Corner of the World Part 2

The words of the men on the beach rang in my head. From the moment I left, I let the thoughts affect me and they’re still with me as I stand in this space. I walked to the tree trunk with its sign, then…

The Corner of the World

I ventured west on 101 past Port Angeles, across the Elwah River, down a big hill and further into wild lands. I crossed the Sol Duc River at least four times before making the last turn to the coast. It’s the far northwest corner…

Following Ansel’s Path

Way back in 1989, I had to declare a major in college. I toyed with an architecture major, but the prof for the prerequisite: History of Cities was horrific and scared me from that path. I considered math (very briefly) before settling on Fine…

Twenty Four Hour Escape

Written Sunday morning at 5:40 am, after dawn, before the sun crawled out from behind Cascade ridges, during a 24-hour escape from regular life. I had a mouse on my head last night. I had just faded to sleep with the delightfully wild white…

Sunset at the Grand Canyon

Let it be known that if you catch a 5:20 am flight out of Seattle, you can shoot sunset at the Grand Canyon that same day. Even when you have 23 teenagers in tow. That’s what I did last month. I chaperoned a school…

Photographer’s Climb

“You see that saddle over there? That’s where we’re going.” Note the knob on the left (mostly un-named on trail maps) and the peak on the right (Mt Ruth, 7115 feet elevation) as well as the tiny tuft of trees you can see in the middle….

Planning for Car Camping

The camping season brings forth luscious images of swinging in a hammock under a huge tree, with a roaring campfire, s’mores and the comfy, cozy tent, does it not? Careless, lazy days out in the wilderness: that’s camping. However, I am about to leave…

Camp Exercises

The first family camp of the season is always an exercise in what we forgot. This year our long weekend on Orcas Island had a few extra quirks, namely that we brought a boat. We have a new canoe-kayak hybrid beast because my family…