Love is all around.

Busy busy this week, but I'll update soon on all of the amazing happenings in my life. For now, I'll leave you with this quick photo I shot today in between rain showers. Enjoy!

Downtown Throwdown

Jason Robinson throwing down on a flat-down box.

I wasn't sure what to expect, as it was my first time attending the Downtown Throwdown rail jam in downtown Seattle. It's an event put on by Snowboy Productions to get everyone stoked for winter. And stoked they were!

Grand prize winner Nick Visconti.

I arrived to workmen hauling in bags of snow that they were piling up around the flat-down box and rail that were set up. At the bottom of the course was a Snowboy wall ride. It was pretty funny to see snow in Pioneer Square. As 2:00 rolled around, the park became pretty packed and they started shortly after.

Nick Visconti, Forest Bailey, Scott Stevens, Johnny Lazz, Jason Robinson, & Ben Bogart.

Twenty riders from around the country participated on an invitation only basis. Nick Visconti walked home with a grand prize of $3000 in an IOU. The turnout was great and there were plenty of high fives to go around. Plus, we got to satisfy our fall snowboard craving. Watching good riders is almost as satisfying as actually getting to ride...well, sort of.

Life is good.

Life is good.

Three great happenings this week:

One: I was published on YoBeat...while a small stepping stone, it's still a stepping stone. I was just stoked to see people talking about my work on a snowboard website, and help out Kumara in her quest for pro snowboarder status.

Two: I got a media pass to shoot for the Downtown Throwdown rail jam in Pioneer Square. Snow and rails in downtown Seattle...sweet! It sounds like a sick event, and I'll get to be reunited with many of the riders I met down at High Cascade. It's tomorrow from 2-5 pm, after party at Pyramid Brewery with Minus the Bear playing as well. Can't wait! Plus I don't have to work my night job so I'll be able to fully participate in all said events.

Three: David and I found an apartment in Jackson Hole!! It's a two bedroom right in the heart of it all. Wait...two bedrooms?? That's more space than I can even dream of! And we'll have a place to stay for all of the people that claim they're going to visit us (riiiggght).

Published!

My photos are officially located somewhere other than where I personally posted them! Check out interview with Northwest rider Kumara Kelley, along with some of my shots of her on YoBeat.

On Having a Social Life and Working Restaurants

I have recently noticed a lame decline in my social life since I started waiting tables. Yes, I know I've been serving for a couple of years now, but it's been a slow decline. When I was working at Red Door, I saw lots of friends that I went to school with. Even though I wasn't actually partying with them, I was there, and able to catch up. Since I started working at Teatro Zinzanni, I haven't really seen anybody I know come to the theater (it is $150/ticket...I don't really blame them). It's sad though. Once I finish a weekend of work, I feel like I'm on sensory overload and have no desire to go out and party or socialize after it's all over. I've been talking so much and moving so quickly that I'm just exhausted when I get home.

Waiting tables can be great because you usually get to work with a social group of people. While that's all fine, I feel like I have a tough time keeping in touch with the "outsiders" or those "nine-to-fivers" as we like to call them. I'm lucky if I get to see my UW friends once a month.

That being said, I was invited to a party last night for Kumara Kelley's birthday. Kumara is a sick snowboarder. I met her down at High Cascade. Plus she's a girl that can rip. You don't encounter that every day. She's an awesome person too, and the two of us had discussed the waiting tables phenomenon over a cup of coffee at Ladro. Like she said, sometimes you feel like a housewife, because you just sit around an chill all day until the madness of customer service falls upon you in the late night hours. "Should I clean the house today or go grocery shopping? Oh wait, I have time for both. Maybe I'll even bake some bread." Anyway, I attended Kumara's party last night, and I was happy about it. I was scheduled to work from 9 am to 11 pm tonight (two shows!), and I still got my tired body out to socialize last night...fun. It was a post snowboard movie premiere event at Evo, so there were a bunch of our type there. Lots of people wearing bright colored clothes and saggy beanies that are just itching to talk about the snow that's started falling in the mountains. As for Ku, I hope she gets moved up in the Burton sponsor ranks. She's awesome, and I'm happy to know her.

Photo I took of Kumara at HCSC, just killin it!

A Free Day with My Camera

Because of our shortened camping trip, David and I a day off together. One where we had absolutely nothing to do. It was kind of a weird feeling actually. We started out the day by heading over to Evo where I picked up some of the latest copies of Frequency and Snowboarder Magazines. I've been pouring over them like I did when I received a copy of Turtle Magazine when I was five years old. Plus I need that inspiration.

