Growing up, California was mainly sunny beaches and coastal living to me – but as I got older and started to venture outside of my hometown of Arroyo grande, I started to realize that the State actually has a few really distinct ecosystems that captivated my attention. In 2017, I decided to take an 8 day road trip to dive deeper & spend some quality time climbing, surfing, and hiking to understand the diversity in a more immersive way. I jumped in an old VW bus, with some friends and made our way to Alabama Hills to climb and camp in the desert. After a couple of nights, we moved on to the forests at the foot of the Sierra Nevada… home to some of the biggest trees in the world and continued to the northern sections of coastline to surf colder waters bordered by wetter, lush forests. Even though I’ve spent a ton of time exploring California, I still love finding new details in these ecosystems and will keep exploring them as long as I can.
Shot for @prana 2017
Growing up, California was mainly sunny beaches and coastal living to me – but as I got older and started to venture outside of my hometown of Arroyo grande, I started to realize that the State actually has a few really distinct ecosystems that captivated my attention. In 2017, I decided to take an 8 day road trip to dive deeper & spend some quality time climbing, surfing, and hiking to understand the diversity in a more immersive way. I jumped in an old VW bus, with some friends and made our way to Alabama Hills to climb and camp in the desert. After a couple of nights, we moved on to the forests at the foot of the Sierra Nevada… home to some of the biggest trees in the world and continued to the northern sections of coastline to surf colder waters bordered by wetter, lush forests. Even though I’ve spent a ton of time exploring California, I still love finding new details in these ecosystems and will keep exploring them as long as I can.
Shot for @prana 2017
Growing up, California was mainly sunny beaches and coastal living to me – but as I got older and started to venture outside of my hometown of Arroyo grande, I started to realize that the State actually has a few really distinct ecosystems that captivated my attention. In 2017, I decided to take an 8 day road trip to dive deeper & spend some quality time climbing, surfing, and hiking to understand the diversity in a more immersive way. I jumped in an old VW bus, with some friends and made our way to Alabama Hills to climb and camp in the desert. After a couple of nights, we moved on to the forests at the foot of the Sierra Nevada… home to some of the biggest trees in the world and continued to the northern sections of coastline to surf colder waters bordered by wetter, lush forests. Even though I’ve spent a ton of time exploring California, I still love finding new details in these ecosystems and will keep exploring them as long as I can.
Shot for @prana 2017
Growing up, California was mainly sunny beaches and coastal living to me – but as I got older and started to venture outside of my hometown of Arroyo grande, I started to realize that the State actually has a few really distinct ecosystems that captivated my attention. In 2017, I decided to take an 8 day road trip to dive deeper & spend some quality time climbing, surfing, and hiking to understand the diversity in a more immersive way. I jumped in an old VW bus, with some friends and made our way to Alabama Hills to climb and camp in the desert. After a couple of nights, we moved on to the forests at the foot of the Sierra Nevada… home to some of the biggest trees in the world and continued to the northern sections of coastline to surf colder waters bordered by wetter, lush forests. Even though I’ve spent a ton of time exploring California, I still love finding new details in these ecosystems and will keep exploring them as long as I can.
Shot for @prana 2017
Growing up, California was mainly sunny beaches and coastal living to me – but as I got older and started to venture outside of my hometown of Arroyo grande, I started to realize that the State actually has a few really distinct ecosystems that captivated my attention. In 2017, I decided to take an 8 day road trip to dive deeper & spend some quality time climbing, surfing, and hiking to understand the diversity in a more immersive way. I jumped in an old VW bus, with some friends and made our way to Alabama Hills to climb and camp in the desert. After a couple of nights, we moved on to the forests at the foot of the Sierra Nevada… home to some of the biggest trees in the world and continued to the northern sections of coastline to surf colder waters bordered by wetter, lush forests. Even though I’ve spent a ton of time exploring California, I still love finding new details in these ecosystems and will keep exploring them as long as I can.
