Elementary my dear Watson

I seem to find myself in hairbrained situations quite often.  The latest being a last minute decision to go on a quick and easy overnighter to beautiful (we think) Watson Lakes in the Mt Baker National Forest.  At a mere 4400 foot elevation, a nice heavy snowpack wasn't quite on our radar until we had to park about a mile from the trailhead blocked by some good size classic Northwest slush piles.  Pressing on with the thought of a pristine lake at the end of a Measly 2.5 mile hike on our minds was an easy decision, but one that would make the rest of the evening interesting to say the least.  Hitting the trailhead at about 8:30 p.m. some really nice temperatures kept us from being apprehensive about night hiking, and having our lamps and trudging through the snow kept us feeling pretty awesome as well, that is until we found ourselves dropping in elevation, searching in the dark, in a solid 4-5 feet of snow, for a trail that was about 20 inches wide.  Sidehilling, scrambling and gritting and clawing our way through brush, slush and warily navigating rock fields with a good post-holing risk and backtracking to the correct area where we would go over a small saddle, to see the beautiful lake moonlit because it was entirely frozen over and covered in more snow.  Sliding down towards the water's edge on an old avalanche track while watching a huge lightning storm on the horizon and seeing more stars than I have in months, made the experience more than worthwhile though, and some steak kebabs and rum and coke courtesy of Mike, who makes the honorable mention list for jumping on the trip without a shred of gear, no headlamp and still being able to pack both beverage and steak morsels, made the weekend one of the best this summer so far.  

Here's to believing theres no such thing as too late to have fun.

Thanks for looking

whole gallery here

-Rhys 

Phil's maternity picture, he's due any day now!

Kate Logan and the dreaded Headshot

Even the term 'headshots' makes me cringe, thus it is a good challenge for me to address.  With a Seattle musician as a sister I get the chance to practice and play with the results and test out some new LR3 presets to try out some film look editing

here are a few

thanks for looking,

Rhys

Northwest Riders Wake Series 2012

Covering wakeboarding, its usually a safe bet that I will get wet.  Covering wakeboarding in Washington, its pretty much a given.  Kicking off the 2012 Northwest Riders Wake Series Double Up contest this year was a nice torrential rainstorm, and even some thunder.  But my favorite part about living in the Northwest, is the amazing people I get to experience this place with.  Smiles were undeniable in what was easily the wettest event I have ever covered. With little to no expectation for amazing weather in middle to late June, the decision was made to have a killer time before the day even started, and it went down.  The riders absolutely threw down, and Northwest Riders pulled off a killer event in true Northwest Riders fashion.  

Here's to making your own sunshine, and enjoying the liquid sunshine when we get it, 

thanks for looking

check the whole gallery here

-Rhys

Bow Lake Watersports

Hittin the lake with Cam Russell one last time before we both embark on our summer journeys, his to AK and mine to North Central Washington.  Got it done despite the rain

thanks for looking

-Rhys

Chad Spady gettin after it: