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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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Hiking the Rush Creek Trail 2017
Rush Creek Trail – “Living up to its name!” Monday, June 5th, 2017 Most days, the idea of a Monday morning spawns images of another dreadful work week. For me however, It would be a very different Monday. I was fortunate enough to wake up on in the Eastern Sierra Nevada with a beautiful destination to venture to. I have been visiting the June Lake Loop for well over a decade, but never actually hiked the trails that are in and around this lovely region. I was going to change that by taking on the Rush Creek Trail to Agnew Lake. “The Starship hits up the June Lake Loop for another glorious Eastern…
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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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Southwest 2015 – Journey Into the Narrows of Zion
Saturday, December 12th, 2015 When the alarm went off this morning, we wasted no time in getting breakfast, showering up, and gathering all our camera gear for today’s adventure. This was not the typical day of hiking or photo venturing, it was an epic voyage into the Narrows of Zion. Julia was excited and so was I. Once we had all our stuff together, we drove to the Zion Adventure Company to get a crash course on the Narrows including navigation and what to do in case the water level rises suddenly due to a flash flood. After watching the short video brief, we got all our rental gear and suited…
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Southwest 2015 – Rock Piles and Night Trains
Friday, December 4th, 2015 It was a great friday morning and we slept in just a bit too much. We were definitely feeling the exhaustion catching up with us so getting a couple of extra hours of sleep today was very much needed. Julia and I grabbed some greek yogurt with walnuts and honey for a quick breakfast and then got ready for the day. We didn’t have a particular destination locked in for today so we decided to visit Red Rock Crossing in Sedona again to see what else we could shoot since last time felt a bit rushed. Once our gear was loaded into the Starship, we plugged…
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Mini Venture – Minor Earth, Major Sky
Thursday, April 7th, 2016 I’ve been living in the Mojave over 25 years now and it’s nothing new to those who know me that when a Flash Flood Alert is in effect, it’s time for me to take my diesel out to play. Flash Floods are not very common out here so when they do happen it’s usually accompanied by some very gorgeous looking skies and that is always worth hauling along a bag of camera gear for. My gut feeling told me to head out to the El Mirage region and it did not disappoint! The skies were incredibly photogenic and the water that flooded Mojave Road was super…
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Leap Day Adventure
Monday, February 29th, 2016 Of all the Leap Days that have come and gone in my life, I felt that it was about time to start doing something special on that rare day that only appears on the calendar every four years. There were many ideas going through my head about where I could possibly go including some places I had already been to, but that would not work. Today had to be about something “New” and “Unexplored” so I decided that I could head back to Joshua Tree National Park and visit the Hall of Horrors and the Barker Dam loop hike as a follow up after that. I had recently been to Joshua…
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Conquering Half Dome
“Taking on one serious monster of a hike!” Friday, July 17th, 2015 This trip was a long time coming. Going all the way back to March 2015 when my friend Sandy and I decided to apply for the Yosemite Lottery to attain a permit to hike the cables up to Half Dome. The lottery system was implemented in 2012 to limit the amount of foot traffic on the cables. A maximum of 300 hikers are allowed (about 225 day hikers and 75 backpackers) each day on the Half Dome Trail beyond the base of the Sub Dome. Two separate fees are collected. The first fee, which is charged at the…
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Relaxing Weekend Before Half Dome
Waddell Beach, CA Sunday, July 12th, 2015 This weekend I decided to take a break from all the training hikes that I had been enduring over the last few months in preparation of Half Dome. Saturday morning, my personal trainer invited me to join him on a morning run at the local high school track, something I had not done in over 20 years. I was a bit shocked that I was able to keep a steady 8 minute mile pace for 2.5 miles, but my calves were starting to cramp after that so I just walked for a bit. Afterward, my trainer and I hit the Gym to do…
