There are many childhood experiences that I would not want to have to repeat, however there are those times that stand out to me that I would wish to have back or remember more detail about. On a recent trip to the Sequoia Nevada’s with my wife we took the opportunity to hike to a place that holds for me many fond memories, as well as a couple of potentially dangerous experiences.
While growing up I had the opportunity through church to belong to a group that functioned much like the boy scouts called Battalion. It is through battalion that I was introduced to many different things and places, many of which still hold fond memories for me. Battalion took a group of boys and made them young Christian leaders in the church that knew the value of hard work and the rewards that could come from that work.
One of the first trips that I went on with Battalion introduced me to backpacking, an experience that lead to one of my passions in life. Though I remember that first trip with much disdain for the amount of effort it took to get to our final camping spot I am grateful for the encouragement that the leaders provided to get me to camp.
Weaver Lake, located in the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountains not to far from my home in Visalia, has been a place that I have now returned to many times and often hold as a favorite destination. Though many of the memories created at Weaver Lake have faded over time I often find myself longing to return, and share the things I can remember with my wife so that my memories can become memories that we can share together.
Though I am now a wedding photographer, when I get a chance I still love to do landscape photography. Landscape photographs usually require no release for model, no compensation, very little gadgetry and even less equipment. Good landscape photographers see a scene long before it is photographed for all of the technical aspects and the ideas that can make it a wonderful photograph, capturing a moment in time that can live on for ever.
I can’t say as I will ever be as good as the long famed Ansel Adams who so perfectly captured the many aspects and wonders of Yosemite, for everyone to enjoy and experience from afar. Through my own walks through the Sierra Nevada’s I am however given the opportunity to meet with God one frame at a time in hopes that others can see His wonderful creation through my own work.
View towards the south shore of Weaver Lake
toward the east shore of Weaver Lake
My wife on our first trip back to the Jennie Lakes Wilderness and Weaver Lake.