2021 Year in Review

You know how people always say time goes by faster the older you get? I’m not happy about it, but it seems as if they might be on to something. Sure, I had a pretty full year, but as I was putting these images together I just had a real hard time believing that these pictures were taken within the past 12 months. I guess I’ll take that as reinforcing the idea that I was having fun?

By the end of ski season, I had racked up 160 days on the hill between ski resorts and backcountry. I finished EMT school in May and later bumped up to Wilderness EMT. By early summer, I was back at the Moonshadow CBD hemp farm with my good pals Hannah and Blankie, digging, climbing and swimming the hot days away. In July, Blankie and I set out on the Pacific Northwest Trail, a seldom traveled 1,250 mile route from the Continental Divide in Montana to the Pacific Ocean, which took us two months to complete.

Once Blankie and I returned from the PNT, harvest season at the farm was in full swing. We were so exhausted from the trek that motivation to do manual labor was quite low, but we still ended up harvesting a fantastic crop with plenty of porch sitting in between.

While on the hike, I met Shannon (Noisy, pictured below) and we ended up doing right about half of the trail together. Things went so swimmingly between us that she decided to move from Port Townsend, WA to Tahoe for the winter! After completing farm activities and building her a van to live in, we moseyed back up the hill to get the snowy season rolling. I’m beyond excited to be able to spend so much time with her and her good friend Squiller the dog!

This winter is an exciting one, since it’s my rookie year as a ski patroller at Mt. Rose, a truly cool mountain with laid back energy and some of the best views in the Tahoe Basin. I’ve been working toward getting on patrol since I learned to ski when I first came to Tahoe, and I am so stoked to be working there with some of the finest coworkers I’ve ever had. You can’t beat skiing all day, throwing bombs, carting people down the hill and constantly learning cool stuff!

All in all, this year was one of the best yet, even if it seems to have flown by so fast I didn’t even get to fully appreciate it. So it goes!

Fall 2021 Tunes

Best of 2021 Tunes

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Julian and Asa, stoked to be skiing rather than surfing for a change. | 1/21/21 Mt. Rose, NV

Sierra emerges from the ice filled Donner train tunnels. The tunnels were built by Chinese prisoners in 1867 and housed the first rail line to cross the Sierra Nevada. | 1/22/21 Norden, CA

Isaac on the way up Rubicon Peak, trying to hurry since the winds were so strong. | 2/1/21 Tahoma, CA

My winter roommates Jay and Morgan each have an absolute cutie of a dog. Meet Nola and Jax! | 1/26/21 Cedar Flat, CA

Morgan takes a break from shoveling off our back deck in favor of a high quality snow sit. | 1/28/21 Cedar Flat, CA

Elena and Ryan live it up at the weekly "Car Bar" in the Squaw Valley (now Palisades Tahoe) parking lot. | 2/13/21 Olympic Valley, CA

It's easy to stare at a view like this and forget there's still a pandemic raging in every nook and cranny of the world. Overall, the resorts did a pretty decent job of keeping things safe, although the sheer quantity of exceptionally irresponsible Bay Area tourists was draining. | 3/2/21 Mammoth Mountain, CA

PCT pal Hot Take wanted to help his friend Mimi (pictured) find a place to camp near Mammoth. I just so happened to already be there, so I invited her to share my patch of dirt and an outrageously expensive pizza from town. | 3/2/21 Mammoth Lakes, CA

Fluffy fresh snow, clear skies, good pals and low avalanche danger made this one of my favorite runs of the season. Here Matt, Scott and Bryan transition their splitboards to downhill mode for 1,800 feet of floaty goodness. | 3/16/21 Ward Canyon, CA

We ran out of buns during parking lot lunch, so Elena ended up with a naked dog. | 3/30/21 Mammoth Lakes, CA

My best pals from the mountain (and Rylee), days before heading our seperate ways for the summer. | 4/16/21 Donner Lake, CA

Mariah was nothing but smiles upon reaching the summit of Incline Peak. | 4/17/21 Incline Village, NV

Cramming for EMT final exams in my car with the beautiful Mt. Rose out the window. | 5/3/21 Reno, NV

Cole donned some sweet glow sticks for one last trampoline jump before bed. | 5/7/21 Tahoe City, CA

Bjorn and I on the 10,463' summit of Lassen Peak before our first run of the day on our first overnight ski tour! Despite all of the extra gear weight, the turns were killer. | 5/28/21 Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA

Bjorn, ready to ski the first pitch of Eagle Peak on some fine Cascade Corn. | 5/28/21 Lassen National Park, CA

Randy catches some fine light while on a winery crawl in Sonoma County. | 5/29/21 Healdsburg, CA

Blankie and Hannah on our way to camp at Shadow Lake for a "dirtbag triathlon", where we would hike to the top of Lassen Peak, ski down, then climb a sport pitch. Unfortunately extreme wind pushed us off the mountain and we had to bail back to the farm. | 6/10/21 Lassen National Park, CA

Happy International Hike Naked Day! If you missed it this year, get after it on the next summer solstice. | 6/20/21 Mt. Morgan, Inyo County, CA

