November Photo Finalists

Two of my photos entered into last month's BetterPhoto.com Nature and Landscapes photo contest have been selected as Finalists and move on to the next round of judging. The photos selected are one of Cathedral Peak in Yosemite Nat'l Park, and one of Glacier Basin in Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park. Coincidentally, both of these images are also featured in my 2011 photo calendar, The Beauty of Lakes.

November Editor's Picks

Seven out of seven photos I entered into BetterPhoto.com's November photo contest have been selected as Editor's Picks and move on to the next round of judging. One is a photo of the black pebble beach at Wai'anapanapa State Park on Maui, and one of the Glacier Basin area on Mt. Rainier; the remaining are all selections from my recently posted John Muir Trail photos: Cathedral Peak, Lower Cathedral Lake, Garnet Lake, and Lyell Canyon. Three of these—Cathedral Peak, Garnet Lake, and Glacier Basin are also featured in my new 2011 photo calendar "The Beauty of Lakes" available now at Lulu.com. Click on over to my website to see all of the new John Muir Trail photos, and my gallery of Editor's Picks—some of my very best images from over the last couple of years.

2011 Calendar Now Available!

Well after a long summer hiatus, working on numerous other projects, I'm getting back online and getting the website and blog up to date. To kick off the "re-launch" of my website and blog, I'm happy to announce that my first photo calendar for 2011, "The Beauty of Lakes," is now available thru Lulu.com. It features some of my favorite and most spectacular images from Yosemite, Crater Lake, North Cascades, Mt. Rainier, Banff and Yoho National Parks, as well as the Ansel Adams and Alpine Lakes wilderness areas and much more. I've also included several earth-friendly and fun dates and holidays, like National Trails Day, America Recycles Day (though that should be every day!), and Chocolate Cake Day! So click on over to Lulu.com and get one of your own for just $14.99.

In other news, I've been hard at work over the last month processing photos from this past summer's exploits. I wound up having to leave the John Muir Trail unfinished after getting sick a little over half-way through. I returned though to log many more photographic miles around Mt. Rainier and North Cascades National Parks, and a spectacular early fall backpack around Central Oregon's Broken Top in the Three Sisters Wilderness. All of these and many more will soon be appearing on my website.

I've also been wrapping up several assignments for Backpacker and Washington Trails magazines, including several hiking feature and gear review articles that will start appearing in 2011.

So check out the updated Bosco Mountain Photo. Though it may look similar on the home page, I've gone and rearranged the gallery selections, making things easier to find, and smaller, more feature-oriented selections. I've also added an improved Features page, highlighting recent publications, a Guestbook page where you can post questions and comments, and a new Shop page where you can order my new 2011 calendar "The Beauty of Lakes," or photo prints.

As always, this is a continual work in progress, so keep checking back for the latest photo and content updates...

JMT Month is Here!

It's been a while since my last posting. Things have been extremely busy over the last month. In preparation for my long adventure ahead, I've been spending my time finishing a variety of assignments for Backpacker and Washington Trails.  For Backpacker, there have been many, many new GPS tracks getting done - largely from the huge amount of hiking I've been doing to condition for my trip - as well as the first of several "Rip & Go" mini-features to go in next year's lineup.  For Washington Trails, I wrapped up a feature article on Oregon's John Day Fossil Beds that will be appearing in the Sept/Oct issue later this summer.  Also for Washington Trails, I've been selected to join their gear review team, so will soon be testing and suggesting new outdoors gear from popular outdoor manufacturers.

In photo news, with all the hiking lately, I have an enormous backlog of imagery that needs to be processed and posted on the site.  Included are numerous hiking locations on Mt. Hood, Mount St. Helens, and the Clackamas Wilderness.  And JMT will hardly be the end of my season, as when I return, I still have several locations on Mt. Rainier, the North Cascades, Oregon's Sisters, and more on Mt. Hood to hike/photograph for various assignments.  I'm looking at doing a major site refresh when I return, so new imagery will slowly get added later in the year.

Keeping it short for now; lots to do this week.  I'm hiking JMT with 90GB of camera memory, so anticipate coming back with an enormous task to handle.  I'm considering creating a photo book of my adventure; more details on that to come...

Wish me luck!

Washington Trails: Classic Backpacks

The July/Aug issue of Washington Trails is now available, with this issue's feature being on outstanding backpacking trips throughout the state. Highlighted are three areas: the Glacier Peak Wilderness (on my own to-do list now for several years); the rugged and remote Goat Rocks area; and Olympic's own Enchanted Valley, penned and photographed by yours truly.

This was a fun article to write, as it was a highly memorable trip. As I mention in the article, we happened across this location in our guidebook by accident, as were were actually looking up a similarly-named location: Enchantment Lakes. After checking out the description of this hike, and the author's comparison to a Hawaiian-like valley filled with rainforest and waterfalls, we just had to do this one. As it turned out, this was our first backpacking trip where we got to see a bear in the wild. It was quite an exhilarating experience, and a lasting memory.

The two-page spread features a moderately-detailed summary of our hike (including our bear-sighting!) and three photos from the trip—two of which include Mitzi; because WTA continues to love photos of Mitzi. See the article online, or pick up a copy.

Next up is a feature piece about the John Day Fossil Beds, in Central Oregon. That one is currently in the works, and will be appearing in the Sept/Oct issue...

WTA's August Hike-a-Thon

Summer is hiking time! And August is Hike-a-Thon time! Hit the trails and help raise funds for the Washington Trails Association's continued support of wilderness advocacy, trail maintenance, and outdoors education throughout Washington state. And you don't have to be a Washington resident, or even hike in Washington to participate. Log any miles, from any named trails, anywhere, for the entire month of August. I'll be counting my JMT miles! And better yet, there's prizes! So not only are you doing something you love, and helping raise funds for the continued support of outdoor recreation, you might just claim a reward too. Prizes include gear from Mountain Hardwear, MSR, Teko, Clif Bar, and more. Check out the Hike-a-Thon website for more info. Registration begins July 1.

And that lovely young lady on the Hike-a-Thon poster? Well that's Mitzi, from our backpack into Washington's Alpine Lakes Wilderness' Enchantments region a couple years ago. She's perched above Vivien Lake, with Prussik Peak in the background. Nice job, Mitzi!

UPDATE
The sponsor sites are now live, so log on to my personal sponsor page and help me support WTA!

JMT 2010: June Update

The calendar continues clicking down towards my summer thru-hike on the John Muir Trail, now less than two months away. In the past few months, I've met several fellow JMT'ers via Facebook that will be on the trail near or at the same time as me. We've shared info, tips, and gear and food suggestions. Several local hikers have also posted current trail conditions. There's still alot of snow up there!

Gearwise, I'm pretty set. In the next month, before heading down to CA, I'll be taking several shorter backpacks in the Glacier Peak and Garibaldi areas where I'll be breaking in the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL1 tent. This ultralight solo tent weighs in under 3 lbs—including fly and footprint!—yet offers an ample 22 square feet of living space, and 37" of headroom. That's plenty of room for both me and my pack, safely away from chewing little critters. The compressed size—not including poles—is a super-compact 6" x 12". I bought this tent last year, near the end of the season, and haven't had the opportunity to use it yet, but I'm really looking forward to putting this lightweight little beauty into some high-country use. Available at REI and Mountain Gear.

Another recent milestone in the continuing preparations for JMT is that I have placed my ginormous food order with Packit Gourmet. I've mentioned in previous postings how great this food is. Filling my bear canister will be several packages of tortilla soup, chicken & dumplings, bangers & mash, and the super-tasty breakfast smoothies. I've also ordered alot of bulk dehydrated grocery items—meats and veggies—for some of my own concoctions from recipes found on TrailCooking.com, BackpackingChef.com, and of course, Backpacker.com. Add to that lots of Annie's noodles, instant mashed potatoes, energy bars, dehydrated fruit, granola, trail mix, and some awesome beef jerky made by one of Oregon's own local farmers. Once everything is in hand, likely early July, I'll be spending a good deal of time repackaging and trying to squeeze those last 14 days worth of food into that bear can...