Shot for @prana 2017
Growing up, California was mainly sunny beaches and coastal living to me – but as I got older and started to venture outside of my hometown of Arroyo grande, I started to realize that the State actually has a few really distinct ecosystems that captivated my attention. In 2017, I decided to take an 8 day road trip to dive deeper & spend some quality time climbing, surfing, and hiking to understand the diversity in a more immersive way. I jumped in an old VW bus, with some friends and made our way to Alabama Hills to climb and camp in the desert. After a couple of nights, we moved on to the forests at the foot of the Sierra Nevada… home to some of the biggest trees in the world and continued to the northern sections of coastline to surf colder waters bordered by wetter, lush forests. Even though I’ve spent a ton of time exploring California, I still love finding new details in these ecosystems and will keep exploring them as long as I can.
Shot for @prana 2017
Growing up, California was mainly sunny beaches and coastal living to me – but as I got older and started to venture outside of my hometown of Arroyo grande, I started to realize that the State actually has a few really distinct ecosystems that captivated my attention. In 2017, I decided to take an 8 day road trip to dive deeper & spend some quality time climbing, surfing, and hiking to understand the diversity in a more immersive way. I jumped in an old VW bus, with some friends and made our way to Alabama Hills to climb and camp in the desert. After a couple of nights, we moved on to the forests at the foot of the Sierra Nevada… home to some of the biggest trees in the world and continued to the northern sections of coastline to surf colder waters bordered by wetter, lush forests. Even though I’ve spent a ton of time exploring California, I still love finding new details in these ecosystems and will keep exploring them as long as I can.
Shot for @prana 2017
Growing up, California was mainly sunny beaches and coastal living to me – but as I got older and started to venture outside of my hometown of Arroyo grande, I started to realize that the State actually has a few really distinct ecosystems that captivated my attention. In 2017, I decided to take an 8 day road trip to dive deeper & spend some quality time climbing, surfing, and hiking to understand the diversity in a more immersive way. I jumped in an old VW bus, with some friends and made our way to Alabama Hills to climb and camp in the desert. After a couple of nights, we moved on to the forests at the foot of the Sierra Nevada… home to some of the biggest trees in the world and continued to the northern sections of coastline to surf colder waters bordered by wetter, lush forests. Even though I’ve spent a ton of time exploring California, I still love finding new details in these ecosystems and will keep exploring them as long as I can.
Shot for @prana 2017
Growing up, California was mainly sunny beaches and coastal living to me – but as I got older and started to venture outside of my hometown of Arroyo grande, I started to realize that the State actually has a few really distinct ecosystems that captivated my attention. In 2017, I decided to take an 8 day road trip to dive deeper & spend some quality time climbing, surfing, and hiking to understand the diversity in a more immersive way. I jumped in an old VW bus, with some friends and made our way to Alabama Hills to climb and camp in the desert. After a couple of nights, we moved on to the forests at the foot of the Sierra Nevada… home to some of the biggest trees in the world and continued to the northern sections of coastline to surf colder waters bordered by wetter, lush forests. Even though I’ve spent a ton of time exploring California, I still love finding new details in these ecosystems and will keep exploring them as long as I can.
Shot for @prana 2017
Growing up, California was mainly sunny beaches and coastal living to me – but as I got older and started to venture outside of my hometown of Arroyo grande, I started to realize that the State actually has a few really distinct ecosystems that captivated my attention. In 2017, I decided to take an 8 day road trip to dive deeper & spend some quality time climbing, surfing, and hiking to understand the diversity in a more immersive way. I jumped in an old VW bus, with some friends and made our way to Alabama Hills to climb and camp in the desert. After a couple of nights, we moved on to the forests at the foot of the Sierra Nevada… home to some of the biggest trees in the world and continued to the northern sections of coastline to surf colder waters bordered by wetter, lush forests. Even though I’ve spent a ton of time exploring California, I still love finding new details in these ecosystems and will keep exploring them as long as I can.