Good pals from the Appalachian Trail Olde English and Two Step pose in their new employee cabin at Rock Creek Resort. | 6/20/21 Rock Creek Canyon, CA

Blankie and I did some tub laundry to avoid the unnecessary cost of the laundromat next door. | 7/8/21 Mile 133.5 2,676' Eureka, Montana

Noisy sets off once again after a break on Davis Mountain. | 7/12/21 Mile 216.8 7,583' Purcell Mountains, Montana

Nooch holds on for dear life during a hitch up to the next forest road on route. | 7/19/21 Mile 355.0 2,059' Selkirk Mountains, Washington

Blankie, stoked to be horizontal after a steep and hot climb to camp. | 7/27/21 Mile 431.5 4,910' Okanogan Highlands, Washington

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Hot and exhausted, we found a bench on the side of the road and just had to take a sit. Can't you see how excited we are? | 7/29/21 Mile 556.8 3,604' Okanogan Highlands, Washington

Boundary Trail 533 was the primary route through the Pasayten on the PNT. It was unrelenting with its alpine meadows and crumbly peaks, and better yet, it was nearly smoke free! | 8/2/21 Mile 658.6 6,650' Pasayten Wilderness, Washington

Noisy and Blankie drunkenly wait for a potential hitch to pass. | 8/6/21 Mile 746.4 1,698' North Cascades, Washington

Hikers raid the Marblemount gas station in the rain. | 8/6/21 Mile 746.4 1,698' Marblemount, Washington

My shirt underwent some prolonged unplanned disassembly, so it had to be retired. | 8/10/21 Mile 797.1 3,010' North Cascades, Washington

Thick smoke rolled in out of nowhere overnight, terrible in every way other than what it did to the light. | 8/12/21 Mile 822.1 1,256' North Cascades, Washington

Skeeter, Hog Momma (Bjorn, as seen on past expeditions) and Sparky pose in some nice light on Anderson Mountain. Bjorn parked his car near the end of the PNT, biked on gravel roads to Bellingham unsuccessfully looking for me, then continued east until running into me at Baker Lake, 200 miles from where he started. He then hiked another 300 miles with us back to his car. | 8/17/21 Mile 918.8 2,820' North Cascades, Washington

Hog Momma loiters outside while waiting for everyone else to pack up. Being out in the open is also safer, since he could make sure nobody slipped the 5 oz bath bomb we'd been shuffling around into his pack. Mileage discrepancy due to alternate routes. | 8/27/21 Mile 1,069.5 47' Port Angeles, Washington

Noisy muches on her usual nasty taco soup concoction. | 8/30/21 Mile 1,206.4 0' Olympic Coast, Washington

Even though Blankie was only able to make it for half the hike, he was an excellent companion and I'm so glad he was able to come play in the mountains for the summer. | 9/2/21 Mile 1,246.2 0' Olympic Coast, Washington

Blankie enjoys sunset from the comfort of the new back porch at the farm. | 9/9/21 Oroville, CA

While in Salt Lake for a wilderness medicine class, I stayed with my good friend Snacks whose neighbors built a halfpipe in their back yard. 9/26/21 Salt Lake City, Utah

Moonshadow CBD Salve, our signature product! | 9/30/21 Oroville, CA

I completely disassembled the RAD4 for some improvements. Among them, wool insulation, hard-wired ceiling and rear flood lights, hard-wired dash cam, upgraded speakers, an interior trunk-release button, and a hose that runs outside with a funnel on the inside for liquid disposal. | 10/3/21 Oroville, CA

Squiller helps Shannon trim some hemp on a cool fall day. | 10/9/21 Oroville, CA

Shannon and her good friend Squiller on a lazy morning. | 10/11/21 Oroville, CA

Shannon and Blankie work on harvesting one of the last fields left standing. | 10/11/21 Oroville, CA

Mr. Squiller, handsome and skeptical as ever. | 10/11/21 Oroville, CA

Making breakfast on a chilly morning at some hot springs before heading to Mammoth for a day of early season skiing. | 11/17/21 Mono County, CA

Sunset as seen from Rose Knob on the Tahoe Rim Trail. I knew a late season attempt would be difficult, but despite 50-60 degree daytime temperatures, most water sources were completely frozen and I didn't have enough fuel to keep melting snow until my resupply point. Oh well, next year awaits! | 11/27/21 Mt. Rose Wilderness, NV

When the ski resorts are closed, patrollers still show up to keep the mountain useable in following days. Nearly 200" have fallen this month, soon making it the snowiest December on record. | 12/14/21 Mt. Rose, NV

Peter (right) leads our class through AIARE 2, an avalanche assesment/rescue course and requisite for professional level certifications to be completed next year. | 12/15/21 Andesite Peak, CA

Arriving at the peak in a lingering storm cycle. | 12/15/21 Andesite Peak, CA

Heading up the spine of Andesite Ridge immerses you in dense woods until rising above treline for the summit pitch. Better even than the views is the wind protection. | 12/16/21 Andesite Peak, CA