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Thirsty Thursday: A Day in the Wilderness

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: 2007 Scheid Reserve Chardonnay (top 5 favorites!)

Hey hey hey...Thirsty Thursday here again. Time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. This evening we'll recount a day spent in the wilderness form our backpacking trip to the Trinity Alps from way back at the beginning of the summer. Can't believe its fall already! 

A typical day in the backcountry starts with a sunrise shoot. 

Yep, that big bump toward the right is Mt Shasta. 

Then we eat prepare to breakfast. Really hard work. 

Massey maintains a constant guard over the camp perimeter.

Breakfast actually gets made...and we try to keep warm until the sun kicks in. 

Then if the trip planner (which is me 99% of the time) has selected a good spot, we have plenty of hiking and exploring to fill up the day. 

And then we relax a bit and wait for the sun to set. 

Days in the backcountry are pretty fantastic. Wish we could get more days out there, but the rarity fuels the stoke to go bigger the next time. 

Get out there and have your own wilderness-filled weekend!

Thirsty Thursday: Wandering through the Wilderness

Rambler: Beth

Drink at Hand: Cowgirl Winery Rose

A little late getting to Thirsty Thursday tonight, but better late than never! This week I'll share a couple images from our Memorial Day weekend backpacking trip in the Trinity Alps. To the three of us on that trip, this pairing of photos is a little funny.

It turns out that if you have a map but don't know where you actually are on that map, that map is worthless. Of course, if you use the compass in your pocket, you can catch a pretty good clue. A clue that three military-trained outdoorsy people holding that map should know. So, we ended up talking a four mile walk in the wrong direction down the trail in the first photo, which required a 4-mile climb with roughly 3,000' elevation gain back up said trail to get back to the campsite. The second photo was a lovely little scene roughly a half mile from our campsite...in the direction we were supposed to go! But, the best parts of backpacking are the silly little things that happen along the way, and the stories those silly things give us. 

If you look closely, you can see the speed hikers up the trail from me. 

The infamous Deer Lake. Infamous in our heads anyway. 

We'll try not to get out there and get lost this weekend! And we weren't really "lost"...just misplaced ourselves for a little bit. 

Massey Monday: Rest Time

There comes a point late in the afternoon each day when we're out backpacking. Massey really has no endurance filter...its more of an on-off switch. Most times, that switch is stuck in the "on" position. So after a full day of chasing birds, bunnies, pika, marmots, lizards, and whatever else she thinks she should chase, the batteries need a recharge. While Terry and I filter water and make dinner, Massey chills. But is still on alert. 

Thirsty Thursday: Different Light

Rambler: Terry
Drink in Hand: 2009 Tolosa Estate Chardonnay 

I find it amazing how much light can change a scene in a short amount of time. Sure, you can process the images differently, adjusting curves here and there or combing multiple exposures into a single image to capture what you think you saw (or rather what you felt). But nothing seems to change the scene more than the fading light of a sunset.  These two images were shot during sunset on our Trinity Alps adventure. They are almost exactly 30 minutes apart from nearly the same location. The colors are so drastically different as are the moods. The first one reminds me of how grand the mountains are–towering and glowing above the shadowed valley as if saying that you should be up here. The second shot is more like a final hurrah with a touch of red before the shadows fall over everything–one last gift remembering what was (if only moments ago).