Shot for @prana 2017
California’s Carrizo Plains & Cuyama Valley provide little access even with a good 4×4 vehicle for those hoping to photograph the surrounding ridges… while planning this particular assignment, we felt that flying in an Lightweight Aerial Trike and a Cessna seemed the best way to capture the dramatic effects of the super bloom in a way that gave genuine context to the landscape… something I value when putting together a body of work.
Throughout my career, @natgeo has always been an incredible example of showcasing the earth and the important stories that it has to share… so this assignment to document California’s super bloom following significant winter rainfall in 2023 felt a little extra special being so close to my home.
California’s Carrizo Plains & Cuyama Valley provide little access even with a good 4×4 vehicle for those hoping to photograph the surrounding ridges… while planning this particular assignment, we felt that flying in an Lightweight Aerial Trike and a Cessna seemed the best way to capture the dramatic effects of the super bloom in a way that gave genuine context to the landscape… something I value when putting together a body of work.
Throughout my career, @natgeo has always been an incredible example of showcasing the earth and the important stories that it has to share… so this assignment to document California’s super bloom following significant winter rainfall in 2023 felt a little extra special being so close to my home.
California’s Carrizo Plains & Cuyama Valley provide little access even with a good 4×4 vehicle for those hoping to photograph the surrounding ridges… while planning this particular assignment, we felt that flying in an Lightweight Aerial Trike and a Cessna seemed the best way to capture the dramatic effects of the super bloom in a way that gave genuine context to the landscape… something I value when putting together a body of work.
Throughout my career, @natgeo has always been an incredible example of showcasing the earth and the important stories that it has to share… so this assignment to document California’s super bloom following significant winter rainfall in 2023 felt a little extra special being so close to my home.
California’s Carrizo Plains & Cuyama Valley provide little access even with a good 4×4 vehicle for those hoping to photograph the surrounding ridges… while planning this particular assignment, we felt that flying in an Lightweight Aerial Trike and a Cessna seemed the best way to capture the dramatic effects of the super bloom in a way that gave genuine context to the landscape… something I value when putting together a body of work.
Throughout my career, @natgeo has always been an incredible example of showcasing the earth and the important stories that it has to share… so this assignment to document California’s super bloom following significant winter rainfall in 2023 felt a little extra special being so close to my home.
California’s Carrizo Plains & Cuyama Valley provide little access even with a good 4×4 vehicle for those hoping to photograph the surrounding ridges… while planning this particular assignment, we felt that flying in an Lightweight Aerial Trike and a Cessna seemed the best way to capture the dramatic effects of the super bloom in a way that gave genuine context to the landscape… something I value when putting together a body of work.
Throughout my career, @natgeo has always been an incredible example of showcasing the earth and the important stories that it has to share… so this assignment to document California’s super bloom following significant winter rainfall in 2023 felt a little extra special being so close to my home.
Whether you’re in the deserts of Saudi Arabia deep in a snowy fjord in Iceland, or in this case climbing on the shores of Mallorca… sunsets with colors like these tend to make you stop in your tracks and pause. That moment, when we let go of focus, stress even in our current surroundings and spend time in awe of the natural beauty marking the end of the day is a point of unity in my mind. As humans, no matter our background – we can all agree that at one point or another, the magic of the natural world & sunsets captivated our attention for a short moment of bliss marking the end of a day…. and the beginning of a new one for those on the other side of the planet. I’ve been lucky to see many of them in my life & work… this image is from a particularly beautiful night shooting @ethan_pringle deep water soloing for @sonyalpha in Mallorca, 2021
Castles in the Sky over southern Greenland .
Never underestimate the joy of a clean airplane window.
@icelandair
Even by Iceland’s standards the Westfjords feel remote… it’s this shamrock-like figure on the North Western corner of the island that in so many ways feels like another country. You’re up there & the landscape changes, feeling more raw, more remote, more barren…
Upon visiting and seeing its many incredible fjords, its national parks, its glaciers, kind of left me with the impression that this is one of those last remaining wildernesses.. I want to design what I hoped would be a route that really encapsulated the majesty of the landscape – one that combined physical challenge and a multi day immersion into bits and pieces of the culture & beauty that has been a gift to me for so many years. If you’re looking for an adventure this year – check out the Westfjords Way Challenge and I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Upcoming Forgotten Coast Event Dates listed Below!
