With the warmer weather in Lake Tahoe, the water is starting to open up. I've been swimming pretty frequently with my wetsuit. Because there hasn't been a ton of runoff this year, the clarity is still pretty good. Usually this time of year, sediment from the lake's tributaries would murk up the shallows. It'll be nice to loose the wetsuit in a few months, but I can't complain about the lack of people on the beaches.
Photographer & Writer
Where does time wander off to?
I've been working on a bunch of projects, and my website blog has all but been abandoned. My original goal was to post at least once a week. Then, it became once every two weeks. Now, I'm just fighting for a post a month. I hope those who visit my site don't take the lack of posts as a sign of idleness. Check out my Instagram for more regular updates. A few of my latest endeavors have been my graduate school application, a regular column for Reno.com, stories for Tahoe Quarterly and a long-term project I hope to announce soon. Thanks for checking in!
Walking the tracks
A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to do a hike last week. I'm almost always game for a walk in the woods, so I didn't ask too many questions. Turns out, he wanted to hike 30 miles of abandoned railroad tracks in Northern California. This area and its residents are pretty well known for their less-than-welcoming nature. Between aggro German shepherds, poison oak, deer ticks and angry marijuana farmers, I'm pretty happy to have made it through that one.
Scuba all winter
This winter in Lake Tahoe has been very un-winter like. With only a few days of snowfall, the mountains aren't really covered and the backcountry is a little less than ideal. I've been making the best of it, but at some point I think I kind of lost my mind. All I want to do now is go scuba diving in the lake. The water temperature is in the low 40s. Sitting down there in the peaceful blue has definitely been the best way to get cold this season.
Somewhere near Lake Tahoe's Cave Rock, 12 feet under
Shooting waves
I spent the last week traveling on California's central and southern coast. A big swell was expected and I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out my new Aquatech housing. From Carpenteria and Rincon to Morro Bay and Big Sur, a friend and I scored great waves every single day. I was a little preoccupied with surfing to shoot a ton of photos, but I did get some swimming in. I realized how hard it is to position perfectly in the barrel, and how dangerous it can be if you don't hang on tight to the housing.
Yosemite Huts
Yosemite got a lot of attention this week. Climbers Kevin Jorgensen and Tommy Caldwell completed their unprecedented climb of the Dawn Wall. It was amazing to watch their progress and the buzz that surrounded the feat. Rarely do alternative sports get that kind of exposure. Mikaela and I were lucky enough to make it down to the valley to watch for a while. But we weren't there just for the climb. We took a few days and hiked out to Yosemite's Ostrander Hut. The snow wasn't very good, but it was still an awesome experience. I climbed a little peak of my own. Luckily, no one was watching.
Sailing the World With My Friend Jacob
A friend of mine is living his dream. A few years ago Jacob bought a 37-foot 1967 Pearson sailboat. He spent a year working on the boat as it sat in decrepit Oakland marina. With little experience and a lot of help from the marina locals, he installed a new diesel engine, a new wind generator and some new electronics. I was really inspired by Jacob and the sailing adventures I read about in books and articles he recommended.
Sunset in the middle of the Pacific.
I decided to sail with Jacob to Hawaii. Down the California and across the Pacific, we spent three months together on the boat. The passage was so much more complex than any other adventure I've ever experienced. It was terrifying. It was lonely. It was exciting. When we pulled into Hilo Harbor on the Big Island 21 days after we left Santa Barbara, it was pitch black and wildly relieving. Of the three of us, no one had done an open ocean passage. Looking back, it is one of the things in my life I'm most proud of.
Jacob dumping the ashes of Jurgen, the former owner of Genesis Earthling. I wrote a story about that experience that appeared in Good Old Boat Magazine.
While I flew back to California, Jacob spent a few months working on the boat and earning money. Later that year, he sailed to the Marshall Islands, another grueling 20-day passage. From there, he kept sailing, on to the tiny island nation of Vanuatu. He wandered the islands, communed with chiefs of small villages and drank a ton of Kava. As the hurricane season rolled in, Jacob pulled his boat, Genesis Earthling, out of the water and jumped on a plane back to California.
Jacob returned to his job as a fiber optics engineer in Lake Tahoe, primarily to pay for repairs and upgrades on the boat. He spent just over a year here before flying back to Vanuatu. Genesis Earthling got new sails, new bottom paint and some shining refinished rails. Now back in the water, Jacob and his girlfriend have completed the passage to the Solomon Islands and are cruising around the archipelago, surfing, fishing and diving.
If you have a minute, check out Jacob's website and/or his Facebook page. I'm really proud to know Jacob. I'm constantly inspired by how hard he worked to accomplish this and I think his lifestyle could serve as a model for many of us.
Waiting on winter
I cannot stop checking the weather. Is it going to snow today? Tomorrow? In a week? Will there be powder a month from now? I'm trying to think up a funny name for this compulsion. I know it stems from a devout love of winter. I'm trying to cope, but my work schedule is often thrown off by forecast updates and distant chances of precipitation.
My friend Zach Zach, slashing backcountry pow in an inflatable cow suit.