"Adventure is worthwhile" - Aristotle. I find that taking an adventure every once in a while does so much good for the body and mind. Which, is why this past Monday morning my buddy James and I took to the hills. The idea to hike Tom's Thumb came up randomly at dinner the previous night. We were over at their new house catching up, having a pie (pizza), and James throws out the idea. "Hey lets go for a hike tomorrow!" I was all for it. We had been getting a number of storms here in the Valley lately, which cooled everything down so it was prime conditions. I didn't think that these storms could have had such an impact on our hike though. The mountain was so green when we got there! So much in fact that it caused us to get lost a few times because everything had drastically changed in appearance. I'm not complaining, the views were something out of a Tolkien novel. It looked as if we were making the trek to Mordor. (Lord of the Rings reference).
I had never seen the mountain this green before! Immediately my creative mind went into hyperdrive! The views were so breathtaking, and all I could think of is, I need a human element! This would be a perfect advertisement for REI. But I need just one person! Or maybe 2! And then, my prayers were answered. Jose and his friend walked up behind us as we were taking a snack and photo break. They stopped and talked with us for a bit, and Jose explained he was starting his new Epic Adventure business, and he was with his first ever client! I told them I was a photographer and that I needed a human element in this landscape to create the epic adventure photograph! Well needless to say they fit the part perfectly. Fully clothed in hiking and climbing gear, looking like an REI store model, I couldn't have asked for more. So I let them go on while we hung back and the next photo just incapsulated everything I was looking for in the scene.
With my creativity satisfied for this part of the hike, we caught back up with Jose and made our way to the peak of the mountain. Otherwise known as the "Thumb" of Tom's Thumb trail. This is where the serious rock climbing happens. I had ventured here before and captured some amazing photos of climbers (click here to go to those photos), but this time we were going around the thumb to the back side. A place I had never been, but I would soon fall in love with. The backside, though not that much further, had such a different feel to it. It was so much more peaceful. I don't know why it felt this way but it did. Maybe it was the refreshing breeze and cool temperature brought on by the clouds covering us, or the new views I had not yet gazed upon. Whatever it was, it threw my creative mind back into hyperdrive and I knew I had more photos to create!
I didn't have a long lens with me for this hike. So I decided to encapsulate the surroundings as much as possible, and show how small we are in our environment.
Back to the beginning quote from Aristotle - "adventure is worthwhile". This quote says a lot in very few words. The way I take it is, it is worthwhile to get out, explore the world around you, let your brain soak it in, create something with your adventures, and be refreshed in your normal every day life. I found a lot of creativity on this adventure, I got an amazing workout in, and I made some new relationships. I'd say that's a win for a day.
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