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Hunting the Rare Snow Plant 2018
“In search of a rare, red, plant hiding in the woods!” Saturday, May 26th, 2018 During a hike along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) a few days ago with my mom, I spotted an extremely vivid plant growing out or the pine needles littered all over the forest floor. The elevation where I discovered this strange plant was 7,452 feet (2,271 m). There were no others like it in the vicinity, so I snapped a few reference photos with my iPhone 6s camera and decided to make an effort to return within a few days. I learned that the strange plant is referred to as a “Snow Plant” or “Snow…
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Snowblast in the Mojave Desert 2018
An Evermore Rare Event in the Mojave Desert – “Snow!” Tuesday, February 27th, 2018 The year of 2018 started with a rather large period of hot spells and dryness. The approaching storms that encroached on the Mojave Desert always managed to dissolve before getting the opportunity to quench the Mojave’s insatiable thirst. The transverse range that separates the desert from the coastal valleys is mostly to blame for this as it creates what is referred to as a “rain shadow”. Now, I am not a meteorologist by any means, but I do have a very fundamental knowledge of how it works in this area seeing as how I have experienced…
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The Tokopah Valley Trail 2017
Voyage into the High Sierra – “Camping at 7,000ft is awesome!” Saturday, June 10th, 2017 The Sequoia National Forest is a place that I had visited very briefly one day in 2007 and have been wanting to return ever since then. I got my opportunity to fulfill that wish when a good friend of mine invited me on a last minute venture to go camping with him in the Western part of the High Sierra. The drive would rival some of my recent Eastern Sierra travels in terms of distance and time. My buddy Richard had reserved a place at the Lodgepole Campground in the Sequoia National Forest which from…
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Wintery Spring in the Eastern Sierra 2017
Cruising the 395 from Lone Pine to Mammoth – “Allergies be gone!” Tuesday, March 21st, 2017 With the winds blowing strong and the pollen abound, my allergies were wreaking havoc on my well being, but we still pushed on with the day. It was Julia’s first time visiting this grand region again since our last Eastern Sierra romp in 2014. I felt bad because I was dealing with headache’s shortness of breath, and wanting to blackout which did not make me the sort of company you’d want to have around on a trip like this. Despite all my symptoms, I was determined to help show her a good time today. We had started…
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Southwest 2015 – Zion, Images of a Winter Dreamland
Monday, December 14th, 2015 Julia and I awoke on what would be our very last day in the town of Springdale. For the last few days, we waited patiently for a snow storm to hit that we had been hearing about all week long, but it never came, that is until we looked out the window this morning. It was snowing and the mountains were covered in it! This seriously could not have been better timed. Rather than pack up, check out, and go home, we stayed for the day and spent our last hours here exploring through a new snow covered Zion. With our camera gear mounted up and…
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Southwest 2015 – Lazy Sunday at the Virgin River
Sunday, December 13th, 2015 Julia and I woke up super late today. We were very sore from all the resistance hiking through The Narrows yesterday so today was definitely going to be a lazy Sunday for us. Our knees were aching, but our attitudes remained positive as we slowly made our way out of the hotel and on to another small venture for the day. We didn’t want anything too crazy, so we settled on a casual walk along the Virgin River just south of the main entrance to the park. It was practically lunch, so we grabbed a quick bite at Cafe Soleil since it would be our last…
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Mini Venture – Big Bear Winter Drive
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016 Today I wanted to get out and renew my Annual National Parks Pass for 2016 which meant I was going on a winter drive to get a new one. One of the great benefits of living in the Mojave Desert is knowing how close it borders several of California’s mountain ranges, particularly the San Bernardino mountain range. During the winter, this becomes one of my favorite local mountain destinations. It is home to many beautiful mountains communities including the popular city of Big Bear. The drive there is only an hour via Highway 18 from Victorville and in the winter, it can often be a pretty…
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Winter in Spring
MOJAVE DESERT Friday, May 8th, 2015 After taking a few days off from work, I traveled back to the Mojave Desert to spend some quality time with my parents. It had been over 4 months since I last seen them over the holidays, so this was very much needed. When I arrived, there was a very powerful wind blowing through the entire High Desert region and by the next day, the local mountains were being capped by clouds attempting to roll over the tops and on occasion you could see what appeared to be snow hiding on the partially hidden peaks. The weather in the desert was in the low…
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Eastern Sierra New Year 2015
Wednesday, December 31st, 2014 DAY 01: “Victorville to Lone Pine, CA” On December 31st 2014, I made a last minute decision to hit the Eastern Sierra Nevadas yet again. My mission was to get a lot of pick up shots that I may have missed on my last great adventure there with the talented Julia Starr. Our previous excursion took us on a Giant Eastern Sierra Photo Venture for seven days and resulted in the biggest blog entry to date. Although I had the time of my life with Julia, unfortunately I would be flying solo on this trip. “The Starship was ready to hit up some serious highway travel.”…
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Giant Eastern Sierra Photo Venture 2014
MOJAVE DESERT, CA Saturday, November 29th, 201 Near the end of 2014, Julia Starr and I set off on a stock photo adventure of grand proportions to California’s beautiful Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains via HWY 395 from the Mojave Desert. This is the longest road trip that we have shared to date. Armed with a considerable array of photography equipment, this trip would definitely go down as one of the great ones. This adventure had been 4 months in the works! I have a real knack for planning these sorts of trips during times of inclement weather which is precisely what I look for. As far as photography goes, the…
