: abstract AND minimal :
View allAll Photos Tagged adventerous
Have an adventerous new year!
“Surely, of all the wonders of the world, the horizon is the greatest.” – Freya Stark
*First picture of 2019*
This is for my friend Gaby who was adventerous enough to accompany me on this excursion, helped me carry my gear, showed amazing patience while I was "shooting", encouraged me during one of the longest hikes I've taken in a long while and finally for not laughing at me over my height phobia when the trails took us so dangerously close to the edge of some very long drops
Like all fox pups this one was skittish and curious at the same time. But funny to see how different the siblings are already at this young age, some are more adventerous and some are so shy...anyhow, wonderful critters for sure. Bavaria, Germany
me and ellie had a awesome photoshoot today!! we took a ton of pics and were very adventerous(lol taking pics in the middle of the road! people thought we were crazy!! haha!) so yeh lots more pics to come! :D
OH ok i need everyones help! i am thinking about getting a canon rebel Xti..or a nikon D60 which one should i get?????? thanks!!
this made explore 21! :D
“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.”
~G.K. Chesterton
Chasm Lake sunrise, under Long's Peak in Colorado.
After 8 days on the road and 5 nights camping we are back from our road trip from Colorado to Washington! We went north along the continental divide, through Rocky Mountain NP, Grand Teton NP, Yellowstone NP, and Glacier NP, with a night at the Palouse too. The variety of scenery we saw was incredible! My mind is still trying to process it all, not to mention all the photos.
This shot is from our first morning in Colorado. A Flickr friend of mine told me about this location, and we decided to meet at the trailhead at 3 am and climb up to this lake at nearly 12,000ft to watch the sunrise. It was an incredible scene, and still one of my favorite moments of the whole trip...even though I could barely breathe. :)
“Don’t die without embracing the daring adventure your life is meant to be.” ~Steve Pavlina
Take that trip, Run that mile, Call that person, Take that class, Climb that mountain. Take action and see what's around the corner.
Lower Antelope Canyon. Those little holes in the wall used to be the only way up or down this canyon wall.
“Rest not
Life is sweeping by
go and dare before you die.
Something mighty and sublime,
leave behind to conquer time.”
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Whistler mountain, British Columbia. Photo collaboration with my husband Nick
We just got back from a road trip up to Whistler, BC with two very good friends from Texas. They loved every minute in the mountains, despite the storms. :)
"Nature’s subtle Siren sits alone and waiting,
Ever joyfully singing, her splendor unabating.
But as of late her song seems to be growing soft,
“Does she even still exist?” some will surely scoff.
But willingly we’re shackled to a new sort of mast;
From gliding chairs we glance at her while we hurry past.
This gentle Siren’s single aim is not to shipwreck our fleet
She offers mystic vistas, mossy groves, and sands caressing feet.
Her song is heard the loudest where few travellers dare to come,
She sits bestowing peace on many, giving transcendence to some." ~Nick Parkison
A photo collaboration with with my husband Nick , and a poem by him as well. :)
Mykines, Faroe Islands
"If adventure has a final and all-embracing motive, it is surely this: we go out because it is our nature to go out, to climb mountains, and to paddle rivers, to fly to the planets and plunge into the depths of the oceans... When man ceases to do these things, he is no longer man." ~Wilfrid Noyce.
Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, from Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, Iceland.
You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.
~ Henry David Thoreau
Jökulsárlón, Iceland
We are home from Iceland! The road trip turned out to be epic, unforgettable, and a bit dangerous--a true adventure! Some days went as planned, some completely opposite. Blizzards, stuck vehicles, hurricane force winds, sandstorms, and closed mountain passes made for interesting challenges, but there was also glorious beauty in both the sunshine and storms. Amazing food, finding hidden hot springs, and frequent pony visits also abounded! We saw so much of the country and experienced so much of the culture and I've gotta say: I'm still in love.
