Late this last summer, I took a 11 day trek through the north half of the John Muir Trail - an incredible section of California that runs concurrent with the Pacific Coast Trail. Quite literally the closest to the middle-of-nowhere I have ever been - ridden with rocky mountain passes, long green meadows, thousands of trees - all enveloping the finest of nature's beauty and peace.

My father introduced the idea of backpacking these 100 miles nearly a year ago, though it was a daunting idea to this city slicker I knew it would create memories and experiences of a lifetime.

While we originally planned to traverse the trail as a duo, we ended up traveling with twelve others (only one of whom I knew prior). The addition of these fellow trailblazers resulted in perhaps the sweetest of all the trail's experiences it brought to us. We became what I call my "trail family" - it's truly amazing the bonds you create with others as you work towards a common goal. We shared encouragement, laughter, work, food, frustration, pain - in short - we shared life together day and night throughout our journey.

I felt that it would be most appropriate to shoot the entire trip in film - and I am so happy I did. I took 11 rolls (5 color 6 black and white) along with my Pentax 67.

Highlighted within this post is a taste of some of the trail's beauty, some of the trail's experiences, and some of the trail's family.

I hope these pictures inspire you as much as they inspired me...