Vertizon Photography

Photos, gear reviews and other thoughts about photography and the outdoor world from Seattle-based photographer and writer Jim Meyers.

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Another place now wearing a wonderful coat of fluffy white, but it was hot as hell this day. . . . . . #climbing #wanderlust #utahclimbing #wasatch #natgeoadventure #climbingphotosofinstagram #adventure #aacgram

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Play like no one's watching. A sentiment flawlessly demonstrated here by @bailey_k . Thanks to @meganjuliab for the inflatable Orca and creating one of the best (and funniest) uses of an alpine lake. Ever. . . . . . #alpinelake #backpacking #wanderlust #pnwonderland #pnwcollective #tosstheorca #adventure #optoutside #playoutside #wildernessculture

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Crazy to think these lakes are under nearly 10 feet of snow already. . . . . . #nps100 #optoutside #landscapephotography #picoftheday #pnwcollective #pnwonderland #northcascades #natgeoadventure #wanderlust #backpacking #alpinelake

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With a horrible cold and abruptly truncated climbing plans, I saw an opportunity to actually just walk around... . . . . . #exploretocreate #yosemite #elcapitan #picoftheday #landscapephotography #sickday #optoutside #nps100 #nature #travel #roadtrip #natgeotravel (at Yosemite National Park)

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Some roads are better than others. . . . . . #travelstoke #nwcollective #pnwonderland #mtrainier #seattlemet #landscapephotography #natgeotravel #picoftheday #earthfocus #earthpix #exploretocreate #thatpnwlife

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Our first glimpse of the Dakobed Range, looking up the White River. We weren't exactly sure what peak that was and it wasn't worth checkin so early in the trip, but in hindsight, we know it's Clark Mountain, anchoring the end of the intended traverse. If you're just tuning in, I'm sharing a few pics from last week's "beta-free" adventure in the Cascades. Scrub back a bit to hear more about our map-only shenanigans.

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13 miles later, we finally hit the Pass, celebrated the open alpine terrain, documented a near-miss on a spectacular sunset, carved a stick spoon for Dave that he'd use the rest of the trip, and called it a day.

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Witness "The Trail". This was actually some of the easier trail, when we only had to push through the seasonal fern growth. When the trees closed in, it got even more interesting. In fact, for miles In and out, this riparian mess was everywhere. We eventually evolved a method where we used our feet to feel the trough where the trail was. From our ankles down, it was still mostly there and the lack of resistance was discernible. From there up, it was a full-on battle at times just to move forward. If we sensed our feet rising up the berm to the right or left, we might be heading off trail. Mixed with unseen rocks, drop-offs, logs and the occasional place where the path had turned into a stream, it was actually kind of surreal that we only got off trail for short stints , and eventually were able to move through it at a reasonable pace. Big props to partner Dave whose uncanny trail sense kept us on track, and sniffed us back to the trail time and time again.

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If you’ve been tuned in, you know that this Dakobed Traverse thing was a “beta-free” adventure, meaning we sought no information beyond topos about where we were headed. I did however, decide to check last minute to see if the road was open to our trailhead. It was not. I let my partner Dave know and, within 24 hours, he’d bought “the absolutely worst mountain bike in all of Squamish” for $100 CAD. We only had four miles to cover on bikes, but I could not imagine having to walk those last four miles on the way out. Miles don’t ever seem to pass on a forest road, and considering the way our feet looked on that last day, it would have been a net loss on the fun side of things for sure.

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Well, we made it out. That statement alone conveys the intensity of the trip through the Dakobed Range. It was the quintessential Cascade sufferfest, with long days, non-existent trails (where trails were supposed to be), jaw-dropping beauty, hours of battling Slide alder, vine maple and devil's club and so much more. In a nutshell, one of the best trips of my life. More to come.

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Straight out of the camera for her first time in the studio, @callystamaye looking fantastic on that freshly painted cyc. #seattlephotographer #seattlemodels #smgmodels #seattle #newtalent #blackandwhite #bnw #monochrome #cycwall #fashion #headshots #compcards

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Nothing quite like a giant, freshly painted cyc wall. Ready to shoot! #seattlephotographer #seattlestudio #seattlemodels #cycwall

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The illustrious and groovy @diana_jean_o .

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If for some reason you like port and other such sweet winey things, you HAVE to do yourself a favor and either find a rare (in the US) bottle of this Talosa Vin Santo, or visit the Talosa winery in Montepulciano, Italy. I tried a number of other Vin Santos off the shelf in the states and NONE even taste remotely like the same type of wine. This stuff is a woody, earthy, fruity and subtlety citrus-rindey dream. Reason #347 to return to Toscano! #Italy #finewine #italianwine #travel #wine #vinsanto #toscano #montepulciano #talosa #amazingwine (at Talosa - Montepulciano, Toscana)

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My dashing assistant today, steps in for a light test and inadvertently makes an ad for Samsung...and Old Spice. And some other serious "man" products I can't think of. @dansilverberg #lighttest #bts #commercialphotographer #photoshoot #onlocation #uw #seattle #campus #oldspice (at University of Washington)

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Beta-Free Adventure Update: Well, it looks like I found the proper fit for next month's beta-free adventure! Check back a few posts for the inspiration behind the upcoming trip and stay tuned for updates! #betafree #adventure #thegearjunkie #outside #msrgear #natgeo #climbing #alpineclimbing #aacgram

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We had no idea what conditions were like, but found them just challenging enough to be an excellent crowd filter. For all we knew, we had the entire range to ourselves. #solitude #alpineclimbing #cascades #snoqualmie #aacgram #climbing #earlyseason #livewashington #pnwonderland