On An Adventure

NEW BLOG!!!

2010-04-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

I've moved my blog, go check it out at www.nickocean.com/blog

Christmas in Big Bear

2010-01-27T13:19:00.000-08:00

So, in and amongst busy weeks, being sick on and off since the New Years, and some crazy work I wanted to take a minute to look back on our Christmas adventure for 2009. Laura and I got a chance to rent a little cabin up in Big Bear, Ca. We found it on craigslist of all things. The trip itself was so great to escape from the city to a place that's just a few hours away. It's a reminder of how refreshing it is to leave the city and work and also just how easy it is.

I am in a place where I know that I need to get away very soon, feeling a little claustrophobic and need to break out of my shell.

But here are some photo's from our adventure. It was Dani's first time in the snow. I know she has a jacket, shoes, and everything, at least they aren't studded with sequins.

Click and enjoy!!

Cookie Party 2009!!

2009-12-20T19:09:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,
I really did not intend on getting a moment to work on these or post anything online until spring of 2010, but, alas, here they are. Show them to friends and family as you travel this year. Sorry I was late to my own hosting job, next year will be better.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

click and enjoy.

How do I get out of here?

2009-11-22T10:59:00.000-08:00

So, sitting here at work today. Been a little slow lately. I went from covering two jobs with meetings from beginning to the end of each day and now crickets. At least until everything comes together at 7:30 at night to then deal with. But besides all of that, there are other things gnawing at me. I recently joined a climbing gym near home. I love it so far, early morning challenges and every time I workout early and eat breakfast on my tailgate waiting for work to start I somehow feel like I'm camping for the morning. Then life reminds me to go sit at my computer and wait for emails to pour in. I also got a new pair of hiking shoes, figured 6 years on a pair was a good monument to get some more and besides they had a fantastic sale. But I've been wearing them to work just to help break them in. Today I was looking at my feet perched up on the side table while I played sudoku (I told you it was slow) and got a good look at my hiking shoes. Soooo, been at the climbing gym, new hiking shoes, have a new backpacking pack I got at the end of summer that I haven't used yet. I feel a trend setting in. I need to get out.

Laura and I have been escaping lately with our adventure duo Ryan & Ruthi, but the more I get out, the more I feel weird staying in. The sun going down at ungodly hours each day isn't helping since I only get glimpses of it at lunch time and on the desktop image of my laptop. How do I escape these times where work has you captured doing things that you don't necessarily "not enjoy" but just aren't feeling at the moment? I mean I find myself partially doing what I really want to do in life, but there are those moments that I just don't really care about life goals and achievements very much. I just want to be free from a schedule and a to-do list.

I follow a couple of photo blogs that are just visual essays on the status of our globe. One is of the head White House photographer (http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/). He is able to capture these amazing images of what's it's like good or bad to sit in President Obama's shoes. Others on fashion and design Viewing the glamorous and beautiful things of the world are sometimes really depressing cause you realize you haven't made it, but yet but here are some people who have. Another is Zreportage (http://www.zreportage.com/). Often sad stories of war torn countries and hungry children. There is also the mandatory National Geographic subscription. One of the articles I read not too long ago was about a small Buddhist village. Not really a happy set of images but honest. A people who live so simply There were images of them eating together, enjoying company at all hours of the day, seeming as if they really didn't have a "job" or responsibilities except to make sure there was food on the table and a fire going in the home. This is often what camping consists of. This village wasn't just surviving though and they're not weekend warriors like I have seemingly sufficed to become. Any simple or remote people group finds ways of living very full lives with real purposes no matter how big or small with so much less daily confusion. Our dreams. goals, and desires lead to what we all deal with everyday: bills, debt, rent, credit cards, car payments, traffic, seeing your co-workers more then your significant others or friends. Why do we do this? There are times that I just wanna go all rogue and get outta here. And not Sarah Palin rogue and cause trouble but be truly self sufficient.

