Come the start of April I plan to hike in and camp near the base of Mt. Adams, then hopefully summit the following day. This will be the first of many overnight stays on or near mountains and I am eager to see how my gear holds up. The prospect of spring alpine climbing has me very excited, I just hope that the snow sticks around late into the season. My other intended seasonal climbs include Oregon’s central cascades and the Wallowa mountains.
This is Munra Point’s ridge line, as seen from just below the summit on January 28, 2010 a little after 9pm. I am uncertain as to what the phenomenon is considered when a halo is seen around the moon, but believe it may have to do with ice crystals in the sky. At any rate I’m pretty sure ice crystals were forming around my face during this capture.
Oregon’s bright and warm weather last week brought about a change in plans, resulting in moving forward with a proposed climb somewhat early. My brother Isaac and I decided on a bit of a whim, but with a lot of prior planning involved as well, that we would attempt to summit Mt. Hood on Sunday, February 21. Included are a few images from our climb and a link to an extensive trip report I wrote, plus several additional high resolution photos. It was an experience of a lifetime and I look forward to replacing it as my favorite climb with our next mountaineering adventure.
My Trip Report on Summit Post: http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/599397/Old-Chute-2010-Winter-Ascent.html
Pictured above is Jenifur Ross atop Pyramid Rock within the Silver Star Mountain range in Washington. Behind her is Mt. Hood, which is where I will be, attempting to summit, in 4 hours.
Monday was very sunny and warm in Portland and I did not want to leave it behind, but my friends Jenifur and Silke (pictured in these two photos) convinced me we needed to stick to our plan of spending a day at the coast. After driving through a bit of high clouds and thick fog along the coast range we popped out onto sunny cliffs above the great Pacific. Our first stop was Ecola State Park in Canon Beach where, much to my delight, we spent most of our time lounging in the sun. It can be easy to forget that this is why I opt to live in Oregon when much of the winter is gloomy.
Last Friday my brother, Silke, Jenifur and myself did a little snowshoe outing above Timberline lodge on Mt. Hood. We were also out to test how well our pro shell jackets and pants would hold up in the harsh late evening conditions. Much to my delight everything worked out great. We went out again two days later and tried out our gear in even worse whiteout conditions and everything still worked flawlessly. So the test is complete and the training in progress; I can hardly wait to climb up to the summit next month.
The wild flowers near its summit make Dog Mountain highly sought after in the spring months, and thus crowded, but while hiking the other day we encountered only three climbers. During the winter season it is a lot quieter and allows one time to reflect on the scenery, even if it isn’t as vibrant, and there is a lot of mood in the surrounding skies. In these photos my old friend Jaron Griffin studies the green moss covered oak and douglas fir trees.
About one year ago I quite possibly had the best job to date. I was first assistant and associate photographer primarily shooting Tommy Hilfiger product at Bulb Studio. At that time the crew consisted of owner Burk Jackson, photographer in chief/director Chad Boutin, two other assistants, Zac Goodwin and Robert Weller, and two stylists, Kevin Quirk and Ali Megan. Due to the nature of the business and, more so at fault, the economy I now no longer hold that position. I remain in contact with the owner, Burk Jackson, and photographer in chief, Chad Boutin and occasionally do a little side work assisting for them. Like I said, they were all the best and I miss being a part of that family that I continue to hold in the highest regard. Below is a behind the scenes look at one of our final productions as a team. The video was shot by friends of the studio, Darris Hurst and Cody Wheeler of 245 Media.
Lately I wish I could muster up the strength to get out with friends and capture some neat wilderness adventure photography, but to be honest Oregon’s winter weather is beginning to take it’s toll on me. My mountainous motivation is far from a lost cause, however, and I will certainly be out and photographing in the snow as soon as the rain stops. For now I leave you with a couple of “lazy” shots taken in my room of Jenifur Ross.
Dever-Conner’s been something in the making since last summer. We spent less than a day on both pre production and filming, but once it came time to focus on post production the project fell on the back burner. A lot of this was due to thinking I needed to film additional scenes in order to create a cohesive presentation. However, once I reopened the file a couple of days ago I soon realized that this short film had all the basic pieces, I simply needed to play around with the time line, smooth out the audio and record a little voice over. Dever-Conner is planned to become a monthly online series that will be hosted on it’s own site.
Dever-Conner - Episode 01: Rated R for Language: