Third Try's a Charm

I had to take a couple steps back to come up with the start to the story of this particular photo objective. It started with a video I saw about moonbows at Yellowstone National Park, a rainbow-like phenomenon that occurs with the mist from a waterfall under a full moon.  In the spring of 2013, I had recently heard about this phenomenon, just as a full moon was coming out over Whistler. I had also heard from a friend about a secret path you could take to reach the bottom of Brandywine Falls, and enjoy the view from the bottom. Equipped with a vague description of how to find the trail, my friends and I headed out with our cameras, a couple beers, and high hopes. As soon as we reached the lookout for the falls, we saw there was no moonbow to be seen. However, that didn't stop our curiosity of what the falls would look like from the bottom. Finding this secret trail proved difficult, especially in the dark, but after an hour we finally reached the bottom of the falls. Still no moonbow, but the falls were illuminated by the moon and awesome; as in, awe-inspiring. Although some hazy clouds had rolled in, I could tell the north star was just above the falls, meaning this viewpoint had potential for a great star trail. That night I snapped the first shot from this story.

After we made it home, I made it a personal ambition to capture a star trail from this place, combining the rotational star trails around Polaris and the beauty of Brandywine Falls. About a month later, we caught a patch of very nice, warm, clear days and nights. This time I opted to make a solo mission down to the falls, which proved to be extremely scary and unnerving, as bears were starting to wake up and search for food. This time I didn't account for the fact that the heat had sped up the alpine melt, and the falls were gushing. I couldn't get nearly as close as I wanted, so I compromised on my angle and thought I would experiment with a single frame star trail (the second image in this story). My lens also got coated in mist from the waterfall, so the image came out with a mysterious fog to it.

I came home from the second mission a little defeated, and vowed to come back in the fall when the river would be running much slower and I could get closer to the falls. Finally the conditions aligned and I ventured down with my friend and amazing photographer Reuben Krabbe. We got down, set up, and I ran my camera for an hour while he experimented with various angles and techniques. When I got home and finally compiled the star trail image I was quite pleased with the result. A couple lofty ideas, juvenile ambition, and 4 months later, I finally got the image I was looking for.

South America Trip Finale

My 4-week trip to South America would conclude with 4 days in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Known for its European architecture and rich culture, there's a world of exploration to be had here.  I was staying at a hostel right on Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world, which was a good place to start from.  After many small towns and adventures, and 2 weeks of straight snowboarding, I was very excited to stroll around a huge city in flip flops and a t-shirt, and bask in relaxation, food and drink, and of course the good company of other travellers. If you find yourself with a few days to kill in Buenos Aires, be sure to observe some of the following: 1) Bike tour - Heading on a bike tour is definitely a nice way to see Buenos Aires if you don't have much time. You'll cover lots of ground, and the tour guides are really knowledgeable.

2) The Obelisk of Buenos Aires - built in 1936, standing 67.5m high, this is a pretty awesome landmark to see, and it lies right on Avenida 9 de Julio, which is a sight in itself.

3) La Recoleta Cemetery - this is a massive above-ground cemetery for the rich and famous in the Recoleta district of Buenos Aires.  The graves are for many rich and famous Argentines, and are very elaborate. Afterwards, head to the Palermo district, and eat at one of the many awesome restaurants there.

The above-mentioned activities were all staples for my trip that I had heard about before I arrived. But what I hadn't anticipated was some of the awesome nightlife I would find in town. An Irish friend I met in my hostel brought me to La Bomba de Tiempo, an awesome live drumming show held only on Monday nights. It's a 2 hour ordeal with about 10-12 drummers all in a line and a conductor orchestrating a wild, improvised concert. Definitely the highlight of my time in Buenos Aires.  After 4 wild days and nights, I was ready to catch my long flight back to life and reality in Whistler. Writing these posts about my trip has got me itching to plan my next excursion south already!

South America Part II with a Daily Vote Reminder!

Another quick reminder to help me out with a daily vote on this MEC contest! If you could simply click on the link below, and vote for my photography entry about hiking, you could help me win a hiking trip to the Arctic! Thanks for helping!! http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/324364/voteable_entries/68689974

Now on to the interesting stuff. I met up with my travel group in Santiago (check out GAP Adventures, they're a bit pricy, but if you don't speak the language well it helps a lot), and we headed south via an overnight bus ride to the town of Pucon, Chile. In my group were me, 3 girls (Lupita, Noora, and Janet), and our tour guide. The town of Pucon showed some rainy weather, so we could not climb the nearby volcano, Villaricca. Instead, we went for a soaking wet hike through a national park to a waterfall, which was pretty fun, given the circumstances. I probably wouldn't have done a similar hike in BC in those conditions, but you need to take what you get when travelling.

The next day we went for some whitewater rafting, followed by a visit to some badass hot springs, 2 activities that are extremely enjoyable in the rain. Afterwards, the guides brought us to their house for a BBQ feast; carne asada and wine in vast amounts. The hospitality down there was absolutely amazing. After 2 days in Pucon, we took off east, crossing the border into Argentina, first visiting a town called San Martin de los Andes. To be continued...

Help me win an Arctic hiking adventure!

Thanks for checking out my website! I recently entered a photography contest with MEC about Exploring Outside. The grand prize is a hiking adventure for 4 to the Arctic next summer! I entered a collection of 4 photos that have all been explained in detail on this site, from previous hikes. If you could take a look at my contest entry, and cast me a vote, I would greatly appreciate it!  You can vote daily too, so the more votes the merrier. Votin goes from July 10-24.  Thanks!  

Here is the link to the contest:

http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/324364/voteable_entries/68689974

Rainbow Lake - September 2011

Rainbow Lake is a great Whistler hike, with the more common trailhead lying on Alta Lake Road. From there, you travel between Mt Sproatt and Rainbow Mountain, ascending via Twentyone Mile Creek, passing Rainbow Falls along the way to reach the beautiful Rainbow Lake. This particular day, however, my friend Taylor and I decided to achieve the same destination via a road less travelled, the Madeley Trail. This route begins in the Callaghan Valley, right beside Madeley Lake. The trail is not very well maintained, and involves a little bit of bushwhacking and route finding, bringing you up to Hanging Lake and then Rainbow Lake. A great way to execute this journey (and our original intention) would be as a one-way venture from Madeley back to Alta Lake Road, but it requires 2 vehicles with good clearance and 4 wheel drive, as we soon found out. Realizing that Taylor's car wouldn't have been able to get back to my truck, we were forced to return the way we came, which was still quite enjoyable.[gallery link="file"]

Black Tusk - August 2012

The Black Tusk in Garibaldi Park is an iconic trail for any avid hiker in BC, as it can be seen from many places along the sea-to-sky corridor. It offers many options, from a simple day-hike to multi-day adventures with many campsites in the surrounding area. We decided to enjoy the scenery, and started off in Cheakamus on a 3-day excursion.  Our first night we camped at the Helm Creek campground, where we met some other hikers for a good game of frisbee. The next day saw beautiful meadows as well the great views from the top of Panorama Ridge. After the Ridge, we started climbing towards the Tusk, and although we had originally hoped to camp right on top of it, our doubts overcame and we settled for camping at the base. This led to a beautiful sunrise and an early climb of the Tusk at 6am. Our third day was a leisurely one, strolling a mere 5km from the Tusk to Garibaldi Lake, where we enjoyed a much-deserved swim and a starry night. Overall, an epic 4-day hike.

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