Laura and I started a garden this summer in the corner of our little yard. I don't know how many pounds we produced in vegetables but enough for numerous salads and so much zucchini it was ridiculous. Right now we have spinach, butternut squash, green beans, some weak tomatoes, and just had my first fig from our little tree the other day. And this doesn't include our endless supply of herbs. All of this in about 25 square feet of space. Imagine what I could do with an acre. I lived on property as a kid, at one point 100 acres with a mountain on our doorstep and a river full of salmon on our distant porch. We didn't produce anything. Nothing. Now not condemning my parents for not pursuing a life of farming or anything, that's hard work. But as humans we are not self sufficient any more, just look at unemployment. We have skills that are required of us these days for our jobs that actually have no real value. I mean, who needs producers, accountants, bankers, professional bloggers (speaking of). Our ancestors made fire, we have digitized that fire hooked it up to a tank and a wall switch that if the gas runs out or the electricity goes off it is useless. Cars that if fuel was to run dry ran would just stop in the street where they rolled. My laptop battery will only last about 2 hours on its battery, but with no internet, what would I do with it? How do I as a person not just be a weekend warrior and not be a person who has everything they own rely on surge protectors and oil pumps? I know or at least have ideas on what some of the answers can be but there' s something more to it then being "green" or joining the amish community.

We are always trying to spice things up, make it louder, brighter, cooler, but in reality we're really making it more of a pain in the ass. Our life might not make the blogs or newswires but will we enjoy it more? Will we slow down enough to grow deep friendship or see all the places in the world we dream of seeing? I hope so. I hope I get to get out soon and put my new hiking shoes and backpack to use. Cause sudoku is getting a little boring.

Cheers.

Big Bear Adventures

2009-11-22T10:46:00.000-08:00

A couple weekends ago we spent a beautiful weekend in Big Bear, Ca, and to you as readers, all Hallows Eve. Laura and I, and our partners in adventure Ryan and Ruthi headed up after work friday to spend the weekend camping and climbing. It was a bit chilly but fun. And I love having the Rover. Still don't know what to name it but it performed wonderfully climbing over boulders and squeaking through trails. I can't wait to take it out some more.

Highlights of the weekend were a new soup recipe with new additions from our local Co-Op and Dani (our dog/child) and her adventure shoes and cape sadly. We have become those people who buy our dog clothes and a backpack. Her little jacket didn't arrive in time for the trip but she'll be ready for the next. I know, I know, but no rhinestones, strictly trail worthy. And Laura had her most successful climb yet, getting over those fears of heights. And we even carved pumpkins and used them as night lights on our little tent porches. A first for us.

Click & Enjoy!

Daily Dani

2009-07-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

So, not sure how she is able to both jump 3 feet up in the air and then also keep her eyes on me as she is flying through the air, but that is how that would look if so done.

From Dani

The new Daily Dani

2009-07-02T10:08:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone,

I am officially out of work t-minus 8 hours and I have decided to use my camera more. I know right. I took it out of its protective case and put it on my shelf ready to use at any given moment. And in an effort to get pictures of life including my dog I have decided to put up the daily Dani. She is our fairly new dog and just a great subject as you will see.

Enjoy!

From Dani

Koehler Wedding.

2009-04-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

Again with a late post but some fun images of some of my dear friends wedding.

Enjoy!

The Infamous Christmas Cookie Party Pics....

2009-04-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

So, I am so very sorry to all of you who hoped to see these pictures before now. Through a myriad of problems and laziness, and business they are finally here. Gladly most of them aren't Christmas specific, but mostly just good fun. Please share, facebook, and do with whatever you like.

Click and Enjoy!!

May Lake Camping.

2009-04-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

So, here are some photo's of some friends and Laura and I. I will not tell you the area that this lake is located in because I want to keep it to myself and not let the world know of its beauty and serenity. But it was fun none the less. One of those relaxing weekends in the mountains.

Enjoy!

Watchmen Photo Shoot.

2009-04-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

So, this is some images I am finally allowed to post onto the internet. I took some of my new friends that I met just the weekend prior and asked them if I could dress them up in toga's and use them in a billboard image that is in the movie Watchmen. I just wrapped two months ago after working on Watchmen for a year. It was good to finally see the movie up there and also, see my friends in a big pulling back wide shot as we panned over the city.

Thanks guys for the photo shoot and I hope you enjoy!

Ocean Anniversary Wine Adventure....

