High Sierra Music Festival 2012
I spent the weekend past 4th of July with 5 of my cousins, friends and the such at High Sierra Music festival in Quincy, Ca. I really don't have much to describe it verbally. All smiles throughout. Ended it in Kraemer Reunion fashion by jumping off a bridge into water. Life gets to be too good sometimes.....
Thanks to all who took photos, sorry I'm worthless with a camera.
Thanks to all who took photos, sorry I'm worthless with a camera.
The Learning Curve Circles back around
I remember being a little kid, on saturday mornings, and muttering under my breath "What does dad even want with this old wood, he won't use it, this is stupid" as I sat pulling nails out of and endless supply of wood from our old deck/walls/house for my morning chores. Yet 15 yrs later, in my house in Santa Barbara, I find myself pulling apart old shipping pallets, careful not to break them, and hammering nails out of the boards to reuse them cause I saw a cool picture of a cactus garden, reclaimed wood, DIY table. Scrounging the yard/neighborhood for any used 2 x 4", old scraps, anything to save me a trip to Home depot and a couple quarters, it dawned on me...................You learn more than you realize.
Funky Beats and Sand beneath your Feet
Venturing 10 miles past the lustrous town of Joshua Tree, and turning left down the largest 1 1/2 lane hwy you ever seen, take the unbending road to the very edge of the deserted valley . Resting against a rock wall of the valley, Joshua Tree camp ground was nothing but a sand pit, with 2 stages, sun tarps resting overhead, and a nice breeze cooling off the heat. Picking a nice sand area, we popped up our EZ Up, tent, and tied it all down to desert bushes, as the howling 1st day wind was blowing all madness around us. All of the two stages, and a third miniscule one, rested in the shape of a bowl, which allowed easy access to whatever musical genre for the time being. Carpets laid out in front of each stage allowed for barefoot dancing as well as awesome napping areas during the days, while everything from Colombian Folk to Bay Area Cumbia to a guitar playing digiridoo man put you sleep or got you going.... Plus with under 1,000 people there, no security, and the freeness (and genious) of BYOB into the show, there was nothing but smiles from here to the sun gods raining down upon us.
The Bands
Heading into this musically blind, Will and I knew we were taking a gamble, but we came up real big. The first night we got moving to SEE-I, a DC based dancehall reggae group with a killer lead guitarist, who interrupted their whole set to play James Brown covers for a half hour. The second day/night was an insane line following Sierra-Leone Refugee Allstars(African roots-reggae), London Souls (Blues Rock), Breakstra (La-based funk and old school hip-hop), and finished off into early morning with a European DJ named Gaudi who was accompanied by a arabic rapping, drumbeating, kazoo kazoooing, beatboxer. The community aspect was so vibrant in that as soon as one show would end, and the next begin, you would find yourself dancing right next to the band that had just played.
Sorry but I only managed to take 4 photos all weekend...
The Bands
Heading into this musically blind, Will and I knew we were taking a gamble, but we came up real big. The first night we got moving to SEE-I, a DC based dancehall reggae group with a killer lead guitarist, who interrupted their whole set to play James Brown covers for a half hour. The second day/night was an insane line following Sierra-Leone Refugee Allstars(African roots-reggae), London Souls (Blues Rock), Breakstra (La-based funk and old school hip-hop), and finished off into early morning with a European DJ named Gaudi who was accompanied by a arabic rapping, drumbeating, kazoo kazoooing, beatboxer. The community aspect was so vibrant in that as soon as one show would end, and the next begin, you would find yourself dancing right next to the band that had just played.
Sorry but I only managed to take 4 photos all weekend...
The Damn(ed) Descending
The Damn Descending started with a birthday wish for a Presidents day weekend camping trip get away to Big Sur. Knowing about the finest spot to camp, thanks to my cousin Eric, Myself, Nick, Clarence, Willy J and Tildon't all headed up for an adventure. Two and a half hours later, we were swinging 20ft pieces of kelp at each other and playing the melodica on top of a hill in the ocean as we waited for Blaine. Showing up with Buck, his brown lab puppy, we trekked the 45 min drive, climbing thousands of feet along a thin one lane dirt road, looking back to see everyone's grin grow with the excitement of our destination. Lucking out we claimed The Spot, with a view that Tops most Of The World and a straight 2000 ft gaze down to the cove below.
