The Minolta Hi-Matic 7SII was a fixed lens 35mm rangefinder produced in 1977. It's a super compact metal body camera, equipped with the sharp and pretty fast Rokkor 40mm f/1.7 lens and a Copal shutter up to 1/500. This was a time when Leitz and Minolta were working in cooperation with each other, manufacturing Leica products out of the Minolta factory in Japan. This is when the Leica CL series and the Minolta CLE were manufactured. I am a firm believer that the quality of the lens on this 7SII is largely attributed to that. But more of that to come.
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Joe's Valley Bouldering /
Several months ago, my friend Chris approached me at the climbing gym, psyche-level at an all-time high. "Dude, we need to recreate the Bishop magic, and I need you there!" Of course, I give a verbal, purposely half-committed, "Sure, that sounds fun! I could get down." I mean, Bishop was a lot of fun. And I love climbing. But October was several months away, and I am a chronic non-planner. "How about Joe's Valley?" Chris continues, confirming that, with my half-ass commitment, there would be at least three of us going. Little did I know this was just the start of amassing an entire crew of Portlanders to head out to the Utah desert. I am not sure how a random group of 15 people all got off of work the same random week in October. With different jobs and life activities, I thought it would be impossible to reunite everyone. I believe this shows how the sense of adventure ties all of us together.
Read MoreWeekend Bouldering - Lost Lake and Carver /
A couple of weekends ago, I made it out to climb at a couple of local bouldering spots in preparation for a trip up to Squamish. You never want to go on a climbing trip with "gym hands," so I had to get out and grab so real rocks. One classic Portland spot and another newly developed/developing area. I have been trying desperately to finish out the remaining frames on three rolls of film from the Enchantments too, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.
Read MoreSurf Wax America /
This last weekend, I headed out to the Oregon Coast for a little surfing adventure. Lauren and Erik go out surfing with some relative frequency, and I always tell them I want to tag along some day so I can take pictures. So we finally made it happen! Early Sunday morning, I piled into the back of their Mini with their pup Fu, and embarked a fun little day trip to the beach.
Read MoreRock of Ages Loop Hike /
Right before the new year, my buddy Temo and I drove out to the Columbia River Gorge to do the Rock of Ages Loop. This trail is 10 miles long, while gaining around 3000 ft of elevation. Over the last hiking season, I have been trying to knock out all the steep, scrambling hikes in the Gorge. This trail in particular sees a lot of traffic by those training for the alpine treks up the Cascades.
This loop starts at the Horsetail Falls trailhead, and begins by climbing up to Ponytail Falls.
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