Tag: adventure

Post Hike

Our Biggest Pacific Crest Trail Book Sale!

Leave a comment

Happy holidays! We’re offering our biggest sale ever: 35% off our book Pacific Crest Trail: A Journey in Photographs. Click the “Buy Now” button to order directly from us.

The book is also available from Amazon.

35% Off Our Pacific Crest Trail Book

To create this spectacular coffee table book, we hiked the entire 2660-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. Living in the wilderness for over five months, Chris photographed the starkly beautiful deserts of southern California, the deep blue alpine lakes and snow capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the volcanoes and lush forests of Oregon and Washington. The journey was challenging, inspiring, and visually stunning.

Chris’s landscape photographs portray the essence of each section of the Pacific Crest Trail. Every image is powerful. Viewed in sequence, these photographs take you on a journey through some of the most beautiful and compelling landscapes in the world. You can learn more on our book page. The book is a great gift for you or a friend.

Wishing you a fantastic holiday season with family, friends, and time in the great outdoors. Here’s to awesome adventures in 2017!

California Hikes

Channel Islands National Park Day 4

4 Comments

So far our trip has consisted of idyllic backpacking on Day 1, fearsome wind and fog as we hiked across the island on Day 2, and being stranded on the island, holed up in an empty ranger station on Day 3. That brings us to Day 4 when a short break in the weather might finally allow the ferry to reach us before we get cut off from the mainland again.

Overnight the brutal wind gusts felt like they might blow the roof off the barracks as we slept. Fortunately, morning brought calmer winds. We used the ranger station’s internet connection to view NOAA’s marine weather forecast. It indicated that the wind would pick up throughout the day, then stay high for several days. If the ferry left the mainland soon, it might be able to get us off the island today. Otherwise we might have to spend several more days on the island, including Christmas.

All 15 stranded campers gathered in the main ranger station house. Joe picked up the mic. He was getting good at the radio lingo and protocol: “Dispatch, dispatch, this is Santa Cruz visitor…”. The National Park Service and Island Packers ferry service responded over the air.

IMG_2446

Island Packers said they would attempt to make a pickup this morning. If conditions were so bad that the ferry couldn’t make the crossing or dock on the island, then they would turn back around. If the ferry pickup failed, there was talk of calling “Aspen”. We later learned that the USCGC Aspen is a large Coast Guard cutter with a crew of 50.

Somehow the authorities had determined that there were two people still at Del Norte campground (the backcountry campground without water on the far side of the island). If all went according to plan, the ferry would stop at Prisoner’s Harbor to pick them up first. Then they would motor around the island to pick us up at Scorpion Harbor.

We packed up our stuff, then took everything down to the beach to await the ferry. Joe stayed by the radio in case there were any updates. We were anxious given the strengthening winds predicted by the forecast.

IMG_2457

We waited on the beach, scanning for boats and wildlife. We spotted a seal! We’ve seen so much amazing wildlife on this trip.

Read More “Channel Islands National Park Day 4”

California Hikes

Channel Islands National Park Day 3

7 Comments

High winds made for a very noisy night on Santa Cruz Island. Gust after gust whooshed down the valley, rocking trees and sometimes cracking branches. As the sun rose, before everyone else woke, Chris decided to explore the cliffs above Scorpion Campground. Up there he found a perfect mix of drama, beauty, and solitude.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Channel Islands National Park

The wind remained fierce. When Joe and Becky emerged from their tent, it immediately blew away with all their gear still inside. They quickly retrieved the tent and collapsed it, preventing it from turning into a kite again.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Scorpion Campground

We had planned to kayak through sea caves today, but that trip had been cancelled due to the bad weather. Now our hope was to catch the emergency ferry back to the mainland at noon.

Over the past two days (see Day 1 and Day 2), we heard so much conflicting information regarding ferry times and weather that we didn’t fully trust anything people told us. We decided to be on the safe side. We packed everything up and walked to the dock, planning to wait there all morning in case a ferry arrived before noon.

While we were eating breakfast on the beach, other campers came by and informed us that they called Island Packers and were told that the emergency noon ferry had been canceled. There would be no ferry service to the island at all for today. We were shocked, and to be honest, a bit skeptical because of past misinformation. We decided to hike up to the cliffs ourselves, hoping to find a cell signal to call the ferry service.

Read More “Channel Islands National Park Day 3”