My blog posts will now live here! Subscribe below!
Gear: Some Travel Essentials /
I find that I am traveling for work more than ever now, and as someone who loves gear and optimizing, I’ve narrowed down some essentials that I take with me every time. And I’m always tinkering with the list. As I get ready for 2 1/2 months away, these are some travel-specific things I’ll take with me.
*Not everything is pictured but most of it is
AG1 - I know the hype around greens powder has died down some with lots of naysayers, and while I would never pay $100 a month to use this product in my every day life, I do really like to bring it with me when I travel. Even if it is placebo effect, I like to know that I’m getting some greens and essential vitamins and minerals when I’m traveling to different countries where what I have available to me as far as nutrition varies wildly. And I consistently find that I get less sick than others I travel with, though that could be for a number of reasons!
Wellness Formula - in addition to the AG1, this has always been an essential for me when I’m starting to feel sick - basically an immunity booster
LMNT electrolytes - hydrate or die
Gnarly Protein powder
Earplugs and Eye mask - I take my sleep very seriously! Earplugs have especially been a huge game-changer in my travels. From loud planes to noisy climbing huts, they are essential.
The Ordinary skincare products - I try to stay on top of keeping my skin healthy while traveling. A good daily cleanser and SPF is everything.
Airpods
Powerbank
Global Travel Adapter
Traveler’s Journal - this is my favorite journal and I’ve had it for years. You can buy new inserts for it which is way cheaper than buying new notebooks all the time.
Aeropress, Coffee mug - I usually pack good coffee and a grinder too. I’m not sure if I will this time… I’ve gotten more into drinking maté recently and it’s easier to prepare when you’re in far-out places.
Opinel knife
Force Board - always trying to keep my fingers from getting super weak…
JBL speaker
Kindle (e-reader)
Film Camera + film
The Photo that Started It All /
I’ve been reflecting recently on this photo. It’s come up in conversation more than once with the photo editors I work with over at Patagonia, and I jokingly say that I’ll never top this image. Or I haven’t since.
2019 I was working as a guide for YMS in the valley, and I had just bought a Sony A6000. Since high school I’ve always had a camera on me. A Canon AE-1 35mm, a Canon EOS Rebel XT, disposable cameras, point and shoots… but it was always just a hobby. I’m not sure why I eventually bought the small Sony but I did and along with it a fantastic 12mm manual Rokinon lens.
Anyone who’s worked in the park or has hung out in Tuolumne long enough knows that the store is the gathering place. Simply a parking lot with a shabby building that’s thrown together every summer, it’s an essential watering hole for us high country folk with no phone service. It’s close to the campground where the SAR siters and climbing stewards live, the grill serves soft serve ice cream. and you can buy beers individually at the store (one of the few good things the concessionaire provides). After work, or a climbing day, you will probably drive or bike by and see a group of your friends hacky-sacking or hanging. There’s even a route in the Owens River Gorge called “Chillin’ at the Grill” named for this phenomenon.
Anyways, this moment is one of those moments. A particularly good hang. I remember I had just got back from a day of work. Probably guiding on Dozier Dome or something. Sat down next to Annie, joking about this amazing bruise she had on her leg from some offwidth she had climbed. The sun was starting to set, and the store always gets this gorgeous golden last light. More friends sat down. Stu was there, of course. People talking about their days, about what they were going to do the next day. Existing, laughing. Chris was there, which makes this photo special, too.
Somehow I nailed the manual focus. You can see in the top right corner the lens hood kind of got in the shot. You can’t see Alison’s face but her sprawling body communicates a vibe. We’re chilling at the grill, after all.
EVOLUTION TRAVERSE // Trip Report /
“To climb for miles and never leave the skyline…” - Peter Croft
The Evolution Traverse has been on my bucket list as long as I can remember. For so long, it was a far-off fantasy – too big and serious to comprehend until I was “ready.” Fast forward years of climbing and scrambling all across the High Sierra, and I suddenly found myself in that position of mentally ready and technically capable, but the worry of being physically ready still lingered in the back of my mind. Climbing not measured in vertical feet but in miles; two days of having to be mentally sharp for soloing, and just the willpower to dive headfirst into a mission that is sure to be somewhat of a sufferfest.
The Evolution Traverse was something Gena and I had been trying to do for the past two years, but kept being thwarted by High Sierra monsoon season. I’d spent the spring and early summer this year hiking and jugging for work so knew I was more aerobically fit than usual and the time was now.
