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yellowstone trip edit. tetons 

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some velvia on the xa2.

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film yellowstone

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film yellowstone

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prints for sale 

http://millanphoto.bigcartel.com/product/mamiya-7-camp-series-whitney-portal

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Mamiya 7 camp series, Whitney Portal

11x17 Hahnemuehle photo rag bright white, 100% cotton. Inkjet print shot on Kodak portra 400 film with a Mamiya 7. Lone Pine, California 2016....

check out some new prints for sale. 

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only 40 minuets of me talking about camping at Carrizo Plain National Monument, wild flowers, and testing velvia, lomo, ektar films outdoors. Also, some photo reviews and self critique.

new prints available http://millanphoto.bigcartel.com/

see full version photos http://mamiya7.tumblr.com/

IG: campingsupplyco

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Check out the video of the first 20 miles of the PCT. Gonna start working on some more post from the trips last year. Still to come, camera review of Mamiya 7 in the field, 40 mile solo backpacking, catching 30 fish in a weekend, and bringing someone on their first backpacking trip. 

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mamiya 7 with ektar 100. This is from alta meadow, looking at the direction I should have been going . 

I was happy leaving sequoia on that last trip in September, I kinda knew I wasn’t coming back for a little while, it is getting close to the end of the season.  

One of my things this year was to camp every month. Yeh not the most prolific resolution but it was something to do and look forward too. Now with only about three months left I am ending the project. There was never pressure to plan trips and camp all the time. About half the trips randomly came up an I used them as an excuse to go camping, and the other half were planned out with permits and scheduled days off. Last weekend was my only free weekend of the month, it could have been for camping. But all the planning and work that was gonna go into it, I didn’t feel like doing. Even the last couple trips were really hard to get all done. They were fun but more work than it should have been. I think its okay to kill projects, sometimes starting them you don’t really know how much goes into it, so it’s good to know when something needs to end. I really want to take the best trips from this year and do some things similar next year. So for the next couple months I am going to write and recall all the trips I did this year. Some good old fashion reflection, hopefully I can summarize the trips by memory. Also, I will try to do some gear reviews as well.

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mamiya 7, ektar100, well ektar only comes in 100. 

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I didn’t make my trip destination. There were a lot of feelings when I decided to not go on. Turning back felt safe, but, it was also failure. Walking away left my head down on the trail home.

The night before. It turned calm in the meadow, the clouds stood still as the wind died down. The changing colors of the sunset faded, the colors of the meadow, mountains, and forest all changed to black and grey in the darkness of the night. I had already decided at this point I was not going to carry on. Feeling drained and not prepared physically for what was to come, this weighed on me for some of the night. It was my first off trail attempt, pushing myself and just powering through wasn’t gonna work and wasn’t the smart choice in this situation. At this moment being more mindful was as important as strength. It could have been poor planning and schedule conflict, there was a lot to blame. At the same time everything was there for me, weather was nice, route planned, and, mostly prepared. Part of it was knowing that doing something the way I had planned was not going to happen. It really took a lot out of me. After I knew it wasn’t going to happen more and more excuses came up to not do the hike. Feeling undecided I slept unsettled.

The morning of. I wanted my mind to change and it did go back an forth a few times. But being unsure was not good in this situation, going through with doubt was an uneasy feeling. I have always liked some doubt, it gives some sense of adventure. I like the feeling of not making it, and overcoming the hike, but this time the mountain got the best of me.  

At home. I now know how much I need to prepare, more than I did this time. Solo backpacking and the mountain can bring out a lot of fear and test mental and physical limits, it turned into a humbling experience. Another take away is if you are gonna combine trips do the backpacking first then the other stuff.   

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at twin lakes in sequoia, and exploring the top of silliman pass. 

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some randoms from the kings canyon trip. all shot with my mamiya 7. last two photos are shot with velvia 50.

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photo: Velvia50 in the mid day might be my favorite film.

Day 4, July 24.

The last 10 miles, home stretch, conclusion.