Next we decided to go to lunch at a little place David had heard about on Fremont Ave called Paseo. I never even knew this place existed (probably because it's teeny and there's no sign), but I'm sure glad I do now! They make these to-die-for Cuban sandwiches with aioli, jalapeños, and caramelized onions. Delicious! We spent the next hour trying to find a bathroom to wash off our grubby hands. We stopped in Starbucks in U Village, just to see what it was all about. They spent months doing construction on the place, and that used to be my Sunday night study spot when I went to UW. The building is now supposedly a certified green building. It looks a lot fancier than it used to with darker wood accents and one of those awesome Clover machines. We hung out there for a bit while reading over the new mags.

Finally we went over to the Arboretum in hopes of taking some photos of fall foliage. Unfortunately the leaves aren't changing quite yet but we still got some pretty good shots. The traffic I sat in together is the type that inspires me to never drive again. It was miserable.

Here are some of the shots I got from the Arboretum. Of course I was using my new Mark II N, so they look pretty sharp and noise-free to me. Enjoy!

Goat Lake

Summer is coming to an abrupt ending up here in Washington. It's bad news for our backpacking, but good news for snowboarding. Since this past week is the only stretch of more than two days I have off before we leave for Jackson Hole (don't even get me started on my upcoming work schedule...overtime anyone?), we decided to make one last trip for the summer. We had originally planned for Gothic Basin, but looking at the weather forecast, we would have definitely been snowed in at those elevations. David found Goat Lake on the WTA website, which sits at about 3,000 feet. We would be safe from snow, but probably not rain.

Goat Lake is located in the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness off of the Mountain Loop Highway up north. I've never driven on this highway before. It was quite an adventure. I personally enjoyed the adorable little po-dunk towns along the way, Granite Falls, Silverton, etc. The road winds and winds through the forest, turns into dirt, and then turns right up to the Goat Lake Trailhead. This trail was especially interesting due to the fact that it used to be access to a mining town. The Penn Mining Co. opened up at Goat Lake in 1895 and a seven mile wagon road was built. We could even see traces of that road. There was a hotel built on the shores of Elliot Creek by the McIntosh family that was open from 1927-1935. The beautiful waterfalls that flow from Goat Lake were named after them. Read more about the history here.

Old Wagon Road.

McIntosh Falls.

The trail to the lake was easy. There was very little grade, and it wove through beautiful little patches of alder trees. The weather stayed nice the whole way there. We chose a private little place to camp on the side of the lake. It started to get cold. We went down to the water's edge to make some dinner - Mountain House Beef Stroganoff and Natural High Cinnamon Apple Crisp for dessert...yum! We oohed and aahed at the mighty Cadet Peak and it's partial glaciers that still remained. The clouds began to roll in so we retreated to the tent. Moments later, the rains came.

Alder Groves.

Cadet Peak.

I can't say that I was completely opposed to being rained on while inside the tent. Lately I've heard a lot of stories about bear encounters. Nothing scary, the bears are usually scared of you (black bears, not grizzlies), but I still had that little shadow of worry hanging over me all night. The rain tends to drown out the sound of what's outside, so it's comforting to not to hear those little twig snapping sounds that are usually chipmunks but sound like Big Foot.

We woke up the next morning to snowy peaks all around us. It was quite beautiful but seemed odd for September. We ate some breakfast in the shelter of our tent and decided to head home. It really wasn't worth staying another night in the rain and there weren't many trails to explore around the lake. We put on snow pants to take advantage of their waterproof material, and wrapped our backpacks in trash bags for the rainy hike out.

David's rain coat and a trash bag...sexy.

Me next to a massive tree.

On the way home, we decided to make a stop in Granite Falls for some pizza. We had at first thought the tavern looked interesting, but when we walked inside, the bartender and three barflies looked a little rough so we opted for Omega Pizza & Pasta next door. An adorable little high school girl was our server. She seemed way too cute for a place like Granite Falls. We ordered some Caesar salad and a pepperoni pizza, the perfect post hike meal. The drive home was crazy. It was a torrential downpour for most of the way, but we somehow made it home in two hours flat.

The sketchy tavern in Granite Falls.

Downpour!

I don't have as many pictures this time due to the rain factor, but there are still a few nice ones. On the other hand, David had his awesome little G10 along and he also wrote about our trips on his blog. We could probably make millions with his words and our pictures combined. Check his blog out here.

Be sure to check out my website at Powder Photo.

In a Jackson Hole update, my friend Anne from college who lives out there called me today and needs a place with her boyfriend for November 1st, just like us. We are going to try and rent a three bedroom house for the four of us! That would be such a great situation. Hope it works out...only one month till Jackson!!!!!!!!