We pretty much followed Steph Abegg’s itinerary to a T, with our plan looking like this:
Day 1: Hike to Darwin Bench
Day 2: Climb the traverse to Peak 13,332 (halfway) - bivy
Day 3: Finish the traverse, hike back to camp
Day 4: Hike out
Gear List:
36L pack (Patagonia Terravia)
Sleeping pad and 20-degree bag (lows were in the 30’s or else I would have taken a 40 degree)
TX4 approach shoes
Nylon double-length webbing for harness
ATC
Chalkbag
Extra tat and lightweight quicklinks in case any rap stations needed attention
Food for 4 days
Titanium 900mL pot, lightweight stove, small fuel canister for melting snow
Sun hoody, lightweight alpine pants, R1, beanie, Capilene air leggings, and medium-weight puffy jacket
1.5 liters of water for on the ridge
My ultimate luxury item… Sony A7 IV with my 14mm 1.8 lens
*My bag ended up weighing about 21 pounds I think. Which was comfortable to climb with.
We also had a 40-meter, 5mm rap line which ended up being the perfect length for all the rappels we did. I felt very comfortable soloing the whole thing in approach shoes but this will highly depend on your ability and familiarity with doing so (we did all the raps off Darwin, skipping any 5.9 downclimbing sections) and Gena put on her climbing shoes for the last peak, Huxley which had the most sustained 5th class of all of the peaks if you don’t downclimb off of Darwin.
The first day on the ridge, I was buzzing with energy and psych and Gena and I were flowing. Making great time on the often discouraging first few summits, nailing our route-finding, and moving well. From Darwin to Peak 13,332 where we would bivy ended up taking us 5 whole hours. They aren’t kidding about those gendarmes. Weaving up and down and around over a seemingly short distance, it was baffling how long it took. But we summited before sunset, found a nice bivy next to a big snowpatch, and settled in for the night.
Gena on The Golden Triangle - the most iconic part of the traverse with difficulties that felt like a few moves of 5.6/5.7 downclimbing
Our bivy just after Peak 13,332
Having finished the more “difficult” and more technical half of the ridge, we took our time waking up and getting started on day two, a day which we definitely underestimated. I would describe the first half of the Evo as being technical, and the second half as being physical. The distance is way longer, the elevation gain and loss is much steeper, and in general is just more of a leg day with a lot of sun exposure.
On the ridge towards Mt. Haeckel
Twice we thought we had summited Fiske only to look over in dismay at where Fiske actually was. The fatigue and dehydration started to kick in, and you look down at Warlowe, this huge, intimidating monster of a peak, and start to dig into the grit reserves you knew you’d have to access at some point.
By Huxley, the light was slanting and turning golden. We took a breath, and started up the last peak, savoring the movement which happened to also be the best on the whole ridge. Solid rock and fun cracks up to 5.7 leads you to a summit ridge full of large, jagged boulders, all contoured by the intense evening light.
We topped out as the fiery red sun set in the West, and hiked the 5+ miles back to our camp at the Darwin Bench through the night, at which point I was deep in the pain cave. But with nothing to do but hike out the next day, I crashed into a dreamless slumber, happy to be safely on solid ground.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change”~ Charles Darwin
A Month On Assignment in the Tsaranoro Valley of Madagascar /
“Yo, do you want to cancel all your plans in June and come to Madagascar for a month?? Patagonia needs a videographer!”
I was driving out of service when Lenore called, and as the line stuttered, I did as well, “Um, I’ll call you back when I’m in service!” I said, and the line clicked dead. My friend Gena was next to me in the car. “You have to go!!!!!” She said excitedly. My first reaction to the news was, “I’m tired.” I had just gotten back from 2 months of international travel only 10 days prior. I was getting into a climbing rhythm again, and had to be in Yosemite Valley for work for the next 2 weeks as well, which would leave me less than a week to turn around and pack up and travel to one of the furthest places in the world for a month. It all seemed overwhelming. This is the side of being an adventure photographer / filmmaker they don’t tell you about. Don’t get attached to too many personal plans, because they will all be thrown away in an instant. Usually, I need some time to settle in with the news – first slamming the door shut in its face as I deal with the surprise, and then opening it back up meekly, saying, “sorry, come on in I’m so happy to see you!” And then, I get stoked.
Two and a half weeks later, I started the long journey to the Tsaranoro Valley. First, a 5-hour drive from Bishop to LA. Then, 2 days of flights. LAX to SLC, SLC to Paris, Paris to Antananarivo. Then comes the fun part: 2 days of driving on the worst roads ever all the way to the southeastern part of the island, where a remote valley of granite massifs awaits.
I was there to film for Patagonia. Doerte Pietron, one of their ambassadors, was close friends with Lenore and they were going as a team to attempt to climb a route that Lenore had equipped when she was there last.
Lenore and Elise halfway up the first ascent of their route, Tsofa Dombo (5.12b A1)
Doerte and her husband, Daniel, are the best climbers no one’s heard about. The quiet crushers. While everyone else is fixing lines and working routes to death, they are going ground up, every time. Trying or establishing viciously hard routes, with no one around to document it.
So I tried to keep my camera as non-invasive to their process as possible.
Daniel on the crux pitch of Lalani M’panjaka (8a+)
I was shooting for Patagonia’s new Free Wall Kit
I also filmed a Trip Report of Doerte and Daniel’s ascent of Lalani M’pankaja