After an early start and getting camp packed away, we had breakfast together. All we could talk about was what we were going to eat when we got back to the city. I wanted Barbecue, baby back ribs, with mac and cheese, greens, mashed potatoes and corn bread with cold beer. We left camp at the same time 8:45am, but, in under 5 minutes her pace was too fast. This was the first time I had a chance to hike with someone but didn’t feel the need to keep up. I stopped to take a photo of some ferns, by the time I was finished she was out of sight. This stretch of hike reminded me of the first day, there wasn’t many people. It was getting lower in elevation which made it hotter. Also, less trees and being more exposed because some of the trail was scaling the canyon. But, morale was good, there was excitement similar to the first day, but, instead of the starting high it was the finishing high. Most of these miles went quick, close to a 3o minute a mile pace, and some walking became reckless. I could feel a hot spot on the ball of my foot, but, I didn’t want to address it because it felt so close to Roads End. I was almost out of film for the camera so I wasn’t really looking to take photos. I didn’t catch a fish on the whole Bubb’s Creek side, there was harder fishing spots on this side, and,  I was all fished out at this point, Everything was winding down, there was mixed emotions, part of me wanted to take my time an savor everything, find fishing spots, and even go home really late. On the other hand, I wanted to get out of there quickly and just reach my milage. It seemed like everyday out there was hotter than the last, and this day was no exception. The lower it got the hotter it was, and noon was here. It was mostly fast hiking through the hottest part of the day. Once off the switch backs of the canyon, it was back to tree cover, rivers, day hikers, kids and coolers. There was two miles left, people hike out here to jump in the river near the first bridge. I passed more people in this stretch of two miles in one hour than I did in the last three days and 39 miles. Part of the home stretch and finishing was surreal, passing the Roads End ranger station it probably looked like I was a zombie walking pasts crowds and not paying attention to anyone. There was no one there to greet me no one else wait for. I didn’t finish with a big smile on my face, I was glad to get there but I had no energy, my legs felt stiff and mushy at the same time. Walking on pavement and flat ground for the time in days made me wobbly and unbalanced, the flat stable ground was just not familiar.

conclusion

The first thing I did after leaving Roads End, was go to one of the popular swimming holes off the side of the road. The shock of cold water on my achey body felt soothing, everything tensed up, it felt like my body was trying to put all the muscles back where they belong. After an hour, waist deep in the river just fishing up and down an empty shaded area it was the most relaxed I have been. I wasn’t thinking about the hike I just did, the people around me didn’t care. Maybe it felt like I didn’t care, the hike didn’t set in yet. After awhile of fishing I was getting cold and I knew it was time to go back.  

I had a few solo car camping trips before this one, they were based on getting away from some kind of stress. This was the first trip that was just about me and camping, testing myself physically and mentally. There weren’t any demons to clear, so to speak. It was ambitious to want to fish, photograph, paint, lay in my hammock, and hike. This was the type of trip where hiking efficiency had to be on point. Fishing and photographing was sacrificed in order to hike efficiently. There was not much time to relax with anything. Hiking you had to focus on pace, terrain, and distances. Setting up camp, food, and water it was all on you. Even rest was a chore, breaks weren’t relaxing they felt like survival, or necessity to keep feet fresh, stay hydrated, stretch, and cool down. Fishing efficiency, total fishing time about two hours with 13 caught (one golden, five rainbows, seven brook). If I did the math right that is one caught every 9 minutes and 23 seconds.  The hike was the hardest I have done so far, I gained a lot of confidence for another long hike. 

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photo: My Bill Cunningham impression, sun protection is all the rage, hoods and hats are what hikers are wearing. 

Day 3, July 23.  

