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.

@chloe.chapdelaine

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!