Poverty with a view.

Time to throw up some more photos. Life has been kind of hectic for the last couple of weeks supporting three groups on the river and in the mountains but it does mean that I get to spend some time doing my own thing (or taking students to the doctors and then hiking them back into their group). Bend was recently described as "poverty with a view", currently with one of the worst unemployment rates in the US. It would be a mistake for me to claim poverty having just spent more money on a new camera than I have ever spent on a vehicle but the title seems fairly fitting.

I am 28 and live in a tent, albeit a nice big white wall tent on a platform, and it does have a good view. I also feel luckier and luckier as I see more stores close in the town and still eat great food, have beer on tap in my living room and get paid to take people into beautiful places.

The new camera is a bit of a step up - so much so that I am slightly afraid of it right now.... below are the last few photos from the old camera and some of the test shots from the new one.
The nice big white wall tent (my home for at least half the year)
An incredibly badly stitched photo of the sisters at dawn (with the moon far left). About to fix lines and belays on the NW ridge of Broken top at about 6am (having been up since 3am.. AH the joys of work)
End of a long day - Martha surrounded by gear after a ressupply for 30 hungry people in the mountains.
Paul leading a rope team down the Hayden Glacier late in the afternoon
My usual bed. A sleeping bag and some grass, in this case surrounded by RV's at Deschutes State Park at the end of the Deschutes river.
Courtney rowing white horse rapid, behind her you can see two of the named rocks, "Can Opener" and "Oh shit"!
One of the first phots with the new camera, two of our pigs (Hope and Bachelor) who eat all our compost and then......... supply the meat for the end of season party.
Whitney strumming it out in front of a local beer (Bend has possibly the most micro breweries per capita of anywhere ever)

Paul and I reflected in Ciscos glasses on the summit of Broken Top.