2009-04-01T10:50:00.001-07:00

Hello,
This again is a late post since our official 5th anniversary was back in August of 2008. Lame I know. It's been a busy season. This is pictures of us, wine, wineries, and the coastal adventures of San Luis Obispo. I keep wondering why I'm not working the fields of a winery right now, maybe someday.

Click and enjoy the pictures!

The Mytar Wedding.

2009-04-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

This was a wedding I did back in the summer, obviously a little late here but none the less I figured I would put up some of my favorite images.

Enjoy!

1968 VW BUG FOR SALE!

2008-08-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, here are some pictures of my VW for sale. Also a couple of us to boot! If you know of anyone who might be interested, here's the craigslist link.

Enjoy

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cto/795556628.html

Who Watches the Watchmen

2008-07-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

Hello and good morning,

So here is the movie I've been working on. It is such that really seeing anything about it has been impossible to this point unless you really dig deep on blogs and such. For the rest of you, the time has come. Our trailer came out last night at Apples website. The trailer is also premiering on the big screen as the trailer on Batman, Dark Knight. Its pretty exciting. The trailer got leaked yesterday from London since it was friday their and people were seeing it. It was online about an hour and 3 min or so and it got pulled from Youtube and a few other sights, but none the less, the blogs went crazy. It was a fun day. So, go check it out.

For those of you who did not know, I have been working in the VFX department on a film called Watchmen. Directed by Zack Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead). Been a really cool experience as my first film in the big leagues I guess you could say. Hope you enjoy the trailer, I saw it come together in front of my very eyes, I was delivering shots to the people who put this online and who developed it into film. It was in my office that we had dozens upon dozens of meetings to help get these shots to look as good as possible to show the public. So, enjoy it.

Here's the websites:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/watchmen/

http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/

Wallace Wedding

2008-07-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from a wedding I shot recently of some friends of mine, the Wallace's. Click on the picture to see more and enjoy!!

Take care.

Living Wide Awake.

2008-06-16T14:16:00.001-07:00

Forgive me but this was a few months ago. I have been horrible at posting work and updating you with my life. Back early this year I was asked to help produce a series of short films that would be used in the release in conjunction with a new book coming out by Erwin McManus called Wide Awake. The dvd would go along with it to help tell 10 short stories that go with the 10 chapters of the book. Here are some pictures of one of the days, I got to be the actor or whatever you would call this. These are some pretty epic shots of me hanging over the edge of a rock out in Malibu called Point Dume. A beautiful spot out on the PCH.

Enjoy!!

Glare of Rockets!

2008-06-16T14:14:00.001-07:00

Here's some photo's from some friends of mine in this pretty awesome band. Love these guys. This was a show they played at the Mayan, a nightclub in downtown Los Angeles.

Click and enjoy!!

A Night w/ Dave Wilson...

2008-06-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

So, my friend Dave Wilson invited me to come shoot a show of his while playing at a local club, Molley Malones. Its a great venue, Dave packed the place out and put on a great show. Here are some photo's from the night!

Click and enjoy!

Seqoia 2008 Extravaganza!!

2008-06-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

So, here are a few pictures and a story about our recent camping trip to the grand Sequoia National Park. I'll have more pictures to come but there from my black and white film camera so its a longer process to get them up here. We went camping over Memorial Day weekend with 12 people included in this adventures. One of which had never been in a camping situation in his life.

So here we are, all packed, checked the weather, gonna be 75-80 degrees, a wonderful outing. A few hours before we leave from work to hit the road, the weather begins to change, its says possible rain. Ok, no big deal, got my water proof jacket with me anyways. So, the tim comes, we hit the road, we arrive late at night with all camp ground all set up from some friends that came earlier in the day. Turns out the weather was a whopping 35 degrees when we get in. The weather decided to change drastically. We got rain, hail, some snow, really hard rain, and eventually had to call it quits the night before we planned on going home. Sadly our lake floaties got no use whatsoever and didn't even think of coming out of the box. Instead we gathered firewood like we were staying for the winter. It was all good though. Although, I think we may have ruined the chances of our first timer ever thinking of doing it again.

Enjoy the photo's!

Such Great Heights 2 Shots!

2008-02-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

Check it!

Click on the photo for more.

More Climbing....

2008-01-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

Yea, that's us a few months back at Joshua Tree, just got this film developed. But I look pretty awesome climbing the crack there.

