A Journey To The Heart
September came and went in a blink of an eye. It was over before it began, it felt like.
During that month, I lived on the road, residing in my trusty truck, "Brandi". My girlfriend Annie and I had meticulously planned our trip for several months with the primary objective of reaching Denver, Colorado to witness a performance by "The Head and The Heart" at the prestigious Red Rocks Amphitheater. The tickets were a gift from Annie, either for my birthday or Christmas, however, we couldn't quite recall which.
As September approached, it was time to embark on our journey. Our only set stops were to visit my parents in Idaho for a couple of days and then finally reaching Denver. The rest of our trip was spontaneous, discovering new places and experiences along the way. Our itinerary consisted of scenic hikes, relaxing by tranquil lakes, and exploring uncharted territories. Our route took us through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Oregon.
This visual diary below is a recollection of our trip. All the pictures were captured using my Nikon Z7 and Fujifilm X100v cameras, and processed with Adobe Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Nik Plugins , and Lumenzia.
Spring Has Sprung
It felt like just the other day we had below freezing temperatures and snow. Now every day is almost 60 degrees, and we have 12 hours of daylight!
To me, it’s a welcome sign. I am so ready to get my backpacking gear out and head into the mountains to get away from it all.
Recently we got away for the day to wander around the forest. I made a few photographs that day. Two of which I was very fond of.
The warm morning light of spring was falling through the forest. I have missed this sort of light in the forest. It feels like it has been ages since I have been out in it.
This last one is a three image panorama of Ranger Hole. This was the first time I have ever stopped in here over the years. Usually I am passing it early in the morning heading to a secret spot I found years ago. Probably the best spot for sunrise in the Olympics is hidden nearby here. I’ll show you that later..
In other news I am working on launching a print store on here. The Prints navigation will now take you to the storefront where a few different sets of photographs are available. I will be adding more and more to it as time goes on.
Ice - A New Collection of Photographs
I’ve been sitting on these photographs for almost a year now. I had taken them back in November of last year. Right before it started snowing in the mountains. I was able to get up the lake with minimal gear. AKA I didn’t need snowshoes just yet.
This set of photos was one that I kept coming back to over the months since I shot them. I made countless versions of them and nothing just ever felt quite right to me. As I made those different versions I slowly kept making them a little darker and muted each time. I was listening to one of my favorite albums each time I made this darker series of edits. The album has an overall dark and heavy feeling throughout. Continually listening to the album over and over is what brought me to this final set of photographs.
Camera: Nikon Z7, Tokina 100mm f/2.8 Macro. Post Processing: Capture One Pro + Adobe Photoshop.
They escaped the weight of darkness
to forge a path into the marrow of the spirit
They chose to drown in a deeper vacancy
an emptiness that quells the null
a pool for the forgotten
They escaped the weight of darkness
to drown in another...
To Drown - Agalloch
Road Tripping to Iowa
Well.. I’m sitting here in Rapid City, South Dakota. I’d rather be sitting in the Black Hills National Forest camping like I had planned on. Sometimes things don’t go the way you plan. Sometimes your tire hits something and shears down to the steel cable in the tire. Now I’m waiting for a new set BFG KO2’s to get delivered to Point S Tire here in Rapid City. Of course, they’re an oddball size and no one has them in stock anywhere in town or nearby. So, that means I’m sitting here in the trailer at KOA for the next couple of days. Luckily the little store the KOA has sells beer. That will help the time go by.
Anyways, I’m currently on my way to Iowa to visit my sister for a bit. After that, It’s time to hit the road back to Washington. Though It’s going to be a slow one. Two to three weeks to come back home. There is a number of places I want to go spend some time on the way back. Places like The Badlands, Bruneau Sand Dunes, Jackson, I could make a big list here but I won’t I don’t have many set destinations. Mostly going to see where the roads lead (or wherever looks pretty rad).
Stay tuned to the blog and Instagram to see where I end up going. There won’t be tons of fully processed photos from this journey until I get back home. I work from a gaming laptop, so color accuracy isn’t the best, even when calibrated. If the colors look off that would be why. I’ll make corrections and upload corrected photos when I am able to. Once I am home I’ll be back on my art monitor to create a series of photos from the trip.
Have any recommendations of things to see while I’m out here? Shoot me an email and let me know!
Until next time,
Chance
Fall In The West
The fall here in North Idaho has been off to an interesting start. During our first week of fall, we had our first snow of the season. Trust me, I didn’t believe the forecast at all. Even though the die-hard skier in me was hoping it was going to be true. A few days after reading that we woke up and looked out the window to see high up in the mountains the trace of white on the treetops. Seeing the first snow is one of my favorite things. To top it all off Silver Mountain was having their first annual Cidefest in the Mountain Haus. We had the perfect excuse to go up the mountain for Ciderfest, we had to go play in the first snow.
During the brief little bit of time fall has been here the colors have been changing fast. on the daily drive, I see the colors growing more vibrant every single day. Which means I need to head up into the mountains and cover some ground on foot. It’s time to make some new photographs of this fall while I can. We’ve been able to go paddleboarding. Explore some of the gulches around the valley. A little bit of fall car camping, and a few delicious Bloody Marys at Quinns Hot Springs. Until I can get out and photograph more of the fall here are a few photos from this fall so far.