“I do not want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” ~Diane Ackerman
Zion National Park, Utah
“There are no wrong turns. Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk.” ~Guy Gavriel Kay
Palouse, Washington
George having a great time levitating at the beach. ;)
We are back home after a week at the Redwoods and Oregon coast. It was a great road trip, that was over too quickly this time. The dogs had a blast running amok, and it was fun to see our little puppy, Zoe, really come out of her shell and show off her zany side.
I managed to run one of the hardest races I've done so far while we were in Oregon. It was about 20 miles of trail and 4,000ft of elevation gain, up and over the beautiful bluffs of Cape Perpetua, through enchanting forests and alongside the crashing surf. It was tough, even more so because I didn't train as much as I should have, but it was worth every aching step to see that beauty and overcome the physical and mental challenge.
If only I could be like George and just hover over the trails!
Like classic Iceland, finding this waterfall was a treasure hunt, entailing GPS coordinates found on a blog combined with subjective directions such as "turn down the dirt road near the farm, next to some houses, and after a while park where it looks like other's have parked and walk south." So we ventured off down our best guess dirt roads until we came upon an area wide enough to park. Seeing some encouraging landmarks we took off into a field, following the sound of rushing water in the distance. Eventually we found a boot path, but also found snow fields that we stepped almost waist deep into. Trudging on, we had to leave the path due to flooding, heading into bushes and soggy ground. But as our boots grew heavy with mud, our determination endured, as the sound of roaring water grew louder. I assured Nick it would be worth it to see the blue water, though a small part of me wondered if it would really be that interesting. I mean, isn't most water blue? Iceland had never let us down though, so I was hopeful it would be as beautiful as I had read. Our steps quickened as the sound of water continued to escalate, but our view was still obstructed! Picking through the brush and flooded terrain, we finally rounded the corner that revealed the glacial blue river that had called to us through our muddy trek. And we had it all to ourselves. Once again, Iceland was true to its promise.
Bruarfoss, Iceland.
“There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.” ~Linda Hogan
Mt. Adams at sunrise, seen from Mt. St. Helens.
"...poems of geology stretching beyond any boundaries and seemingly even beyond the world.” ~Norman Maclean
Around the geothermally active area of Geysir, Iceland. The water here boils straight out of the ground. It really does seem like another world.
"I learned early that the richness of life is found in adventure. Adventure calls on all the faculties of mind and spirit. It develops self-reliance and independence. Life then teems with excitement. But man is not ready for adventure unless he is rid of fear. For fear confines him and limits his scope. He stays tethered by strings of doubt and indecision and has only a small and narrow world to explore." ~ William O. Douglas, Of Men and Mountains, 1950
Capitol Reef National Park
A week ago we went on a trip to the Southwest, primarily Moab, Utah. I ran the Dead Horse 50 mile ultra while there, something I specifically trained for all summer, but non-specifically has taken me years of running to build the endurance, without injury. It was pretty amazing to actually run that far. I barely thought about mileage the whole time...it was too big. I just focused on moving, no matter how awful I felt at times. I just focused on taking another step. I felt like I experienced a lifetime out there. So many emotions, so much monotony, so many obstacles, so much struggle. It really boiled my existence down to the necessities: drink, eat, breathe. Take a step, another. In that state, the things that matter most to you come into full focus, with flashes of clarity you see the people and moments that build up your life and shape your existence. I felt an overwhelming appreciation and love for my family, the beauty of nature and all that I've been lucky enough to experience in it, my pups, the luxury of a warm bed, gratitude for a moving body. So many things feel superfluous in that moment, and anxiety of the every day disappears.
Also like life, at times you wonder how you got there and what the point of it all is! But I suppose what you learn in an ultra is really what you need to know for life: Keep pushing. Keep exploring. Keep loving. Keep breathing. Just. keep. moving.
Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts. ~Marcus Aurelius
A few days ago Nick and I climbed Mt. St. Helens, this time with some friends. We left the trailhead just before 3 am and hiked up by headlamp for a while. This got us to a nice elevation of about 6500-7000ft right around sunrise. I'm kind of obsessed with watching the sunrise from a mountain lately. It's just...pure, peaceful beauty.