Halfway home

It was hard to catch my breath last night, I didn’t sleep well the elevation was keeping me up. It was uneasy most of the night in the tent, once the dark sky started to turn light I got out to take a photo and get the day started. I was on the trail the earliest this day around 8:45am. But on the way out the lake looked nice for photos and the fish were biting, so stoping to take a few photos plus fish again. It was Rae Lakes, so I had to catch at least one fish. This put me back 30 minutes on the trail. There is about a one mile hike from the ranger station at Rae Lakes(about where I camped at) to the start of the climb up to Glen Pass. The climb is two miles and just about a 1,500’ climb. After two full days of hiking and about 23 miles my body was for sure not fresh anymore. All the aches are starting to come through. Forehead sunburnt, my lips cracked and chapped, camera strap digging into my neck rash, my neck would cramp when I turned to look behind me too far,  my shoulders itched from the mosquito bites, my hands would cramp from holding trekking poles, my legs felt like stones...

At the climb everyone was passing me by, I was kind of unsure of the distance I had to cover. The climb becomes very steep and rocky the air feels thin and breathing becomes short. Focusing on breathing and staying on a slow pace is what I tried to maintain. Early on I ran out of my personal motivation, nothing I could think of could really motivated me. I didn’t talk to anyone, and there was no friends to talk to. Being physically drained I needed something, I end up putting on my headphones for that music motivation. It took about two albums Femi Kuti, and Kaytrnada to get me up the pass. After two long albums and hiking at a snails pace I got to the pass. I was drained physically and mentally I was tired of everything… And then it was over, reaching the top the felling of relief came through, and almost like a purge of concerns about the hike. Even though there was 17 miles left it was mostly down hill. Knowing that the hardest part of the hike was over, that there was no need to turn back, it really freed up my mind. One thing I decided was to stop shooting nature and landscape stuff on the trip(doesn’t work), partly because I’m not a landscape photographer, second I was not spending quality time making photos, third I for sure want to come back to take time to photography the area, and fourth I like photographing people. With a lot of time spent on being a hiker, photography became the second or third concern. I created a project while I was up there, I wanted to use a roll of film to photograph different people on the trail. Focus on people the rest of the trip(again doesn’t work), because that is what has been the most consistent thing in my photography work and career. So one of the only photos I took up at Glen Pass is of some random hikers, they actually happen to be from San Luis Obispo. Changing a motive in the middle of the trip felt good, switching things up from time to time keep things fresh.      

The rest of the hike to Junction Meadow is seven miles, going back down into the canyon. The canyon walls start to get higher and the views from the pass disappear behind them. Feeling overly confident after the pass, I didn’t stop at the first water source. It was a deep turquoise lake a mile under the pass. It turned out that the next water was 4 miles. I only had 24oz, and it was 12:30 in the afternoon, the hottest part of the day, and it is very exposed no tree cover. What the fuck. Feeling some urgency I took a break to reference the map. I was breaking more often to conserve energy, get out of the sun more often, and take tiny sips of water that turned warm from the sun. One positive from the trail is the view of Charlotte Lake, but, it’s so far it might as well be a mirage in the desert. Also, this area has the most junctions and offshoots of trails. stopping to talk to people about directions and pulling out the map more because signs   got confusing. Getting to the water I drank over a liter, soaked my feet, then washed and changed socks. From the pass to camp at Junction Meadow the drop in elevation is about 4,000’. Seeing this change is another scenic area of the trip, but, I had decided to not take nature photos only photos of people. So yeh, that didn’t work, I took a couple landscape photos. But another person that passed me in this area was a young blond woman trail running part of the trail that day. I didn’t stop her to ask to take a photo, she was on her pace and she scared me when she passed me. So I froze for a second, and the next thing I knew she was gone. I tend to remember the photos I didn’t take.

Getting to camp at 5 pm was the most positive, it was the last night, it was early enough to get all the chores in, jump in the water and dry off, and, fish for over 30 minutes. Also, Heather was at camp which meant extra dinner, and we finished the last of the bourbon to celebrate. That night I slept a little drunk. Because my body was drained, a little bourbon was as strong as a few burbons. We slept early and easy that night.  

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Day 2, Friday, July 22. 

