New Wrinkles in Life

After two months on the job as a stay-at-home dad I have a newfound respect for parents that stay home and watch the kids. I had hopes of having time to work on my freelance work during Jo's downtimes, but that is few and far between. I didn't think I had any romantic notions of lots of personal time but my expectations have been adjusted.

I have truly cherished all the time I have been able to spend with Jo. However I am starting to get antsy. Antsy, wanting to find the time to look for more work be it full-time or freelance. Antsy to get to a place where I can contribute financially again to our family.

One aside, I have had time to work on my photography as anyone who frequents the site can atest. Now I hope that that creative energy will filter into my other creative interests.

I am also eager for Thanksgiving, the chance to get with family have embark on a new adventure either here in So Cal or elsewhere (we have settled on a location for Thanksgiving).

High Sierra Trail Trip Recap

Little over a year ago my wife Heidi, my father-in-law Doug and my friend Dennis were climbing White Mountain when we started talking about future adventures when we started discussing the High Sierra Trail. The trail starts in the western Sierras at Crescent Meadow and cuts across the range to the Whitney Portal in the east. The trail itself is about 50 miles long and connects with the John Muir/Pacific Crest Trail which takes you to the Whitney Portal topping the trip off at around 71 miles total.



Needless to say we couldn't get it out of our heads, so we made plans last fall to do the backpack. But as we got closer to the trip some of the faces on the trip changed. Shortly after we talked seriously about going on the trip we found out Heidi was pregnant with our first child, Josephine, so she had to drop out. Then Doug had to bow out because of work commitments. In their places my brother Andrew and Dennis' co-worker Steve joined. We also worked out a plan to swap cars with Heidi's Uncle Dave and his friend Jeff, who were on the High Sierra Trail as well but going the opposite direction as us. Thus making transportation much less complicated.



We embarked on Sunday August 30th finishing a day early September 4th due to bad weather. It was quite incredible seeing such a range of environments from the lush fern meadows in the west to the moon-like environment above the tree line near Mt. Whitney. I think the only criticism I have of the trip is we moved too quickly, needing to cover so much ground each day. We could have used two more days on the trail to take our time and enjoy the scenery a bit more. However I was able to get a good survey of the area and now have an idea of places I like to go back and visit.



My favorite places were Moraine Lake and Precipice Lake, hands down. Moraine was our stop the third night and was well away from all the crowds, and just picturesque. Precipice was merely a brief stop of a long day, but it was a phenomenal lake with such incredible colors. You'll see why when I post the pictures. Walking the Kern River Valley was incredible as well. And finishing the trip walking through all the amazing granite cliffs was icing on the cake.



We ended the trip early because of sleet and lightning atop Mount Whitney the day we were climbing it. It was quite auspicious being 14,000 feet up sea level on the face of a mountain and hearing a thunder-crack in the midst of snow. It was a bit of a disappointment but at the same time now we have a great story of how we ended the trip.



It was quite a trip. And now I can say I have walked the complete High Sierra Trail. I will be posting photos from the trip on the photo blog and eventually in the best photos in the media section of the site. A larger sample of photos will also be on my Flickr account. Hope you enjoy them as much I did taking them. In the meantime enjoy these links.

Map of our intended itinerary

Flickr photo set

National Park info on the High Sierra Trail

The Latest and Greatest Dubland

Welcome to the latest version of Dubland. The biggest difference you will notice beyond the new look and feel is I have now implemented a fullfledged photoblog in the "daily photo" section. All the old dailyphoto posts will remain on my blog but all future dailyphoto posts will now be on the photo blog. The blog section will go back be being a traditional blog. I probably won't be adding daily posts, ideally a couple of posts per week.

Still trying to iron out all the kinks in the Media section so bear with me.

Changes Coming

I am in the midst of changing the site, so the site might act a little buggy the next couple of days. I should also have the new High Sierra Trail pictures when the switch is all done.

B Roll: Sequoias in Profile

New Army Pass: A Look Back

Taken in 2007.

Trunk Texture

Taken in 2007

Cottonwood Lakes at Sunrise

Framed Sequoia

Tree Lichen

Archived photo from 2007

B Roll: Fallen Log

Archived photo from 2007

B Roll: Sequoia

Fire Scars

Archived photos from May 2007.

Among Giants

Some more archived photos from 2007. This week ended up far busier than I had envisioned. Hopefully I will have some fresh photos for next week.

Branches at Dawn

Another archived photo, taken 9/07 at the Cottonwood Lakes.

High Sierra Dreaming

As I continue to get ready for my High Sierra Trail trip I thought I would share some past Sierra experiences. This photo was taken during a trip Heidi and I did 2 years ago up to the Cottonwood Lakes and Mount Langley.

Sign It With an S

Sign seen on the Main Street of Virginia City.

B Roll: Bricks Abound

B Roll: Plethora of Power Lines

Being an older town, it's always interesting to see how technologies are brought in.

Bodie, Mono, and What-not

Unfortunately these shots were taken as we were passing through. Got to both places too late in the day, and seeing how this wasn't a photo trip per se, we weren't able to linger. Definitely going to come back up here to spend more time.

Virginia City: Intriguing Gutter

Highlands: Juniper in the Wind

A couple of long exposures of a juniper tree at sunset.

Streets of Virginia City

A brief look at a popular tourist destination in Nevada. Didn't see Hoss or Little Joe while we were there.

Sunset Through the Smoke

Sunset over Reno with smoke from a fire in the Sacramento Fire according to the news.

B Roll: No Parking

Some close up pictures of Virginia City.

B Roll: Rusty

A little late but here's Saturday's photos.

Reno at Sunrise

High Sierra Trail: Looking Ahead

Looking back images like these (taken in 2007) get me more and more excited to get back to the Sierras. In a couple of weeks I will be embarking on a trek through the High Sierra Trail which spans the Sierras east to west starting at Crescent Meadow (above) in Sequoia National Park and ends at the Whitney Portal 82 miles later.

The Call of the Open Road

The above photo is an archived photo from March 2008 on Highway 190 between Death Valley and Lone Pine.

As the summer is winding down I am looking forward to a couple of trips up in the mountains. I feel like I have been idle way too long, and can't wait to get out on the road again.

Fullerton Loop: Fence Posts

Fullerton Loop: Fence Line

B Roll: Last of the San Gorgonio Pics

Here's the last of the San Gorgonio photos. Monday it will be back to the Fullerton Loop.

View From the Top of San Gorgonio

A few select images from the summit of San Gorgonio, including a shot of San Jacinto.