Recent Adventures

Cast Iron and Alo's patience

Alo and Cast Iron waiting as I wander around the Trona Pinnacles looking for shots and being sand blasted by the wind.

Trona Pinnacles

Because I love this land, I hesitate to show it. To not show is to leave those who don't see, don't seek or don't care to continue not to. It allows this small spot to stay less molested than it already has been by those who think these places are not damaged under tread. To not show it dooms it to erasure by those who quietly and subtly take our public lands for their profit leaving destruction and use in their wake. Everytime I come to the desert I see off trail usage, plants and bio crust destroyed. Those who do not know what they tread on or roll over do not understand how long these take to grow. Not realizing that they may not return if left in damaged in time for even thier children to see. The desert is not lifeless, it is not void, it is not a desolate land we can destroy not worrying what it'll cause in the future.

Trona Pinnacles

Because I love this land, I hesitate to show it. To not show is to leave those who don't see, don't seek or don't care to continue not to. It allows this small spot to stay less molested than it already has been by those who think these places are not damaged under tread. To not show it dooms it to erasure by those who quietly and subtly take our public lands for their profit leaving destruction and use in their wake. Everytime I come to the desert I see off trail usage, plants and bio crust destroyed. Those who do not know what they tread on or roll over do not understand how long these take to grow. Not realizing that they may not return if left in damaged in time for even thier children to see. The desert is not lifeless, it is not void, it is not a desolate land we can destroy not worrying what it'll cause in the future.

Trona Pinnacles

Because I love this land, I hesitate to show it. To not show is to leave those who don't see, don't seek or don't care to continue not to. It allows this small spot to stay less molested than it already has been by those who think these places are not damaged under tread. To not show it dooms it to erasure by those who quietly and subtly take our public lands for their profit leaving destruction and use in their wake. Everytime I come to the desert I see off trail usage, plants and bio crust destroyed. Those who do not know what they tread on or roll over do not understand how long these take to grow. Not realizing that they may not return if left in damaged in time for even thier children to see. The desert is not lifeless, it is not void, it is not a desolate land we can destroy not worrying what it'll cause in the future.

A still pool next to a fast moving stream slowly making a new canyon through granite. With only a few small cracks feeding with pool it remains glassy smooth.... Until Alo decides he want to walk into it.

A still pool next to a fast moving stream slowly making a new canyon through granite. With only a few small cracks feeding with pool it remains glassy smooth.... Until Alo decides he want to walk into it.

Sespe Wilds

We need to protect these spaces and make sure they are welcome to all. The outdoor and adventure spaces are friendly to primarily white men. We (white guys including me) need to be better. We need to support and step back and listen to people of color and women who are in this space. Frankly we need to shut up, get behind, and support them

Sespe Wilds

We need to protect these spaces and make sure they are welcome to all. The outdoor and adventure spaces are friendly to primarily white men. We (white guys including me) need to be better. We need to support and step back and listen to people of color and women who are in this space. Frankly we need to shut up, get behind, and support them

Mojave under the watchful eye of the galaxy.

Mojave indigo bush past it's bloom

Mojave indigo bush past it's bloom

It's hard to speak of lights that stay and streak While men of industry destroy and plunder This land from under. I'm bad at poetry... A regular Bilbo Baggins I love the desert "wastelands" of the west, but we continue to destroy these lands for the sake of industry and profit for the few. While many who have never been I've heard say who cares about the dead lands. I challenge them to sit at night and listen to the swallows and bats over head, the jack rabbits munch, the mice scurry, and the snakes hunt. Much of our unknown wonders are managed and owned by the BLM and National forest service an organization that has a troubled history in doing its job, and under the Trump administration has patently failed. On this photo it's a 30 minute exposure during a meteor shower the (Perseids) with the moon making it's presence known slowly rising in the lower right of the image.

On Kawaiisu and Newe tribes lands the Trona Pinnacles rise from an ancient lake bed. During the day you can hear the winds swirling and playing among the pinnacles. Bees and flys buzzing in search of any available liquid that isn't poisoned by the nearby chemical plant. The occasional wren skirting and skipping from shadow to shade among the bushes and pinnacles. Among your feet harvester ants patrol and build thier empires. If you don't wish to taste the calcium and chalky dust you cover your face, for the natural furnace blows ever constant. The camera on its tripod shakes and vibrates even when weighted by hand and pack. On a more dry informational note, the pinnacles are primarily made of calcium carbonate (tufa). It is striking and different on close up. Ridges, picks and bone like texture reminds me of dried coral more than stone. These pinnacles were formed around 10k to 100k years ago when a chain of inland seas/lakes spread from mono lake to death valley.

Trona Pinnacles

Because I love this land, I hesitate to show it. To not show is to leave those who don't see, don't seek or don't care to continue not to. It allows this small spot to stay less molested than it already has been by those who think these places are not damaged under tread. To not show it dooms it to erasure by those who quietly and subtly take our public lands for their profit leaving destruction and use in their wake. Everytime I come to the desert I see off trail usage, plants and bio crust destroyed. Those who do not know what they tread on or roll over do not understand how long these take to grow. Not realizing that they may not return if left in damaged in time for even thier children to see. The desert is not lifeless, it is not void, it is not a desolate land we can destroy not worrying what it'll cause in the future.

Trona Pinnacles

Because I love this land, I hesitate to show it. To not show is to leave those who don't see, don't seek or don't care to continue not to. It allows this small spot to stay less molested than it already has been by those who think these places are not damaged under tread. To not show it dooms it to erasure by those who quietly and subtly take our public lands for their profit leaving destruction and use in their wake. Everytime I come to the desert I see off trail usage, plants and bio crust destroyed. Those who do not know what they tread on or roll over do not understand how long these take to grow. Not realizing that they may not return if left in damaged in time for even thier children to see. The desert is not lifeless, it is not void, it is not a desolate land we can destroy not worrying what it'll cause in the future.

A still pool next to a fast moving stream slowly making a new canyon through granite. With only a few small cracks feeding with pool it remains glassy smooth.... Until Alo decides he want to walk into it.

A still pool next to a fast moving stream slowly making a new canyon through granite. With only a few small cracks feeding with pool it remains glassy smooth.... Until Alo decides he want to walk into it.

There on a sudden did my heart perceive that they who sang about the Eve, who answered the bright-shining stars with gleaming music of their strange guitars, these were His wandering happy sons encamped upon those aëry leas. -Tolkien I've been listening to likely too much tolkien of late, but there are few books that I'd prefer on weary month. Listening to them in camp as I lay in a hammock watching the stars. On less whimsical not I'll be back to the Sierra National Forest soon hopefully to scout some new climbs and of course for the views

Sespe Wilds

We need to protect these spaces and make sure they are welcome to all. The outdoor and adventure spaces are friendly to primarily white men. We (white guys including me) need to be better. We need to support and step back and listen to people of color and women who are in this space. Frankly we need to shut up, get behind, and support them

Mojave under the watchful eye of the galaxy.

One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted upon the land is quite invisible to laymen. An ecologist... Must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise. - Aldo Leopold

Mojave indigo bush past it's bloom

Mojave indigo bush past it's bloom