Yeti Pumpkin!

Went through a few sketches, brain storming, and inter-web inspiration.... Final random idea... A Yeti! Must have been subconsciously channeling my inner love for winter and my bike.

BD Ski Swap

So you want to sell something at the BD swap? Do you like dawn patrols?

After waking up 3 days a week at 5am for bootcamp, it didn't sound too bad. Pip and I arrived at 5:50am to set up shop and hang out in the dark for the next hour and a half.

It's great to see your old gear go to a good new home, and see someone else get stoked out on a budget. It's also great to see all your ski friends before the snow flies.

And speaking of snow.... the forecasted rain came blowing through, and we had to pack up early. But when the clouds lifted there was a fresh coat of white paint in the mountains. (I am hoping it melts or just keeps puking until May so we can avoid those rotten, persistent weak layers that have plagued us the last few years).

After bailing early from the rain, Pip and I joined Angeli and Ashley for lunch at Ruth's. SO GREAT! Happy Saturday!

Cover spotted on newstands!

SO EXCITED to announce that Backcountry Magazine (no relation to Backcountry.com) has chosen my shot of Tanya Christensen for their October 2010 cover! And it's officially been spotted on the newstands (in good company I might add! Of course I'm talking about Shotgun News and Bowhunter! No definitely not, that's a lie.)

Featured in the Red Bull Illume Photobook!

Look what the DHL guy dropped off today! (Hmmm....who uses DHL? hmm... it must be from Europe!)

Red Bull recently released a limited edition photobook highlighting the top 250 semi-finalist photos from the 2010 Red Bull Illume Photo Quest. Check the spirit category for a photo from yours truly.

And if you're interested in your own copy (sorry if you wanted number 262, that one's mine!) check out the Red Bull Illume website for more info (and to check out all of the other truly amazing images that were submitted!)

"Buried Treasure" in the desert

The southern Utah desert (and the northern for that matter) are chock full of what I call "buried treasure." It's not really buried, but on the surface and from a distance you just see hot, dry, dusty desert. But as soon as you take the time to enter a canyon you find playgrounds, lush greenery, and/or a water paradise. It's the kind of place that corporations try to model their waterparks after. But it's real and it's not full of chlorine and the smell of people frying their skin.


So here I am again, so fortunate to shoot photos in this beautiful environment.

Here is the obligatory self portrait (and I am pretty sure Hannah and Kyle are shooting their own self portrait in the background!)




A beautiful waterfall (never jump! A broken ankle in a place like this is the worst idea ever). We had a nice little corridor to scoot around to the side.

It's amazing to think about the forces of nature that created this waterfall. I'm pretty sure it's just a pile of debris that was flushed down in a flash flood and got stuck at this extra skinny corridor with sediment and more debris piling in behind it until the top leveled off. I could be wrong though... I'm no scientist. ;)

Still hiking on day one. We did have a small panic in the name of flash flood danger. The danger rating was low, but we heard thunder just after our lunch break, and then a few raindrops, so we decided to book it straight to camp (at the end of a good section with many "safe" places of high ground).





A nice spacious campsite for our group of 9.









We were hoping the water level would be high enough to float our packs on day two, or possibly float ourselves so we brought some super cheap tubes along for fun. It was a float-failure for most of us, but who cares, the scenery was AMAZING and the bright green donut colors just pop so nicely in the relative dark at the bottom of this canyon.


Although Hannah did find the right combo for the ultimate "lazy" river set-up. Nice view from there!

Bicycles, how do I love thee?

Biking is my spring-summer-fall love. How fortunate I am to take 3 days and shoot mountain biking in my favorite place to ride. We headed south for a HuckNroll.com photo shoot with Shaun Raskin and Jenn Berg, whose names you may recognize as ripping skiers, but they are equally talented on two wheels, and GREAT FUN to ride with!

Yes, let's do this again sometime.

Hell's Canyon

And... Switching gear to SUMMER MODE!

I was asked to go on a 5 day river trip through Hells Canyon to shoot photos for Backcountry.com. Um... YES PLEASE!

Hell's Canyon is on the Snake River where the river creates the twisting, winding, curvy border between Idaho and Oregon, and Idaho and Washington. We put-in just north of the Hell's Canyon reservoir and dam and floated 75 miles north to our take out at Hellar Bar in Washington. The river was running pretty fast so we had ample time for a layover day at our favorite campsite and still made it to Hellar Bar on time.

The trip was incredibly beautiful! For 5 days we were surrounded by lush green mountains that dropped straight into the river. Sometimes we would pass cliff walls dropping straight into the water. It reminded me a lot of the Oregon coast and I was just waiting to see a pirate ship around the next corner. I also expected to see these lush green hillsides covered in herds of goats or sheep, but it was remarkably empty of land mammals (plenty of birds though!)

We tackled the biggest rapids of our trip within the first ten miles on the first day. Scouting was mandatory but our "captains" rowed through like champions and after all that fun and excitement we were a little bummed to find out we had already hit the biggest ones and the rest of the trip would be relatively mellow in comparison. Many of the remaining rapids were washed out due to the high flows as well, but a trip with this group was anything but boring.

The group dynamics, as it were, impressed me immensely. Not only did everyone get along, but we all became friends, and had no trouble sharing the chopping, cooking, cleaning, wood collecting, and groover duties, or letting loose for an impromptu dance party in the sand.


The trip was so amazing that I have to remind myself that it rained on us every day. Because I remember the fun and forget the rain! That is the sign of a good trip. I would do it again in a heart beat.

Many many many thanks to everyone who made the trip so great, and especially to Heidi and RJ for their captain duties, and extra many thanks to Ashley for pulling the permit, making the plans, rowing us (and my camera gear!) safely through Wild Sheep and Rush Creek rapids, and attempting to teach me how to read a river map. (Sorry, the hot springs will have to wait till next time. It was my first day!)