Sunset over an Alpine Meadow near Grover Hot Springs State Park

Greetings Everyone!  It is my hope that this summer has been full of smiles, happiness and engaging in any passion you enjoy.  This month, I thought a contest is in order for anyone who enjoys reading and viewing the content here.  This month represents the conclusion of the second full year of operation of Lost Soul Imaging and I would like to celebrate by offering a contest for any size landscape print on the site (excluding Astrophotography prints as they cap out at 12" x 18") if you take the time to tell me what outdoor adventure has impacted your life the most and what adventure you most want to take.  Comment on this blog post and then shoot Lost Soul Imaging an email ([email protected]) telling me about your adventure and why it is so special to you.  In August, your adventure will be the topic of this blog and you will be able to select the print of your choice!  Good Luck!

The outdoors.  What a wonderful place to run to when the stress and confusion of life and career becomes too much to go through another day.  As I sit and ponder the outdoors and the question for this blog post for July of 2018, I wonder to myself what has been my greatest outdoor adventure.  There have been so many, and most all center around my passion; hiking.  On my list would include Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, Clouds Rest in Yosemite National Park, Mount Tallac in South Lake Tahoe, The White Mountains of the Eastern Sierra and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California.  

The adventure for me that tops everything for me is the adventure of the Summer of 2017 and the time spent in the heat of the Inyo National Forest over the 4th of July.  A group of friends who are family to me, all met up in the shadow of Mt. Whitney with aspirations to climb her.  We spent our days hiking the Alabama Foothills, White Mountains near Big Pine, eating Ice Cream and drinking beer to escape the 100 degree heat of our desert campsite.  We laughed over stories about hiking and trail time, we shared meals together while sitting in Whitney Creek trying desperately to forget how hot we were after hiking all day.  We took photographs.  Hundreds of photographs.  Our smiles and laughs are etched into the fabric of those digital and printed images which adorn the walls of my business services building here in Sacramento, CA and in the heart and mind of my soul.  Those days come back into my head often as I remember that summer adventure so well.  We didn't summit the slopes of Mt. Whitney that summer, but our resolve and pact was made to train hard and ensure this fall, our summit bid is successful. 

The outdoors bring solace and peace to me.  They always have.  I have talked at length in prior months blogs about the passion I have for hiking and photography in the mountains.  Especially the Sierra Nevada's and Yosemite National Park.  The first time I set eyes on both of them, I was a 20 year old kid, not sure what my life was destined to become, but oh those mountains...  It was love at first site if ever there was.  The granite peaks, sweeping valleys, towering waterfalls and the Angel and Spirit of John Muir who trod them a hundred years ago.  A man who I hold in the same esteem as my father, my swimming coach and my favorite writer; Henry David Thoreau.  In the times of struggle in my life, the mountains call to me to come and shed the pain, sorrow and strife.  To listen to the wind in the canyons howl up past Pinyon and Lodgepole Pines, to see the gnarled bark of Western Whitebark and Mountain Hemlock, to listen to the rolling thunder of a storm forming over glacial lakes miles away from the street lights and horns of cars on the freeway.  

The mere thought of those things brings a smile to my face and sends my soul into the catacombs of memories to seek out the smiles, laughs and even tears that accompanied every adventure.  From my first foray into the Sierra over 15 years ago with an overstuffed pack weighing nearly 70 pounds for a 10 mile, one day trip, to the latest adventure of 30 plus miles in the remote backcountry of Hetch Hetchy and the wilds of Northern Yosemite with not more than 30 pounds in my pack for three days.  

People often ask me, "Mike, why do you hike?  What possible enjoyment can you derive from sleeping in the dirt after 15 miles of hiking while climbing the equivalent of the Empire State Building 3 times?"  My response is always the same, "Why don't you?".  The beauty of the outdoors resonates in my heart and soul.  I love the mountains and the energy they give me.  Their quiet resolve to last millions of years and changing only so slightly.  Their grace and beauty in the face of gales, snow storms and searing heat.  When my life in this body comes to a conclusion, my ashes will be scattered atop the magnificent Clouds Rest so that I may forever have this body in Yosemite National Park watching the valley and looking down on the brave souls who venture up the cables of Half Dome.  To be one with the sacred energy present there.  

I hope this look into what the outdoors mean to me, stirs in you, what they mean to you.  Think deeply about what your favorite adventure has been and drop it into the comments, then tell me a story I can publish this coming month.  All entries are due by August 10th and the winner will be selected for a feature on August 15th and their choice of a landscape print of their choosing.  Good luck to all souls who read this.  Thank you for stopping by and helping Lost Soul Imaging to celebrate its 2 year anniversary.  

Now get outside and adventure!  Create a memory for your soul to smile at!

"Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time..."

Namaste, friends.