Click and enjoy!

Skid Row at its finest.

2008-01-15T19:24:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I got the chance to go help out at a Serve LA event in downtown LA on skid row. It was an event where different business and groups got together to form basically a homeless fair where they could get help with paperwork and getting info for shelters and such. It was really cool. I was a liaison for one person at at time that wanted help navigating the fair. The first lady I had was a large aggressive woman who just wanted all the free stuff and then left. Then I waited around for a bunch of people that didn't want my help. Then came a man named Robert who looked very disheveled and lost. I ended up spending like 2 hours wondering around and talking to him. He had just gotten out of prison three days earlier and had no idea what to do next since he had lost everything as he was in prison. He literally was let out of the prison gates with the shirt and pants that he went in with however many years earlier. By the end of the day our conversations ended with a question from him asking if I believed in angels and I said yes, and he followed with "I think I do now too". Then he walked off into the sunset. It was so movie esque. I half expected him to disappear in a beam of light as he walked away. I'll never forget him.

Click on the picture to see more!

Enjoy!!

Jaskilka Wedding!

2008-01-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, and especially those of you friends with the newly married Mark and Lisa Jaskilka. Yay!! So, here are my favorites from the day for all to view. Remember there are two pages of goodness so don't miss any.

Click on the picture below for more images!! Enjoy!!

Christmas Cookie Party Fun!!!

2007-12-28T15:39:00.001-08:00

So, two weekends ago we did a Christmas cookie party and filled our small apartment with friends and frosting. It was loads of fun. I had some lights left over from a shoot so I set them up in the bedroom with a camera and a clicker. People were able to go in and take as many pictures as they could possibly stand without anyone manning it. It ended up being like an old fashion photo booth but a little better quality. Lots of fun and here's some photo's for those of you who missed it. And for those of you in the photo's I"m working on getting them emailed out. Everyone should let me know how you want me to send them to them. There are quite a few.

Enjoy!!

Click on the picture to see more.

MY FIRST FILM!!!!

2007-12-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

So, this is my first film project that I've been able to act as producer. It is called Apartment B and will be available for viewing in the near future. I think it went very well. Here are a few photo's from being on set.
Enjoy!!

Click on the picture to see more!!!

Palm Springs Wedding

2007-12-28T14:59:00.000-08:00

This was a wedding I shot in Palm Springs a few weekends ago. It was pretty. We even got snow in the mountains that night.
Enjoy!

Click on the picture to see more!!

Animal Explorations:

2007-11-28T14:49:00.000-08:00

Well this was a t.v. show I got to work on for a few weeks. Its a kids based show on ABC Saturday morning. Overall it was a pretty decent experience, a bit hard when your in a new hotel every night and city every day. But the animals were awesome. We went to a big cats rescue out in the Mojave dessert that had leopards, jaguars, and my favorite, the tiger. He was really cool. Got the chance to see lots of animals big and small. Some big cats purring, little coatimundi that sounded like a squeak toy, and got to get in and hang out, and pet some mountain lions. Then got to go out to a guys place that trains animals for movies and specializes in movie style attack scenes with lions, tigers, and bears. He demonstrated and it was awesome. He did the big scenes with the tiger attacks in all the big movies including Gladiator and a new one with Will Ferrel that's not out yet where Will wrestles a grizzly bear. That's what we got to see. Anyways, lover these animals and here are some pictures of them.

Click on the photo for much more to see!!!

Such Great Heights

2007-11-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

This is a film I worked on last week. It was a lot of fun. Our pastor Erwin played the main character as a hitman who finds himself after a long life of missing out on his family who faces himself and who he has become head on. There were guns, squibs, guys jumping out of five story buildings, exploding glass, blood real and fake, and good old fashion chaos.

Click on the picture to see much more!!!

A wedding...

2007-11-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here are my fav shots from a wedding I shot last weekend. It started raining pretty hard during the outdoor ceremony. Created some drama and weird atmosphere but here it goes.

Click on the picture to see more!!

Joshua Tree Adventure

2007-11-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago Laura and I went camping with some friends in Joshua Tree. We grabbed our sleeping bags, some grub, and our climbing gear. It was a fun weekend. It was the same weekend with the big California winds and fires. The drive home was interesting. Looked as if a dark creature had deceded on the city from afar. Thanks Ryan, Ruthi, Ryan, and Katie.

