Posts in Travel

Yosemite: The Half Dome

Nature Travel
Image: Yosemite: The Half Dome

Towering nearly 5,000 feet above Yosemite Valley and 8,800 feet above sea level, Half Dome is an untouched picturesque slice of Americana that looks like it leaped right off a California postcard. Half Dome is an iconic location in Yosemite that presents a taxing challenge for hikers. This is not a place for anyone who is out of shape, unprepared, or faint of heart as it will test your conditioning, but as someone who has done it, I highly recommend it for anyone looking for an extreme nature outing to clear the mind and test the physicalities of the body. Thousands reach the summit and for most of them, it’s an exciting, arduous hike; and for others, it’s the adventure that they were looking for.

Camping in the Mountains

Nature Travel
Camp Image

Camping in the mountains is one of the best ways I know to make your senses come alive. From the moment when darkness envelopes the blue sky, enticing the safety and warmth of the nightly campfire to the morning call of the blue jay who ushers in the new day. The tantalizing aroma of sizzling bacon mingles with the scent of robust pines and permeates the atmosphere. I close my eyes and take in a deep breath of crisp mountain air before looking up at the speckled bits of blue sky that poke through the small canopy of trees. I see squirrels scampering from limb to limb while a few birds watch on calmly. When I’m camping in the mountains there’s nothing on my agenda yet so much to do.

The Mechanical Bird Shows us All We Wish to See

Nature
Drone Image

There are people still alive today that were alive when the first Polaroid camera came out, and boy was it ever amazing! Not that I was there, but the sheer thought of capturing a moment to keep and cherish forever was just breathtaking. A memory frozen in time, and conveniently printed on a synthetic plastic sheet of film. That same technology has now evolved into aerial drones that can capture high-definition video and stream it to virtually anywhere in the world. Seeing what the birds see, to experience life through their eyes is a feat that our ancestors could have only dreamt of, now all you need is a smartphone and drone. The telling view of the all-seeing flying machine, capturing life as it happens, as we’ve never seen it before, and in 4K even.

Just You and Your Mountain Bike

Nature
Just You and Your Mountain Bike

There’s just something about experiencing the world around you from the trails that only your bike can show you. It feels childlike and adult at the same time, almost as if you’re getting away with a guilty pleasure except it’s all viable and practical. The mountainous trails may not be for everybody, but to those who enjoy them, I have this to say; May your trails be winding, crooked, dangerous, and lonesome. May they lead you to the most amazing views you’ve ever seen. May you ride like the wind, stay safe, and rise above the clouds. A day on the trails with nothing but your mountain bike is just what the soul needs. Be warned, you just might just find yourself, by losing yourself.

A Fishes Tale

Nature
A Fishes Tale

Monster in the water, this scaley beast I know! The first sight of the creature surely did set the pace, for I reeled and reeled, ready to see its face. Grimly divided from the breast below, now that on dry land does dost go? With a scaled body and most ridiculous pace, gill over gill, bringer of grace. Long-finned, strong, upright, unwet, slow, as you try to hide among the deep ebb and flow. The battle goes on, the tide and the mood have set and the beast I dost battle, will soon find my net. A worthy adversary you were, and the fight is soon done. You won’t be the one who got away, you’ll be the one that I won. Hoisted on land, an old friend you fought well, and your legend will live on in a fishes tale.