It's Only Getting Better
These last few weeks have been big storm after big storm. It’s been some of the best skiing of this 18/19 season so far, and it’s just piling more snow onto the mountain. Just recently we had a Saturday that started out slow. No snow in the morning but by 11 AM it started to absolutely dump snow. Come 2 PM it has snowed almost 6 inches. The Glades started filling up fast. It was refills as fast as we could ski back to them.
Ripping Through The Glades - Rider: Bridger Lambert.
As the day went on we moved over into some other areas of the mountain. Hitting some of the secret stashes, getting face shots and knee deep snow. The bigger hits on the mountain are opening up to have safe landings and more room for error. Which is always a good thing. Hopefully have some videos coming soon of my friends and local rippers skiing here at Silver.
I have also added a few new photos to the Winter portfolio. Be sure to head over there and take a look.
Sunset - Rider: Jaelen Johnson
Winter Is Finally Showing
Cold beers after a good day on the mountain.
As I sit here and write this I have spent the last dew days staring at the NOAA.gov forecast for Silver Mountain. You know what? It’s finally looking good. Colder temperatures, and lots of snow falling on the hill. Which is good to see. I’m tired of having to watch where I am skiing. Those little exposed rock and baby trees are getting annoying. That hasn’t stopped my friends and I from getting out there to make some turns.
Last light on the mountain. Skier: Casey Winchel.
Right now Silver Mountain is only running on the weekends, but is going to seven day a week operation here in a few days. Last weekend wasn’t the best up there but it was a great couple days. Waking up late to head up and let the snow warm up on the groomed runs since they were less icy was our excuse to head to the bar before we started skiing. It was nice to start the days off with a Bloody Mary and a cold beer. Though my friend Casey and I have had a patch of bad luck with every time we order a beer we blow a keg. Hey, a partial free beer!
Watching all this snow falling around us is getting us even more excited to get that first deep powder day in. I don’t my friends and I can wait any longer. We looking forward to getting those fat skis and jumping off of everything we can find. With all this new snow falling in our mountains remember to ride with a friend and stay safe. Respect the mountains.
When the snow is the best the sends are much more reserved.
Chair 4, Silver Mountain. Skier: Casey Winchel.
A little something extra on the ride down. Wardner Peak in the distance. Silver Mountain, Idaho.
Elsie Lake
This morning I woke and the first thing I saw was that it wasn’t raining. I’ve been in Kellogg the last few days. I knew I wanted to crawl out of bed, make a cup of coffee and head to Elsie Lake outside of town. The last few days have been nothing but a downpour here in the Silver Valley.
Heading to Kellogg on Tuesday afternoon. Shot on DJI Mavic Air.
Fourth of July Pass, Idaho.
After packing up my truck with some camera gear I headed toward Elsie. The drive up Burke road is always fun. After passing the mines and into the forest you follow Big Creek up the valley. It is one of my favorite fall drives. As you ascend you will start to see the changing tamarack trees in the distance. In the sea of green they shine in the sunlight. Even when there is a lack thereof. Finally after driving almost the whole way to the lake I rounded a bend on the forest road and there it was… Snow. I was so excited. It was the first snow I have been in this season. It immediately had me excited for the ski season. After a little bit more driving I made it over the ridge and down into the lake below. I pulled into the parking area and got my drone out before the rain started back up again. I took a few photos on the drone and a couple videos. The video is for a project that I am starting to work on with my friend Nathan. More to come on that soon. We need some snow first. That’s a little hint to what it is, but that’s all I will say for now.
Looking down on the north side of Elsie Lake. Mavic Air.
After burning through one of the batteries for my drone I decided it was time to get my camera out and photograph a little more. I shot a few frames to make a large panorama of Elsie Lake. The panoramic photo I made is made up of 26 photos of the lake. The photo was processed through CaptureOnePro and then stitched together in Photoshop. I’m not sure if this is final photo or not yet. I see things that I want to change on it, as any photographer does after they’ve worked on a photograph. I will take a short break from it, and then come back to it to make those changes.
Elsie Lake, Idaho. Shot on Nikon D4 and Tamron 70-200 f/2.8. 26 Photos.
Waiting For The Snow
Wardner Peak, Silver Mountain Ski Resort.
As the seasons change and the leaves begin to fall I patiently wait for the snow to fall. The changing of the seasons is something I always look forward to. The first snow is always the most exciting time of year for me. There is nothing better than waking up and seeing that first layer of fresh snow and the silence around it.
Mornings on the gondola.
Popping off the road near chair 4.
With that first snow and the snows after it begins to pile up in the mountains. Which means its time to step into the fat skis for those deep days on the mountain. I don’t think there is a better way to spend a day. The feeling of flying down the mountain in the deep snow and shooting off natural features into the air. That time will soon be here. If you’re ever at Silver Mountain in Kellogg, Idaho feel free to shoot me an email. I’d love to go ski with you. I will be there a majority of the winter working on personal project with a friend.
