A few weeks ago my dear friend Ryan and I had an insane adventure on a peak in the southern Sierras named “Nameless Pyramid”.  It’s a total pyramid of impeccable granite towering over Onion Valley, and is a playground for a climber who likes to roam unencumbered over perfect stone.

Ryan and I headed straight for the main buttress hoping we’d find a perfect path to allow us passage.  There’s a really steep wall that drops abruptly on the southeast face, and we were hoping we’d be able to climb a lower angle ridge just to the right of it.  We didn’t bring any ropes, although we did have rock shoes, so we really wanted it to not be too hard, but interesting enough for an adventure and some excitement.

Nameless Pyramid delivered with immaculate climbing up to a narrow fin of a summit.  I had been here once before several years ago with another friend, but neither of us attempted the very sharp, steep, dramatic, summit knife blade pyramid.  We didn’t have rock shoes with us and had come up an easier ridge from Kearsarge Pass.  I had always dreamed of returning and giving a go at the summit pillar, but when I returned, even with rock shoes, I couldn’t summon the courage to try as a fall would mean certain death and I haven’t been climbing as much lately to have my flow on stone.

I climbed up part way to a small ledge from where I watched Ryan with no hesitation go straight for the summit.  With grace and elegance he danced his way to the top and reveled in the summit glory that no words can describe.  There’s nothing like sitting on top of a mountain.  Its a magical experience that transcends everyday consciousness, and gives a glimpse of the interconnectedness of all creation.

Ryan enjoyed it and eventually came back down and I asked him, “so would you do that again?”  Probably not he said laughing.  “Scary” he said, “once is probably enough”.  It made me feel a little bit better for not joining him on top, as I stood 20 feet below perched on that small ledge.

We made our way down another ridge that had so much fun granite that we kept stopping every 5 minutes to boulder and play and enjoy the last rays of the setting sun.  We made it down off the mountain just as it got dark and practiced out jedi skills for the hour and a half walk out in the dark without using our headlamps.  Nothing like a day in the mountains to feel alive.

You can watch the slideshow below by pressing play or you can click here to see it in its own window.  Enjoy!

My dear friend Ryan just got into town, and seeing that exploring new areas is one of our favorite things to do, that’s exactly what we did yesterday on his first day here.  It was incredible!!  We went hiking into the Sabrina Basin out of Lake Sabrina, just 20 minutes from my house.  I can’t believe I’ve never hiked out there before!!  It’s absolutely, mind blowingly beautiful up there, with several beautiful lakes and towering jagged peaks and ridges.  We were totally blown away and are already planning a several day backcountry excursion into this area later this summer.  It’s great to have Ryan around and we’ve got some cool adventures we’re psyched on over the next few weeks so there’ll be lots of cool backcountry and mountain pictures coming soon.  So for now hope you enjoy these!

Hope you’re well,

I had another awesome little trip up to Tuolumne last week. Its been so nice getting to spend some more time up there this year after hardly getting any time up there last year.  It truly is one of the most beautiul paces on earth, and feels like home to my heart like no other place.  I’m really getting inspired about my nature work again, and want to spend as much time as I can in Yosemite, Tuolumne, and the High Sierra mountains this year soaking up their goodness and hopefully bringing back images to share that love with you.

Hope you’re having a wonderful day,

My friend Kevin loves to paint by the river, and I love to accompany him to beautiful places in nature and just be, or walk around, listen to the birds, go swimming, play guitar, whatever; but I always love capturing images of him creating art.  He has a special energy that comes through in his art.  Its very alive. You should definitely check his work out.

One day we hiked up to find this lake Kevin had seen on a map under the east face of Johnson Peak.  It looked like we might get some afternoon thundershowers, so we made sure to bring our Gore Tex jackets; not something us Sierra minimalists used to dreamy Sierra weather often bring.  After almost 2 hours of hiking we found the lake!  It’s so beautiful up there and was perched up in this high basin that had great views all around, but as you can see the clouds were starting to build.

