikon man for forty years now, I am naturally biased and believe that they are the finest cameras and lenses made. I much prefer the usability and ergonomics of Nikon, they are laid out so beautifully and the quality of materials used is second to none. I like Nikon’s philosophy for quality and size of each pixel, alowing low light usability rather than Canon who chase the pixel count at a cost. Nikkor lenses also, in my opinion are the finest optically, and saving up for the 14-24mm f/2.8 and 24-70mm f/2.8 pro lenses was the best thing I ever did. Nothing comes even remotely close to them for speed and consistent quality, along with the Nikkor primes that are fast and accurate in all situations. The 14-24 is so amazing that Canon users buy adapters so that they can fit the lens to thier cameras.
I plumped for the D700 over the D3 as it offers the same sensor but additional features, and also over the D3s because I do not shoot video and double the price for better low light capabilities did not float my boat.. ha ha. My dream camera is the D3x as Landscape is my favoured format, but at £5,000, and at a sacrifice of low light capabilities due to smaller pixels at 24.5MP, it does not warrant the enormous amount of extra cash I’d need to raise over my D700.
I learned way back in my film days that it’s prudent to spend as much as you can on the best glass that you can afford, rather than the camera body as the glass is ultimately the limiting factor. There are naturally exceptions, and I’ve seen some bad frames taken with the finest glass and vice versa, it still comes down to the skill and eye of the photographer, and a good photographer can make poor equipment work. There is always that analogy of the Japanese golfers we oftren see in the UK, dressed in a thousand dollars worth of designer gear and the finest hand made gold clubs and bags, and yet they cannot play the game! So if I win the lottery it’ll be a Nikon D3x and 70-200 f/2.8, 35mm f/1.4, 24mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.4 to accompany my current pro lenses…… hey a man can dream can’t he.. Nice talking with you, Nik.

http://www.exposedpla.net NR | ExPla.net

That’s crazy that you have the exact same two lenses I use for work! I do agree with you about the camera body, glass is where money should be spent. Camera bodies are updated every year now and glass takes a decade sometime to update the great ones.

I’m not a huge Canon fan, although I use their gear because it suits my needs and are very versatile in terms of functionality and ergo. I don’t like how Canon has saturated the market with so many overlapping cameras that are priced 100-200 dollars of each other and released in almost a frenzy for the consumer. My preferred gear is close to yours, 24mm, 35mm, 85mm and 135mm to sub for the 70-200 zoom, in a full frame.

http://twitter.com/rolero54 rolero54

very nice photo!
http://sarahenicephotography.com/ Sarah Nice

Poor Tito.. I understand though. My Rascal never behaves in the heat. He acts as if he’s never been taken out of the house. Max is pretty chill but I’m convinced it’s because he’s getting old. Border collies are generally hyper, so it’s rare that we found two that are calm enough in the house. Pretty shots. As always, me and my biased self loves Virginia. Glad you enjoyed your hike. ; )

http://www.exposedpla.net NR | ExPla.net

ello Sarah! I would love to have two dogs as well, but unfortunately I don’t have time for two. My dog is a handful for me now and he’s as chill as can be.

Virginia is a beautiful state no doubt , but I live in Northern Virginia, which is nothing like the rest of VA!

Sky Meadows Hike

COX FARMS

Posted by N. Rosales

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