This was taken from the monitor ridge route, Mt. St. Helens, looking toward Mt. Adams.
Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death. ~Anaïs Nin
Nick on the trail to Delicate Arch.
Arches National Park, Utah.
The humbling landscape of Canyonlands National Park, Utah.
So many adventures have happened since our southwest trip earlier this year, and yet my mind still frequently wanders to this one. There is something so captivating about those magical landscapes of red rock, ancient and enchanted carvings of nature. Like a sunset saved in the earth.
“Yellowstone, of all the national parks, is the wildest and most universal in its appeal... Daily new, always strange, ever full of change, it is Nature's wonder park." ~Yellowstone Park for Your Vacation (circa 1920s)
Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone.
The only thing I've experienced that is similar to Yellowstone is Iceland.
To me, the history and formation of the park is almost as interesting as Yellowstone itself and well worth a read. One of the first explorers of the area (besides the Native Americans already living there) was completely dismissed as crazy when he described the phenomena that he saw here. For almost half a century after these reports, the area was widely considered a myth...
“I love the dark hours of my being.
My mind deepens into them.
There I can find, as in old letters,
the days of my life, already lived,
and held like a legend, and understood.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke
Kerið (meaning basin) crater lake, Iceland.
Her majesty Mt. Rainier accompanied by her sister Mt. St. Helens, towering above the vast maze of the cascade mountains.
I took this on our flight out to Denver recently. Less than two weeks prior Nick and I had been making another summit attempt on Mt. Rainier, but strong winds forced us to turn back that time. Yet here I was, comfortably seated in the air with snacks and a beverage and all the oxygen I needed, looking Rainier in the face. So easily. But...nowhere nearly as satisfying as slowly trudging up those glaciers, traversing the crevasses, and slipping through the endless scree, suffering through doubts and nausea.
I thought a lot about home, comfort, and safety the long day we climbed to the cold summit suspended increasingly in nothing. And a lot about beaches, atmospheric and filled with moisture and noise. I thought a lot about why humans feel compelled to choose a path of pain for no reason other than the urge to experience the unknown. For many of us, we find a part of ourselves waiting in these mysterious places that challenge our perceptions and limits. A piece of ourselves just waiting to be forged out of ice, earth, sky, and sweat.
"Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass. A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet.” ~Patrick Rothfuss
On our most epic road trip yet. East Iceland
Off we go again tomorrow, on another road trip! This time across about half the USA. I probably won't be around for about a week. Take care and have fun!
“The task is...not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees.” ~Erwin Schrödinger
Kirkjufell barely reflecting in icy water. Iceland.
This made my day when I saw it. I really want to see if George would enjoy kayaking...but he hates standing still and he hates swimming, so I'm skeptical...
Lake Eklutna, Alaska
“There is no such sense of solitude as that which we experience upon the silent and vast elevations of great mountains. Lifted high above the level of human sounds and habitations, among the wild expanses and colossal features of nature, we are thrilled in our loneliness with a strange fear and elation – an ascent above the reach of life's expectations or companionship, and the tremblings of a wild and undefined misgivings.”
~Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
The road to Sunrise, Mt. Rainier. Thanks to my friend Gwen who suggested I pop out of the sun roof for a moment when she saw me eyeing this incredible scene. It was windy but it worked!
When I look at this photo I can't stop thinking about what it was like to be on that mountain's summit. This quote which I just found today, incredibly, sums up the experience pretty well.
“To watch. To wait. To wonder at a world in chaos. And hope one day you fools might learn.” ~David Hewson
The trolls of Skógafoss (you can see two faces if you look carefully, maybe more!). This is about halfway up the 200ft climb to the top of the powerful waterfall.
“A person does not grow from the ground like a vine or a tree, one is not part of a plot of land. Mankind has legs so it can wander.” ~Roman Payne
Taken at delicate arch, in Arches National Park. Photo collaboration with my husband Nick.
