For Thanksgiving this year I had an opportunity to spend it in one of our nation’s newest National Parks, Congaree, located just outside Columbia, South Carolina.  Over 26,000 acres make up Congaree National Park, home to some of the oldest bottomwood hardwood in the United States, and the tallest species of trees on the east coast that grow within the floodplain of the Congaree River that snakes through the entire park. Had the temperatures been a bit warmer and there was more time I’d love to kayak through some of the park, however this trip was restricted to a fairly easy 2.4 mile walk on an elevated foot bridge with a few opportunities to get off and play in the mud.  Stopping along the footbridge and the edge of the river to simply listen to the over-active wildlife was a true highlight of the trip.  Even the third week of November much of the park was still very lush and every direction looked vastly different.  

I was fortunate enough to wonder around Joshua Tree at two different times in 2016, The first took me on trails to see the Wall Street Mill Mine and picture perfect Simpsons clouds in May, and my return in November for a personal shoot which yielded these few frames of the sunset. Joshua Tree never disappoints, and always amazes me.

I feel very lucky to live so close to large cities and wonderful state parks.  Ricketts Glen is a quick ninety minute drive and features over two dozen waterfalls of varying sizes along a well maintained trail.  For obvious reasons, fall is a preferred time to visit as the leaves start changing and slowly dropping, the canopy above providing shade while navigating the trails.

van + squamish

Leaving Vancouver and heading north I spent some time in Squamish, BC and absolutely fell in love.  One near perfect afternoon I hit a touristSea To Sky Gondola spot that is anything but.  is just that, a gondola that rises 900 meters from the sea to the sky, in about 10 minutes.  The alternative to taking the gondola is a 3-5 hour hike, but it’s not easy and can easily take longer if the weather shifts, which it tends to do quickly in the pacific northwest. Arriving at the top is an extremely nice rec center with typical tourist fair, food and beverages and souvenirs.  There is a fun and not terribly scary suspension bridge and lookouts that are worth a million bucks.  I was fortunate enough to spend the afternoon here during perfect mid 70 degree weather with wispy clouds.  Being the end of August it was still fairly high in their tourist season but I went later in the day to avoid most of the crowds. They have guided maps and the trails are well marked and lined with crushed gravel, you can do this in sneakers, hiking boots are not needed.  It’s also almost impossible to get […]

Simpson clouds for days

For years I’ve wanted to explore the Salton Sea and surrounding areas, a once thriving community billed as the new French Rivera.  Due to rising salinity levels in the Salton Sea, fishing and other recreational sports in and around the sea are no longer possible, most people moved away decades ago and the town has mostly been forgotten. There are a few people who hold on and still live here, how I’m not sure.  The smell of rotten fish along the shore is nearly unbearable in the mid-day sun and there seems to be no sustainable marketplace outside a forty-five minute or more drive. Why people choose to live here is beyond me. Overall the drive into Bombay Beach is visually stunning, for those into urban exploring and dilapidated buildings of businesses and homes that once were.  It’s also sad that such a beautiful place can’t support life. This set covers my drive in and around Bombay Beach. a place that really enjoyed but only in a very small dose.

When a friend sends a random link to an abandoned building that’s under an hour away with some pretty cool photos and an invite to go the next day, one goes along.  This morning a few of us rolled into the former coal cracking town of Lansford, PA, which in it’s day was probably something a tad nicer.  Life isn’t easy in former coal towns and this one has seen better days.  Lansford is the home to Kiddie Kloes, a clothing factory that made Cinderella brand clothing, amongst others.  Sadly, it closed in 1988 and has been neglected and to die by the side of the road, ironically in the center of the city, only a few dozen yards from the local football stadium. The Nitty Gritty Getting into this place sucks.  I’ll leave it at that.  25 years of broken windows, has let thousands of birds in, based off the poop on the work floors.  Rain water has seeped in making some of the floors buckle from swelling and shrinking, while holes are in other sections of the place.  The natural light pours in factory glass, what’s left of it.  There are still dozens of machines left, spools of […]