Click on the photo to see more pics!!

Vagabond Opera....

2007-11-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

These are a few shots from a music video I worked on with the band "Vagabond Opera" their from Oregon. They were pretty cool. There goal is to keep everything as old style as possible including his awesome curley mustache.

Click on the picture for more!

Climbing In The Sun

2007-10-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Laura and I went out with some new friends climbing in Malibu. We went out to Tick Rock then hit up the beach climb at Point Dume. These are some pictures of Ryan and Ruthi, and Laura and I. Good times, I hurt myself, Ryan hurt himslef, good times. I'm not sure why I keep torturing myself with things like this but I enjoy it. Enjoy!

Click on the picture to see more.

Weekend in the Dessert

2007-10-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago Laura and I got a chance to get out to Palm Springs to just chill and relax pool side at a friends condo. It was awesome. We were alone for the most part excluding a few old folks, some good food, and just a good chance to get out of the city for a few days. The pictures we got, turns out Palm Springs is pretty boring for good things to photograph but just outside the city is some amazing views of these huge fields of wind power generators.

So, here's a few shots of them. Click on the photo to see more pictures. Enjoy!

A B&W Sensation

2007-09-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

So I have this new camera that I got for my birthday. I kept thinking that I wanted a small digital camera but I decided that I wanted to get a traditional old style film camera. Its amazing. I love it. Right now I just bought a couple of rolls of black and white film and here's a few shots from my first roll. Enjoy.

Weddings and a sunrise.

2007-09-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

I went home a couple weekends ago to shoot another wedding in Seattle. It was an enjoyable short trip. I really got to hang out with my sister who just started 5th grade. Crazy I know, but they grow up. We had determined that she had never seen a sunrise before like on purpose. So we woke up at 5 am and my sister was all awake making snacks and a little basket for breakfast for our little trip. We grabbed our rubber boots as most Washington beaches are not really sandy but more muck and drift wood. I grabbed my camera and she grabbed hers and we set out in the dark. It was beautiful and good to just hang out with my sister. Here's some best of pics of the wedding and a sunrise. Enjoy!

Trip to the Emerald City...Seattle...home...clean air,love it.

2007-09-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from our trip home a couple weeks ago. Its always good to go back and see friend and family again. Its such a beautiful city, I've never flown into Seattle during the day time and it is just surrounded with water in all directions. Love it. We celebrated my 24th birthday up there with a trip through Seattle to all these little places I've never been before even though we grew up there. Got some coffee in Fremont, walked out to thisi little penninsula at the UW campus, drove through there, what a beautiful campus. Those are reasons you go to schools out there. It was even pretty sunny up there while we were visiting. One morning that it did rain, I woke up after having the window open all night and was totally confused by a strange noise, turns out, it was rain. It had been so long since I've really heard rain I forgot what it even sounded like. I'm not complaining. Hung out with some of my long time friends, grabbed a beer and dinner and just chilled, memorable. Its a great feeling when your with true friends that when you seem them again, it doesn't really felt like you ever left. Just click on the picture for more. Enjoy!

Night Fun!

2007-09-13T16:16:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures I took one night while I was playing with my camera avoiding girl talk at my place. Click on the pic. Enjoy!

Firetruck Mayhem!!

2007-09-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

We woke up one morning with a helicopter circling over head, sirens going off, thought it was somewhat normal then all of a sudden we look outside and our street is full of trucks, 9 large fire trucks, 4 aid cars, 4-5 police cars. It was kinda crazy. Turns out an old couple fell asleep with a cigarette in there hand in the morning and caused a matress fire. Everyone was fine just some smoke inhalation, thus the officers on the air masks. Kinda fun, check out the pics. Just click on the image. Enjoy!