"When we tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new. This restless craving in the souls of men spurs them to climb, and to seek the mountain view." Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Looking up the massive east face of Mt. Denali from about 9,000ft.
Kantishna Air Taxi, Denali National Park.
Today is George's 4th birthday! So hard to believe, he was only 3 months when we got him. We lived in an apartment and honestly all logic said we should not get a Jack Russell Terrier. But I was in love as soon as I saw his picture in a classified ad at work from someone who couldn't keep him. I came home and told Nick we were meeting a dog in a couple of days. Reluctantly he came along. George was all floppy paws and floppy ears, full of puppy charm. I somehow convinced Nick to let me bring him home. The first couple of weeks were a big adjustment...house training, not biting training, and energy like we had never seen! It was like a little white tornado with needle teeth was flying through the place! But we persevered, and we have become inseparable. Every day with that little dog is an adventure. He exudes a zest for life and love. It's infectious, and has honestly inspired me to be a better, braver person.
Everything a dog does is wholeheartedly and in the moment. There is no worry for tomorrow, or the next minute, or how many of those are left. It's just life and living all the way to the end.
"There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it.” ~Charlotte Eriksson
Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon
Photo collaboration with Nick in the mesmerizing land of Iceland.
“Do not lose hold of your dreams or aspirations. For if you do, you may still exist but you have ceased to live.” ~Henry David
Thoreau
Sunset on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, Iceland, two years ago.
This will likely be my last post for a week and half. Tomorrow I leave for Iceland to embark on what promises to be an amazing road trip around the beautiful island with some of my favorite people. Ever since visiting this country for the first time on my honeymoon I have dreamed of doing what we are about experience. Here's to pursuing dreams! I have a feeling it will be only a little like I imagine, and so much better.
Flickr friends: Take care and see you soon!
I'm reaching up and reaching out,
I'm reaching for the random or whatever will bewilder me.
And following our will and wind we may just go where no one's been.
~MJK
Dritvik, Iceland. Photo collaboration with my husband Nick.
Spring hasn't molten all of winter's remainder, but clearly, summer is giving it another go. Dare to jump in?
Dreamlike Seealpsee offers fantastic views for the less adventerous (it's still freezing cold!)
"Enormous mountains surrounded me, chasms lay before me, and swollen brooks plunged downward, streams rushed beneath me, and woods and mountains resounded; and I saw them, all the unfathomable forces, entwined in their hustle and bustle in the depths of the earth; and now, above the earth and under the skies swarm all the species of the manifold creatures, and everything, everything is populated with a thousand shapes; and then men shelter together in their little houses and build their nests and think they govern the whole wide world! Poor fool, who thinks so little of everything because you are so little." ~Goethe
Gullfoss, Iceland
“He stood breathing, and the more he breathed the land in, the more he was filled up with all the details of the land. He was not empty. There was more than enough here to fill him." ~Ray Bradbury
Snæfellsnes Peninsula, Iceland
"A horse in the wind - a perfect symphony." ~ Author Unknown
Strong and sweet, adorable and majestic. The Icelandic horse has it all.
You can find them all over the country, bathing in sunshine or braving blizzards. Their hardiness amazes me. One of my favorite things on our trips to Iceland has been randomly stopping along the road whenever I want a pony fix! :)
"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." ~H.G. Wells
So many good quotes for this shot, but this one made me smile.
While driving through Rocky Mountain National Park I was, like I usually do, shooting from the back seat of the car. The process is not efficient, and I end up with far too many unusable photos during it, but sometimes I capture a few that I really like. Actually, a surprising amount of my photos originate while in a moving vehicle. This was one of those cases where I thought something at the last second had passed through my mountain shot and ruined it. Upon reviewing it though, I was pleasantly surprised with my bit of luck.
Kuddos to this man. Riding up those mountains along curvy roads in altitude that tests even the fittest is not an easy task. It inspires me.