Category Archives: August 2011

Playing photographer/Model/Maniac/Hiker/Location Scout is exhausting, and often ends in disaster, which I seldom fully admit to. Some time ago an image popped in my head that won’t leave until I attempt to capture the image on my camera. Driving around North of here, past deep dark woods, eerie rays of light streaking through the evergreen canopy… BAM. Image captured, imagination soaring. Me. My friends Elk Skull. Mohawk. It seemed so simple.

This led to me buying up chunks of hair from the beauty supply store, all in nice neat silken ponytails. Weave. The enthusiastic girl hooked me up from the latex to attach it (which reads clearly DO NOT APPLY DIRECTLY TO SCALP) right down to the perfect hairspray to use.I hot glued it all to some netting, spent weeks cleaning up long strands of hair, that managed to get EVERYWHERE. In a box it went, until my motivation to make that image happen came back around. Saturday was the day.

I wasn’t quite sure how i was going to make the hair ‘stand up’ into a mohawk, but surely wasn’t about to go to the trouble of doing ANYTHING with it until I knew if the latex would firmly adhere the faux follicles to the little patch of hair i have up there. Instant success !!! until it was clear this was not something I should be attempting alone. It didn’t take but ten minutes to create a rats nest, which was now VERY much adhered to my body.. what to do, what to do??? WIRE ! I grabbed the spool of wire, created 6 inch long ‘bobby-pins’, and eventually, after using most of the can of hairspray, had something big enough, vertical enough, and solid enough to get me through this photo shoot.

I should have ducked when i walked through that door way.

Long story short, as i never do well, it was late in the day, I was loosing light, and needed to get somewhere photographic, and soon. I was directed by a friend to a great spot just down the road. After I drug my giant Rubbermade full of gowns, gear, and accessories, across the field, through the cows, and into the darkening woods, that mohawk was little more than a messy mop atop my head.

Another miraculous moment for me, as everything is going wrong, last minute, rushing around, dropping things, cow crap EVERYWHERE… the location and near dusk lighting were perfect. A few test shots, light’s good, gown is good, Boulders for me to stand upon, PERFECT !…

Then out of the corner of my eye, I see it… A skunk !?? WHEW! no, not a skunk, although not much better, it was a porcupine. I’ve seen them often dead on the side of the road, There was ‘that one’ that i wanted to take my picture with a few years ago, after I’d spent a few hours in the bar, but this was my first encounter with a quilled critter in the wild.

I bounced up and down, made noises that I could only assume might frighten such a creature. I waved a wedding gown at him… Nothing. My presence didn’t phase him for a second. Sadly I didnt’ have a bigger flash on my camera, for it would have been at least PARTIALLY worth it, to present to you a photo of said animal. But no… Darkness. That’s all I have to offer, A photo of darkness, and a knotted disaster of who knows WHO’s hair, that had to be pried off of my head.

So there you have it and there you are… All of this, and that image is still stuck in my head, and will stay there, until I complete my goal, and get that shot (minus the mohawk, i think)… Just

All that I have to offer from a prickley end to a dusky photo shoot.

The shortest version of the “HOW ?  WHY ?  REALLY ?  “  goes a little somethin’ like this.

-New Years decision made to hike the PCT, and start planning it, whether it takes a year or a decade to achieve.

-On a snow shoe adventure with my buddy Bruce, I said i wanted to do it before my High School Reunion, but that’d be next year.  He said “get a sponsor.”  it was that simple suggestion, and the gears in my head started working double time.

-In the early stages of a friendship with someone who was quickly becoming a Mentor to me, I was often urged to do more with my photography, and my interest to write.  To essentially succeed in life by doing what i’m good at. (much more difficult than it sounds).  So, I tossed him this idea.  I spent three weeks working out the game plan to raise money, search for possible sponsorship, and keep everyone interested from ‘unvailing’ through the end of the hike itself.  Sadly, my friend wasn’t around much longer… But in his infinite wisdom and experience in life, he never once said no, this is a bad idea… he just urged me to work out the basics…

So… I”m running with it.  It’s been 7 or 8 long months of second guessing and doubting.  Reading up on the trail and gear… the pros and cons… the ups and downs have been a little more crazy than the dress itself.

