backpacking san jacinto

6.7 miles, Suicide Rock, and two Latinas on the trail

Back in April 2021, my friend Jackie and I took to the backcountry to go on a simple overnight backpacking trip in the mountain that loom above the town of Idyllwild. Snow still graced the topsoil in patches beneath the evergreen shade at this time of year - a small gift for a backpacker. A fresh water source to clean through our Katadyn water filter without having to carry heavy liters up 1,800 ft in elevation.

I have a theory that you never really know how physically strong your friends are until you’re on a trip like this with them. For every mile that I wheezed up, Jackie was smiling and patiently waiting during every break I took to “look at the scenery” when in reality I was dying. If you’ve been on a backcountry trip with me, you’re not surprised. Although, I’ve been told that something about me looks like I’d be whizzing up the trail instead of wheezing. It’s probably the same thing about me that makes people think I do roller derby. I’m sad to report, it’s the opposite. I can surf for 6 hours in a session and rollerblade all night - stamina? We’re friends. The second that you add elevation gain though… I’m out for the count and becoming friends with the snails. Whether it’s poor circulation or activity induced asthma, I’ve reconciled the fact that I’m destined to take it nice and slow. Having a camera makes for a good excuse.

On this trip, I brought my Pentax Honeywell SP1000 that I got for $150 from this surfer I met off the coast of Ventura in 2020. After striking up conversation and him learning I’m a film photographer, he told me that he had some old film gear he found in his grandpa’s attic that he was about to deliver to a pawn shop. It wasn’t anything fancy, just the Pentax body, a few lens, and other random miscellaneous accessories.

This collection of images are ones that I visit once a year when I start looking back through the archives. I think they sit better with me each and every time, I definitely feel more proud of them now than I did when I first received the scans. Uncovering the importance of revisiting old work in your own archive is something every artist goes through, I think. Keeping all the work you’ve done just as proof you did and then leafing through it all a few years down the road with new eyes, you find more than you did back then - even if it’s just a new appreciation for it.

Thanks for reading and watching. I hope you enjoy this array of frames!

lichen: a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae

i had a small one person tent that i bought in jackson wole, wy back in the summer of 2015 that i let jackie borrow instead of using her bigger four person tent

a rocky piney landscape is one of my top favorite views in this life

shot a few frames for Ventura Spirits. the glass bottle of gin was worth the weight

arguably the best dinner from backpackers pantry

my own one person tent from the north face called storm breaker 2

jackie and i woke up for sunrise the next morning with some clif bars

here you can see the shadow from the mountains we are standing on with lake hemet on the left

the subtle pinks and teals and oranges that show up on film so beautifully is one of the reasons i keep shooting analog

on our way back down the mountain the next day, we left our packs in the bushes to go hike the extra mile that leads from the mail trail to suicide rock

Trail: Suicide Rock via Deer Springs Trail