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Sunday, March 31, 2013

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Thinking about Riding a Bike through and around the North Lakes

I'm sitting here at the usual breakfast spot, John Street Cafe, down the road from our house thinking, dreaming, hoping. All for a journey by bicycle from Minneapolis to the home of my childhood in Indian River, Michigan. A plane will take me to MSP on May 7th, on a Tuesday. Universal Cycles here in Portland will ship my bike, not quite sure where yet, but somewhere I can pick it up, build it, strap a bunch of stuff to anywhere possible, and pray everything will roll smoothly on the open road the next morning. I'll have a camera, tablet for blog posts each day, maps, the usual camping supplies, and a picture of my epic and amazing wife and pup. I'll need their motivation as it could get lonely over the 10-12 days I'm planning to be swirling my legs in circles.

Why? Why do we do these things? My mother would say "You're running from the devil." I don't feel like I'm being chased, but she is always right. My family and friends are amazing and I've been gifted with the most understanding and accepting significant other imaginable. None of them are the devil I run from, that's for sure. Running a business is definitely stressful at times and can be devil-like I suppose; that's not it though, I'm lucky and happy to be busy and able to practice the profession I love and went to college for. Who does that anymore? Maybe it's the pressures of society that are the devil I run from. Some might say I'm independent or strong-willed to go out on a long solo bike/camp trip; Ha!, what a load of crap. Or,..... It's actually because I'm weak-spined and can't handle society's norms for more than a few weeks at a time before I have to flee to quiet wilderness. Every devil is fictitious after all; could that be what's chasing me?

When we were hunters & gatherers adventure happened everyday amongst wild places. I wonder if they ever got chased?

How about Ernest Shackleton? Getting ship wrecked in Antarctica while trying to cross the mass from sea to sea via the South Pole. He must have had a serious devil chasing him. See the image below of these nimrods. Nimrod Expedition was actually the title of his second attempt to find the South Pole.

George Washington Sears, also known by his indian given name, Nessmuk wrote in "Woodcraft and Camping"-
“With a large majority of prospective tourists and outers, “camping out” is a leading factor in the summer vacation. And during the long winter months they are prone to collect in little knots and talk much of camps, fishing, hunting, and “roughing it.” The last phrase is very popular and always cropping out in the talks on matters pertaining to a vacation in the woods. I dislike the phrase. We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it. We get it rough enough at home; in towns and cities; in shops, offices, stores, banks anywhere that we may be placed – with the necessity always present on being on time and up to our work; of providing for the dependent ones; of keeping up, catching up, or getting left. Alas for the life-long battle, whose bravest slogan is bread.”

I don't compare my simple adventures to these folks in the least. But I do feel a common bond with the notion of getting away from it all and seeking emotion through adventure. Even if I have to create a phony devil in my head to run from.




Friday, March 22, 2013

there's a new camera around the neighborhood



     I wanted a really simple and classic camera with a fixed lens to use on a few upcoming adventures this year and almost went with an old rangefinder film camera until I did my research and discovered the Fuji x100 digital rangefinder. It's really fun to use and the picture quality is fantastic. Most digital cameras out there today are hideous and loaded with too many features that really detract, for me anyway, the enjoyment of making images. Zoom lenses up to 400x and happy birthday scene modes, what does that even mean? What if you are at a halloween party and accidentally use the birthday mode? Does the camera magically recognize the situation and just fix it for you? Using these overly gimmicky cameras really fits perfectly with our times. We want great images but we don't want to use our own creativity and thought process to get them. Crazy talk, but I like using my mind and intuition to create a picture. I don't want Canon or Nikon to decide for me. It reminds me of the directions to get a good picture in the old film boxes. "Shoot with the sun behind you." How ridiculous. Is this some sort of way to mediocracy in art? hmm, i digress easily. For being digital, this camera is incredibly simple to use, but yes, you do have to use your brain to make an emotionally charged picture. Of course even with this new camera, you must still keep the sun directly behind you for the best pictures ;)

Decided to walk around the neighborhood and enjoy using the new photo box. Here are a few pics from my walkabout....











duke panorama. the only gimmicky camera feature, but kinda cool
duke in the park
artwork in the park. you look through this scope towards the river and an overlay image of what the good ole' days looked like pops up
gina's chicken pose, see below for comparison
datsyukian


gina and duke waiting for the hens to arrive
the fam- gina, duke, beezy and datsyukian our egg layers
springtime
lumber
boots
hard light
soft light
this restaurant has been closed for some time, hope something good takes its place
One of our favorite places to eat and sit
Portland's spring always like to throw a little hail into the mix

Thursday, March 21, 2013

The Ptarmigan Traverse Experience

Celebratory brew after 6 & 1/2 days in the mountains together
CLICK any of the pictures to see the entire photo story

Wow! This trip has taken some time to soak in for me. Actually,  it took a year and 5 months for me to finally feel ready to sort through the images and re-visit this mountain saunter. It is not because the trip caused negative emotions or experiences; in fact it's the complete opposite. Certain experiences are just completely overwhelming in their magnitude and....well... just badass! This was one of those trips.

Photographs can be a tough medium to express and share certain experiences and the emotions they create. I wonder if a tape recorder would have done a better job expressing the solitude, natural wonder, and pure peace this mountain traverse offered. A photograph lacks the dimension and depth needed sometimes to tell a story. Brian Anderson, Brian Eubanks, Chad Hensel and myself,...... we were out there; in the middle of a mountain sanctuary which fired off every sensory receptor and emotional response to go with them. How do you share that? All 7 days of it.....
This was our view only a few hours into the trip, and it never went away 

View from where we slept at White Rock Lakes
Enjoying a view break
Brian Eubanks taking in the view in his very euro shorts

The New Ride

Riding the Crown Zellerbach trail outside Scappoose
I always love riding a new bike! The saying goes "It's like riding a bike." The thing is, that every bike rides differently just like every experience life throws our way. Freedom to me is embracing each throw and moving forward, slowly.
Finding the top of Council Crest 
This sign reminded me of the wonderful small place I grew up in
My first go with disc brakes, still on the fence about them
Muddy beard after a good day of riding
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