Through Blogging and Fun(d)raising I hope to make this dream a reality.  Money is the only thing standing in my way…

In the end, I’d like to write a book about what an experience this has been and will be.  Use my photography as a catalyst to generate interest, and keep you all entertained…

Not everyone will understand…. But ‘like’ it like a trainwreck, and see what happens…

Picture it…

A gallery.

26 Photos  of 26 Wedding Gowns, at 26 different points on the 2600 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail… Next to each Photo, the torn and tattered gown from the trail…

Why not?  A man can dream, can’t he?

I received my tent a few weeks back, from Six Moon Designs. With everything going on, my strange schedule, and working on the Video ( http://hiking26.com/26-tv/hiking-26-the-movie/ ) I didn’t have the opportunity to ‘seam-seal’ it. The company specializes in ultralight tents and packs for long distance backpacking. They operate out of a small space, therefore sealing each tent is difficult. It’s rather enjoyable and rewarding to do some of the work on your gear. And if you’re lying there in a downpour, and the tent springs a leak, there’s no one to blame for that drip on your forehead, and the damp quilt, but yourself.

So, today I staked out the tiny little tent, which will be my home for half a year, and took pity on myself for a brief moment as i realized it wasn’t much larger than the hoop skirt that came with a gown someone gave me. It’s one more moment of harsh reality, as I realize the difficulty involved in this hike. I’ll hike all day, eat dinner, hit the sack, wake up, start it all over again… I can’t wait… I just wonder where i’m gonna store a big dress under that rain fly, because there’s not much room to spare.

I’m going to summarize 5 paragraphs of boring commentary I just deleted, all about the county I live in, what brought me here, and the excitement of the 100th anniversary.

The Pend Oreille County Fair is this weekend. They’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of the County, with the theme “Honor the Past – Look to the Future”. I have been looking forward to entering a few photos from the hiking26 project in the fair, just for fun, and see what kind of comments I will get. The fair opens tomorrow at Noon, all judging will be complete. I’ll make it up there at some point to see if I won anything exciting…. But for now, I’ll leave you with these words, spoken from the woman in charge of the exhibit….

“you have issues”

Well Thanks…. I don’t think anyone’s doubting that.

So I took the weekend off. Nearing a meltdown, I realized that I needed to get out and enjoy the trails in man-gear, and release my mind of everything dress related. I fully admit there was some trepidation involved. What if I came to the perfect setting on the trail, perfect lighting, perfect setting, and I don’t have a gown with me. Anxiety would set in, complete and utter break down over not coming ‘prepared’… But at the point of no return, as I drove away, with my pack less fluffy than it’s recently been, I breathed a big sigh of relief.

I honestly had no idea I was beginning to suffer from Gown Exhaustion. Once my mind sets into something creative, it’s nearly impossible to pull from it. A weekend in the woods with my shorts on, was in order. Afraid I was shirking my duty to you, my fans, I quickly realized I needed to refocus on the overall picture here anyway, HIKING !!! My buddy and i broke a good deal of the rules right from the beginning, as we excessively packed toys we’d never need. Every ounce counts.. (the lighter the better of course), but we managed to packed on pounds…

There was a trail we KNEW had to go SOMEWHERE even if the map showed a dead end. Amazingly, we found old growth cedars, amazing waterfalls, and, well, a dead end.

Next, we picked a base camp for the weekend, and instead of waiting for morning, we made up for lost time, and hauled ars up to the top of High Rock Mtn in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. We didn’t leave the trail head until 8:30 p.m. We would have headed up much earlier (8:15) had I not found a group of campers to engage in true tales of a man rounding up attention to hike the PCT by wearing Wedding Gowns. Half way up the solid switch-back mountain, we encountered a not so stale pile of bear doodie. Luckily I have the gift of gab and the strangest selection of single liners from songs most have never heard. Eventually I was pretty darn sure a bear would pop out in front of us, and swear on a pile of huckleberries that he would NOT eat us, if I would just shut up.

No such excitement happened, I’m ‘sorry’ to say. Instead, the last mile or so, we were delighted to find the full moon slicing through the evergreen spires, to guide us on our way. A long day hike Sunday presented endless views, and an amazing look at the Shedroof Divide, a five-peak, 19 mile (one way) hike that I hope to tackle soon. What seems to be a helluva hike, will be nothing more than another day for me, this time next year, on the PCT.

While I don’t have any WILD MAN tales to share from this weekend, I’m thankful to have had a few days to regroup, and put my creative mind to rest for a bit.