One day. Two hikes. Secret hot springs. Crazy waterfalls. Need I say more?
I had been wanting to visit these hot springs ever since I saw it on Andrew Kearns’ vlog. With careful planning, I figured out what was needed to make this visit happen, since I felt like it’s a spot that flies pretty low under the radar.
With the dates set to be in Washington, the timing worked out to meet up with Alex (@alexandr_ford) while she was free. The two of us met up late in the morning to make the drive out to the trail head. From there, we threw our backpacks over our shoulders and began our hour long hike to the hot springs. I must hand it to Alex - she was still getting over a cold and still soldiered on up the trail.
We were completely awestruck upon our first glimpse of the hot springs. This place was magical and we could already tell. As we made our final descent down the steps to the tubs, we could feel the warm steam come up off the water. These tubs take place of what looks like the singular wooden enclosure, in which the front panel to contain the water had previously been broken down.
Alex and I spent the next three and a half hours soaking in the tubs, chatting, and shooting photos. I know it feels like summer just began, but I can only imagine how much more enchanting this spot would be in the early winter with a light blanket of snow on the ground surrounding.
After our hot springs mission, Alex and I decided that since we had some extra time, we would go check out some waterfalls on the way back towards Seattle. The hike up to the falls was beautiful through the drooping trees and the lush, green vegetation. The forestry and vegetation like this is not as it is at home for me. Once we got closer to the falls, we climbed the stairs that were pooling with water from the gushing stream. Even closer to the falls, we drenched ourselves getting within about 30-50 feet from the base. It was a difficult place to shoot photos at, being so close to such a huge waterfall. Not to mention the amount of water and mist spraying and the air rushing past us like a storm. Despite soaking us, it was mildly refreshing to feel at the end of our day’s adventures.
After chatting with Alex on our adventure, she had mentioned her and her boyfriend, Casey were going to Formula Drift in Monroe. I hadn’t even known Formula Drift was happening, and as an avid car enthusiast, I was totally jealous. So the very next morning, I hopped online and managed to scoop a ticket for myself to go watch the qualifying rounds of Formula Drift at the Evergreen Speedway.
I drove up to Monroe, had a quick lunch and made it to the event grounds. I don’t know what I was expecting initially, but it was like seeing the same kind of car scene back home with all the modified Japanese cars. The only difference was that the cars I was used to seeing up here in Canada that we typically import were actually the North American versions of the cars that are still left hand drive. (The reason for that is Canada only has a 15 year rule to import a vehicle, whereas the States has a 25 year rule).
Watching the event in person was such an incredible experience to say the least. It was much more different than seeing it on TV or on YouTube. It’s one thing to see it on a screen with all the slow motion shots and everything, but it’s a whole new level seeing it up close and personal. You’d think you would get bored watching them do the same run over and over again, hour after hour. But the excitement was real to watch them consistently get inches within the wall, possibly scrape a little paint, and see the smoke erupting from the tires. The experience was equally as impressive when you get to smell the burning rubber, hear the squealing tires, engines roaring, and feel the deep backfires popping like small cannons firing. This was definitely something you have to see in person. No words, photos, or videos can express the same feeling for seeing it with your own eyes.
For that exact reason, I chose to take in the event and watch for my solely for my viewing pleasure.
As a result of shooting a significant amount in the Banff/Canmore area (what I call the local areas), I had the urge to take a road trip to discover some new places and meet some new faces.
Before I get into any further details, let me back up a bit and explain how this trip came about. For the past few months, I had been renting a room in a house shared with the landlord and another roommate. For what I needed to live, it was great - however, the deal with the landlord was not. After some disputes about randomly increasing rent, the landlord gave all tenants living in the house a 30 day notice of eviction on July 1st. I had already planned on leaving for this trip on the 15th of July, but now I was in a rushed panic to figure out what I would do in the two short weeks leading up to my departure. I decided to pack my belongings, store my Subaru STi, and pack a few bags for the road trip (and when I mean pack a few bags, I mostly mean my camera gear…). It was a busy two weeks but I managed to get everything I needed to get done, done.
Fast forward to July 15th, I was chatting with my friend, Chloe (@chloe.chapdelaine) and she had been planning a trip down the West Coast to LA. We decided to travel out to Seattle together before making a split to different destinations. Day 1 had a bit of a late start - leaving Calgary at about 1:00pm. We drove straight West making a couple quick stops for food, fuel, and mostly to capture some moody, low-laying clouds we love to see from the PNW. Our end mission was to make it to Jones Lake in which we spent a gruelling, jarring, and tail-bone-breaking 30 minute drive on literally the worst road I have ever driven on. By approximately 1:30am, we found a nice little spot to park for the night and wake up just 4 hours later to catch our first sunrise. Boy, it did not disappoint.
After shooting sunrise, we continued our journey south towards the border in order to cross into the United States. I made it through quick and easy, no problems. Chloe on the other hand, had been waived over to be fully searched and questioned. As I waited in the nearby parking area, the inside of her car had been fully turned inside out as border security went through everything. At last, Chloe made it through and we were back on our way. From the border crossing, it was a quick drive to Bellingham, where we met our friend, Ryan (@westwardeast) for some coffee. We met up at Woods Coffee and the first sight to see as we got out of our vehicles was a bald eagle soaring in the sunny blue sky above. FREEEEEEEEDOM BABYYYYYY!
After our little coffee break, we ventured out together to hit up Mount Baker to take advantage of the perfect PNW weather. We had some fun shooting photos, dancing, and hiking. Oh - and not to mention we took in the astounding views which I found to be extremely different than the mountain landscapes I’m used to seeing back home.
Enjoy the photos!
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Back in November I had the pleasure of working with clothing company, Country Liberty and Basecamp Resorts for 3 days and two nights in Canmore.
Country Liberty is a clothing brand started by proud owner, Sawyer Hannay in New Brunswick. As the brand continues to grow, Sawyer has reached out to scope out the scene in western Canada and decided to come visit Alberta’s rockies in order to discover a part of Canada he has never been to. And what better place to team up with and stay at was Basecamp Resorts. Basecamp was an incredible place to call home for those few days, located right off Bow Valley trail in the town of Canmore. It featured us a cozy 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath suite complete with a living room, pull out sofa, full kitchen and access to an amazing hot tub with panoramic mountain views.
In total, we had 8 influencers ranging from bloggers, to models, and of course photographers. Our goal was to connect with each other, explore the area, and create tons of content for both Country Liberty and Basecamp.
On the day one of the retreat, Ebony and I managed to arrive early and check out our suite and have a quiet shoot before settling in. Once the rest of the crew arrived, we spent some time shooting at some of the iconic Canmore locations including the infamous Three Sisters view.
For the remainder of the days shooting product, we managed to get out to Lake Minnewanka in Banff, Vermillion Lakes, spent the most amazing time warming up in the hot tub back at Basecamp, and caught a killer sunrise in Canmore.
We had an absolutely amazing time - no doubt about that. Below you can see some highlights of the retreat, see some Country Liberty product, and get a peek of the incredible hot tub with phenomenal mountain views.
For everything Country Liberty, visit http://countryliberty.ca
All things Basecamp Resorts, https://basecampresorts.com