Ole' San Francisco trip

2007-06-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

After our trip to Yosemite Park we headed our way to San Francisco to stay for 6 days. We've never been before and really enjoyed it. After traveling Europe for a few months, this is a place that really does have a European flavor to it. But its a bit of a rip off from the real thing, but good to know that I can get some real Italian style coffee a mere 6 hour drive away. Laura and I stayed at a really cool hostel just a few min walk from Union Square. It was filled with Aussies and Kiwi's (people from New Zealand). There was some fun group stuff every night, pool table tournaments, movie night, drink youself silly nigt wich we didn't partake in, but it was all fun. They also had a big pancake breakfast with tea and coffee all day as well that was free. So, good fun there. The first day we traveled we went on this walking tour from a podcast we download called Walks of a Lifetime put out by National Geographic. It's a 5 mile round trip walk which we've become accustomed to, it took us from Union Square to some historic building, in through China town, to some excellent people watching spots, then to the spot where fortune cookes were invented (not in China, but San Francisco oddly enough), they hand made them and let you taste warm ones, they were pretty good. Then we headed into North Beach area that is officially Little Italy, this really brought back some memmories. We visited a bar where a lot of the beat poets, and folks like Bob Dylan got their start called Vesuvius Cafe. Next door is a great spot to get old books and poetry that you'll never find in a normal book store. Then we ventured down streets and alleys and came to the first cafe in San Francisco called Cafe Triesta. Also a good place to people watch and have an excellent cup of coffee. Then a trip to Coit Tower and back home through downtown.

Throughout the rest of the trip was spent wine tasting in Sonoma Valley, hanging out on both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge, Ghiridelli Square, riding the tram car, visiting what's called the Painted Ladies, those famous houses in the park on Full House and So I Married An Axe Murderer, then we retraced out steps back to the coffee shop and got some dessert.

Here are some photo's, more to come when I get my film back.

I love these faces.

Some coffee.

Nice.

China Town.

A typical street.

These faces are a series of weird heads we saw in windows.

The Golden Gate.

Cafe Vesuvius.

China Town.

China food in China town.

The aquarium.

Doing what I do.

Some sunset love.

The trolley train.

This man was writing on this but turns out to be just scribble.

The clouds rolling into the bay.

A trip to Yosemite Park

2007-06-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

So this was a pretty amazing trip, well at least the two and a half days we spent there. We woke up about 7:30 am after staying out at an all night party not getting in until 3:45 am. Let me tell you, yikes. But after some strong coffee and a bagel I was ready to hit the road. Then once on the 101 North, I totaly skipped the exit to get to I-5. About an hour or so to late I realized this and had to trek my way back through small highways. This extended our drive for about an extra hour and a half. We show up to Yosemite Park, holy crap is that place gigantic. It litteraly took hours to drive through it. We later realized that Yosemite National Park is about the same size as the state of Rhode Island. We get in late, find our tent, which was excellent, light our candle and fire and slip into bed. We are at this point at about 10,000 feet high and its pretty cold up there. We wake up early the next morning to hike the epic Half Dome. It was a bit of a late start after getting breakfast, and the one hour drive just to the trail head. We figured it would be ok. Half Dome is a 16.5 maybe a 17.5 mile round trip hike. The last three miles you hike an additional 3500 feet in elevation to get to the climing stairs. At the 5.5 mile marker we ran out of water in the hottest part of the day, only to realize that this is typically a 12 hour stay the night kind of hike. We were forced to turn back because of fluids and darkness creeping in. Silly me being a photographer I decided to bring a good amount of my gear with me thinking I was going to get some amazing images from the trip, well a 70 pound pack with two camera's, lenses, and a tripod was a bad choice. I was so sore. Also disappointed from not being able to gaze out upon Yosemite Valley. It is probably on the of the most amazing places I've ever been in my life based on natural beauty alone. We saw bears, rattle snakes feet from our feet on the trail, drank from a raging river, soaked our feet in a ice cold stream that lead to an amazing waterfall, and witnessed a climber 5,000 feet above us reach hit pinacle in darkness only to let out a scream and we had a flashlight conversation with the rest of the climbers. Amazing. Here are a few photo's of this leg of the journey. This trip will definitely be the first of many.

Here was our awesome tent.

Our humble abode.

This would have been us at the top of Half Dome.

Our bear friend.

Here's a nice little dude for our friend Shaddy.

Half dome on the left, the waterfall we crossed on the right.

The amazing Yosemite Valley with Half Dome in the distance.

Here are those climbers camping on the side of a mountain...my next adventure.

A close up of the climbers.

Some giant Sequoia's.

A tribute to Ansel Adams.