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To the Poppy Fields or Bust!
“On the Edge of the Mojave Desert is a place of Momentary Vibrance. “ Saturday, April 15th 2021After being pummeled by numerous atmospheric rivers, California has been mostly pushed out of it’s persistent drought status. With the fall of so much rain, comes the after effects in the western most regions of the Mojave Desert. A super bloom of wildflowers that Jenny and I would not allow ourselves to miss out on. The California Poppy was the main attraction at this location. There were acres and acres of them splashed along the hills and open fields along with a few other wildflowers. The saturation of color was almost uncanny and…
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Mojave Wildflowers 2019
“The Mojave Desert gets a Yellow Ocean for the season” Saturday, March 23rd 2019 Today I took a drive into the massive desert expanse between Victorville and Palmdale. I had known from years ago that certain patches of the desert would become covered in beautiful, vibrant clusters of the tiniest yellow flowers. The clusters were scattered however and due to the recent barrage of drought that California had suffered, they were not very common. This year was very different, with all the snow and rain that had pummeled the state in the last 3 months, I had a suspicion that the wildflower clusters would be back, but I never imagined…
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Journey to Havasu Falls 2018
“Taking The Long Way Down With 40+ Pound Packs” DAY 01 Friday, April 20th, 2018 Several months ago, my excellent girlfriend and amazing travel partner, Jenn, invited me to join her and her friend Karin on a journey to Havasu Falls. I had only ever read articles about that place and the images were like something out of a dream. Beautiful aquamarine colors only seen in the most tropic of settings flowed deep at the bottom of a canyon through one of the most arid desert regions in the American West. The canyon is part of the Grand Canyon which in turn is a part of the Colorado River basin…
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The Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017
One Gigantic Northbound Journey - "Totality Awesome!" Sunday, August 20th, 2017. For the last six months, I have been studying and researching all available information regarding the total solar eclipse that was
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Hiking the Convict Lake Trail 2017
Journey to a Natural Alpine Lake – “Convict Lake” Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 It’s no secret that I am absolutely in love with California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada so naturally I have added yet another venture blog from that region. With the weather getting a lot warmer in the late Spring, the immense snowpack that graced this beautiful granite range has started to melt at a furious rate. Convict Lake was looking a whole lot different than it was just a few months back during a Wintery Spring in the Eastern Sierra 2017. After enjoying a hike at June Lake’s Rush Creek Trail just the other day, I felt that it…
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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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The Towers of South Tufa 2017
How much are they? – “They’re tufa one!” Tuesday, June 6th, 2017 After having spent the previous day Hiking the Rush Creek Trail, I wanted to spend a little time at an old favorite place of mine, South Tufa. I have been visiting this location since 2007 and it never gets old. The only thing I would be doing different this time is actually hanging around at sunset rather than the pre dawn visits I have made to this place. Golden hour at South Tufa would definitely have some pretty spectacular lighting results especially when shooting with a circular polarizer. As always, I had all my gear in hand and…
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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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Spring Equinox at Death Valley 2017
The First Day of Spring in Death Valley – “97ºF and getting hotter!” Monday, March 20th, 2017 Every year, my best friend and I would get together and go on an epic photo venture, but due to extremely difficult times, 15 months had managed to pass since we last traveled together and so we both decided to put a stop to this no matter what. One day before the Spring Equinox of 2017, I picked up the lovely Miss Julia Starr at McCarran International Airport in Vegas. We were both extremely excited to see each other again and made the preparations for the days to follow. We set off on…
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Lone Pine Winter Storm 2017 – Chapter 03
DAY 04 – “That morning light on high sierra granite.” Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 I woke up at 6 AM again on the nose and took a quick look outside to see what the weather was like. It was mostly clear and the Eastern Sierra peaks where definitely in view. I geared up fast and loaded everything into the Starship. I knew that I had to get out to a decent point along Whitney Portal Road if I was going to capture some Mt. Whitney alpenglow. Once it begins, good alpenglow will only last from five to eight minutes tops and the rose-pink color then becomes typical daylight. The sun had…