That lit up rock pillar way out in the distance is something we refer to as Minas Tirith.  A super cool prow in a remote basin where Kevin did a rad sculpture last year.

We looked in all directions and rather quickly the thunderheads were starting to build all around us.  And then we heard the first big BOOM!!!  We were up pretty high with no cover and lots of granite all around us.

We decided it was really time to high tail it and get out of there as the thunder and lightening started pounding.  So we started running thinking it was coming from the south and we might be able to outrun it.

Our hearts were pumpin pretty good as we raced down this long meadow filled corridor of granite.  Kevin’s look says it all on how we were feeling; WHOOOOA, this is gonna be a dusy!!!!!

So we kept running trying to get to lower elevations off the ridge top.

But a beautiful field of Lupines sure has a way of making a couple of artists stop dead in their tracks and commence shooting pictures, even with pure blackness at their backs.

As we were having fun taking pictures in the lupines, the storm was building behind us and little did we know what we in store for.

Right after this last picture it started raining so hard I had to put the camera away.  We ran/speed hiked till we were off the high plateau and into the trees, and the thunder and lightening was pounding all around us.  Its the first time in years I’ve gotten caught out in a storm like that, and there was a part of me that was definitely scared, even though I genuinely felt in my heart that everything would be alright.  After an hour and a half of hiking in the all out pouring rain and hail with thunder and lightening all around us, we made it back safely, albeit soaking wet like we had jumped in the river with all our clothes on. What an adventure!!!

The next day Kevin was back enjoying one if his favorite past times, painting by the river.

I love his river paintings.

One day I went down into Tenaya Canyon to these awesome granite bowls where the river flows down in these beautiful cascades. I absolutely love this area.

I ran into my good friend Doug Robinson again and this time he was on his way to the Palisades with his kids and some friends. They stopped in Tuolumne for a little climbing and bouldering and it was fun to hang out with them. Here’s Doug and his son Tory bouldering on perfect Tuolumne amazingness.  Tory’s a great climber!!

Must take after his dad.

Got to go on a new hike down Yosemite Creek that was gorgeous.  Ever wandered what it looks like looking down the world’s 3rd tallest waterfall?

I also got to hang out with a really cool family that I know from working in Tuolumne for years. I hiked out to the top of Yosemite Falls with them one day, and we shared a nice sunset this evening.

Gotta love Tuolumne.  I sure do.  The simple life in nature’s grand beauty.

Imagine you were a sax player. You’ve played for years and are passionate about it, its a part of you. Now imagine you got to jam with John Coltrane in a New York club he had never played in before. How cool would that be! Or imagine as a wedding photographer you got to hang out and spend a day shooting with Denis Reggie at a top drawer location. That’d be amazing!

As a Sierra Mountaineer Doug Robinson is a living legend, and last Sunday he accompanied modern Yosemite and Sierra visionary first ascentionist Sean Jones, freshly infatuated with climbing and on his first peak climb Graham Hunt, and myself on a wondrous adventure on Mt Emerson, surprisingly a mountain Doug had never climber before. After more than 50 years of climbing in the Sierra, there’s not so many mountains left that haven’t been graced by Doug’s cheery presence. It was an incredible crew we had and the love and excitement was contagious. They call Doug the father of clean climbing and he’s a natural born storyteller, being one of the most respected and revered authors in the outdoor world. He has so graciously taken time to write a guest blog recounting our adventure. Hope you enjoy!

Mt. Emerson and the Long Now

Guest Blog from Doug Robinson

“I hate rock climbing!…” Sean Jones was spouting off again. One of the
things I love about him, he just lets it fly. And he had good reason: the
Tuolumne stone in his grasp was pretty intractable. Flat unclimbable for
most of us. Sean powered up the workable pieces, Shawn Reeder got the shots
that stunned us later, and we bailed for Bishop.

There, of course, we eagerly sought out more rock climbing to hate. Straight
out to the Buttermilk for the evening glass-off, moonrise, and cracking open
the cooler in deepening twilight under the Iron Man Traverse.

