I turned 27 last weekend and was fortunate enough to capture a few moments on film. Czech them out. I spent time in my home, San Francisco, and also a couple nights in Point Reyes, CA. Shot with my Mamiya m645 and for the first time, my Holga. Film used include: Fuji Pro 800z, Fuji Reala, Ilford HP5, Portra 400 and some Color Negative 800.
I’ve had the itch to go camping for a long time. The last time I camped, I was in the middle of the desert during Burning Man. I may seem like a city boy, but part of my roots are from deep in the country.
I heard from a friend about this amazeballs campsite in Point Reyes, CA. I’ve traversed through this small town in Marin County many times, but this was the first time I was planning on camping there. I was excited, and I was looking to share that excitement. I poled a few cronies, and my buddy Ben took to the idea, and decided to go with me.
It’s the morning of our camping adventure, and I start running around for supplies needed for the perfect coast-side camping excursion. Hot dogs with baked beans is on the menu. We packed up the car and headed north. Stopping in Fairfax, we ran into Owen at A Good Earth. We picked up some waffles and condiments for hot dogs, then went off to the The Hummingbird (where I’ve been knows to peruse) for some lunch.
Fast forward, we get to the Bear Valley Visitor’s Center to pick up our permits and to get our camp on. The receptionist asks me which hike I want to go on and I answer the shortest once, since we’d be carrying gear and supplies. I loathe this woman. We get to the trailhead for the hike and there is this look of uncertainty on our faces. How are we going to carry this shit on a 2 mile hike? We MacGyver this plethora of shit on our backs and shoulders and we head off onto the trail. Immediately, I know this isn’t going to go well. Ben is carrying the chairs and two bags. I’m carrying two bags, the tent and dragging the cooler behind me. I hate this cooler. If this hike were flat the whole way, it would have been fine. If we had gone on this crazy hike filled with mud, peaks, and valleys without any of this stuff; it also would have been fine. The combination of crazy ass hike with crazy ass stuff equals one of the most miserable experiences of my life. I won’t go into much detail, but just know that I was one very unhappy camper.
Eventually, after what seemed like ages (hours) we make it to the site. Jumping for joy once we arrived, we were going off of adrenaline and mental unclarity and started setting up camp surprisingly fast.
Let’s recap:
Beers in hand, we head down to the beach to catch the sunset. This was by far one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. This campsite was so desolate; it was untouched by mankind. We could have been anywhere in the world. Ben thought we were in Asia; I thought Ireland because of how lush the green was on the mountains around us.
I almost can’t believe it was real.
There was this sense that we were in a very special place, and witnessing mother nature in all her glory. It’s an experience I will never forget.
We headed back to our site, which was a short 1 minute walk from the water and took a breather/cooked dinner. As the baked beans were warming up on the grill, we were treated to more miraculous sites. The fog was rolling over the mountains adjacent to us and was backlit by the light of dusk. Photos don’t do it justice.
Poor Ben suffered through the night in the tent after having to hear me snore. The next morning we awoke and had some warmed up waffles and were packing up camp. Ben suffered a tic incident (which I discovered later I had also been a victim), so I helped perform minor surgery. 
We had to set back on the awful hike again. While this time, we didn’t have as much shit, it was probably a lot harder. A combination of the heat, the mostly uphill climb, and leftover exhaustion from before warranted another unpleasant experience.
The immense satisfaction I felt upon getting back to my vehicle after the treacherous hike was overwhelming. I can’t being to describe the elation. This moment had to be highlighted by the perfect song and I put on the live concert version of “Shelter from the Storm” by Mr. Dylan.
(It turns out that the alternate way to get to the campsite was a 3 mile hike, rather than a 2 mile hike. This 3 mile hike was on a wide open dirt road on flat land the whole way. Can you see why I loathe this receptionist?)
You’d think we were home free… and we pretty much were until we hit some intense traffic in the city. Then it dawned on me that the day was 4/20. We were in a traffic jam of stoners trying to find haven in Golden Gate Park to get their mary jane fix. This was hell. We are hungry, worn out, dirty and have insects on us. The last thing either of us wanted to do was sit in traffic with a bunch of crazy stoned 16 year olds walking around in ponchos and short shorts.
This experience resulted in emotions on polar opposites of the spectrum; thankfully I had a friend with me to experience and understand the pleasure/pain.
Would I go back? Hell yes; with less gear or more people.
