31.10.15

Accident

Portland, Ore.

30.10.15

Music Fest Northwest

Portland, Ore.

29.10.15

Wedding pictures

Portland, Ore.

28.10.15

Dolphin overlord

Ketchikan, Alaska

27.10.15

Office woes

Ketchikan, Alaska

26.10.15

Shotgun

Ketchikan, Alaska



25.10.15

Evening stroll

Portland, Ore.

24.10.15

Sandy River girls

Sandy, Ore.

23.10.15

Player down

Ketchikan, Alaska

22.10.15

Boat wrecks

Ketchikan, Alaska

21.10.15

Greenhouse

Whitehorse, Yukon

20.10.15

Beachside

Seaside, Ore.

19.10.15

Loowit Trail VI

Mt. St. Helens, Wash.
In high school, my friend Brian made plans to circumnavigate Mt. St. Helens on a 30-something mile path called the Loowit Trail. It was going to be my first real overnight backpacking trip without family and I couldn't wait.

Earlier in the year the mountain was wrought with flooding and sections of road and trail eroded without a trace. We didn't make it very far the first day and set up camp realizing how far off the trail we had wandered. The next day we turned around and went home without having hiked through the fragile volcanic blast zone for which the mountain has become famous.

This past summer I finally took advantage of an opportunity to attempt the trail again, this time with my friend and roommate Clay. I was eager to see how my years of tromping through woods since high school would change my perspective on the trail.

In the heat of summer and under the threat of smoke from nearby wildfires, Clay and I rounded the mountain past familiar landmarks from years ago. Before long I was seeing new things and was amazed by the crescendo of the landscape, growing in power beyond what I could have imagined as a teenager. Stories of the 1980 eruption were tangible in the airy pumice stone gardens and I imagined huge boulders making exaggerated parabolas in the sky amid the chaos.

Then, just as it grew, the intense rawness of the trail faded back into recognizable ecosystems. We saw more plants pioneering the volcanic debris and more signs of animals, and eventually reached a chasm that split the old and new, a border as definitive as nature will allow. The thick forest was a comfort.

The trail, and my reconnection with it, was particularly valuable to experience with Clay. He was the first person I met in Montana, and this summer, culminating in the Loowit Trail, was a reconnecting with him as well. I am reminded that no matter how far away I go and how many people I meet, it is worth finding myself with the people and places that I have already learned to love.

18.10.15

Loowit Trail V (Mt. Adams)

Mt. St. Helens, Wash.


17.10.15

Loowit Trail IV

Mt. St. Helens, Wash.

16.10.15

Loowit Trail III

Mt. St. Helens, Wash.

15.10.15

Loowit Trail II

Mt. St. Helens, Wash.

14.10.15

Loowit Trail I

Mt. St. Helens, Wash.

12.10.15

Painter's break

Missoula, Mont.

11.10.15

Bulls fan

Ketchikan, Alaska

10.10.15

Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

Anchorage, Alaska

9.10.15

Paddle boat

Big Arm, Mont.

8.10.15

Days Inn

Missoula, Mont.

7.10.15

Bear protection

Hatcher's Pass, Alaska

6.10.15

Seed tree cut

Larch Mountain, Wash.

5.10.15

Oxford gaze

Missoula, Mont.


4.10.15

Eben on the shore

Canon Beach, Ore.

3.10.15

Sweet ride

Lolo, Mont.

2.10.15

Building a Nation of Riflemen

Venersborg, Wash.



1.10.15

Harley at a corner

Whitehorse, Yukon
I wish I had thought about making a thoughtful blog series about my recent hitchhiking trip through the Yukon and Alaska, but with an unorganized developing schedule comes an unorganized blog. Something to think about for future trips I guess. Anyways, this photograph was made while waiting four or five hours for a ride out of Whitehorse. The road behind the biker leads to Dawson, the end of the famed Gold Rush Trail. I took the fork in front, which heads more directly to Alaska. The longer I waited for a ride, the more I considered taking the 6 hour detour north. However, that time could be greatly increased with bad luck finding friendly vehicles.