Click Images to Enlarge; Don’t Miss the Slideshow Below

I’m just down from climbing Mount Adams.  What a fantastic trip!  My cousins Tom, Don, Annapurna (16 years old) and Brianne, shared in the fun with my friend Jack and I.

The third highest and second most massive of the Cascade Volcanos, Mount Adams draws many climbers with its close proximity to both Seattle and Portland.  The views of Hood, Saint Helens and Rainer are incredible and the standard route has very little objective hazard.

Saturday we climbed from the cars at 5,300′ to our camp at just over 9,000′.  We ate and watched a lovely sunset, although I would have appreciated some clouds for drama…

After a night of high winds whipping the tents and very little sleep, I awoke early to photograph the dawn before heading up to the  summit at 12,281′.

The wind that had kept us awake in the night continued unabated, making it difficult to feel excited about gearing up and leaving the shelter of the tents so early.  The route climbs a 2,000′ face to a false summit known as Piker’s Peak.  Above this we found the actual summit covered in a large lenticular cloud 800′ above.

By noon the six of us stood in a windy whiteout toasting our success with champagne, tamales, and jerky.  Sadly, the cloud obscured what must be a magnificent view of Mt. Rainer to the north, but the sense of accomplishment was palpable.  Our entire group had made it.  For Tom, Annapurna, Brianne, and Jack this was their first big Alpine summit.

Now came the fun part.  There is no better glissade (sliding down the mountain controlling yourself with an axe) in the country –and perhaps the world– than Mount Adams.  The steep slope we had trudged up from camp to Piker’s Peak was now a fun-filled, fast-moving roller coaster ride to the bottom.  Everyone had grins on their sunburned faces.

This was a fantastic trip and I’d like to acknowledge and thank everyone on it for making it so special.

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While it has been a while since my last post, this one is really a joy to put up.  After returning from Africa this spring, both Libby Bailey and I entered a few prints in Islands Magazine’s 2010 photo competition.  Not long ago, word arrived that I won the grand prize based not just upon one photo, but on a group of seven of my images.

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As if that wasn’t enough, my friend Libby won second place for her portrait of a Zanzibari babu (grandfather).  The editors also chose two of her other images as honorable mentions.

While they cut a few of the winning images from publication for space, the new June issue of Islands features nearly five full pages of Libby and my photography, as well as a brief guide to Zanzibar that I wrote for the magazine.  It is available on newsstands now.  Adobe pdf files of each page are also available at the following link…

Islands Magazine 2010 Photo Competition Webpage

Please enjoy the brief slideshow below of the winning selections.  Look for more blog and website updates in the near future.  There are many exciting images and stories to tell in the pipeline.   -Hudson

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This summer my friends Tony Kaplan, Libby Bailey and I climbed the Disappointment Cleaver route on Mt. Rainier, the largest of the Cascade volcanoes.  Although I had climbed the Kautz Glacier route on Rainier before with my Cousin Don Beavon,  this was my first time leading a group up this meaningful mountain.  We had a wonderful time together and a terrific climb.  I’ll mostly let the photos tell the story with only minor captioning.

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We started the climb through Paradise Meadows in heavy fog.

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The wildflowers and animals were abundant in the aptly named Paradise.  It reminded me of John Muir and his love of this particular place.

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As we emerged above the clouds, we found marmots out in force sunning themselves on warm rocks….

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as well as posing for photographers.

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Tony Crossing a crevasse below Camp Muir.

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Libby approaching Camp Muir

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Camp Muir is a welcome site for weary climbers.

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Climbing through Cathedral Gap.

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Climbers above the clouds.

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Reflections of Little Tahoma.

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Our Camp at Ingraham Flats was scenic.

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Getting some rest for the summit bid.  It’s tough to sleep cramped at 11,200 feet during the daylight, but the alarm is set for a midnight start.

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Strange things afoot in a neighboring camp as we fitfully tried to sleep.

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What a star show!

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After a long night of technical climbing by headlamp, the eastern sky lights up.

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It was a spectacular dawn.

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Surreal light on Mt. Adams.

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Nice light on Miss Libby.  The wind was blowing very hard up here.  I’d guess sustained winds of 35-40mph with higher gusts.

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Crossing a high crevasse.  We crossed many that were open and more treacherous during the dark of night.  In a couple of places we were happy for the fixed lines and anchors set up by RMI.

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Here you can see the wind taking the line.

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Where earth meets sky: Libby’s outlook

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Libby, Tony, and me on the Summit. (photo by Dave Johnson)

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The sharks fin crossing (over Tony’s right shoulder) was terrifying on the way up in the dark.  I worried about it coming down, but with proper care we had no problem.

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The Ingraham Glacier is impressively crevassed this late in the year.

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A tired party descends towards Paradise.

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Tired as I was, light like this made me glad I hauled an extra 20 pounds of camera gear!

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Sunsets don’t get much better than the one we witnessed at Pebble Creek.

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The above photo is a very high resolution panoramic merger taken at sunset from Camp Muir.  It reminds me of Mark Twain’s words after watching a sunset above the clouds on a Hawaiian volcano:

“I felt like the last man, neglected of the judgment and left pinnacled in mid-heaven, a forgotten relic of a vanished world.”

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There you have it.  The first pictographic story post on my new website’s blog.  I would love to hear your comments.

-Hudson

I spent four days early this year with my friends Charles and Libby trekking and photographing in the Usambara mountains of northern Tanzania.  Traveling between the towns of Lushoto and Mtae, we found the scenery spectacular and the local Samba people very warm and welcoming.  Aside from a harrowing few seconds when the front wheel fell off our truck on a narrow mountain road, we enjoyed every minute of this adventure.