The next day — this is the golden day I need to tell you about. Mt.
Emerson, South Face, over 2000 feet of stellar, solid granite. There are
four of us: Sean and me and Shawn Reeder and our young friend Graham, just
bursting with the discovery of his first year of climbing. Three
generations, solid.

A short chimney gains entry to inviting slabs. The slabs sport a scattering
of holds stretched upward, on and on. Soloable, yes, but don’t fall. We need
not bear down too hard, the climbing flows. But don’t ever for one second
lose attention. This stretches out to hours. Options tempt us back and forth
on a broad expanse of possibility. I think of John Gill and his practice of
“option soloing.” Maybe I’ll try that crack. Oh, check this mantle. Four of
us, each in his cocoon of focus, weaving upward.

This is the magic. Focus and flow welded together into that alchemy that
makes climbing so special and so sweet and way before the summit brings us
riding a long rush of positive power, amped perceptiosns and overflowing
vibe. We gush words that are more honest and tender than we can manage on
the flatlands, words I won’t repeat here ‘cuz their tone doesn’t quite
translate to this, uh…flat screen. Just say that the love flowed.

Later, ridge erupts out of the slab. A symmetrical tower, then sharpening to
knife-edge. Hand traverse territory. Or a few steps upstanding in balance on
the razor’s edge. A last cleaver becomes the summit. We’re almost surprised.
Above 13,000 feet. It’s almost dark. Still, we linger on the view, and the
summit register: “I just came here for the sex.” Graham reads it out from
among the entries. This is his first mountain, first day of mountaineering
in a climbing trajectory that is blazing after a mere nine months. Hooked
bad, his stoke is firing all of us, three generations of addicts at play on
the fields of stone.

Darkness looms; long bounding strides down scree.

I shot my first wedding for the season tonight and it was amazing!!!!!! Somewhere over the rainbow. I’ll be posting about it soon. Hope you had a wonderful solstice. Welcome summer!!

Last week when I was over in Yosemite my friend Graham and I decided to hike up to one of my favorites places, Hidden Falls. Its a beautiful hike up Tenya Creek, and one of my favorite places in Yosemite to hang and for photography. Graham had never been there before, and I always love sharing my favorite off the beaten path with others, so it was especially fun.

A few days later two of my dearest friends came back into town, Kevin and Ashlee. They just spent close to 4 months in India and Nepal and have now arrived back into the marvelous Sierra Nevada for another fun filled amazing summer in Tuolumne Meadows. Kevin is one of my longest standing friends. We’ve been friends since just after high school back in Maryland, and its so awesome that he comes and spends a good part of the year every year in California. He’s a very inspiring traveling artist who I love sharing time and adventures with. They stayed with me a few days and then we went up to Tuolumne. Our first night up there we hiked to the top of Lamb Dome and caught and amazing sunset.

Kevin did a rad watercolor.

I LOVE this next shot!!

The next day I met up with my great friends Sean Jones and Graham Hunt. Sean’s been dreaming of a new route potential over Tenya Lake for years so they went to explore and check it out.

I also met up with another good friend and Sierra legend Doug Robinson. Here he is with some of his friends after a great trip in the Palisades. They stopped in Tuolumne on their way back to the coast and we all serendipitously happened upon each other. Sean and Doug and I have worked on 3 feature articles together, yet its rare we get to just hang out and have fun in the mountains. We actually got Doug to detour his trip home and come join us for a real mountain adventure a couple days later. More on that in a blog post later this week.

The route Sean wanted to check out looks amazing!!! Looks hard, maybe too hard for him, but only time will tell if it’ll be climbable.

The Tuolumne River was sure looking spectacular. It has such a special place in my heart after sleeping right next to it for 11 summers, and I love to just go sit down by the river and Be.

Doug, Sean, Graham, and I went on an awesome mountain adventure a few days later that I’ll be sharing here real soon, so check back!

