Thursday, March 12, 2009

Slappers

Lizard's Mouth
Santa Barbara, Calif.

Lazy Saturday afternoon on the hill.




SarawithouttheH Slip Slap.


Duct Tape & Torn Tips.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Pupper Daycare

Pupper Daycare

Ash-hole went to San Fran for the weekend and we watched her two puppers bringing the total number of dogs in the house to six. Yup SIX! It was crazy, but in a good way.




I feel the same way too sometimes little dude.


Outside looking in, but me or you?

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Toe (or Lack Thereof)

Toe (or Lack Thereof)
Still outside of Santa Barbara

Ouch is all I can say. I stubbed my toe. It was kind of a bummer. We were having a grand ole' time walking from the Mouth over to the Melee area up at Lizard's. The sunset was perfect, the air was crisp for one last sunset session. I thought long and hard about finishing out the day with a couple easy crack climbs but as I was sorta woozy from blood lose common sense prevailed. We did however finish our hike unhindered. The drive back through the mountains in the dark was groovy but no big deal. Since then however walking has been a real "pain" in the as- errr toe...



Whoever knew the baby toe was such a gusher?


The first aid was not exactly up to par for a NOLS course, but we did what we could with what we had. "What we had" being precisely a piece of crinkled notebook paper, duct tape, a lighter, and a stick of chewing gum. Okay settle down MacGyver, I am kidding about the chewing gum. It worked out fine. You know what they say, "If you can't duc' it, #!*@ it!"


The worst part-- taking the duct tape off. This made worse of course by having no feeling left in the foot but realizing how bad it is by your roommate's expression.


**For some more really rad shots of the day (me), check out Bick's blog here, here, here
and here.**

Lizard's

Lizard's
Outside of Santa Barbara, Calif.

You may have noticed I have been shooting quite a bit of surfing and by default, surfers. This weekend the sun was shinning and the rock was seductively tantalizing. It was time to get away from the beach and hit the hills for a quick burn. We were fortunate, the predicted winter (winter? it was in the 80s?) swell didn't hit Sunday after all leaving the ocean flat and calm from Trestles to Tarantulas. With the lack of waves I was able to pry Bick away from his short board for an afternoon in the Santa Barbara mountains. It was his first climbing experience. After a few burns on a couple classic problems he readily admitted he was addicted. Nice...




Before finishing up with a sunset session at Lizard's we hit up Painted Cave (both the climbing spot and the Chumash site) and then Knapp's Castle. I never noticed the mortar work on the old chimney before. It caught my eye. I couldn't help but admire the intricate beauty-- a mix of man's hard work and nature's ravaging patience. It was amazing. I couldn't help myself. I was taken by its natural beauty and serenity so I climbed it. Barefoot.


Lizard's Mouth, the paddle out.


Dropping in and about to be barrelled, looking for an all access pass into the (sandstone) "green room."


Goofy Foot going Richter.

Monday, March 2, 2009

A Boy & His Dog

A Boy & His Dog
Loon Creek, Calif.


I had planned on heading up to Pine Mountain to photograph the snow. It had been well below freezing up there during the nights the last few days and I figured this would be one of the last weekends I could play in the snow. Nope. It was in the 80s with nary a cloud in sight. Not being all that interested in photographing mud I headed down to the beach instead. I found Bick playing with Kaya and his skim board. Sara was running Lucy around the beach. It was a lovely afternoon...





Breather.


Ride & Chase / Chase & Ride.


Ready, Set, Go.


(Wa-wa-wa-wa-Wipe Out!) After a bit of watching I almost thought it looked fun. Then I realized it really was a contact sport-- contact as in "Hello face, meet beach." I decided I have lost enough teeth this decade and wisely sat this one out. Moms woulda' been proud.