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For anyone interested in touring these lovely mountains, I recommend organizing your itinerary and/or a guide through the cultural tourism office in Lushoto (conveniently located right next to the bank).  Just remember that some negotiation for price is expected.  Also, it is never a bad idea to kick the tires before climbing into a strange vehicle…

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Please enjoy the following slideshow of the Usambara.  I have made the images a bit larger than those I posted from Africa.  This means that viewing the slideshow full-screen will really make a difference.

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Now I am back in Portland, look for several more postings from my trip to Tanzania in the coming days.  I arrived home from Zanzibar with barely enough time to unpack and repack before heading out to ski, ride in snowcats, and make some more images up in British Columbia (note: a post of that work will be up soon).  Now I’m back at the computer with a little time to sort, edit, and blog before the next adventure.  Stay tuned…

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A brief post-script for the technically curious:

The photograph below is a 22-image, multi-tier panoramic merger; the native resolution of the file is over 100 megapixels.  This is a technique I’m using more and more to create large-format-like, ultra-enlargeable images.  Look for a future technical blog posting on the tools and techniques used in this process.  It’s anything but point-and-shoot, but the results are VERY rewarding.

It’s been tough to download, edit, and blog with the power out all across the islands.

Today I am plugged into the generator-supplied power and Wifi at the Livingstone House Bar and Restaurant (yes it was THE Dr. Livingstone’s house many years ago. The “bright side” of the power outage is the view of the stars over the old city at night.  The lights created by street-vendors with lanterns and candles are like tiny islands between the big generator equipped hotels.  Most of the city feels like it must have 150 years ago.  Not a bad Christmas all in all.

We have had the good fortune to stay with our close friends Baboo and Mariam at their spare flat in the heart of Old Stonetown.  Their friendship has led to such great times and amazing photographic opportunities.  As our friend Bob Krist always says, there is nothing like a good fixer!

I have very little generator time to write all I’d love to tell.   So far we have explored the Island’s forests, slept on a small adjacent atoll under the stars, sailed in two dhows, eaten copious amounts of local seafood, spice, and the best fruit in the world.  Oh hell, as I proofread this list, I see that it hardly begins to do the Zanzibar experience justice…  Please enjoy this brief slideshow to get a taste of one of the best places in the world.  I’ll be blogging more as power availability allows.

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Don’t miss the slide show at the bottom

Greetings from Tanzania!  It is so wonderful to be back in the vibrance, warmth and teeming life energy that is Africa.  My friends Jenny and Owen McCarty, Libby Bailey and I arrived late Friday night.  As exhausted as I felt after more than 24 hours of planes and airports, I was energized by seeing all my local friends there to greet us at the airport.  After loading our 360 pounds of equipment, gear, donations and presents we stopped at a restaurant to be greeted by even more friends and a midnight champagne celebration.  Exhausted, we finally arrived at Victor and Jacqueline’s lovely home to hit the sack for a few hours sleep.

Yesterday we awoke to a home cooked breakfast and then drove into Arusha to meet with Jim Lace and Gosberth Baitwa at the Orphan’s Foundation Fund.  Together we drove for an hour and a half to a small village orphanage called Rafiki (which means friend in Swahili).  Rafiki takes in orphans from all over Tanzania; most of the children lost their parents to HIV.  The Orphan’s Foundation Fund is working hard to improve the lives of the children who live there.  Ramshackle huts have been replaced by a sturdy modern structure with dormitories, a kitchen, classrooms, and a high quality well.  It is wonderful to see an organization doing so much to improve the lives of these young ones.

Please enjoy the slideshow below of images taken by Libby Bailey and myself at Rafiki as well as several other Tanzanian orphanages around Arusha and Zanzibar.  This work on behalf of orphans in conjunction the Orphan’s Fondation Fund and the local government of Zanzibar was incredibly moving and rewarding.

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FIRST ENTRY:

Welcome everyone!  This blog entry is to announce the dawn of my new photography website.  As this site grows and changes over the coming months, I will use the blog to post about photography, international travel and conservation issues both cultural and environmental.

Right now I am excitedly preparing for a trip to East Africa in December.

Feel free to post a comment.  Someone has to be the first…

-Hudson

Since I am off to Africa in a little over a week, I was looking for just the right day to shoot some skiing.  Yesterday the conditions couldn’t have been better.

Skiing on Mt. Hood is a special experience.  I’ve been wanting to get some shots that really showcase that feeling of big Cascade Volcano skiing that we here in the Northwest so often take for granted.  With my friends Woody Adams, Aram Ansel, and Jason Boursier (aerial specialist), I set out to combine making some fun turns and creating new images.

With Woody and Aram helping to spot Jason’s jump locations, relay messages, and protect the hapless photographer below, I was able to get some shots that I’m really happy with.

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My favorite of the day.  As carefully as we set this up, it was still a bit spooky to see Jason headed right at me through the wide angle lens.  He landed about 5 feet away from my skis at something approaching the speed of sound.

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Jason was a trooper for hiking up the mountain to get this picture.  Both of us had to ascend some very steep soft snow, but he really had to do a bit of rough climbing to get above the rocks.

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We had great light and conditions for this rock drop.  That is a lot of air on a day when the snow was rather windblown and firm.

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Everybody get out there and enjoy this winter!  I will keep you posted on my adventures in East Africa via this blog and Facebook as internet access allows.

-Hudson