Highway 25 at Dusk

HIghway 25 at Dusk, originally uploaded by dubland.

I recently added a group of old photos from Pinnacles National Monument and King City. To see the full set click here http://www.flickr.com/photos/dubland/sets/72157631598688894/with/8014215183/

Looking Ahead to Spring

Jackson Bentley: What attracts you personally to the desert?
T.E. Lawrence: It's clean.

-Lawrence of Arabia

Every year around this time I get the itch. The itch to ditch the city for a bit and experience the outdoors again. Now that the cold and the rains have passed (mostly) I am anxious to go out to the desert and experience the first signs of spring. So in about two weeks Heidi and I are taking Jo on her first camping trip to Death Valley one of our favorite places in the world. Some people think I'm nuts, but I find it quite invigorating wandering in the desert. I find it's a great place to go get away from everything and clean out all the mental cobwebs. This year, especially, I have felt a craving to get away and recharge. To go somewhere where there is no one to talk to, no cell reception, or any other distractions that crop up daily here. And most importantly, get a chance to see sights like this.



In other news around Dubland I managed to carve out some time yesterday and today to work on some of my own work. Mostly tidying up Dubland and working on a couple bigger personal projects. I would love to say I could have something from these projects to post on the site but that would be very ambitious at the current state of said projects. Needless to say this weekend has re-energized my creative juices and I want to keep things rolling. I am also inching closer to creating an email newsletter highlighting my latest work on the web site. I should have more details and an actual sign-up form in the coming weeks.

End of Hiatus

It's been awhile. The past couple of months have been a bit overwhelming. Since Thanksgiving we've sold our place, moved in with my in-laws, sold my truck, bought a Pathfinder. And on top of that celebrated Christmas with both sides of our family. We did make sure to arrange the move well after Christmas. But the whole process has wiped me out. I still am trying to make the adjustment to our new arrangements. Not to say that things are bad, my in-laws have been great and very supportive of us. Just taking some getting used to.

But now the dust is starting to settle and it's time to move on. You will notice a few tweaks to the web site. And expect some more in the near future. Like an email newsletter, and more integration with my Etsy page. I also aim to post to the the blog, here, at least once a week.

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