Hope you’re well,

This past year has been amazing. Another wonderfully growing year of learning, working hard, being creative, and exploring possibilities.

And as always I cherish my time in the mountains. Even though I worked more this past year than I ever have putting tons of energy into my business and projects, I still found some time to be in the mountains. This time is so special to me and I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends to share these experiences with.

I want to share some of my favorite shots and adventures with you. These will be in order of when I took them so we can see the progression of the year. It has been another amazing year of living and these are some of my highlights. If you have any favorites please leave a comment, I love hearing from you. Hope you Enjoy!

This is my good friend Chris Sharma. He was in town filming for his movie King Lines. Hard to believe it but this was in January up at the Buttermilks. Chris is amazing and is one of the world’s best climbers, not to mention one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.

This was taken in March at a new favorite local spot. “Red Hill” is about a 3 minute drive from my house and is this really cool little hill (but just big enough) that puts you elevated right in the center of the Owens Valley, one of the deepest Valleys in North America.

This is probably my favorite picture from the year and was taken from Red Hill. I’m probably biased because it looks right down on my neighborhood, my home. I’m just in awe that I get to live here. Dreams do come true!

This was a really cool view I found of Vernal Falls in Yosemite when I climbed over the railing and explored out a little closer to the edge and climbed onto this ledge. It looked right out over the dropping waterfall. Incredible!

This is Sean Jones on the grandest route of his life, “Growing Up” on Half Dome. Sean and I have worked together almost exclusively through the last 7 years capturing images of him on his collection of new routes throughout Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, and this one got us our First Cover. He is a visionary rock climber and has explored and pioneered new climbing routes in Yosemite and throughout the Sierra Nevada, a world mecca for rock climbing. I’m building Sean a website as we speak so when that goes live in the next few weeks I’ll let you know. You can see more of “Growing Up” HERE.

This is my brotha Ryan chillin in Tuolumne Meadows. Nice spot to kick back.

The ever gorgeous Tuolumne Meadows, one of my favorite places on earth.

This next series is when Ryan and I went out and climbed the north ridge of North Peak and then the north Ridge of Mt Conness in this really cool and long mountain linkup. You can see more HERE.

We climbed straight up the incredible arete on the left hand skyline as the final push to the summit. It was soooo exposed and exhilarating. What a beautiful line!!

Mid summer Sean Jones and I went back to Half Dome when he did his final push to climb his new route “Growing Up” and we got these amazing shots up on the towering 1200 ft headwall thats 1000 feet off the deck. Wow!! You can see more HERE.

Another day at my local Red Hill.

In early September my friends Ryan, Zack, and I went out and climbed an amazing mountain called Bear Creek Spire. This is a really famous peak right in the heart of the Sierra up Rock Creek and we had an incredible day! You can see more HERE.

A few weeks later my friend Lisa and I went and climbed on Mt Humphreys, the towering peak over Bishop. I can see this peak from my yard. You can see more HERE.

A few weeks later Lisa and I went out again up to Mt Emerson. Its incredible to live somewhere where you can just go out around home and be in world class mountain scenery and terrain. I LOVE living where I live here in Bishop, California. You can see more HERE.

A couple days after Emerson I went on a really long hike with my dear friend Kevin Maddrey, a very talented artist and vagabond. We hiked deep into a remote area of the Yosemite high country to a nature art piece Kevin had done earlier in the summer. This area was totally insane it was so beautiful and there wasn’t a soul in sight. You can see more HERE.

My beloved Mono Lake at dusk.

I spent a very reflective Thanksgiving in Tuolumne and Yosemite this year so it was fitting to come across this beautiful scene at sunset. You can see more HERE.

My friend Ryan and I got to go on a hike into the High Sierra all the way in December this year. It was right before the big snows came and was such a treat to be in the high country this time of year. You can see more HERE.

And to finish out here’s a classic Bishop winter sunrise. Its so beautiful here! You can see more HERE.

Hope you’re enjoyed these photos and I hope this New Year brings you much happiness.