My journal from this day read: “I stopped counting the shipwrecks today. It seems that every stretch of this coast has claimed a ship for itself and if the rumors are true they may actually be unnumbered. It’s hard for me to picture a more desolate place to come ashore.. no plant life, no food, the river water is full of glacial sediment… I’m trying to imagine landing on this narrow stretch of sand between the angry Atlantic Ocean and a raging glacial river and feeling completely trapped knowing that between you and a farm or shelter is miles and miles of angry glaciated water. The Sailors that met this coastline unprepared must have experienced a type of isolation that is hard to fully grasp. Not a single tree and hardly a rock formation to take shelter behind… exposure to the elements on all angles.
It seems Icelandic wind & volcanic sand meet often here to torture our skin…”
March 18th: Salt Lake City
@ari.bikes HQ: 5pm
March 19th: CHICAGO
Fjallraven Chicago: 5-7pm, 7-9pm
March 21st: Laguna Beach, CA
(tickets are FREE)
Rivian South Coast Theater: 6:30pm
🔗 in bio
Film photo by: @bobcatdavis
I’m one year older today.. not so sure about how much wiser I’ve gotten but sure am grateful for what this year has brought me and what it’s taught me.
Moving my family across the world for starters has been one of most beautiful and challenging things we’ve ever done… and we have grown closer because of it.
I felt like today was a good day to tell you that I just opened a new long term gallery/ office in Reykjavik Iceland, but there a catch… you won’t find our address listed or opening hours… it’s more of a “go and find it kinda scenario” , speakeasy style… if you catch us open, come hang. For those who happen to be one of the first 100 guests.. we got a little something for ya .
This video is just about the biggest hint you will get. My logo on the garafe door. Oh and if you see my friends @lavashowiceland … you are getting very close.
🤝
As some of you know, I’ve been working on a secret space in Iceland that I wanted to open up to the public for anyone to drop by, grab a drink , snag a print or book, and take a look at some of my favorite pieces that are best seen in person… I always enjoyed that in California if you ever made it to my pismo studio. This one is a little different since I won’t always have it open or even on Google Maps… but if you can find it – knock on the door and me or @joelbarger_ might be around for a chat and help you grab a print or framed piece if you want… clues to the location at the end of this reel 😉
There are only a few places in the world where you truly Ski to Sea… and the north of Iceland is one of my all-time favorites where you can do just that… I recently got a last-minute invite from my friends over at @arcticheliskiing that happened to land on my birthday – so I couldn’t say no. Definitely one of my favorite ways to usher in a new year of life, accompanied by an incredible crew of guides and pilots who showed me new lines I hadn’t seen before with amazing hospitality in one of my favorite corners of the country. I keep feeling gratitude about Iceland and all of the special people I get to meet experiences we carve out together… can’t wait for another round up North with this special crew
@jokullbergmann @skiiceland @arcticheliskiing
Forgotten Coast Screenings coming your way next week in Chicago & Salt Lake City… seats filling up quick! Can’t wait to share the film, a special slide show presentation, prints, a raffle, and more… snag tickets at the link in my profile
Here’s the details:
March 18th: Salt Lake City
@ARI HQ: 5pm
March 19th: CHICAGO
Fjallraven Chicago: 5-7pm, 7-9pm
Join us at @ari.bikes HQ on Monday, March 18th for a screening of @chrisburkard ‘s “The Forgotten Coast”.
Chris set out for an epic 400km expedition along Iceland’s southern border on his Kings Peak. He crossed 41 of Iceland’s glacial river systems with nothing but an inflatable raft and his fat bike. This is an inspiring film you do not want to miss. Get tickets now at the link in bio.
Date: Monday, March 18th
Time: 5 – 8 pm
Location: Ari HQ: 520 N Geneva Rd Lindon, UT 84042
