Banff has been on the Pritchard Wanderlist for quite some time. I knew it first as the home of the Banff Mountain Film Festival, whose tour I’ve been captivated by since my days at OSU. But it wasn’t long before I realized that it was an incredible venue of another kind. Tucked into the Canadian Rockies, Banff and Jasper National Parks are among the crown jewels of Canada’s park system, beset by high alpine peaks, massive glacier fields, deep forests and aquamarine rivers and lakes. As we planned our summer vacation this year, we were looking for something a little different than last year’s awesome but terribly civilized trips to Paris and Disneyland. After consulting the notes, Banff caught our attention and we made plans for a late summer journey north. The video above tells the story much better than words, so I encourage you to check it out.
November Reign
My favorite type of project is one where I get to work hard on something for a short period of time (a few weeks or so) and then move on to something totally different – it suits my attention span. When Lindsay and Wayne issued the challenge for their Punkin’ Chunkin’ Jamboree I was fired up (right after I googled punkin’ chunkin’). I had a lot of fun building our trebuchet and the the whole family had a great time this past Saturday as we hurled unsuspecting gourds downrange. Our contraption is disassembled and waiting for next year’s event. And now I get to find the next project.
Big Sky Country – Short Film
Our plans for Autumn’s first backpacking trip were foiled back in April, when she came down with a cold the day before our planned departure. The Coast Camp at Point Reyes had been chosen for nostalgic reasons as much as practical ones. Not only is it close and comfortable, but Jody and I took our first backpacking trip together there back in 2001. The trip was on our calendar since she was in utero, and the decision to be responsible parents stung a little bit.
Looking at our calendar, the weekends through May and June were laden with events and trips, leaving little time to spend on the trail. But one option held promise: Montana. We were planning a trip to Billings for Doug & Jordan’s wedding. It seemed like a no-brainer to tack an extra day on the trip and explore a bit of the Big Sky state. So we did. Doug and Jordan pulled together some great recommendations and we found ourselves blissed out in the Beartooth Mountains. We spent just one night at the Woodbine Campground (along the Stillwater River), but the drive over Beartooth Pass and back along the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River rounded out an excellent little road trip.
It will come as no surprise that the occasion was well documented and captured a bit of the fun we had with Autumn’s first night in a tent.
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She’s Mobile – Very Short Film
She’s been very close for a few weeks, and now it’s official:
Our little girl has gone mobile.
If you get these updates via email, click through this link to watch the movie.
Across the Golden Gate – Short Film
A little treat from Autumn’s first adventure across the Golden Gate. For the full HD experience, please schedule a screening at the 100 Lake Cinema.
We had a lot of fun with this one; shooting, editing, tweaking YouTube. For any photo geeks in the audience: I have a detail photo of the camera rig on Flickr—annotated, of course.
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