The furthest hike, the highest climb, and the longest day.

The start of the day was good, got packed early and ate breakfast without having to cook anything. Small details like not having to cook really saves time. Left the camp at 9a.m., but, I planned to stop at the bridge to fish. From the bridge the night before there were about five fish I spotted swimming around. Making sacrifices, this 30 min fishing session took time off the trail. Trying to balance fishing and hiking can change the schedule a lot. I would love to fish spots for hours, but having to be just a hiker really cuts down on the recreational time. Leaving around 9:30 to start the hike, I felt rested. But, a few miles in there was moderate climbing. My legs started to ache already, it just felt like I wasn’t warmed up. The plan was to take it easy in the beginning because i knew it was a long day. It was also the most critical day, knowing that if I made the destination at the end of the day there was no turning back. At around the two hour mark I wanted to take off my pack and break. There just so happen to be the creek near by. I fished again for about 15 minutes. Now, being about 45 minutes delayed from just fishing and some time used on making photos I was over an hour behind on the trail. The first six miles there is a 1500′ elevation climb. It was hard but not that noticeable, being deep down in the canyon you can hardly notice visually the ground and elevation covered. Once I looked behind me I could see the perspective of what I was climbing out of. Taking the time to look back to see where I came from was a big motivator for me, but always moving forward. To be honest relating it to life experiences and seeing how far I came from and how far things have taken me made me appreciate the journey of life so far and the hike of course.

When you get to the suspension bridge you are on the JMT. The trail seemed to change from a one way street to a freeway interchange. People from all directions and different skill and gear levels. Noticing some Z-packs, a lot of ULA equipment, and other top looking brands I don’t know. I ran into a girl from Cal Poly SLO that graduated the same year as me, she had pack horses and that was all the information I got(i was pretty tired). She was one of those people that I regret not taking a photo of. As I was talking to people going up to Rae Lakes everyone seemed to have the same consensus that it was going to be a climb. It is another 2000′ elevation climb in seven miles, while going from 8500 feet to 10500 feet. I met up with heather for a few, she had mentioned that she would have some leftover dinner for me up at the Rae Lakes camp. Dinner with her that night also became a big motivator.  

After a quick nap, lunch, and water refill I start at 3:30.  The trek from the suspension bridge to Rae lakes gives you about a half mile to warm up then climbing up and around the side of a canyon. It becomes more exposed, it was like rolling hills to get up to 10,000′. 3 hours later I get to the Dollar Lake(I skipped a lot here, just know it was tuff). Its 6:20pm at the lake the sun is setting, fish are jumping nonstop. Fish hit the surface of the lake from shore to shore, so I have to stop to fish. With three miles left to go and pushing my hike time back another 2o minutes I move back on the trail. I think these were the most scenic parts of the trip from Dollar to Arrowhead to Rae Lakes. I reach the first of Rae lakes, this marks over 20 miles, the half way point, the point of no return. When I got up to a hill over looking the lakes, seeing the sunset on the mountains, suddenly it felt like my collar bone had re-broke. I immediately dropped my pack and cringed in pain. From experience I dropped to the ground to lay flat on my back to align and stabilize my shoulder. From the miles and miles of the pack weight pulling my shoulder it finally felt like it separated my already broken collar bone. This was one moment I was waiting for, not stressing my collar bone, but, the moment of panic, the fear when something goes wrong… After about 5 minutes of amazing pain and 5 minutes of rest the pain went away and I was on my way. This happen before at Eagle Lake, which is also above 10,000'. I have a theory that that has something to do with it. when I get to camp its 8:10pm, this is my first real solo night. The last camp I passed was about 30 min back and I see some tents a half mile ahead on a peninsula on the edge of the lake. My body is beat, crouching down to filter water I get cramps in my legs, sitting down the wrong way i get cramps on my side and back, holding the bag of food my hands cramp from holding trekking poles all day. Still having to cook dinner and set up camp I end up eating around 9:40pm. Over a 12 hour day.