Calipidder

Calipidder.com offers trip reports, photographs, and gear advice for exploring California’s parks and remote backcountry on foot. Based in Silicon Valley, Calipidder.com is owned and written by me, Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd, a technology geek and backpacking addict. This site focuses primarily on backpacking, with a healthy dose of dayhiking, peak bagging, geocaching, photography, and miscellaneous other outdoor sports. 

Rebecca on Forester Pass, John Muir Trail, 2007

What is a Calipidder?

Calipidder started out as a  ’trail name’, and made for a convenient and easy to secure domain name when the time came. See here for more information about trail names. Mine comes about from my childhood history of getting so excited to come across wildlife or other items of interest on the trail, I’d often mispronounce the name of my object of interest. Once you’ve hiked with me, you’ll never pronouce ‘caterpillar’ the same.

What is your backpacking experience?
I’ve been backpacking since 2000 and am addicted to the Sierra Nevada. I try to spend as much time there as possible, whether it is on snowshoes in the thick of a winter snowstorm or deep in the high country and swimming in a remote lake in the middle of summer. My dream vacation would be to spend months hiking along the John Muir Trail, taking every opportunity to explore side trails, bag peaks, fish, and relax indefinitely at favorite camp spots. Although the Sierra is by far my favorite backpacking destination, I also really enjoy visiting the desert southwest and coastal areas.

I usually get out for several week-ish long trips a year, and many more weekends. I estimate that I spend 30-50 nights a year in my tent while backpacking; even more nights can be counted if car camping is included.

What is your photography experience?
I’m not a professional photographer, but I really like snapping lots of pictures when I’m in the backcountry, making a concious effort to try and capture the scenes as I see and feel them. I’ve collected a lot of these photos here. I like to think I generally do a good job capturing scenes that bring back fond and clear memories of the trail, but I leave the professional shots to more experienced photographers. It’s been fun to learn and improve my skills thoughout the years, and I can see it when I go back through the photos I’ve posted to Calipidder.com

I especially love to photograph wildflowers and have organized all of my wildflowers shots here. 

What camera do you use?
As a backpacker, weight is important to me. But, after several years of using point-and-shoot digital cameras I was frustrated with the lack of control over my shots. I’ve compromised and currently use a Nikon P5000 for most of my backpacking trips. The P5000 is a nice balance of manual control and weight/space efficiency. I can still carry it like I carry a compact point-and-shoot, but I have control over things like ISO, aperture, and shutter speed when I want it.

For photography-focused outings or non-backpacking trips, I use a  Nikon D90. My lens of choice is the Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR, which is incredibly flexible and most of the time eliminates the need of having to carry multiple lenses on trips.

What is the point of this website?
Several years ago, when I was getting into backpacking, I would obsessively search online and in books to find information about my destinations. I still do. I like to know and plan everything in as much detail as possible, and while useful, guide books don’t provide the level of detail or recent conditions reports that are often necessary. Online trip reports and photos have been a valuable resource for me for many years, and this site is my way of giving back to the outdoor community. I like to think that there are other obsessive people out there like me (acutally, I know it, since many of you have contacted me), and I’m just adding to the shared pool of knowledge.

Then why are some trip reports so vague?
Sometimes, especially with my visits to the Death Valley area, I visit locations that have historic and/or archaeological significance. I choose to protect some of these places by being intentionally vague as to their location. Sometimes this is due to my own choice, and sometimes it is because I promised whoever showed the site to me that I would keep it secret. I have no problem sharing this information with people I know and trust, but I don’t want to leave it out there for anyone who knows how to use Google to find.