Epic Snow 🏔️❄️
Like Nothing I’ve Ever Seen
Wow. That’s all I can say is Wow.
Funny. The last place I ever would have thought I’d want to spend significant time would be the state of Washington in the Winter.
Washington is cold and rainy. The state itself is a very liberal hotbed. High prices, high taxes, poorly designed roadway systems, tons of drugs and far too many folks homeless and sleeping on the streets and in alleys. Need a public trash can? Good luck.
You can go to no public place and easily and freely access the bathrooms, because they are all protected by electronic combination locks on the door handles.
Why? The homeless and drug addict populations. If they have unfettered access to these places they create problems for the entities in which they’re housed.
Everywhere I go that is a city I see homeless people.
In some places, tent camps in the public spaces.
Yet, drive a few hours and you’d never know the depravity and sadness from which you departed was so close.
Washington is home to what may be the most epic and beautiful landscapes I have yet seen.
From a Previous Trip; Washington Pass at Sunrise-North Cascades National Park
Today I share with you one of them.
The photos you see here and the video below are from the North Cascade mountain region. A deep, untouched wilderness along the northern half of the state.
It’s truly a gem.
I’ve been scheming and watching for the right time and place to hike to Artist Point and then continue on to Huntoon Point. Nearly world famous in their draw for nailing a one of a kind of epic proportions Snow Hike.
I had all but given up on making it all the way up there until a few days ago.
Joelle had returned from Florida and needed to be picked up from the Seattle Tacoma International Airport.
I had scheduled a job north of there about an hour for RV services. This put us only another hour south of Bellingham.
Bellingham would be home base for an eventual drive and then snow shoe trek into the Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest, ultimately making my way to the tip of Huntoon Point.
As is His magnificent way of doing things, it’s almost as if God knew I was coming. (Who am I kidding? Of course he knew).
I had planned to hike on Thursday of last week but there was a still, small voice telling me to wait a day.
I did.
Boy am I glad.
A huge storm blew through that region on Thursday dumping mounds of fresh snow across the range.
Had I tried to hike it as planned, it would have been a complete bust.
Why this matters is that it’s OUT THERE. Not something you can just go back “the next day” without significant inconveniences.
That storm paved the way for an epic hike and unbelievable photography.
The Avalanche risk at https://nwac.us was elevated to “Considerable Risk” so there was concern in my mind related to the hike. The weather would be cold and the snow would be over 10 to 12 feet deep along the pathways I would traverse.
This would challenge my physical abilities and steadfastness.
At one point, close to the top, if I am honest with you, I almost said…”that’s enough…I’m headed back”.
Had I gone back, I would have missed this
When I reached the final and epic end to the hike as planned, I was glad, OH SO GLAD, I did not turn back.
I had the top of the mountain to myself most of the time I was there.
I not only was able to grab amazing photographs, but the video I was able to capture is stunning.
There are a number of lessons here.
The Storm Brought the Beauty. That storm paved the way for epic trails with fresh snow and epic blue skies
We must push forward even when we want to quit! Had I not, I would not have the footage I have gathered in this video to share with all of you.
I hope you enjoy the photos but more importantly, I hope the video moves you.
I’ve changed my thinking on the way the content will be presented after talking with my brother Ryan.
The world has been reduced to 60 - 90 second Youtube “Shorts” or Instagram “Reels”. We have become so conditioned as a people that to sit and truly watch, wonder, and take in what is available is a skill most I meet no longer possess. This is not limited to 20 or 30 year old people. I have a number of friends and acquaintances to whom this also applies.
Most who watch will lose interest within 2 minutes of the start of the video. They’ll have to get on quickly to the next “fix”. Yes, part of this could be my inability to make engaging content. I see it daily, people scrolling from thing to thing to thing as they stare into their phone while trying to also manage human interactions.
However, there are a few who will still their hearts and minds, sit back, and look in wonder of what they are seeing. These few will embrace the true sense the video is meant to convey.
It’s for these folks this video and those like it are produced.
I hope, if you are one of them, you can truly appreciate what you see. I know many of you reading here likely can’t or won’t be able to see what I did or hike where I’ve hiked. I do this…for you. The videos I now produce and the equipment I have recently purchased to do so I’ve done and do for you. I know how much you appreciate seeing what you see. It’s my gift to share it and film it with you and for you. It’s a gift the Lord has provided and I owe it to humanity to share it in an attempt to shed some light in an otherwise dark world.
God is a great provider, protector, and friend. I shall never forget that.
In the darkness, he makes a way.
When my life isn’t what I want, he blesses me still.
In fact, it’s often when I THINK I am not getting what I want, that indeed he is blessing me.
Some of my best opportunities in this life of photography I’ve been afforded have taken place over the few months I have been here.
Hell on earth, things no parent wants to go through, drove me here.
And yet, I am blessed and most fortunate in my walking through it all. I have been blessed financially and blessed personally. I have met friends who I am going to miss dearly when the time comes for me to move on in April.
Let my time here since October forever remind me…trust Him. He knows.
Whenever I listen, whenever I obey, it always works out.
rob out