Happiest face ya ever seent
Fireside
Our
second day consisted of a hike I had had in mind since the last time I
had visited this spot. With a little convincing that it was worth piling
all 7 of us and Buck into Blaines car and driving, we made it to a
little creek, turning off at a random bend in Hwy 1. Looking towards
where the creek flowed from, all that could be seen was the greens of
the giant redwoods that infested this little canyon. Initially we all
started climbing the river, climbing 20ft+ boulders and shimming up
fallen redwoods 7 foot in diameter and a 100 ft long. As Buck was having
trouble climbing, Blaine and I decided to find a path along the side as
the rest continued up the creek. After a mile or so our luck was at a
dead end, and with a lot of poison oak and no path, Blaine decided it
was best to kick rocks with Buck at the beach. Not quite sure where the
others were, or how long it’d take to find them, so I told him we’ll see
him at sundown.
Continuing up the creek alone, much further than Eric, Z and I passed months before, I was not sure what I had actually told the other guys. Whether there really was a trail? (which turns out they thought there was and they had left the creek to search for) If they'd know to just stick to the creek? And with every log I'd climb up, corner I'd turn, and still no sign, my excitement grew as it meant my hike continued, but also had me thinking what if I did not find them. After 2 hrs of climbing, balancing, wading alone, I came to a scene straight from a movie.Tilden and Clarence sittin on a log, Nick repeatedly hitting a stick against a tree, and Willy J carving lyrics in a fallen redwood. Really couldn’t have pictured it happening any other way.
Continuing up the creek alone, much further than Eric, Z and I passed months before, I was not sure what I had actually told the other guys. Whether there really was a trail? (which turns out they thought there was and they had left the creek to search for) If they'd know to just stick to the creek? And with every log I'd climb up, corner I'd turn, and still no sign, my excitement grew as it meant my hike continued, but also had me thinking what if I did not find them. After 2 hrs of climbing, balancing, wading alone, I came to a scene straight from a movie.Tilden and Clarence sittin on a log, Nick repeatedly hitting a stick against a tree, and Willy J carving lyrics in a fallen redwood. Really couldn’t have pictured it happening any other way.
I
told the guys we'd be picked up at sundown, and after puzzled looks and
hyena-esq hysteria, we began our descent. Seeming as if we'd come upon a
completely different creek, our view down the creek was a perspective
that looked nothing like our memories. The giant boulders and trees
turned into the floors different levels, covered like thatched roofs
from the wash of flooding rains, and every level we came to, 20ft down
there was another, fully equipped with a pond, stones, and waterfalls.
Different points stood out emphasizing the change of perspective,
watching Tilden jump down from a log, being at eye level to 15ft below
these fallen trees. Also Nick yelling from a level below up to us, "STAY
UP THERE AS LONG AS YOU CAN, SO WHEN YOU COME DOWN..... YOU CAN LOOK
BACK UP". And while checking out a granite stone and redwood tree dam
the size of a house, Will naming our whole trip "The damn(ed)
descending"
Coming down the last turn, Blaine and Buck were waiting at the bottom, talking to the strangest unibrowed hippy woman trying to camp there. Just as we thought we were done, we found a drainage tunnel that ran under Hwy 1. Seeing a little light at the other end, we walked it, yelled in it, threw stones at each other walking in it, and reaching the other end, finding it to be almost a quarter mile long. We weren't ready to leave
Coming down the last turn, Blaine and Buck were waiting at the bottom, talking to the strangest unibrowed hippy woman trying to camp there. Just as we thought we were done, we found a drainage tunnel that ran under Hwy 1. Seeing a little light at the other end, we walked it, yelled in it, threw stones at each other walking in it, and reaching the other end, finding it to be almost a quarter mile long. We weren't ready to leave
View from the 1st floor
Our
last couple days consisted of hiking the hills around our campsite,
through the manzanita grove, down to the hills below. Also lots of music
sessions, beating drums, rapping, playing guitar under the sky. Willy
J's fire stick performance which everyone was quick to jump in on
trying. Sleeping in tents or truck beds and watching the sun set below
the cloud line, which is something to see when your sitting higher than
the clouds that affect your typical day.
Change of Mind or a Weak Constitution
Originally I was opposed to blogs on my last journey below the earth's crease. I thought I had heard of too many kids brag about their life, maybe I was over the facebook show of college, glamor shots and fish-eyed lenses, but really I was just lazy and lame.
Looking back though, I definitely regret not keeping one, one to read back through, one to remember stories I could display. It never occurred to me that it'd be of interest for others to check out, besides my mom, and shoot I sent her emails so why create this. But looking back in little notes I made, little diaries I kept, I wish I had a more concrete example of my past, more than photos and fading memories. See if my thoughts change, my writing style improves, I learn to think choices through? Well guess I gave in.
Looking back though, I definitely regret not keeping one, one to read back through, one to remember stories I could display. It never occurred to me that it'd be of interest for others to check out, besides my mom, and shoot I sent her emails so why create this. But looking back in little notes I made, little diaries I kept, I wish I had a more concrete example of my past, more than photos and fading memories. See if my thoughts change, my writing style improves, I learn to think choices through? Well guess I gave in.