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Backcountry can opener:
Alex Iams in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, CA
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Patagonia Summer 2004 Catalog Publication
 In
July 2003, Alex Iams and I went backpacking in the Trinity Alps Wilderness
in California. Originally, we had planned to visit Yosemite, however
the permits were already taken for the prime spots. On a recommendation
from Jim Hauswirth, we went to the often overlooked Trinity Alps Wilderness
area instead. Although I still plan to eventually reach Yosemite (and
a lot of other places too!), the Trinity Alps are an incredible place
and one of the more photogenic wilderness areas I've ever visited. The
landscape went from dense redwood forest at the trailhead, to glacier
scoured peaks at the top of the trail, with the crystalline Canyon Creek
weaving and tumbling through the valley below and beside the trail.
We pitched camp for two nights near the edge of Canyon
Creek, a small mountain stream with native trout lazily finning beneath
the shadows of weathered redwood logs near the swift, clear current.
The water was so clear in fact, it looked almost like a caribbean lagooon
when the morning sun rose over the high peak behind our campsite. As
the morning rapidly warmed up, Alex and I cooled off before hitting
the steep trail by jumping into the frigid Canyon Creek from a large
redwood tree that had fallen across the stream years before and had
become bleached and weathered by the harsh alpine elements. Alex did
a few can openers from the log, and I happened to catch one of them
just as he hit the water in that brief transition where you've hit the
water but it hasn't really closed over you.
As it turned out, Patagonia decided to publish the shot
in their Summer 2004 catalog. Click
here to see the full spread from the catalog with Alex's can opener
photo on it (file size~380k).
Click the summer 2004 cover below to visit the Patagonia
website.
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